My setup - Is this correct

[edmon]

The sketch shows what I am adding this year in E1.31. Can someone let me know if this setup is correct? The other question I have is: Looking at the picture of the Ray WU PS, it looks there are 9 slots. I assume one for incoming and 8 for outgoing. Is it possible to add additional wires to the same slot? Based on the calcs, I can run all of these lights on one PS. Does the P12 board send 12V from each universe? Does the power for the lights leaving board get powered by the Power supply or incoming. The instructions for the P12 appear to show through the PS.

If it helps, the different colors are separate universes, the bold line between the strings are power injection points, and the line colors are the typical setup.

 

[AAH]

I can't advise on the P12 as I don't know anything about them but the 12V power supply has 9 screw terminals. These are 3 for the mains power (active, neutral and earth) and 3 which are V+ (12V) and 3 which are V-(0V). You can parallel as many wires up to the -ve and +ve wires as you like. The 3 sets of positive and negative are to make that easier to do.

 

[Bevo]

I am not 100% sure about your design but the best info for the P12R is here http://auschristmaslighting.com/forums/index.php/topic,2232.0.html just download Fasteddys manual. But if you have already read it then the power supply that feeds into the P12R will feed out of each universe or connection plug to your pixels. There is a good picture of this in his manual.
What type of controller are you planing on using in your drawing?

 

[edmon]

That is what I understood for the power to the pixels. I am having a hard time understanding how 12V into the board would support 6 strings at 12V each. The plan is to use the P12R.

 

[Bevo]

Well it depends on how many pixels you have on each string?

The P12R has one seperate terminal for input power for each set of six outputs. And if you put 12V in there you will get 12V out each of the 6 outputs.

 

[fasteddy]

Taking a quick look at your layout appears to be correct for each output as far as node limitations (170 max per output) with the P12R.
My concern is the voltage drop and lack of power injection on the roof line and gutter. It appears you are using the 12VDC pixel strings, so this may be OK, but do keep in the back of your mind that you may see some colour changes due to voltage drop at the end of these strings and you may need to inject power.

Now onto power. Be warned about the 12VDC string as it says the rating is 0.3 watts but thats based on a LED current of around 10mA so they drive the LED with approx 1/2 the cuirrent than a 5 volt string. Visually there are only subtle differences and you can refer to this post for the differences. But ther have been reports of 12VDC strings with a which run the LEDs at 20mA which mean that these will draw twice as much power, refer to this thread

But otherwise your layout appears to be OK.

Each output of the P12R is protected by a 7.5amp fuse so you cant exceed that load or else you will have to inject power if you exceed this amount.
If it is a 350watt 12vdc power supply then you will have 3 terminals for mains AC power Active, Neutral and Earth thgen you will have 3 more terminals for -V (DC ground) and then another 3 terminals for +V. The 3 terminals for the +V are tied together as also for the -V. So you can connect as many wires as physically possible to the power supply as long as you dont exceed 85% of the total rating of the power supply.

Now im interested to know what the colour fan in the diagram with 624 nodes will be

 

[edmon]

Thanks for the verification everyone. I really appreciated it. I remember reading the power diffs awhile ago, so it was a good reminder, and I will be sure to double check the voltages during setup and testing. I did buy additional PS, just in case of failure or unforeseen load increases.

As for the visually diff, I was OK with as the mega tree and roof lines are far enough from the street (in my opinion) to not affect visually. I really did not like having to inject more, but the more I think about it, I should have gone 5v, but that is one thing I like about this hobby is the learning curve. I guess a bonus, is if the lights are not as bright, then the neighbor right across the street won't be blinded by the new lights.

The diagram for the roof, I did not finish, mostly because I was not positive on the amount of lines coming out of the PS. You have to look really close, for the thick lines that represent the power injection within roof line and gutters. The front line has power injection at node 39 and around node 70. The left ridge has power injection at node 40 and the right has power injection at node 50 and node 96. These positions were picked, because they are the gaps between the sections of pvc (idea from Burton Christmas) that will hold the lights. I also liked this idea as I can run the power injection cables inside the pipe.

The fan is the visual representation of the 12' mega tree. Each leg of the tree is 26 nodes. Each string is 52 nodes, and I am hoping if there is a little bit of color fade on the last node or two, it would not be as noticeable with towards the ground.

There is more to the display, but DMX will be new to me this year and this is all that fit into my budget, which is good. It will allow me to add on next year and give people something new to see from year to year. Hopefully next year I can convert our huge elm tree out front. The elm is my favorite, because no matter which side of the street you come from, it is the first thing you see.

Below are links to a couple of our videos from last year (this was all the time I had time to edit) and our facebook page about our lighting. Last year we added green to our display in memory of our 9 year old son. If anyone wants to know about Mason, please visit his blog (Which my Wide maintains from time to time) I apologize if I got off subject, but sometime when the typing starts, it does not stop.

Youtube.
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVGMc899rnY#]Lights Stripes & SNOW - Christmas Display - Cello Wars by The Piano Guys[/url]

Lights Stripes & SNOW - Christmas Display - Amazing Grace by Josh Wilson (this video may not show in all countries due to copyright laws)

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lights-Stripes-and-SNOW/231322560264925

Mason Arik (Forever 9) Blog
http://masonarik.blogspot.com/

Again,
Thanks everyone for the help!

-ed-mon-