What are you changing for 2024? Elements you are building, modifying or installing

Well, getting closer. All the pixels except the new stars are installed and working.



Hope to get the last of the rope light motifs installed and all of them hooked up tomorrow, plus fix a candy cane that is leaning over too far (now that I pointed it out you can't unsee it, I bet ). As for the new stars, they'll have to wait until next week while I wait for a last minute delivery of conduit tees and elbows.

How about everyone else's shows - are we there yet?

I'll be installing a new 12v power supply in the security box that handles all the sensors that watch over my setup overnight.. It decided to die about 45 minutes ago sending everything into on/off pulses including all the cameras that are powered from it. Blinky related because if this doesn't work, my blinky might become someone elses blinky.

So I designed and built my new Push To Listen in the last couple of days (aptly named Festive Pulse)
It's an ESP32 which basically sits there and listens for a button push, sends a command to NodeRed on HomeAssistant to turn the amp on and off.

Initially it's just the web request to the automation, but going forward it'll be doing the MQTT directly to talk straight to the relays for the amplifier.
Future software updates will allow it to toggle GPIOs for local relays too.

Screenshots of it in operation:


The automation as defined in NodeRed


And the hardware side of it - on a breadboard currently, but will be transferred to a PCB tomorrow:


Hardware wise there's not much to it - an Olimex ESP32-POE-ISO ethernet ESP (because I don't use wifi when a cable can be run) - a couple of status LEDs (Error, Network, System Status and a mimic for the button lamp) and a MOSFET/Transistor combo for allowing the drive of the 12V lamp in the button.
There's also a button on the breadboard for testing, but that won't make it onto the final device; it was there before I built the adapter cable for the signage.

The button on the ESP32 module serves as a Reset Config button - hold it for a second and the device will reboot, hold it for 5 seconds at reboot and it'll factory reset all the settings.

This is why I dislike WS2811 (or any IC without data backup) . Dead pixel upstream = all the pixels after it in that string don't work.



But all repaired and working again. These gutter icicles are the only element I have that use WS2811 pixels. Who knows, maybe I'll change them to GS8208 next year.

But for the good news, three new stars finally made their way into the show ... a few days later than my 3 December start date for this year (the third one is hidden in the photo below). Now everything is complete for 2024.