Raspberry pi 4

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teamdesousa19

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Finally, looking to bite the bullet and take the leap into pixels. Im a total newbie and never done this before, so excuse me for some dumb questions

Have been looking as buying the raspberry pi 4b. I did see some on Amazon. If I but that do I need to install the fpp. Whst would be an OK pixel controller to purchase. Looking at starting with a small light show first with a few arches and mini trees.

Thanks. Kevin
 
teamdesousa19 said:
Finally, looking to bite the bullet and take the leap into pixels. Im a total newbie and never done this before, so excuse me for some dumb questions
Click to expand...
I would suggest reading through the 101 Manual which gives loads of information about all aspects of the hobby.

teamdesousa19 said:
Have been looking as buying the raspberry pi 4b. I did see some on Amazon. If I but that do I need to install the fpp. Whst would be an OK pixel controller to purchase. Looking at starting with a small light show first with a few arches and mini trees.
Click to expand...
An RPi 4B will work fine as a show player. You will need FPP installed on it to utilise it. You would want to add an external sound card (Such as the SB Play3!) to get good quality audio out of it.

The RPi can also operate as a controller with an appropriate cape; the one linked above, is an example. There are a number of options with varying counts of outputs, but remember to factor in the licence cost for FPP should you go down that route. Note that you'd only last 1 or 2 seasons on something like this attached to your show player (assuming less than about 1400 pixels), at which point it'd need to be replaced.

Another option of really good controller to start with is the Baldrick8 - https://www.hansonelectronics.com.au/product/baldrick/ - this one will drive up to 6000 pixels, is very cost effective, and adding more of these down the track is a great expansion path.
 
Thanks for the reply. Ok, if I go down the line of a baldrick 8 from Hanson, I saw on there website that they have a ready to run 8 port pixel controller already in the case with power supply.
Is that a good option for beginners as it already has everything in it. My show will be small with around 4 arches and some mini trees?

What other equipment is required to have my light show up and running.

Thanks in advance and apologies for these questions.
 
FPP on RPi => ethernet switch => Baldrick
Power cables
Same connector on pixels as you are getting on the Baldrick.
If you are doing music, then some way to play that music.
The actual forms for arches and mini trees. Some way too secure them.
Extension cables from Baldrick to props.
Patience and a "good enough" attitude. :)
 
its easier for us to answer questions when you actually have the equipment

i would higly suggest the baldrick 8 Ready to run , use your PI 4 as the player , and ensure you get pixels to suit the voltage of the RTR baldrick 8 and connectors to match

@AAH can correct my but i think he uses RayWu connectors ?

once you have all the parts to at least connect it all and run a test sequence, then the real fun can begin
 
Juddge said:
its easier for us to answer questions when you actually have the equipment

i would higly suggest the baldrick 8 Ready to run , use your PI 4 as the player , and ensure you get pixels to suit the voltage of the RTR baldrick 8 and connectors to match

@AAH can correct my but i think he uses RayWu connectors ?

once you have all the parts to at least connect it all and run a test sequence, then the real fun can begin
Click to expand...
I use Ray Wu pigtails in my display but most of the controllers I make up are done with Xconnect and the pixels with pigtails I stock (5V nodes and 12V gumdrop nodes) have Xconnect.
 
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