HELP! What do I need for a mega tree?

[thewanderingpine]

So the Ringwood Costco had some of the twinkly lights on sale a week ago. $69 for 600 pixels at about 8cm spacing. If you can find them still in stock at that price - you could grab 6 packs for $414. Do each strand an up-and-back - and you’d have 36 strands of 100 pixels for just under 4m. Then you’d need to work out a pole/topper/base.

twinkly stuff comes with controller and power supply and has an app for doing neat effects.

 

[Adsy]

Thats about the best you could hope for honestly. Can barely buy 1k of pixels for that

 

[christmasmatt]

Would they work with x lights? And do you have a photo or item number of them? I’m trying to find them

 

[Johnnyboy]

Would they work with x lights? And do you have a photo or item number of them? I’m trying to find them

They can work with xLights but it does take some setting up. A quick google found this document (no idea if it works or not)
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://ahlights.info/Twinkly/SettingupTwinklyLightswithXlights.pdf

Costco has its own brand of Twinkly lights called Lumations, very similar stuff to Twinkly.

Lumations Twinkly App-Controlled RGB Lights | Costco Aust...

Get creative this holiday with Lumations Twinkly’s App-Controlled RGB LED Lights. Download the Twinkly app, connect it to your mobile device through Bluetooth and the possibilities are endless for creating a beautiful light show. Make customisations by changing the effects, colours and speed of...

www.costco.com.au

The equivalent Twinkly branded stuff is https://www.lightsuponline.com.au/p...k-wire-4-sizes-options?variant=39964637069384

If xLights is your end goal. Start playing around with xLights and design the mega tree you want and start playing with effects. Then you will know if the number of lights/pixels will give the results you are after. Then find the product that suits.

 

[christmasmatt]

Thanks so much for your help.

Last question, if my tree is ~3.75m tall and ~1.9m wide at the bottom, how big should my star be?
Where should I get one from?

 

[Skymaster]

It's up to the look you're going for. My tree is taller (4.5m) but skinnier (1.2m at base) and I have a 90cm star which personally for me I like.

ChromaStar 36″ (92cm) – Extreme Lighting Displays

www.extremelightingdisplays.com.au

I use the 3 ring version of this.

 

[Adsy]

For the height @Skymaster makes a good choice. Mine is 3m with a 800mm 6 ring star from ink creations

 

[christmasmatt]

It's up to the look you're going for. My tree is taller (4.5m) but skinnier (1.2m at base) and I have a 90cm star which personally for me I like.

ChromaStar 36″ (92cm) – Extreme Lighting Displays

www.extremelightingdisplays.com.au

I use the 3 ring version of this.

Does that include lights?

 

[thewanderingpine]

No

 

[christmasmatt]

No

which lights do i need to put in them? where do I get them?

 

[Johnnyboy]

which lights do i need to put in them? where do I get them?

If you are looking to stick with Twinkly/Luminations then Christmas Props Australia sells some Twinkly compatible props such as this star that would work. It is 570mm wide so should match the size of the mega tree you are planning to construct nicely.

Twinkly Star - Christmas Props Australia

This is a 100 node Twinkly Star designed for Twinkly Gen2 Lights Measures approximately 571mm (22.5″) wide Double Row Material is 10mm heavy duty black or white coroflute Designed in the UK. Manufactured in AUSTRALIA

christmaspropsaustralia.com.au

Note, most of Christmas Props Australia's website are not compatible with Twinkly lights.

Most people looking to explore fully controllable lighting use 12mm pixels such as these linked below. If you go down this path there are a lot of extra things you need and the costs/time/DIY aspects go up considerably.

WS2811 Addressable BULLET LED Pixel Diffused 12mm RGB IP68 12V DC 500PCS XCONNECT Pigtails | Light it Up LEDs Xmas

RESISTOR PIXELS100pcs/string 18awg addressable DC12V Smart WS2811 Bullet led pixel ip68 ALL Black wire with XCONNECT PIGTAILS... RESISTOR TYPE PIXELS RGB ADDRESSABLE.PACKAGE INCLUDES : 500 PIXELS/ 100 COUNT STRINGS 5 STRINGS of WS2811 IP68 18AWG BLACK WIRE 10CM(4INCH) SPACING BETWEEN PIXELS WITH...

www.lightitupleds-xmas.com.au

 

[bngoofy]

Do you have any specific lights you think I should get and where could I get them? Where can I buy this Raspberry Pi?

Look at Mattosdesigns.com for hardware and they sell pixels that are very low power consumption and bright. just 8ma per node. i set up a 6400 pixel tree this year with 4 LOR Pixie 16. Basic patterns are all in xLights