Altronics Kits

gonetopilbara

New elf
Joined
Dec 15, 2012
Messages
1
Hi all,


This year (fingers crossed) I want to do a lightshow using a controller and music.


I am a bit confused as to what I should buy and am considering kits from Altronics


They have several kits
K5804
K5885
K5886
K5887


The guy in the Perth store didn't know too much about them and I was wondering if someone can suggest what I should start out with and do the instructions actually show me how to hook the lights up?


Also can rope lights be hooked up to a controller?


Any help would be much appreciated for this beginner.


I apologies if I should have searched longer in the forums for this info
 

fasteddy

I have C.L.A.P
Global moderator
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Apr 26, 2010
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Albion Park NSW
If its a kit you want and you want to use pixels then i would suggest using a sandevices E682 as this offers excellent value and allows you to build the board and then run pixel lights through E1.31 which is supported by all the major software in the hobby.

But i think what is important first is for you to explain what lights you want to run (voltage, ac or dc) and what plans you have as this will help make the choice easy
 

adski

Dave Brown
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Feb 15, 2012
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203
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Two Wells, SA
The Altronics kits are designs that were published in Silicon Chip magazine over the last couple of years. Ignoring the first one, which is a musicolour, they may be OK for your first year or two, but they have serious limitations:

- they are incompatible with any other system of Xmas lighting,
- they can control an absolute maximum of only 32 channels,
- on a per-channel basis, they are quite expensive,
- you'd be struggling to find anyone else on this forum (or probably any other forum) who uses them, so community support would be hard to find.

For an excellent intro to the Christmas lighting scene, check Eddy's AusChristmasLighting 101 Manual at this thread.

Dave
 

Bird

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Nov 8, 2011
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Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Welcome.gif

to ACL

First the disclaimer
Joining these forums and entering the chat room can give you CLAP!!! :D
Christmas Lighting Addiction Problem

As already suggested the AusChristmasLighting 101 manual is a great resource for most all things lighting.

If you have any questions don't ever hesitate ask. The many friendly folks here will be glad to help.
 

AAH

I love blinky lights :)
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Dec 27, 2010
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4,188
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Eaglehawk
I bought 1 of these master kits and dc kits over a year ago to have a play with and see how it worked not to actually control my lights. I only soldered the last component in last night as a coincidence. Based on the specs they seemed like they were a decent kit. I've never actually ran the sequencing software to see what it is like to use.
The K8556 is suitable for 240V AC lights like rope lights

If you do decide that you want 1 I have http://www.altronics.com.au/index.asp?area=item&id=K5885 and http://www.altronics.com.au/index.asp?area=item&id=K5887 assembled that you can have for the cost of the 2 kits. PM me if you are interested.

If you're looking at going large with your lights then http://auschristmaslighting.com/wiki/Controllers is great place for comparing different AC and DC controllers.
 

PhilW

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Aug 9, 2016
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I bought 1 of these master kits and dc kits over a year ago to have a play with and see how it worked not to actually control my lights. I only soldered the last component in last night as a coincidence. Based on the specs they seemed like they were a decent kit. I've never actually ran the sequencing software to see what it is like to use.
The K8556 is suitable for 240V AC lights like rope lights

If you do decide that you want 1 I have http://www.altronics.com.au/index.asp?area=item&id=K5885 and http://www.altronics.com.au/index.asp?area=item&id=K5887 assembled that you can have for the cost of the 2 kits. PM me if you are interested.

If you're looking at going large with your lights then http://auschristmaslighting.com/wiki/Controllers is great place for comparing different AC and DC controllers.

Hi, longshot this is but have you still got the Altronic K5885 ??

Thanks
 
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