Hello from Newborough, VIC

cleefy

cleefy

New elf
Joined
Nov 13, 2017
Messages
10
G'day,

A bit of back story from me... I've been doing basic Christmas lights since my girlfriend (now wife) gave in about 4 years ago. Our current house has a fairly big and bushy front yard, so I was unable to put my lights up last year, and wont be able to this year either.

We're building a new home which will have a very nice facade and big front yard, and it will be fingers crossed built in time for Christmas in 2018! So with that in mind, I've been lurking for the past few days getting the low down on pixels, sequencing etc. etc.

I've read the 101 guide, and it cleared up a few concepts for me. I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to electrical stuff, but I know how to join wires, solder, use a multimeter etc. Where I think I'll do well is with the computer side of things, being an IT geek for a day job.

So my plans at the moment are to get my hands on some pixels and figure out how they work. I don't care when they arrive, as I'm not planning a display for this year. I'm thinking of starting small, and make some pixel based candy canes out of corflute... anyone care to comment on my 'shopping list' below?
I'll obviously need to get my hands on a power supply too, but am open to suggestions on this (plus the above!)

My intention is to eventually move on to a Falcon F16v3 controller and start sequencing a display to music. Baby steps though.

Thanks for reading :) I look forward to your replies.
 
Welcome to ACL, great bunch of gals & guys, the 101 is the starter and multiple reads do help, chatt online here is also helpful for those troublesome problems.
I have same nodes in my candy canes,( work a treat, 5 Years old and going strong) Power supply from Ray are fine but buy two just to have a spare or a Meanwell pwr from Hanson's. Xlights or vixen (xlights i use - big users and regular updates from devs. As well as very helpful on their web site) both are free.
Sounds like you are on the right track. There are some free sequences that you can download and use as guide to see how people have developed their effects.
Cheers and good luck
Boof63
 
Welcome to ACL. This is only my second year with pixels, like you I have a background in IT which certainly helped. If you are interested in chatting I am in Warragul, just down the road. Come down in December and have a look. Lights are on from 1st - 31st December. We are in Kewell Court.
 
Thanks everyone for the tips.

pookie, I'd love to come down to have a look and hopefully bend your ear a little!

I've started to order some gear this morning so I can start playing.
 
Welcome to ACL!
You've done the right thing, start off small and nice and early for the new year!
Feel free to jump into chat at any time or the zoom conference calls on Friday evenings each week. Great way to quickly swap ideas and get answers.
PS, if you're building a new home, make sure you get some additional power outlets outside or in the garage to help power the lights - and if you REALLY want to get serious, you could always get some conduit piping buried in the front yard to help run cables and hide them off the lawn once completed :)
 
djgra79 said:
Welcome to ACL!
You've done the right thing, start off small and nice and early for the new year!
Feel free to jump into chat at any time or the zoom conference calls on Friday evenings each week. Great way to quickly swap ideas and get answers.
PS, if you're building a new home, make sure you get some additional power outlets outside or in the garage to help power the lights - and if you REALLY want to get serious, you could always get some conduit piping buried in the front yard to help run cables and hide them off the lawn once completed :)
Click to expand...

I've put additional outdoor points on our electrical plan for this purpose!
 
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