Need advice to set up a musical light show

gazer

New elf
Joined
Mar 26, 2015
Messages
10
Hi,

I want to run a continuous 26Meter long pixel mapped (5 x 5M reels + 1 M) WS28132 LEDS (30LED/metre) via an Advatek Pixelite 4 controller and play a musical track and have all the lights flash in time to the beat. I'll be using a license software program. What type of main power supply would I need?

Anything else I need to know?

Thank you,

Jim
 

mborg10

Michael Borg
Joined
Dec 28, 2011
Messages
1,446
Location
claremont meadows
You can use the cheap Ray wu power supplies but personally I use the Meanwell power supplies. They are about 10 times the price but you get what you pay for.

Are you using 12v or 5v

You will have to power inject between each strip as well.
 

gerry

Senior elf
Joined
Dec 19, 2012
Messages
855
Location
Surrey Hills,Melbourne
Hello gazer,

Eddie is right. the manual covers almost everything that you need when you start out . As a start, you will need to consider :
- how many channels each of the 4 outputs will support
- the watts / metre of the strip (which will give u the total power requirement and number of PSU's plus spares) (use 80 % of the PSU rating only)
- the layout u will need to consider ie may be better to split into 2 or 4 legs
- number of metres before u have to power inject (eg for 12V inject every 5 m and at the end if reqd)
- a router
- external speakers of an FM transmitter
- lots of cable and consumables such as pigtails, cables, water proof boxes (if reqd)
- something to mount the strip on (eg conduit or channels) etc
- software to run the show, plus program it plus a pc (at least to run it on)
 

gazer

New elf
Joined
Mar 26, 2015
Messages
10
In re to power supplies, my strips use 5V DC. Instead of injecting power to each 5M strip, couldn't I use a 5V DC 70Amp 320W supply instead? Wouldn't this unit power the entire strip?


I have the PC, Advatek Pixelate 4 controller and sound amp booster. I haven't got the strip yet as I want to sort this power supply issue out first.


Jim
 

mborg10

Michael Borg
Joined
Dec 28, 2011
Messages
1,446
Location
claremont meadows
gazer said:
In re to power supplies, my strips use 5V DC. Instead of injecting power to each 5M strip, couldn't I use a 5V DC 70Amp 320W supply instead? Wouldn't this unit power the entire strip?

You can use the power supply to power all strips but will still need to power inject with the power supply as there will be too much voltage drop across the strips.
 

Bird

LOR user
Joined
Nov 8, 2011
Messages
1,746
Location
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Welcome.gif

to ACL Jim

One good power supply "may" be able to power your entire setup, however the strips are 5M in length which just happens to be the length you can power without injection. So each strips power leads really need to run back to the power supply.
The data line (blinky control) is a different story.

As already stated, in both of your threads, the new revised 2nd addition AusChristmasLighting 101 manual is a great resource for all things RGB and more. :)

It may seem confusing, but quite honestly, this hobby does have a learning curve. Read the manual, it may answer some questions but will most likely raise more questions than it answers. :eek:
Read it a 2nd time and some more answers will pop out. Usually after the 3rd time through things will make more sense. That's when you become dangerous. :D :D So make sure you ask final questions before you make final purchases. This process will save you time and money. ;)
 

gazer

New elf
Joined
Mar 26, 2015
Messages
10
gazer said:
In re to power supplies, my strips use 5V DC. Instead of injecting power to each 5M strip, couldn't I use a 5V DC 70Amp 320W supply instead? Wouldn't this unit power the entire strip?


I have the PC, Advatek Pixelate 4 controller and sound amp booster. I haven't got the strip yet as I want to sort this power supply issue out first.


Jim


Hi Guys,


This is the product WS2811 WS2812 5050 RGB LED strip Light Waterproof Individually Addressable DC5V

[/size]I can[/size]get 26M of the above and a 240/5Vdc 70A 350W power supply from China all for $277 AUD incl shipping.

I will inject power to each 5M strip with each pair running back to the main PS.

[font=helvetica neue, helvetica, verdana, sans-serif]
Q. Can I daisy chain the full 26M length of Clock and Data so the entire is connected back to the Pixeklite 4 controller? If so, what is the best way of doing this? [/font]

[font=helvetica neue, helvetica, verdana, sans-serif]
I will use two, of the four outlets of the controller and of course, 5V into same. [/font]

[font=helvetica neue, helvetica, verdana, sans-serif]
I have d/loaded the latest manual and yes, it does open up a whole new world into this exciting and bright way, of expressing one's creativeness. [/font]

[font=helvetica neue, helvetica, verdana, sans-serif]
Thank you,[/font]

[font=helvetica neue, helvetica, verdana, sans-serif]
Jim [/font]
 

mborg10

Michael Borg
Joined
Dec 28, 2011
Messages
1,446
Location
claremont meadows
How many IC per m is the strip. Most common and what I would recommend for outline is 30 led/m 10ic/m
So 10 x 26 is 260ic or 260 nodes
Each universe can handle 170 nodes so you would need 2 universes.
The pixlite 4 can handle 4 universes per output so you would only need to use 1 output. Unless it's convenient to use 2 outputs for your layout.

If you connect the strips directly to one another the data will just be connected from one to another. No clock on ws2811. Then just power inject between strips.
 

gazer

New elf
Joined
Mar 26, 2015
Messages
10
Christmas @ the Myrtle (Michael) said:
How many IC per m is the strip. Most common and what I would recommend for outline is 30 led/m 10ic/m
So 10 x 26 is 260ic or 260 nodes
Each universe can handle 170 nodes so you would need 2 universes.
The pixlite 4 can handle 4 universes per output so you would only need to use 1 output. Unless it's convenient to use 2 outputs for your layout.

If you connect the strips directly to one another the data will just be connected from one to another. No clock on ws2811. Then just power inject between strips.


Mike,

These are the WS 2812 lights. Any difference at all?

These strips have - and + for power, Clock and Data.

Not sure what you mean by 'Universes'?

All I want to do, is run 26M (30 leds/m) of the above, plugged into the controller, and work all of this via LightJams software and synch the lights to a musical track.

Thanks for your valuable input.

Jim
 

i13

Dedicated elf
Joined
Jul 5, 2013
Messages
1,172
If you're using strips that have 30 LEDs per metre and are 5V then it is actually 30ic and 90 channels per metre, not 10ic. This means you won't quite be able to run 26m of 5V strip from one output of the Pixlite 4.

I would suggest considering the 12V 2811 trips that Christmas @ the Myrtle (Michael) was referring to. Being 12V you will have less voltage drop and require less injection points and you'll only require one output from the Pixlite 4 as he calculated. The compromise is that you can only control every 3 LEDs (10cm) instead of individual LED control.

The 2811 and 2812 are quite similar. It would help if you posted a link to the strip you're thinking of buying. Both 2811 and 2812 strips only have 3 wires at the end. Is your "Clock and Data" combined into one wire?

I would strongly recommend learning about universes before buying any controller or strips. The data is grouped into universes that can contain 512 channels but only 510 are typically used because each pixel uses 3 channels and 512 can't be divided into 3. 510 channels (one universe) is 170 pixels. The Pixlite 4 has a limit of 4 universes on each output.
 

mborg10

Michael Borg
Joined
Dec 28, 2011
Messages
1,446
Location
claremont meadows
Id recommend going for something ore like this
http://m.aliexpress.com/item/568458133.html
12v and good channel count. 10ic per m is plenty good for house outline and 12v is more forgiving for voltage drop
 
Top