Hi, North Tasmania!

[Gooliez]

Hi guys,

So I'm looking into Xlights trying to set some things up before my electrical side of things arrived. I've ordered some 100 node strings from "Paul Zheng"

now i have a few questions if you have the time to answer.

1. Say i have a 50 node display and i have the 100 node cables, Can i just cut the wire where i need and seal the end or does the line have to be cut at specific spots?

2. I'm looking at the Falcon F16 controller, It's a top line controller from what i see, however I'm wondering if it's the right choice for me. for starters i want to just do one side of the house. In the picture below i've added where i'd like to start with the lights and distances. if i put the F16 in the middle somewhere i will have to run a lot of the extension cables to get to what i want to do and network them all back to my main Ubiquiti Network setup. Cat 6 cable seems a lot cheaper somehow than the 3 core flat ribbon.

other option is I use multiple smaller controllers say 2 x Baldrick 8 port Pixels and run them back to the switch or can you daisy chain them? looks like they only have 1 network port from what i can see.

3. If going down the multiple controller route, when i do a scan on the controllers section of Xlights, is it just as simple setup as using 1 controller? do you have any issues if you mixed brands later down the track?

4. Currently playing with Xlights, I'll be looking at arches. I've had a quick google and cant seem to find the answer. I'll be having about 6 Arches across the front near the box hedges. from what i can see, you can daisy chain them, say 100 nodes over say 4 arches or should i do individual runs?



I'm sure i will have tonnes more questions, but i'll pop them in an appropriate thread when I come across them

Thanks !

 

[Skymaster]

Hi Gooliez and welcome,

1. If they are regular bullet pixels, they can be cut anywhere along the string. Some of the 12V and higher 'strip' style have 1 control chip per 3 or 6 LEDs, and need to be cut in specific locations, which are marked.
2. Multiple small controllers is a good way to go. You have more flexibility, and you only need power and ethernet. Don't use CAT cable for the lights themselves, it doesn't have the conductor diameter required for the currents involved at 5/12V.
3. Yep You just define multiple controllers. No issues mixing brands. I have 5 different brands in my show (I'm counting all the different FPP based controllers as as a single brand):

4. I create my arches as independent objects and put them in a group - that way they can be connected any way you like. It also fits in with the way most seqeuences are made.

 

[Gooliez]

Hi Gooliez and welcome,

1. If they are regular bullet pixels, they can be cut anywhere along the string. Some of the 12V and higher 'strip' style have 1 control chip per 3 or 6 LEDs, and need to be cut in specific locations, which are marked.
2. Multiple small controllers is a good way to go. You have more flexibility, and you only need power and ethernet. Don't use CAT cable for the lights themselves, it doesn't have the conductor diameter required for the currents involved at 5/12V.
3. Yep You just define multiple controllers. No issues mixing brands. I have 5 different brands in my show (I'm counting all the different FPP based controllers as as a single brand):
View attachment 30567
4. I create my arches as independent objects and put them in a group - that way they can be connected any way you like. It also fits in with the way most seqeuences are made.

Thanks for that!

Yeah, regular Bullet pixels, 12V.

yeah wont be using Cat6 for lights, was more happy to do more runs of cat6 from multiple controllers to network, as it would work out cheaper than running multiple strands from one controller to lots of different strings.

guessing a couple of the Baldric 8 strings would be best for me then https://www.hansonelectronics.com.au/product/baldrick/

 

[Skymaster]

yeah wont be using Cat6 for lights, was more happy to do more runs of cat6 from multiple controllers to network, as it would work out cheaper than running multiple strands from one controller to lots of different strings.

Yeah that's exactly the way to do it. Not to mention that for long runs on the DC/Pixel strands you will start to have data issues etc, whereas ethernet is good for 100 metres.

guessing a couple of the Baldric 8 strings would be best for me then https://www.hansonelectronics.com.au/product/baldrick/

These are a fantastic starting controller, and I would recommend them to anyone getting into the hobby.
That's not to say the others aren't awesome as well - each have their use cases.

 

[i13]

Welcome to the forum

From reading this thread so far, I think what needs to be explained is power injection. As you intend to use pixels, these can be connected directly to power supplies. Pixels are powered continuously and they are controlled by the controller sending data to them. This means that you only need to connect the data and usually the negative from the controller to the pixels. The WS2811 (or equivalent) signal that the controller sends to the pixels will go corrupt if the cable is too long but there are ways to make it travel long distances if needed.

Another option if you want multiple small controllers is to use a setup with differential receivers.

You can run your display items end-to-end. The advantages of doing this are:
- Fewer controller ports required
- Less wiring back to the controller

The main disadvantage is that when a single pixel fails, depending on the pixel type, this can cause all pixels daisy chained after it to stop working because the failed pixel isn't passing data to them. There are limits to the number of pixels that you can run end-to-end. My display has several outlines that are similar to yours. What I have done is found a length that conveniently fits into many places in my display. This happens to be 1.8 metres. I then made lots of 1.8-metre sections of pixels and I mount them end-to-end where longer runs are required. I also made spare sections. This means that if a pixel fails, the vast majority of the pixels in my outlines are in identical 1.8-metre sections and I can just swap out a section for repairs. This manages the problem where a failed pixel stops passing data on.