Newb needs help

[asan]

First of hello everyone from NJ USA.

Ok my head is spinning with all these lights, I always loved decorating the house Christmas time since I was a kid.
but all these different lights and controllers and things got me so lost, I tried reading as much as I could but still lost.

I want to simply outline the house this year and be able to program them via smart phone or pc. But I dont know what way to go, what do I need to power everything. I would need around 8 to 10 5mm sets to outline the house. Do I need to power each individual or can run them all straight. Looking to spend around $400 usd, if anyone can head me in the right direction I would appreciate it.

Sorry if this is in the wrong section.

 

[Martin Mueller]

Welcome.

First Read the lighting 101 on the wiki for this site.

I assume you mean you have strings of AC LEDs and want to know how to turn them on or off? Or do you want to do something more sophisticated? Or do you plan to become more sophisticated in the future?

If you just want to turn them on at 16:00 and off at 21:00 then a simple timer will do it.
Next step up is to use some home automation (next generation of the X10 appliance controls). Since you are in the US, you can get them at Home Depot or Lowes.

If you want them to turn on / off / dim in pleasing patterns then you may want to look into a Renard controller. TR-24 or similar using a serial port from a computer or Raspberry PI to drive the Renard over a serial interface. Alternatively you can use a RenESP which can be driven over your homes WiFi. If you go the Renard route, then you can continue to grow your show and join the rest of us in the lighting addiction.

To make the pleasing patterns, many of us use free sequencers such as Vixen, xLights or HLS. I personally play my show using a Raspberry PI running free FPP software (Has a nice interface that I control from my phone or tablet). Others use the players built into the sequencer software and have their computers play the show. So there are lots of options.

Now read the 101 again.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[asan]

thanks for the reply, im looking into buying the WS2812B 5mm 150 leds waterproof Addressable 5V, will be buying 8 to 10 sets, so my question will be what do I need to control this, does each set need its on controller? basically want the house changing colors on its own. and what would I need to make em change colors. thanks again.

 

[OzAz]

There are several different controllers available for RGB LEDs page 62 of the 101 Manual lists some of them, generally called Pixel Controllers, there's a wiki too . There's another vendor that's not mentioned in the manual or wiki for reasons but I've not had issues with them

generally speaking:
The 16 Channel versions of these controllers can run around 1024 pixels (LEDs) per output. However running more than about 50 pixels per output (for 5V) or 100 (for 12v) will require power injection.
These controllers are programmed via a PC using xLights (or Vixen or other programs).
Keith made a video that may assist starting this late in the season

If your not interested in building something from scratch at this stage, have a look at my post in this thread

 

[Martin Mueller]

on most controllers you can have moore than 600 pixels concatenated into a single string so no you doo not need a controller per string. Now for an opinion: I have had nothing but trouble with the 2812/3 series strips and have removed them from my show.

 

[asan]

thanks for the advise, everyone, ill post back soon with what i have got so far, and that video is awesome, the "starting this late in the season"

 

[asan]

on most controllers you can have moore than 600 pixels concatenated into a single string so no you doo not need a controller per string. Now for an opinion: I have had nothing but trouble with the 2812/3 series strips and have removed them from my show.

so what are you using now? im just throwing something together as quick as i can

 

[asan]

ok here is what I have ordered

Falcon Picap
Raspberry PI 3
8 sets 5mm WS2812B Individual Addressable 5V
JoyNano 400W Switching Power Supply 5V 80A
10 x 3Pin 10mm Connector Adapter
10M 3pin Extension Cable Line

now im not sure if I will need any power injections ? And can anyone tell me if im missing something from the items I bought, I will be probably be using xlights to run them. and also what do you guys recommend as far as hanging these, I have wood trim on the house so should be easy, figured i'd ask being you guys are the experts

 

[Martin Mueller]

2811 3:1 12v strips but mostly I replaced them with bullet nodes pushed into boscoyo strips.