Head first into Pixel light, so helps pls

mtinc

New elf
Joined
Dec 26, 2024
Messages
3
Hi All

Been decorating my house with christmas lights from Christmas warehouse, etc. But going to jump into Pixel Light. Will read the 101 guide and learn the Xlight tutorial over the break. In term of lights and controllers and whatever else required
- is now a good time to buy due to boxing day? not sure if any sales for pixel lights, controllers and power supplies.
- I'm in sydney, any recommendations on where to get items including props like mega tree? Was recommended Hansons Electronics for controller, Lightitupleds for the pixel lights (probably going to get 10k lot).

Appreciate the helps and hope you all had a Merry Christmas.
 
Hi All

Been decorating my house with christmas lights from Christmas warehouse, etc. But going to jump into Pixel Light. Will read the 101 guide and learn the Xlight tutorial over the break. In term of lights and controllers and whatever else required
- is now a good time to buy due to boxing day? not sure if any sales for pixel lights, controllers and power supplies.
- I'm in sydney, any recommendations on where to get items including props like mega tree? Was recommended Hansons Electronics for controller, Lightitupleds for the pixel lights (probably going to get 10k lot).

Appreciate the helps and hope you all had a Merry Christmas.
Welcome to the hobby. Sounds like you've got good plan to learn the basics. As most of the vendors are overseas I don't think boxing day sales will have any impact.

If you set up your house in xlights you can design your display and run effects for free. This will give you an idea on how many controllers, power supplies and pixels you need and can then look around for deals. There are some local vendors on this site and usually do bulk orders early in the year so keep your eye out for posts on here.

Plenty of good people on here who answer (my) dumb questions so don't be afraid to ask them..
 
@mtinc - welcome. I'd suggest checking out the map on ACL and seeing if there's anyone close to you who are still running their lights. Reach out to them and ask if they can chat/demo stuff while it's still setup.
 
- is now a good time to buy due to boxing day? not sure if any sales for pixel lights, controllers and power supplies.
Generally there aren't sales in the hobby. Certainly not to the degree that the likes of Bunnings have as there's no reason to clear floor space and drop the "Christmas stock"


- I'm in sydney, any recommendations on where to get items including props like mega tree? Was recommended Hansons Electronics for controller, Lightitupleds for the pixel lights (probably going to get 10k lot).
Realistically there's nothing in Sydney per se. Extreme Lighting displays for coro props is the closest in the central coast.
Hanson down in Bendigo is great for the Baldrick controllers and other blinky hardware.
You can also look at the Falcon controllers that are shipped from Adelaide.
Your closest store will still be Bunnings for all the other bits and bobs you need, you'll become very familiar with your local layout if you're not already 🤣🤣

But as mentioned above, start with xLights, figure out what you're thinking of doing and see if you like it, and go from there. My first year I had ideas but once modelled some of those ideas disappeared due to them not working as well as I liked.
 
@mtinc - welcome. I'd suggest checking out the map on ACL and seeing if there's anyone close to you who are still running their lights. Reach out to them and ask if they can chat/demo stuff while it's still setup.
I am in western Sydney and running until new years eve, more than happy to show off my display and walk you though how my display works
 
Welcome to the rabbit hole!

This has been my first year in this hobby. I'm just North of the Central Coast up at Wyee in Lake Macquarie & will be running through to New Years (at least).

I first came across this hobby late last year when I was searching online for some different lights to add to my house. Extreme Lighting Displays popped up & I gave Troy a call. Headed over to his place 15 minutes later, & left after chatting for an hour with a Showstopper Snowflake in the back of my car!. From there I did some quick research, while trying to remember what Troy had said. Ended up buying pixels & power supplies from Light It Up Leds in WA, & a Falcon F16V5 controller from aus.pixelcontroller.com in Adelaide. I then ended up going back to Troy & buying one of his controller boxes as well as a singing penguin. ( I was already head first down the rabbit hole!)

Over the last 12 months, I've gone deeper & deeper to the point my show has over 15,000 pixels, 3 controllers, 9 power supplies, 1 expansion board, 1 SRX2 smart receiver & all run from a Raspberry Pi. It has been a very steep learning curve, but I think what I have created looks pretty awesome (hence I'm holding off taking it down! Lol)

Happy to chat about what I have learnt, & if you are up my way, feel free to drop in, have a look at my setup, & say g'day!

Definitely make a plan to go to the Sydney Mini (it was held the first weekend in June this year) you will learn a lot. I did find a lot went over my head this year, but now I have a much better understanding having made a show.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top