Help with Buying Materials for a 48x50 Mega Tree

[johnson8ryley]

Hi all,

I'm looking at building or buying a kit to make a 360degree mega tree that has 48 pixel strands with 50 pixels per strand with 3" spacing.
Initially, I was turned on to holidaycoro's presale as they have a great sale going on and their plug and play kit includes everything, no wiring needed. However, after speaking with a rep of HolidayCoro, they quoted me $1200 total! This included a $700 48 output SPI controller, 4 meanwell power supplies and 48 strands of their pixels that I know are cheaper on Ray Wu.

I can piece together a kit on my own for much cheaper, but idk what parts I need which is what I'm hoping you guys can help me with. I'm not familiar with mega tree setups and other miscellaneous supplies like the topper and other things. However I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty and do power injection myself which would save me a lot of money (especially if I bought a 16 output controller from holidaycoro on sale for $249 which could handle all of my pixels). The tree should be about 12.5" tall and 6.5" wide.

What I'm getting at here is, holidaycoro has a great plug and play option for $1200 with no hassles. But I know I can piece one together for cheaper. I just dont know what all I need. Maybe there's a listing somewhere but is there a list of things I need like strain relief tabs, pixnode extreme strip mounting strip, and probably others.

Help would be appreciated asap because their controller ends January 31st. It's $150 cheaper than falcon's controller, and also supports flex expansion boards. Would love to see what your guys recommendations or lists are that I need to buy. I know a 16 channel controller will be fine, but i'm worried about things I'll leave out.

thank you, you wonderful peopl!

 

[uncledan]

I would avoid Holidaycoro for anything... F16v3 with expansion can easily run this tree @100% if needed. I have a 48x110 tree with F16v3 and two expansions and can run @100% if needed. HC's "Plug and Play" still requires a fair amount of work. I would check out overkill metal products on FB for the topper. HC's topper is trash.. I know from experience as mine almost broke. This pic of QT3 after I supported with 1/2" plate on top...

View: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5q4l80tzrkgd7v5/Photo%20Nov%2006%2C%209%2019%2008%20AM.jpg?dl=0

 

[i13]

There is a recently active thread about tree toppers. I'm not sure how this'll work with you located in America though. https://auschristmaslighting.com/threads/12635/

On the topic of controllers, HolidayCoro damaged their reputation here around 2015 when they started selling the AlphaPix controllers in place of PixLite. There aren't many Australians who will recommend HolidayCoro. You can read about it in these threads if you want to know more:
https://auschristmaslighting.com/threads/7180/ (near the end of the thread)
https://auschristmaslighting.com/threads/7502/ _

The Falcon F16v3 without an expansion board supports 680 pixels per output at 40 frames per second. It will support more pixels per output but putting more pixels on any one output lowers the frame rate of the whole controller. If you have 1020 pixels per output then it drops to 20 frames per second. For comparison, the AlphaPix 16 only supports 340 pixels per output. For the F16v3 and original F48, adding expansions allows you to divide up the number of pixels supported across more outputs. For the F4v3, it increases the total number of pixels supported. It seems that Falcon will release newer controllers this year which support 700 pixels per output at 40 frames per second. These will support 48 outputs of 700 pixels each although I assume that expansions will be needed for the F16v4 to do this. There is an announcement about it here https://falconchristmas.com/forum/index.php/topic,13929/
Another option which seems to support an enormous number of pixels is the Kulp range at https://kulplights.com/

I realise that the above paragraph looks like a heap of numbers in a sentence. I'm just pointing out that the Falcon controllers support significantly more pixels in total than the AlphaPix. The Kulp controllers and future Falcons support even more.

There are a few mega tree build threads on the forums here including:

Build guide - ԆцряєсϮ's Mega Tree Guide

OK due the amount of interest generated in my Tree build, Ive decided to write up a guide of sorts for those that are keen on how it was done. Just let me say that as a guide writer I make a pretty good fisherman so you'll have to take it as it is. Cheers Rod

auschristmaslighting.com

Build guide - My Mega Tree

The first prop I decided to build was a mega tree. The design is - 180 degrees, 24 strings, 75 pixels per string, 50mm spacing, total 900 pixels. Approx 4M tall plus 1M for star. Star is currently 69 pixels in one layer but I will probably add another one or two layers for next year The...

auschristmaslighting.com

Build guide - Lawrence Drive Lights MegaTree Build

Hi all, Here is how I am looking to build my MegaTree Mega Tree Build View: https://www.dropbox.com/s/iwnzfjw4gxhjt8m/Poppy%20Face%20Pic.jpg?dl=0 Quick dodgy video of “Trial set up” of MegaTree in garage https://www.dropbox.com/s/2wiyg56ww50nbgt/Video 9-4-18, 9 08 16 pm.mov?dl=0...

auschristmaslighting.com

Build guide - BooY's MegaTree Build

Hey guys, Thought I would start to put together a thread on my Megatree build, those of you in chat would know I linger in there a fair bit and post up photos of the slow progress. The base plan is pretty similar to what a lot of poeple are doing. Aim is for a 6m Tree with 40 Strings across a...

auschristmaslighting.com

 

[johnson8ryley]

I would avoid Holidaycoro for anything... F16v3 with expansion can easily run this tree @100% if needed. I have a 48x110 tree with F16v3 and two expansions and can run @100% if needed. HC's "Plug and Play" still requires a fair amount of work. I would check out overkill metal products on FB for the topper. HC's topper is trash.. I know from experience as mine almost broke. This pic of QT3 after I supported with 1/2" plate on top...

View: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5q4l80tzrkgd7v5/Photo%20Nov%2006%2C%209%2019%2008%20AM.jpg?dl=0

Thanks for pointing out that their topper isn't the best Dan. Also, I see that a lot of people point out Falcon's expansion capability, but holidaycoro's boards also support expansion and long range expansion. So I guess I'm confused as to why people use the expansion argument for falcon boards when HC's boards can expand in the same manner.

 

[uncledan]

Thanks for pointing out that their topper isn't the best Dan. Also, I see that a lot of people point out Falcon's expansion capability, but holidaycoro's boards also support expansion and long range expansion. So I guess I'm confused as to why people use the expansion argument for falcon boards when HC's boards can expand in the same manner.

I don't follow Holiday Coro and the controllers they offer. I just know they tend to be two steps behind Falcon and Boscoyo after copying everything they do. I've purchased a lot from Holiday Coro and will never buy ANYTHING again. VERY poor customer service. I spent 10k+ my first year with HC was treated very poorly over 2 failed power supplies. I DO NOT RECOMMEND HOLIDAY CORO FOR ANYTHING! Just to be clear You will find much more support for the Falcon controllers on any forum and DPitts has been great when I needed to contact him

 

[johnson8ryley]

On the topic of controllers, HolidayCoro damaged their reputation here around 2015 when they started selling the AlphaPix controllers in place of PixLite. There aren't many Australians who will recommend HolidayCoro. You can read about it in these threads if you want to know more:
https://auschristmaslighting.com/threads/7180/ (near the end of the thread)
https://auschristmaslighting.com/threads/7502/ _

Finally someone explains to me why shade is thrown at HC all the time. While I don't like this one bit, I will say that buyers can choose to buy from who they wish. If it is true that HC copied Advatek's CPU, shame on them. But 5 years later and HC has grown and people continue to buy from them. That is truly a shame though to Advatek If that is the case.

If you have 680 pixels per output then it drops to 20 frames per second. For comparison, the AlphaPix 16 only supports 340 pixels per output. For the F16v3 and original F48, adding expansions allows you to divide up the number of pixels supported across more outputs. For the F4v3, it increases the total number of pixels supported. It seems that Falcon will release newer controllers this year which support 700 pixels per output at 40 frames per second. These will support 48 outputs of 700 pixels each although I assume that expansions will be needed for the F16v4 to do this

Sort of off topic but if HC did in fact copy their chip design, how is it that Advatek is now able to push 1020 pixels per output? Did advatek find a way to innovate their controllers which left HC in the dust, or how is that technically possible? (I'm majoring in electrical engineering so my inner nerd is coming out).

I think what I will do is swoop in and buy someones used F16v3 when the F16v4 goes on sale. It sounds like owning one of their controllers will be better for my show long run. I will say though, the ready 2 run kits are enticing for simplicity sake. That and all of HC boards offers expansions now. I know one thing though: if I was buying a controller to run my whole house or yard, it would be a F16v3 and not a HC board. I think the only real benefit of owning a HC board is if you're only planning to add it to a kit and not control a whole yard/display.

PS thank you @i13 for all those links! When I get time to start ordering things, I'll check those out

 

[johnson8ryley]

I don't follow Holiday Coro and the controllers they offer. I just know they tend to be two steps behind Falcon and Boscoyo after copying everything they do. I've purchased a lot from Holiday Coro and will never buy ANYTHING again. VERY poor customer service. I spent 10k+ my first year with HC was treated very poorly over 2 failed power supplies. I DO NOT RECOMMEND HOLIDAY CORO FOR ANYTHING! Just to be clear You will find much more support for the Falcon controllers on any forum and DPitts has been great when I needed to contact him

I am seeing that is more and more the trend of people receiving bad customer service from them. But surprisingly, this year I bought their 10 channel dumb rgb controller, their RGB coro stars, and RGB coro candy canes (not knowing the controversy about them beforehand) and I spoke with their customer service 3 times when I ran into build issues and networking issues and surprisingly everything went smoothly. Clearly I am the exception lol

 

[uncledan]

I am seeing that is more and more the trend of people receiving bad customer service from them. But surprisingly, this year I bought a 10 channel dumb rob controller, their RGB coro stars, and RGB coro candy canes (not knowing the controversy about them beforehand) and I spoke with their customer service 3 times when I ran into build issues and networking issues and surprisingly everything went smoothly. Clearly I am the exception lol

Maybe DMoore the owner isnt handling customer service anymore. Would be a smart business move... He was my only correspondence and it wasnt great

 

[i13]

Answering the question about how Advatek's controller supports 1020 pixels per output, the AlphaPix was released just before Advatek released their PixLite 16 MKII which is the one that supports 1020 pixels per output. The regular PixLite 16 still supports 340 pixels per output. While I don't see the regular PixLite currently listed on Advatek's website, they were previously selling it alongside the MKII. The irony is that HolidayCoro probably could have sold the PixLite MKII if they hadn't swapped out the PixLite range with AlphaPix.

Like uncledan, I don't know many details about HolidayCoro's controllers (e.g. the HinksPix) that have come out since they replaced the PixLite with the AlphaPix. It is unusual for anyone to ask about them here due to them being so uncommon in this community.

I don't think there's much to gain from buying a ready-to-run controller from any vendor. All that they have done is place a controller in a box with a power supply. It doesn't take out much of the required effort to set up a display and nor does it take your requirements into account. You might want an expansion board or a second power supply in the same box and it generally won't fit. Using myself as an example, I like to have the power supply near the pixels instead of the controller because pixels draw significantly more current than the controller. I can get the smaller current to travel the distance from the power supply to the controller without worrying about voltage drop causing the controller to misbehave because the controller doesn't draw enough current for voltage drop to cause problems. Having the power supply near the controller and further from the pixels would mean that I'd have to put more effort into avoiding voltage drop causing incorrect pixel colours because the larger current would have to travel further. This is especially relevant when running multiple items from one central controller. You'll also run out of power supply capacity before you reach the controller's maximum number of pixels with power injection so the included power supply in a ready-to-run setup isn't sufficient on its own.

Edit: I'm also thinking about the point where you say customers can choose to buy from whoever they wish. This is true. Most of us have lighting as a long-term hobby which is why we support the teams like Falcon, Kulp and Advatek who innovate. While it's generally possible to copy a controller and knock a little bit off of the price, it's the innovators that increase the value for money in the long run because they develop controllers that run more pixels than we've ever seen before. I don't feel that it is up to me to definitively label the AlphaPix as a copy but it matched and didn't exceed the capabilities of the PixLite.

Edit again: I should also point out the pixel mounting technique that lithgowlights uses. He uses thin rope and cable ties the pixels to it with them pointing upwards. Judging by his display videos, it makes the strands at the back of the tree visible because their light isn't so directional. The more common mounting strap method results in the pixels pointing outwards so the strands at the back aren't so visible. I'm not claiming that either method is better or worse but the effect is different.