My RGB Stars

[Pircy]

So, I have been a busy little bee and have cut all my coro and have some relatively ok looking stars that are ready to have their lights put into them. I have purchased some dumb 50 50 RGB 12v modules and intend to put 5 modules in each star (one set half way up each point of the star). So my question is can these be daisy chained off my Ray 27ch controller, or do I have to have each one coming out of a separate outlet on the controller for individual control of each star? I assume its the latter but best to ask.

 

[benzor84]

It Depends on how you want to control the stars.
You could wire up all of the starts on 3 channels of your controller (provided this isn't over the current limit of your controller) This would mean that all the stars would act as one item. ie all off, all red, all white ect

The other way is to wire each one back to its own 3 channels on your controller, This is the way most people would wire it up. this way you can individually control each star.
This means that each star will use 3 channels (1 Red 1 Green 1 Blue)

 

[mborg10]

Have a look at the way Coxie did his christmas presents
http://auschristmaslighting.com/forums/index.php?topic=5425.0
Each present would only show one colour.


If you wanted to control each module separately so you can have different sections in your star, I would recommend smart modules instead.

 

[kane]

So, I have been a busy little bee and have cut all my coro and have some relatively ok looking stars that are ready to have their lights put into them. I have purchased some dumb 50 50 RGB 12v modules and intend to put 5 modules in each star (one set half way up each point of the star). So my question is can these be daisy chained off my Ray 27ch controller, or do I have to have each one coming out of a separate outlet on the controller for individual control of each star? I assume its the latter but best to ask.

For my stars, I used pixel modules, as they're not that much more expensive, and give you a heap more flexibility.. You can then control each point individually (to "spin" the star, for example), and also do random colour twinkles etc.

Also, what size are the stars? You will want to do a test run to ensure they're bright enough, as five modules may not be bright enough..

My stars (albeit made of acrylic/Perspex instead of Coro) each have 17 modules in them - three in each point and two in the centre. And they are just right in terms of light output (link here for more info although the pictures are of the bigger star)

 

[fasteddy]

You can daisy chain these but how many you connect together would be dependant on a couple of factors being the distance apart each star is and the guage of the cable used between the lights.
The modules generally come in strings of 20 and require power injection for every 20 lights, you may get away with a few more but this will be determined by the factors above.

 

[Pircy]

No problems, a lot of good suggestions. Thanks for the help everyone. Kane, at the moment I only have LSP basic so only 512 channels, anything smart will kill my channel count soooooo quickly, besides this is a learning year, just getting the basics down for now, next year I may upgrade. My stars are about 30cm across so not too large. I have never used modules so not sure of how much light they throw but def will play with the number I use, just thought 5 was a good place to start. Definately want to control each star individually so I will wire it as per your suggestion Benzor.

 

[gerry]

You can daisy chain these but how many you connect together would be dependant on a couple of factors being the distance apart each star is and the guage of the cable used between the lights.
The modules generally come in strings of 20 and require power injection for every 20 lights, you may get away with a few more but this will be determined by the factors above.

Hello Eddy,
Probably a silly question , but did you mean , PI after each string (being 20 lights) , or 20 such strings ? I (will) have one set of 20 pixel modules in each Coro star - have only wired up 2 so far though.

 

[kane]

Probably a silly question , but did you mean , PI after each string (being 20 lights) , or 20 such strings ? I (will) have one set of 20 pixel modules in each Coro star - have only wired up 2 so far though.

I'll save Eddy from answering - he'd say that you will need power injection after 20 individual modules - not 20 strings (ie 400 modules).

You might find you get away doing it less often than every 20 (the best way is to actually test it out!), but doing every 20 is a safe bet.

 

[gerry]

Thanks Kane,

So that would mean PI after each star !

Bummer ! Even more cables to do

I have one set in each star as the 20 fitted in without having to cut anything- assumed that that many would be required cause there was a post/picture a while ago where 20 had been used in a Coro star.