Hello from the US, Florida

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BrianZ

Full time elf
Joined
Jan 2, 2021
Messages
101
Location
Miami, Fl.
Hello all!! I’m excited to be here and begin this hobby because I love Christmas. I’ve been doing plenty of research before Christmas 2020 to get started with pixel lighting. I’ve learned some good information, but still confused about what controller to start off with based on my ideas and display. But it’s fine, I just have to keep reading and asking questions.
 
Hi Brian. Welcome to ACL. If you have not already, download and read the ACL 101 Manual. I would also suggest browzing the other ACL sections. Those have and/or can provide ideas for your display and solutions to problems that you may encounter. There is also the Chat Room for questions or a conversation. Canispater Christmas has a set of RGB pixel videos on YouTube which covers mostly hardware from a hand-on perspective. I've watched most of them and they are pretty good.
 
Thank you for the reply and I've already started reading the manual which has great information. I've also watched some of his videos as well and are very informative. My confusion comes in what type of controller to start with to power about 40' of icicle lights on the roof trim, garage, front door, and four windows. Since I'll be placing my controller in the garage, it looks like the Falcon F16v3 will power all these lights, but I think I'll have to increase the power supply because of all the lights required and power injecting, am I right? Based on my estimate, I think I'll be below 1024 pixel lights which is what the board can run. In the future, I'd like to light up several trees which I can use receivers for. I hope I'm on the right track, but I'll keep reading and watching videos. Thanks again.
 
Generally speaking you want to have your power supplies and controllers as close to the props as you can. Everything in the garage doesnt work well with pixels generally. Voltage drop and data degradation are two of the biggest hurdles in this hobby for me... To clarify each output of F16v3 is 1024 pixels, not the whole controller. Maybe post a pic of your layout in xLights. Its easier to give recommendations when you can visualize a layout and pixel count and voltage for each prop. I prefer lots of smaller controllers such as F4v3 and differential receivers myself to keep data runs short
 
Oh I see, thanks for that info. Maybe I can use the F4 for the icicles and garage and use another for the windows and front door. But I’ll play around with xlights. Thanks again. Just trying to find the best option for my setup. But didn’t know xlights can help with that. Very nice.
 
According to Falcon's specs, maxed out a F48 and F16 can handle 16,320 pixels and a F4 12,288 pixels. Unfortunately those are not practical as the controllers are going to struggle trying to maintain outputs to all of them. Most individuals load outputs no more than somewhere in the 800 pixel range for a 20 fps refresh rate or 600 or so for a 40 fps refresh rate. If you decide on a F4, with 2 expansion receivers you will have 12 ports for pixels. Even at the maybe 600 pixels per port nearly 7000 pixels if that many and their wiring fits into your display design.
 
Ok great, this sounds right. My confusion comes in...why would I use multiple F4’s instead of using one F4 and multiple receivers? But I understand, i can only daisy chain 3 receivers. So, I’ll put my home into xlights, and will it help me decide the power neeeded? Or maybe one F4 for the icicle lights and garage and the receivers for the 4 windows and front door. Does power injecting go directly to the power supply? Or can I use an available port to power inject minus the data?
 
As far as I know F4v3 and diff expansion is two receivers MAX. The key is short data runs and not having the whole house on one controller for me. I have (5) F4v3, (3) F16v3. All of which have expansions or differential expansions. More controllers and more ports is better in my opinion. I know from experience how much it sucks when pixel one is bad and you have 1,000 pixels on that output. Lots of darkness.. Just because it can do 1,000+ pixels per port doesnt mean its a good idea. The key is placing controllers and psu's as close to the props as you can. I would utilize the F4v3 to its capabilities by adding the diff expansion and two receivers before adding another F4v3. The F4v3 with diff expansion is basically the same as (3) F4v3's at about half the cost.
 
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Ok great, makes sense. I understand what the smart receivers are from Falcon, but what is a diff. expansion? Is it another F4 board attached to the original?
 
That would be the expansion interface (board) that plugs into the falcon F16v3 or F4v3 controller. The F4 version is a daughter board style. The F16 uses ribbon cables; #2 if present connects into #1 which if present plugs into the controller itself; can't have #2 without #1. Something that confuses individuals is the F16 and F48 share ports depending upon how many smart receivers are connected. The F4 does not. Each smart receiver on a F4 adds another 4 ports of 1020 or so pixels.
The F48 does not have/use an expansion board because it itself is the differential expansion (all those RJ-45 connectors). The F48 connects only to receivers. Another point to keep in mind is there is an older version of receiver which does not daisy chain like the newer smart receiver.
 
Ok gotcha. Thanks for all the great info.!! I’m going to start with xlights and plot my display and work from there.
 
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