I have some questions before I place a RAY WU order

[RiverBendLights]

I have posted a few questions in this thread about where to buy items and many directed me to ray wu, I spoke to him a few times and he has been very helpful. I wanted to post what I plan to buy just to double check compatibility and such.
PIXELS
So I plan on buying 100m (5m Rolls x 20) of these http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/5m-DC5V-IP65-WS2812B-led-digital-strip-30pcs-WS2812B-M-with-30pixels-36W-white-pcb-waterproof/701799_1074720878.html
[/size]I will cut them to fit the outline of windows and may order a few more meters for some columns.
[/size]CONTROL BOARD
[font=arial, sans, sans-serif][/size]To control all these pixels someone recommended a beagle bone with a pixel bone, I believe. If I understand correctly I need to buy both (2) board which connect together to control the pixels. I will be using falcon player. [/font]
[font=arial, sans, sans-serif]POWER SUPPLIES[/font]
[font=arial, sans, sans-serif]To power the pixels I found a PSU on ray wu's site. Its 12V/350W. The pixels are only 5v but it shows on the site in the description that I can output 5v and have 70A at that rating. I need 144A so I will order 3 of these PSU's and plant them an equal distance apart in the front of the house to minimize the cable necessary. http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/12V-350W-switch-mode-power-supply-LED-power-driver-AC90-260V-input-DC12V-350W-output-constant/701799_1948832565.html[/font]
[font=arial, sans, sans-serif]WIRE[/font]
[font=arial, sans, sans-serif]To send power and data to the pixels I plan on using this cable unless someone has a better price on it somewhere else. I'm not sure how much I need I plan on buying 1 or 2 of these 50m 3 pin 18AWG rolls. That should be enough I assume. http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/50m-lot-3pin-RGB-18AWG-cable-for-led-pixel-module/701799_623994646.html [/font]
[font=arial, sans, sans-serif]QUESTIONS[/font]
[font=arial, sans, sans-serif]Now that I have explained my setup hopefully someone can help answer my questions.[/font]

[font=arial, sans, sans-serif]How do I know when I need to inject power to the pixels? If each window is about 6 meters in perimeter and there are 30pixels a meter, than there are 180 pixels in each window. How many runs of wire do I need to make to each window so i can inject power at the right intervals. I read here http://www.doityourselfchristmas.com/wiki/index.php?title=Power_Injection that I must inject every 50 pixels. Which means 4 runs of wire to each window... Is there anyway around this? Can I use better wire such as 16AWG? What about using these "null pixels" which are supposed to regenerate the signal? http://www.aliexpress.com/item/DC12V-WS2811-null-pixels-to-regenerate-the-data-signal-with-13-5mm-3-core-black-waterproof/32279633328.html how do they work and will it be better to use these rather than run more wire? I plan to use waterproof quick disconnects at every window anyway, how will this work with this cable? do I just solder the ends on?[/font]

[font=arial, sans, sans-serif]I assume that If I sort out the wiring of the pixels, I can run it back to the beagle bone send it through my E1.31 switch. which I may need an additional one since I only have 6 universes on it how many would I output from the beagle bone to the switch to get back to my LOR computer?[/font]

 

[zoobmarine]

Wow, that is a large question, I really suggest you hurry up and consider ordering fast, next week there will be Holidays in China, so they will have some days off, you must considers also this because of the delays that you may expect.

 

[i13]

You are likely to find that the current draw is less than stated by Ray Wu. Having said that, a spare power supply is always worth having because otherwise you can't get your display running if one dies.

I buy cable from
www.bt-online.com.au/
If you're in SA then you can pick it up and don't pay shipping.

You will know when and where to inject power to the pixels because they'll shine pink when you turn them all on white. The 50 pixel guideline is for strings, not strips. You should be able to get a lot further (5 metres but I haven't tried it) with that particular strip. If you power at a single point at the middle of the 6m strip then the power only has to go 3m each direction so you should be ok. There are other strips that can go further but you either pay more or control them in 10cm sections instead of individual LEDs.

The null pixels are only used to regenerate the data signal when your pixels are far apart. They are not a substitute for power injection. With the PixelBone, you can use coaxial cable to eliminate the need for them between the PixelBone and first pixel. It's possible to use short strip sections as null pixels as well. You configure them as a pixel to always be turned off (can be done in the Falcon Player settings if it is at the start of the string).

I don't quite understand your last question but I'm certain that you'll only need one switch. All universes will be able to be communicated through a single switch port (not sure if you'll need a gigabit switch).

I suggest ordering a pixel tester
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/701799/search?SearchText=smart+pixel+controller
and end caps too
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Silicon-end-cap-8mm-10mm-12mm-optional/701799_459153462.html

And remember that you can often get a better shipping quote if you ask Ray directly.

 

[RiverBendLights]

Wow, that is a large question, I really suggest you hurry up and consider ordering fast, next week there will be Holidays in China, so they will have some days off, you must considers also this because of the delays that you may expect.

yep I know, I'm a bit behind, but wanted to double check before I wasted money

 

[RiverBendLights]

I buy cable from
www.bt-online.com.au/
If you're in SA then you can pick it up and don't pay shipping.

http://www.bt-online.com.au/cable/cable-4-core-14-020-100-meter-roll/ this cable? or something else?


for the coax cable, am I just running one wire for data, no power? and that is just to the first window? data can be daisy chained after that?


I'll rephrase my last question. Do i just output 1 Ethernet cable out of the pixebone and into my E1.31 bridge, to get from my show PC to the pixels?

 

[buzzdude]

With the psu I'm pretty sure you cannot change the output of 12v to 5v so you will need a different psu

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/5V-350W-switch-mode-power-supply-LED-power-driver-AC90-260V-input-DC5V-350W-output-constant/701799_1948831534.html

Also if you need 3 buy 4 or 5 as it's always good to have spares.

 

[i13]

I use this roll of cable (not coaxial)
http://www.bt-online.com.au/cable/cable-figure-8-24-020-100-meter-roll/
The ALC 101 manual has a good guide for working out what cable thickness you need.

With the coaxial cable, you need to connect the negative and data but not the positive.
http://auschristmaslighting.com/forums/index.php/topic,7485.0.html

You will need a router or switch between your computer, BeagleBone and E1.31 to DMX bridge. You'll only need the bridge if you're running DMX devices; some E1.31 pixel controllers have bridges built in. If you only have the BeagleBone/PixelBone then you could try without a switch but that might not work. I'm unsure whether a gigabit switch is required.

 

[Kitman]

Regarding your power supply I personally would never use a power supply where you can change the voltage. Think about it this way, running 5v pixels off a power supply that can do 12v and 5v and you accidentally switch it over to 12v good by pixels and anything else that is set to run on 5v. That's my personal feeling.

Regarding the networking I don't believe that any of the controllers run off gigabit connections, most of them run off 10/100 which is fast enough to drive most displays.

 

[RiverBendLights]

Regarding your power supply I personally would never use a power supply where you can change the voltage. Think about it this way, running 5v pixels off a power supply that can do 12v and 5v and you accidentally switch it over to 12v good by pixels and anything else that is set to run on 5v. That's my personal feeling.

Regarding the networking I don't believe that any of the controllers run off gigabit connections, most of them run off 10/100 which is fast enough to drive most displays.

I'll definitely get a 5v PSU don't want that to happen. I think I have a network switch not sure if its gigabit, but I won't run out and get a new one if its not.

 

[i13]

It's a good point about the voltage but the 5V (or any voltage) switchmode power supplies that are very commonly used have an adjustable voltage output anyway. It just won't go as high as 12V on a 5V supply.

 

[RiverBendLights]

I use this roll of cable (not coaxial)
http://www.bt-online.com.au/cable/cable-figure-8-24-020-100-meter-roll/
The ALC 101 manual has a good guide for working out what cable thickness you need.

is this 3 pin or 4 pin?

 

[i13]

It has two cores. If I've understood the numbers correctly then it is thicker wire than the one you linked to which would make it more suitable for power (although I sometimes double it up just in case). It's also easy to split it into two single wires. I just cable tie together when I want more cores. There are currently no pixels in my display that are far enough from a controller to need coaxial cable.
I don't have anything 5V (will add some this year) so that is why I suggested going by the 101 manual because I am unsure which cable is best for 5V. Hopefully someone with 5V pixels will reply.

 

[RiverBendLights]

It has two cores. If I've understood the numbers correctly then it is thicker wire than the one you linked to which would make it more suitable for power (although I sometimes double it up just in case). It's also easy to split it into two single wires. I just cable tie together when I want more cores. There are currently no pixels in my display that are far enough from a controller to need coaxial cable.
I don't have anything 5V (will add some this year) so that is why I suggested going by the 101 manual because I am unsure which cable is best for 5V. Hopefully someone with 5V pixels will reply.

where is the 101 manual. I have never heard of it.

 

[RiverBendLights]

It has two cores. If I've understood the numbers correctly then it is thicker wire than the one you linked to which would make it more suitable for power (although I sometimes double it up just in case). It's also easy to split it into two single wires. I just cable tie together when I want more cores. There are currently no pixels in my display that are far enough from a controller to need coaxial cable.
I don't have anything 5V (will add some this year) so that is why I suggested going by the 101 manual because I am unsure which cable is best for 5V. Hopefully someone with 5V pixels will reply.

I believe the core is number of wires in the cable, which I need 4 so I need 4 core. You linked 24 gauge cable, I had 14 gauge linked. For the gauge of wire the lower the number the thicker and more power capable of a cable it is.

 

[i13]

You are correct about the number of cores.

As far as I know those are not AWG sizes. The description of the cable I linked to says it is thicker than their 4 core cables. I thought the 24 part referred to the number of smaller strands within the cores. The 020 is the size of each strand.

The 101 manual is here
http://auschristmaslighting.com/forums/index.php/topic,1889.0.html