New to the scene in Tassie

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Nathan14

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Aug 26, 2017
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Hi guys have done Christmas lights over the last few years and i am looking at stepping my game up this year, that being said i have very little to no experience with this, what i am looking at doing is having more control over my lights outside of the generic settings they come with and then possibly look at sequencing to music.
At this stage i am looking for heaps of advice, i have read through the 101 manual and will probably be going back over it again thoroughly soon but to begin with i shall fire off some questions

Can i use my existing lights or will I need to buy whole new sets?

If needing to buy new sets where is a good place to go?

Overall how hard is it to sequence? (i am very computer savvy)

Is there any advice that you wish someone had told you when you were first starting out?

Thanks guys and at this stage all advice is good advice.

Nathan
 
Hi Nathan,

I'm new as well but with the help of a few people on here I'm on my way to getting my existing lights up and running to music.
If you are looking at doing the same with off the shelf 2 wire LEDs try the DMX2-18 controller from Hanson.

One thing to check first is the output voltage of your existing lights, most of mine are 31 volts so I got a power supply to suit.

I've also downloaded xlights and getting the hang of it fairly easily.

If you are going more advanced then one of the others can help.

If you want to know more about what I've bought and setting up, just let me know.

Dan
 
Hi Dan,

Thanks for the quick reply, Is the DMX2-18 a plug and play system (e.g the cord from the lights plugs straight in) or do you need to strip and connect the wires? will drag out all my lights over the next few days and check them all for their current and voltage and go from there.

Nathan
 
Nathan14 said:
Hi Dan,

Thanks for the quick reply, Is the DMX2-18 a plug and play system (e.g the cord from the lights plugs straight in) or do you need to strip and connect the wires? will drag out all my lights over the next few days and check them all for their current and voltage and go from there.

Nathan
Click to expand...

Its been fairly easy to set up but you will need to cut off the lights existing power supply and wires go directly into the controller.
The DMX2-18 is only for 2 wire lights though, the wires going to the first LED must only be 2.
Hanson do sell controllers for 3 wire lights aswell though.

I bought everything I needed from Hanson... USB dongle, DMX controllers ( I got 2) and the power supply.
 
Hi Nathan welcome to ACL!
As Dan states, you can use existing lights to get started, and it will depend on 2 or 3 wires going to the first LED in your sets to determine which controller you'd need to make these able to be synced to music.
It can be a steep learning curve, so if you want to use pixels and panels, you may struggle to get these up and running this side of Christmas if starting out, but not impossible.
As well as lights (existing or new) and new controller(s) you'll also need power supplies, cable, connectors, heat shrink, fuses, and a heap of incidentals that you might not think of like heat gun, decent soldering iron/station, connectors, crimps the list can go on. That's the stuff I never really understood years ago, but over time you build up your collection!
For most people, best to get an idea of what lights you'd like (use videos from the display videos for inspiration) and post a thread about your plans and desired shopping list. And there's always a few of us hanging out in chat, so swing by and ask away in there too. We're a friendly bunch (mostly!)
Cheers, Graham (dj)
 
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