Greetings from Spain!

[Timotey]

Hello to all,
We usually decorate our house with lots of things at Christmas. Our last acquisition was an imitation tree about 4 meters high, which then you have to hold it well because where I live it is rare that there is no windy day in December.

But watching Youtube videos, I have thought of mounting a tree with LED, which can make animations, synchronize with music, etc.. Being from Europe, I have seen in the forum that ProPixeler sells controllers and other accessories. I still don't quite know how to get started though, so I'm going to read the PDF on the forum, which looks wonderful.

Thanks! I hope to post on the forum soon!

 

[Skymaster]

Hi Timothy! Welcome to ACL. Sounds like you have grabbed and started reading the 101 which is a great place to start, albeit a little dated.

If you're looking to start this year, it's not too late, but shipping of items might be a killer for you depending on where the supplier are closest to you. There is at least one or two places operating out of the UK that might work.

This video is a good starting point given the timer constraints.



Feel free to ask any questions or pop into chat, people here are always willing to help where they can.

 

[Timotey]

Hello everyone,

After studying the 101 manual, watching videos, and a few other things, I have some last initial doubts before making the first purchases.
I have decided on the Falcon F16v4 sold by a supplier in Europe. I'm going for something secure, with the maximum possible support.

Regarding the LED lights, considering the space I have at home, from where I will place the box with the Falcon and the power supply, there are about two meters to the megatree. I would put about 1000 pixels. The supplier has told me this:

“In general, the maximum amount of pixels supported on one output is about 1000 pixels. This is mostly because of the refresh rate. Your tree, for instance, can be created by combining several strings and connecting them to one port. Suppose you use 100 pixels per strand, then you could create a tree with 10 strands by splitting the first 500 on port1 and the next 500 on port2. If you then attach a star, you can use port3 for that. Or even attach it at the end of port2 (as long as you don't exceed the 1000 pixels).

In another direction would go about three singing faces. From the Falcon to the first, there would be 3 meters, and then I would connect one strip to another until covering the three with lights. All this would go on another port.

I don't know if that's too much distance. On the one hand, I understand that it would be better with 12V. I have a doubt whether to use regulated or unregulated pixels. And I wanted to ask you how much the thickness of the cable influences. I see some that come with 22AWG. Would they be too thin?

Thanks!!

 

[Indigogyre]

Hello,

So, while a port might be able to support up to 1000 pixels that is not always the case due to the refresh rate. for the Falcon controller using xLights as the sequencer if you run a 40 frames refresh rate you max out at a little bit above 700 pixels per port. If you use 20 frames refresh rate it increases. What frame rate you use is a personal issue, some people can see the difference between 20 and 40 while some cannot. Personally, I only run at 40 frames refresh rate.

Also, if you want to use the maximum number of pixels on a port you will need to power inject. Power injection can making setting up a little more difficult. I'm lazy and go with more ports over power injection.

There should be no issue with going up to 6 meters to a prop. I commonly run that length to props on my F16v4 controllers. It'll work 905 of the time and once in awhile for whatever reason the prop might not like it in which case you might need to run a 3 meter extension pixel boost / null pixel and run a 3 meter extension after that. For Halloween I ran 9 meter extension with no issues to a singing tree.

12v vs 5v is a personal choice and seems to be a more regional aligned oddly enough. 5v pixels need more power injection but run more efficiently and a little cooler.

Stick with 18AWG and that means to buy from a known supplier and not a random place that might seem to have a better deal on pixels. If there are problems you want to be able to go back to a vendor to discuss them. Some vendors might sell cheaper but they are not spaced properly or use thinner wire to help reduce costs. Which literally is a couple pennies per pixel. While it might not be practical when just starting up I learned it is easier to buy pixels in bulk instead of in small batches of maybe 1k or 2k at a time. It's also nice to have pre-made strings in different lengths between 50 and 100, and sometimes I miss shorter 25 pixel strings.