Hi from Lindfield NSW

S

Steve Galos

New elf
Joined
Aug 11, 2018
Messages
3
Hi all, I have been looking at ways of doing a "sequenced to music" xmas light show (after many years of Bunnings / kmart type lights).

I have been looking at lots of great information from here, so thanks to the people who provide this.

In a nut shell looks like
1) I need a program to control the LED lights, looks like most people as using the xlights program (is it actually free? or do you have to pay a yearly fee etc?)

2. I need something to control the LED lights, something like this https://www.pixelcontroller.com/store/index.php?id_product=48&controller=product

3. I need some controllable LED lights. Is something like this ok https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/5M-150-...ws2811+led&_from=R40&rt=nc&_trksid=m570.l1313

I have a couple of questions if I may ask

What sort of power units do you use for the LED's?

How do you connect the LED's to the controller?

Thanks, I am sure I have a couple of more questions later on if that's ok

Regards

Steve
 
Welcome Steve.

Xlights is free, although you can donate a few bucks if you wish.

The Falcon controllers are popular. Member @darylc sells them over here.

Most people tend to avoid eBay for pixels and power supplies and go with Ray Wu or others from China.

Check out the ACL101 manual. It has a ton of info that you'll find useful.
 
Welcome to ACL Steve!
Ray's site can be a little difficult to navigate and find things, but you can always find items you think you need and post in a forum thread or over in chat for confirmation if you're not too sure. Also, you can probably save a few bucks by emailing Ray directly and asking for a quote on the items you need, as he generally saves a bit on postage by going direct instead of through his Aliexpress page.

Cheers, Graham
 
Welcome to the wonderful lights of Dizzy. Click on any of the coloured text and you'll follow a link to the product.

The lights can be daunting at first, but read the manual, put it down, pick it up and read it again and again and again.
Jump into Chat or post a thread like you have done here. Someone is bound to jump in and set you in the right direction.
As far as programming goes most people here use xlights. Which is free, but you can always make a donation, if you so desire - and the developers would appreciate it
As far as controllers go. It's personal choice, though most use the Falcon board. I myself have a dumb light display using LightORama boards and do not have a falcon board.
It's a very well developed board with lots of help available through AusChristmasLights, Facebook groups and the manufacturer.
Depending on you want to do, it has expansion boards and version3 is set to go 'WiFi".
You can control the board with a computer, a Pi, or a BeegleBone or Micro SD card

Lights from Ebay are generally avoided as the quality is not as good as those from Ray Wu over at aliexpress. When you want something from Ray, get him to give you a quote - his freight rate is always cheaper than the Aliexpress rate. Depending what you want to do, most of us use strings rather than strips. They are easier to handle and easier to replace any defective pixel that may arise. Strips do have there place too.
You can also get custom builds from 'Ray. eg. Pixel strings @ your specific spacing.
The power supplies are called PSU's (also available from Ray) and are available in different voltages - 5 v or 12V being commonly used for pixels.
Pixels are available in 5 volt and 12 volt. The 12 volt is stepped down to 5 volt at the pixel.
There is much debate over which is the better way to go. 5 volt is power efficient, but is subject to power loss effects
12 Volt is less efficient as the 12 volt is dropped to 5 volt at the pixel, but you can run longer runs as apposed to 5 Volt with greater power loss
EG 5 volt run suffers a 1.5 volt power drop = 3.5 volt , pixels set to white display pink
12 volt run suffers 4 volt power drop = 8 volt, pixels set to white display white .
Connecting the pixels is done by using "pigatail connectors" like these.

Ask heaps of questions.
Someone will always answer your questions

Peter
 
thanks for the information

I have downloaded the xlights 64 program and after watching a couple of the videos I think I will be able to work it out

How do you order from this Ray direct?
 
You need to join AliExpress. Click on the Ray Wu's Store link below. Become a member (no costs involved)
Once you are a member click back onto Ray Wu's store. On the top right is a person icon. Hover over that with your mouse and a drop down menu appears > select Message centre. From there you send Ray your messages, requests for quotes etc. You can tell him what you want to do and he will advise which of his products will best suit what you want to do. Ask him for links to the products so you can see photo's of them.
Ray Wu's Store
 
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