Hello from Huntingdale in Victoria

jcarlton

New elf
Joined
Dec 31, 2013
Messages
8
Location
Huntingdale
Thank you everyone for the welcome and various tips and suggestions.

Fing said:
Hi Jason,
have a quick look at my singing faces video, it shows my house outline strip a bit closer than normal and you can see the individual LEDs although the camera still blurred them a bit.

That was one of the first things (apart from the wonderful coro creations) that I noticed when I saw your post.
I think I'll stick with my original plan for pixel string an see how it turns out.
I'm sure I can find a use for a few hundred pixels if I eventually come to the conclusion that I should have went with the strip all along.

I hoping that the community can assist with a couple of queries I have that I can't answer myself after searching the wiki and forums.
  • Can anyone confirm whether the Ray Wu 31v power supplies have voltage adjustment capability? I assumed they did, but looking now at the pictures of the power supply it's not obvious whether they do or not. I'm planning to forgo Meanwell power supplies to keep costs in check.
  • I would also appreciate some thoughts on the below Hakko 936 clone that I'm considering for my first soldering station
    Yihua YH936C Soldering Iron Station. AU $38.99 delivered, or AU $45.99 delivered with 10 additional tips
  • Are there any C7 or C9 covers available that fit the standard 12mm square/flat pixels (string) available from Ray Wu? I've ruled out purchasing Technicolor pixels as I've yet to see any confirmation that the reliability issues are now a thing of the past, plus they would cost twice as much as basic pixels with covers (if available). I've found the following products, but can't find any confirmation that these fit (ie. clip on) this style of pixel without the need for glue.
Note that there is currently 10% off eBay Australia (Min Spend $100, Max Discount $300, 3 Transactions, Excludes Postage, ends at 23.59 (AEDT) on Friday 12 February 2016) in case anyone needed to stock up on anything.
 

i13

Dedicated elf
Joined
Jul 5, 2013
Messages
1,172
You could ask Ray Wu for a 31V supply with voltage adjustment. I'm sure he could supply that.


Soldering irons are one of those things that you'll use so much that it'll be worth getting one a bit better than you expect you'll need.
I use a 60 Watt soldering station from Jaycar and it gets up to temperature nicely. There has only been one time when it has struggled when set to flat-out. I was joining stranded 4 AWG and 8 AWG wires together and it only just managed to do it with the help of binding wire to hold the join. This powered a large number of 5V pixels. I was given this link by smartalec in chat.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/wep937d-Digital-Display-60W-Soldering-Iron-Station-6-Tip-Lead-Welding-Kit-/311398330239?hash=item4880c96f7f:g:WEQAAOSwT6pVtct7
No idea how good it is but the soldering stations with digital displays often display the actual temperature of the soldering iron at the time as well as the exact temperature setting. Not sure if this one does.
There is a good thread about soldering stations here http://auschristmaslighting.com/forums/index.php/topic,18.0.html
 
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