G'day from Tassie

[Whitey-]

Hello ladies and gents (and anyone else),

First year doing lights, I've done things backwards - ordered lights, cabling etc before finding this forum - whoops!

I took a photo yesterday when my aliexpress order arrived (ignore Megaman and the fs.com order, postage tends to batch in Tassie), I've got 6x5M rolls of IP65 (although ones labelled IP67 and has a blue wire - clock I believe) each with 60 LEDs per metre. I was able to light one of the reels up last night using my power supply (which I was very careful terminating, 240v scares the hell out of me) and run some simple sequences with the FastLED library via an Uno clone. Very cool!

I was inspired by the show of a gentleman in Cherrington Square in Wantirna South, VIC years ago - the whole street participated (I assume they still do), but his was the only programmed light/music synced show. I can't recall his name, but he was a lovely chap who I spoke to a couple of times and programmable LEDs have been in my head for years.

I'm a sysadmin by trade and a tinkerer by nature, so I'm keen to DIY everything possible, from controllers (ESP based ideally) to sequences.

I've read the full PDF guide (amazingly useful reference!) and watched a few videos, and have come to the conclusion the 1800 LEDs I have are likely not enough. I'd like to set up a 'LED screen' (matrix?) across the garage door for custom animations, then various things across the yard. I understand a mega tree is a standard right of passage too. I suppose I need to order some bullet style LEDs?

Anyway, very keen to participate - as I've finally not left it too late in the year - and keen to meet up with anyone in Tassie (I'm in Launceston) or anywhere - especially those going the bespoke controller route.

Cheers!

 

[Wayne1]

Welcome and good luck, doing a DYO controller is a step to far for me.

Oh and did you make the table?

 

[Whitey-]

Haha, the DIY woodworking, PVC piping etc that everyone else here is so skilled at is a bit beyond me! As such, I didn't, but it's Australian made (Tasmanian Oak) and lovely. It's on my backlog one day to try and buy a big slab of Huon pine and make my own.

 

[djgra79]

Welcome to ACL Whitey!
Glad you found the 101 useful, its the main reason people sign up for the site. Ask any questions you may have that you can't self-search on the forums, and of course pop into chat, there's ALWAYS someone there

 

[Whitey-]

Glad you found the 101 useful, its the main reason people sign up for the site.

It's the reason I conceded to signing up, and I'm glad I did, thanks!

Ask any questions you may have that you can't self-search on the forums

I think after the reading I've been doing I'm building up a shopping cart, and I'll definitely be making a post asking for feedback before hitting buy. Thanks djgra79!

 

[Johnnyboy]

I think after the reading I've been doing I'm building up a shopping cart, and I'll definitely be making a post asking for feedback before hitting buy. Thanks djgra79!

If you have a look at my built thread, it has quite a detailed list purchases to get going. Totally excessive, but that's how the hobby goes.

FYI, that estimate $/pixel number has increased unfortunately

 

[Indigogyre]

If you have a look at my built thread, it has quite a detailed list purchases to get going. Totally excessive, but that's how the hobby goes.

FYI, that estimate $/pixel number has increased unfortunately

@Whitey- , just to let you know what @Johnnyboy is doing for his first show is very ambitious (It's also very awesome to read, if I must say). A lot of the basics are the same but you can start a smaller if you want. Also, look for some for sale threads on here. lately there have been a few others looking to sell shows for one reason or another. Might be a cheaper quicker alternative to get up and running.

Remember the for Ps:
Pixels
Props
Power
Controllers

 

[Whitey-]

Hi all!

It's been a busy month but I'm ready to get back into this, being very concious I've got some ordering to do. I'm pretty sure if I can get what I need shipped before the end of October (seems feasible with local suppliers), I can spend October and the first half of November testing before putting everything out to mount.

I've set up a little 16x16 matrix to fiddle with in the last few weeks to see if my soldering skills are still up to scratch (two JST connectors on every line) and to ensure I understand how to control with my own controllers (arduino here, but the principles apply to ESP32).



I'm now ready to start ordering, but after reviewing the different things everyone's doing (including @Johnnyboy 's fantastic build thread!), I thought I might ask if anyone has any inputs on my house:



Sorry about the dodgey stitching. I plan to grab a proper 3D model once the birds in the area have settled (they've got babies and they're not at all fans of my drone flying around).

A few points:

- There will likely be fences/a gate on either side of the house filling the gaps to the back yard.
- The mount of dirt there will likely be behind a retaining wall and from street level, level with the bottom of the windows
- Unfortunately the street light pole isn't moving and is annoyingly going to be in the display (maybe I can run a string up it?)

I've been fiddling around in xLights and watching a few hours of Keith Westley's excellent videos on YouTube, and I'm thinking something like this:



I do really want to incorporate singing faces, although these look to be a challenge. I'd also like to set up a large LED matrix somewhere (the garage door makes the most sense to me).

I guess my other big questions are:

1. Recommendations on LED types.

After reading [this thread](https://auschristmaslighting.com/threads/gs8208-12v-pixel-strings-a-wildcard-third-option-for-the-5v-vs-12v-ws2811-question.14464/), I'm reasonably sure I want 12V GS8208 after reading this and the 101 guide.

2. Power injection/power supplies.

I'm currently running my test 5V WS2812B LEDs off a 20A/5V power supply as pictured above, and I expect I can grab the same form factor 20A/12V. I'm assuming I can inject ad infinitum off a single supply assuming a) I don't exceed the number of LEDs required for 20A (thankfully Ryan in the above thread has calculated the draw, so I can work this out) and b) I don't exceed the length of wiring to cause a voltage drop below a certain percentage (need to work out what the tolerance is.
I'm expecting I'll need to buy a number of supplies to handle both A and B here.

3. Bullets vs strips.

Looking around, most people seem to go the bullet path generally. This makes sense given prop runs etc. I'm unsure what the general rule is for roof outlines and other types of "straight runs" though. Maybe for a matrix too? It seems P5/P10 panels snapped together are most cost effective and common though?

4. Connecting things together.
Lots of people seem to be running whizz-bang water proof boxes with silicon tube exits for cables and really lovely 4 pin connectors. I'm expecting to run everything from within a base of operations (probably in the garage or run out a side window), but I assume there's a reason not everyone does this. Maybe cable lengths for power injection? Either way, I'd love some pointers on the connectors.

5. Speaking of cables...
I'm expecting to run 18 AWG copper cable for basically everything (12V, ground, data and clock/backup data). Is this the standard? I'm hoping I can grab 4 big reels of different colours. I expect most people go solder + heatshrink on these.



Thanks for reading this if you've gotten this far. I appreciate any input. I've been reading/watching heaps, so this is a bit of a brain dump of where I'm at.

 

[someoneAUS]

I'm new as in this will also be my first year but I'll have a crack at answers...

1) Gs8208 were my pick as someone starting this year. I ordered from Shiji, things to note is that the 'standard' is three pin and gs8208 is 4 pin that means getting everything becomes a little harder and you are unlikely to be able to borrow from a fellow CLAP enthusiast in a pinch. Shiji connectors are also smaller than the 'standard xconnect' connectors even in 4 pin. I believe YPS your pixel store has their new line of duo pixels which come with a 3 pin adaptor if specified and use the standard size connectors albeit in 4 pin. IMHO the tech is better but most people have not caught up just yet so expect some gotchas if you want to buy off the shelf.

3) bullets seem to be the go and friends don't let friends use strip. I have used strip under my gutters in Ali channel with no issues so far. Roof outlines and other straight runes is often drilled conduit but as with everything in this hobby you can kinda do what ever you like the look of. I came close to just pulling some bullets through air seeder hose and calling it a day but have now drilled many holes in conduit as it was the look I thought was better.

4) cable length is your enemy there. Higher voltage is more tolerant but you still need to spread things to keep voltages within tolerance. Xconnect is the 'standard' ray wu is also very common. I just ordered a bunch of the 4pin xconnect style connectors from Paul Zhang which is ETOP on Ali Express.

5) 18awg seems the standard. I have enough soldering to do with strip and props that don't have multiples of 50 pixels to want to do more so ordered pigtails and extensions in various lengths to hopefully save a bit of soldering on custom length cables. Speaking of saving on soldering you can get custom length strings from most of the vendors it seems which can save you some more soldering. Probably something I should have paid more attention to.

 

[LawrenceDriveLights]

I would keep everything very simply.

I would build as you have pictured, plus some house verticals, maybe leave the large garage matrix until next year.

Falcon Pixel Controller https://aus.pixelcontroller.com/store/featured/88-f16v5.html
plus some smart receivers https://aus.pixelcontroller.com/store/featured/86-srx1.html

I would mount your main controller for your MegaTree and use smear receivers to control your house outlines, arches, singing faces.

Keep everything simple and use 12v pixels, Or if your happy to power inject use 5v pixels.

https://www.lightitupleds-xmas.com.au may have some pixels available for shipping.
Also remember to order pigtails and extensions leads, suggest using xConnect type.
Grap a generic pixel tester also and a FM transmitter if you want to add music to your display.

https://www.extremelightingdisplays.com.au should have Coro singing faces, candy canes and Coro aches in stock.

Making your house outlines will take some time, so if in a hurry and for maximum impact maybe consider the following for this year.
Arches, candy, signing faces, Mega Tree and a Star for the Mega Tree.

You should be able to get that built if you order soon and use Aus sellers that have current stock.

 

[Whitey-]

I'm new as in this will also be my first year but I'll have a crack at answers...

Thank you, these are all incredibly valuable answers and I really appreciate them!

I would keep everything very simply.

I would build as you have pictured, plus some house verticals, maybe leave the large garage matrix until next year.

Falcon Pixel Controller https://aus.pixelcontroller.com/store/featured/88-f16v5.html
plus some smart receivers https://aus.pixelcontroller.com/store/featured/86-srx1.html

I would mount your main controller for your MegaTree and use smear receivers to control your house outlines, arches, singing faces.

Keep everything simple and use 12v pixels, Or if your happy to power inject use 5v pixels.

https://www.lightitupleds-xmas.com.au may have some pixels available for shipping.
Also remember to order pigtails and extensions leads, suggest using xConnect type.
Grap a generic pixel tester also and a FM transmitter if you want to add music to your display.

https://www.extremelightingdisplays.com.au should have Coro singing faces, candy canes and Coro aches in stock.

Making your house outlines will take some time, so if in a hurry and for maximum impact maybe consider the following for this year.
Arches, candy, signing faces, Mega Tree and a Star for the Mega Tree.

You should be able to get that built if you order soon and use Aus sellers that have current stock.

Thank you, these are great tips. I hadn't considered an FM transmitter or a pixel tester. The garage matrix is the one I'm most interested in as a computer enthusiast, but looking over the complexity already I think you're right.

I'll work through my spreadsheet and make my orders tomorrow, ta everyone!

 

[Whitey-]

Hey all,

Any feedback on the attached (my haphazard notes and my 'final' order list) would be appreciated, as I need to get ordering tomorrow (today now ). I met up with @LawrenceDriveLights who was super helpful and recommended I run 12v to avoid power injection... which I'm ignoring. But the rest of his advice was absolutely excellent!

One other question that popped into my mind. Are the 13.5mm pigtails synonymous with the Ray Wu connectors? I understand these are different to the xConnect ones?

Thanks once again for the feedback in advance!

Whitey

 

[thewanderingpine]

One thing to consider is string sizes. Having your windows be 100 instead of 98 would make things a lot simpler. Something like 118 - you need to splice a bunch of wires together (or get custom strings which you don’t have time for this year)

on the singing faces - consider if you want them all the same or all different.

have you considered adding something like chromatrim instead of drilling conduit?

 

[Whitey-]

One thing to consider is string sizes. Having your windows be 100 instead of 98 would make things a lot simpler. Something like 118 - you need to splice a bunch of wires together (or get custom strings which you don’t have time for this year)

Whoops, I actually made a few mistakes in this part of the spreadsheet - 2am changes I guess!

For clarity, I did the maths and worked out it's roughly 98 pixels per window, so I am planning to do 100 per window. The numbers look a bit weird as I (incorrectly) added my spinner (432) pixels at the last minute in the same area. 118 is for the megatree, but you're right - I was looking at 100 bullet strings and thinking aiming for 100 might be the way to go.

on the singing faces - consider if you want them all the same or all different.

Thanks! I was thinking the same. I've been looking at Extreme Lighting and I'm thinking 2x Jolly Roger and 2x Singing Chrismas Tree would do the job.

have you considered adding something like chromatrim instead of drilling conduit?

Thanks, I hadn't really. I'm not sure I understand the value proposition. ELD says it's designed to be mounted to 25mm PVC which needs cable tie holes, so it sounds like I'd still need the PVC?

Thanks!

 

[thewanderingpine]

The value prop is that you don’t need to drill 1300 holes (2600 kindof because it needs to be bigger on one side - step bit helps - but I never get it exact) — and all the holes are correctly spaced and in line for you. And the pixels might be easier to push. Given time constraints you have if you want to get it going this year - it seems like a worthwhile $60 to me.
(Full disclosure - I didn’t use it for my roof outlines and just have drilled conduit. But I’d be tempted by it now I think - and certainly in your case)