Just starting off and hoping for some help & advice!

bill55 said:
Such big decisions. Would you mind linking me to your lights and also the clips that you use?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
The C9's aren't cheap or is the Boscoyo strip. The good thing about them is you can get away with a little farther spacing so the cost difference is as drastic as it may appear.
https://scottled.en.alibaba.com/pro...pm=a2700.8304367.prewdfa4cf.17.52634f890dWgJq
https://www.boscoyostudio.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_19&products_id=6
I can send you some strip, nodes and some C9's so you can test out before pulling the trigger if it helps. I remember how overwhelming it is starting out. Get the Falcon ordered and a power supply so you can test them though! The one thing you will need is a pixel controller. Doesn't get better than the Falcon
 
I mounted them last year with glue-backed velcro, but the heat up here meant that the glue melted... So now I'm trying silicone, but yes, I leave these up all year, with the strips in them all year. They are UV protected so the strips get NO sun damage, and leaving them up all year means less pulling and movement on connections, and solders etc, Also means I can test / do shows all year round depending on the time of year. Small house line sequences for things like valentines day, st pats day etc etc...
 
Welcome to ACL, Feel free to jump into chat throughout the year. Many of us here plan and make changes constantly. This site is a great place to learn and get started.
 
bluzervic said:
Welcome to ACL, Feel free to jump into chat throughout the year. Many of us here plan and make changes constantly. This site is a great place to learn and get started.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Been so busy with work and other stuff I haven't had a chance to dig in as much as I want yet. I want to get things going in xLights and get an idea of what things will look like on my house. I will hop on chat for sure though!
 
I also agree that 12V strips are more suitable than 5V for the purpose that you pictured. I have 12V strip, 5V strip and 5V nodes (no 12V nodes). The only downside of the 12V strip is that the RGB LEDs are wired in groups of 3 and can't be controlled one-by-one. In your application the strips are long so this won't be very noticeable. Nodes are different because they're always individually controlled. The downside of 12V nodes is that they waste power. Generally, I'd suggest 12V when you want a small number of pixels in a large area and 5V when you want a large number of pixels in a small area.

The strips don't show up very well in videos. You can still see the individual LEDs shining but the videos make them look opaque. I like the strip that you linked to. It's cheap, relatively easy to cut, join and waterproof and not prone to sun damage. The downsides are that it is prone to creasing and sometimes Ray Wu doesn't use enough silicone on the ends. I add more silicone to make sure it is waterproof when Ray doesn't use enough.

If you want to start building display items before you have a controller, one of these can be used to test them
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/DC12V-WS2811-LED-smart-pixel-controller-With-76-kinds-of-patterns-2048pixels-controlled/701799_32261096741.html

It's also worth getting some end caps if you're working with strips. I use them but some of us prefer to just use heatshrink. Heatshrinking over the end caps might still be a good idea for mechanical protection for your solder joins, especially if you're new to soldering strips. I ask Ray to put holes in all of them because otherwise only 50% come with holes for the wires. End caps without holes are no good when you have the data going out of one strip and into the next. I see no problem with unused holes because the silicone that you're already using seals them up.
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Silicon-end-cap-8mm-10mm-12mm-optional/701799_459153462.html
 
Hi Bill, I'm at the very start of the process where you were. And I liked your 'Let it Go' Sequence. Are you interested in sharing that sequence with me? I'm working with xLights, and am currently going through the fun process of picking my lights. What lights did you end up using in your 'Let it Go' sequence?
 
Looking at that video, I think those would be mounted nodes. The camera tends to blur strips to the point where they look like a continuous line. It probably blurred the nodes and made them look bigger in the video.
 
Thanks ... I'm looking at using WS2812B 30 IP65 ... 5V, and mounting them in Aluminum Channels with a black cover. But, without having used any of these before, I'm considering just picking up a single 1m string with the channel to see what it looks like. Does anyone have experience with these lights or the channels?
 
I might need a bit more information about the exact pixels. Could you post a link to them? It would also help to know how/where you plan to use the pixels within your display.

5V WS2812B 30 (assuming 30 stands for LEDs per metre) sounds like strip, not nodes but then you've referred to it as a string which suggests nodes. Could you please clarify whether it is string or nodes? I have the 5V WS2812B strip and 5V WS2811 nodes (don't think there is such a thing as WS2812B nodes) in my display. The 5V strip is not great with voltage drop and I'd suggest the 12V WS2811 strips if you're going to have longer lengths like a roof outline. This is an example: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32493161338.html
The 5V strip is great for things like a spinner or star on a frame because the LEDs are individually controlled (see my post #23 above) and the voltage doesn't need to travel far. Regardless of the type of pixels, a 1 metre length wouldn't be sufficient to test the limits with voltage drop.
 
Hey, yeah, I was looking at the strips. I definitely understand that the 5v has voltage drop so I was thinking I'd have to insert power every 150 nodes. The main reason why I was thinking of using WS2812 is so that I can control every node as I understand WS2811 controls them in threes. I was going to use the same strips for all of the framing of the roof, windows, garage, etc. I was going to use nodes for the other displays.

I was thinking of the 1 meter to see what the brightness is inside of the aluminum channel with the black cover (versus the clear cover that I'm worried will turn yellow sitting in the sun all year).
 
If having long distances and individual control are both important, this strip (which I haven't tried) might do the job https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32348237310.html
The thing that I don't know is where it can be cut if you power it with 12V. The listing says that you can only cut it into metre lengths with 12V but I fail to see why you couldn't cut it into smaller sections and just not use the offcuts that don't have enough convertors built in (see the listing). Another option that I think might work is cutting it wherever you want and using 4-pin connectors to join the cut sections end-to-end in the order that they were originally in before you cut them up.

Controlling in threes isn't that noticeable at a distance. My gutter outline is 12V WS2811 and I have no plans to change it despite having WS2812B strip elsewhere in the display. Groups of three are sections of 10 cm (approximately 4 inches) and that's a typical pixel node spacing.
 
This thread is very old. An answer might not be needed anymore.
Back
Top