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AusChristmasLighting 101 Manual
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101 display basics
Help with first time display...
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[QUOTE="i13, post: 72564, member: 21708"] If you used a controller with more outputs then you shouldn't need to worry about power injection if you're only using 5 metres of strip per output and maybe up to 10. You can cut and join the strips to make them different lengths if you want to. The main thing to watch out for with both the PixLite 16 and the AlphaPix 16 is that they only support 340 pixels per output. The PixLite 4 and AlphaPix 4 support 680 per output. Those strips only have 10 pixels per metre even though they have 30 LEDs per metre. The decision of which controller to get is up to you and I believe they'd all work for your purposes. If you're happy to inject power then the only disadvantage of having more pixels per output is that if one pixel dies close to the controller, all of the ones after it won't work until you replace the dud one. The reason I mention the AlphaPix as a potential problem is that none of the experienced long-term forum members here use it and I don't think they will. That said, I don't have any PixLites or AlphaPix just because I already have enough other controllers. The biggest disadvantage that both the PixLite and AlphaPix have is they can only have one pixel type per controller at any time. You can still have pixel strings and strips together but they need to have similar chip types. Think of it as your pixels all need to speak the same language. J1sys controllers are more configurable but also more expensive. The F16v2 also allows multiple pixel types and it is exceptionally good value for money but it is only occasionally available as a group buy. I mentioned the data line in the strips, not a data strip. The strips have three wires at each end, positive and negative power plus the data to turn them on. Power injection is done due to voltage drop. The problem with only having one power supply is that voltage drop can occur in the long wires between the power supply and the lights. You can overcome this with DC-DC converters and a slightly higher voltage supply, you can add more power supplies or you can use much thicker cable. Although it doesn't damage anything, I have never taken chances with voltage drop so I don't know exactly where the limits are. You're almost right with injecting power. Connecting the power supply between every 2nd strip would be more than enough power injection and this leaves more room for voltage drop to occur between the power supply and lights without causing problems. You connect the negative and data line from strip to strip as you'd expect. This is how you should wire them if you want to inject power between every second strip: [LIST=1] [*]First strip - connect all three wires at the start to the controller. [*]Second strip - connect the negative and data wires at the start of this strip to the ones at the end of the first strip. Leave the positive wire at the start of the second strip disconnected. Connect power to the positive and negative wires at the far end of the second strip. [*]Third strip - connect all three wires to the end of the second strip where the power is. [*]Fourth strip - same as second strip [*]Fifth strip - same as third strip [/LIST] You can (but don't need to) connect the positive between the first and second strips if you're only using one power supply AND you're not using fuses. [/QUOTE]
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