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tupes

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Dec 11, 2014
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I'm trying to get my feet wet with rgb without being to complicated at first. What I'm looking at are pixel strips for holiday coro since they're going to be on sale soon. I'm not looking at doing music at this point but will probably add it next year. As far as this year goes I want to get the pixel strips and something like this http://www.holidaycoro.com/DMX-to-SPI-Smart-Pixel-Decoder-Controller-p/614.html but it says it's only for 170 pixels. So unless I did my math wrong it won't work. Is there anything else like it that I can use?

For next year I plan on getting the doohicky that you put the SD card in to play the sequence. I don't have a garage and don't want to leave my laptop outside. Also if you think it's better just to spend the money now and get the whole setup let me know. Also the front of my house is about 60' if I get the pix lite 4 can I just plug in one sting and connect the others end to end.

So if I'm asking so much. I've looked a plenty of videos and websites bit can't seem to find the answers I'm looking for. If you know of a site I can get the answers from please share.


Could someone please give me some advise. Thanks.
 
Welcome to ACL, lots of great help and advice here

That controller will control 3 full strips of 12vdc 2811 as each strip is 50 RGB channels, but you will need to add power between strip 2 and 3 to minimise voltage drop over the 3 strips

But your best bet is to go straight for a E1.31 pixel controller like J1sys, advatek or sandevices as this will allow you to expand for the future and these control many more strips than just 3.

Take a look at the ACL 101 lighting manual if you havent already as its a wealth of information and links
 
Welcome, welcome. The doohicky is a Raspberry Pi B+ and you can find lots of source information on it over at Falcon Christmas (another forum) as well as additional information here. The Pi can be your show computer and the controller board is the key piece that translates the instructions from the show computer to the individual strings/strands/strips of lights. Definitely agree with FE that you should spend a little more and get an E1.31 controller like a J1Sys, SanDevice or Pixlite like you mention versus the linked EasyPix controller.


Read the manual, then read it again. :)


You've definitely come to the right place to get up to speed and a great place to ask questions if you can't find the answer. This is the place to find answers!


Best of luck!
 
Like Fasteddy said, get an E1.31 controller from the outset. You will outgrow the single universe controller within two weeks. The Pi is brilliant, I created my sequences on my good computer and then exported them to run on the Pi. No lag no issues and the computer was not tied up for the month of December. And the Pi is dead simple to get going.
 
Welcome to ACL, if you do go the PI route make sure you get a minimum 8gb sd card, i was testing with a 4gb and had lag issues, now i got a 16gb its perfect.
 
Firstly I want to thank everyone for all the advise they have given so far.

So to give everyone some more information to see what I'm planning I'll make a list of items here.....

-Program: ???????
-Power: http://www.holidaycoro.com/product-p/49-ps.htm
-Computer A.K.A. doohickey: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L87YMGM?psc=1
-Controller: http://www.holidaycoro.com/PixLite-4-E1-31-Pixel-Controller-p/622.htm
-Lights 4x: http://www.holidaycoro.com/product-p/700-ps.htm

The main reason I've decided on these items are I'd rather order from one supplier than multiple. If there is anything that I have chosen please let me know.

I think I'm also going to need some 4-22ga wire as someone above said Ill probably need to power inject in the middle. The total length of light will be approximately 55'
 
Download Xlights to play with so you can make the lights go blinky :)


This will also allow you to move it to the PI when the time comes.


Also, Jump into Chat...someone is usually there that can help guide you through


-blu
 
The only thing I might suggest to change is to go from the strip to nodes such as these:

http://www.holidaycoro.com/Smart-Pixel-LED-RGB-8mm-12mm-Nodes-12v-DC-p/711.htm

I am not sure how you plan to secure the strip but nodes are easier to make repairs too in case one should fail.
I will say though that if you are handy at soldering, you can repair the strips without that much extra work but you will have a little more work to do to make the repairs waterproof again.
You would need 5 of these to get your 55 feet as the nodes are only 12 feet per 50 node string but that will also give you some spares in case you need them (you can cut strips or strings to get whatever distances you need up to a point).
It is always a good idea to have spares since things always fail when we don't want them too!

Otherwise you are pretty much good to go with your list.
I agree that you should get xlights/nutcracker to sequence and get started with it now. It will take time to figure out and learn the program and make up your sequences that you want to use. You may even find that you want to add music to things as sequencing to music is not that much more work than just an animation sequence but it is more involved if you want it to be. By starting now with the sequencer you will learn a lot about pixels and the workings of it all as you go.
 
beeiilll said:
I am not sure how you plan to secure the strip but nodes are easier to make repairs too in case one should fail.
Click to expand...

But nodes have a higher risk of suffering from water ingress than a strip
and repairing strip is not that hard

If using strip for outlines then you would attach this to electrical conduit and then attach the conduit with home made hooks made from tie wire

I find strip is better for outlines as it gives a nice straight and clean look and directs all the light to the audience

But thats just my opinion
 
I was going to use pex tubing and outline my house with the strips. I have thought about the nodes but knowing I'll need more of them is why I'm leaning towards the strips. If I don't like them I'll probably swap them out for nodes and use the strips to do arches. Thank yall for all the help.
 
Well I was going to tell you about James over on the DIY site and his new strips for mounting pixels that would make it easier for using nodes but I see you are a member there so you probably know about them as well already! ::) They would tend to work best with the square backed nodes anyway for along things like flat surfaces of a house and are more expensive than the regular bullet nodes. Also the strip will give you very accurate spacing on each pixel for a cleaner look.

I do also have to agree that strips do tend to work better for roof lines as far as being able to maintain a nice straight clean line look to them. And Eddy is correct that they can be repaired almost as easily as nodes although that point we can just agree to disagree on :D .

Either way you will have a very nice looking pixel line to work with.
One thing I am curious about though is that you said that you are going to use Pex tubing? Are you going to place the strip inside the pex or am I missing something? Just curious as the strip you listed from HC is inside a silicone tubing so you wouldn't really need to encase it. The pex may be somewhat tough to get to stay in a straight line as well (I use pex for plumbing so have worked with it for a long time).
Just trying to understand what you are looking at doing and showing the alternatives if I can. You have a good start with those items and it should look great!
 
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