Building my first Mega Tree??

[Porsche]

Hay guys, was chasing some advice from the experience you have had.
Im in the process on building a mini/mega tree (approx 3.6m). this will be for next years show but while ive got a few weeks off over Dec Im going to get stuck into it.
Ive dedicated the controller i bought from David DC48 to it. I plan on running 16 strings from the tree (32 strings actually, each 1 string will go down and then up), using RGB strings (dumb).
Ive been looking at Ray Wu's strings, can anyone advise on what the best size (8mm-12mm), and spacing between LED's would be good for this tree. I was hoping to use 12v.

Or if theres anything else out there that would suit??
I might leave it a few years before I venture into the intelligent RGB game..
Cheers

 

[David_AVD]

The typical dumb RGB strings from Ray Wu use 8mm LEDs but are sometimes called 12mm pixels because that's the hole diameter they fit into. This is why you'll see 8mm / 12mm used for the same type of lights.

 

[Porsche]

ok thanks David, would these be a good option?
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/IP68-DC12V-input-12mm-led-string-light-RGB-color-100pcs-a-string/312912_592869423.html
or am I heading down the wrong path with this tree??

 

[David_AVD]

I haven't bought any dumb pixels for a while so not sure of the best value for money out there.

The 12V versions (linked to) are more tolerant of voltage drop but consume more power than the 5V ones.

The main thing is to pick one with a good (IP68) water ingress rating.