Newbie Controller Question

[BrianZ]

You'll have less headaches if you could put the controller in the middle of the display. One controller you'll definitely want to invest in some F-Amps. I would opt for an F4v3, differential expansion and a receiver or two. You'll need to power inject so an enclosure or two will be needed in the yard somewhere anyways.

I could put the Controller on the other side of the garage, centering it. So, one F4v3 to run the icicles, garage, front windows and door (approx. 2000 pixels)? Then a F48 controller to expand receivers outward to trees? So, the F16v3 with 2 PSUs, extension cables with Famps to the trees won't be a good idea?

 

[uncledan]

I was thinking F4v3 with diff expansion in the garage to run the right side of the display and a receiver for the left side. You will need power out there. Were you planning on everything in the garage as far as controllers and power supplies? I see no need for F48.

 

[BrianZ]

I was thinking F4v3 with diff expansion in the garage to run the right side of the display and a receiver for the left side. You will need power out there. Were you planning on everything in the garage as far as controllers and power supplies? I see no need for F48.

Oh I see, I misunderstood you. Not all controllers have to be in the garage. But to keep things as neat and professional as possible, I thought I could start with the F4v3 in the center garage and that expansion...and the receivers would be good on the other side. The CAT5e, or 6 cable will have to travel about 25ft to the receiver for the left side, is that fine?

 

[uncledan]

Lots of ways to do things. The closer the props are to the controller and psu's the less issues you will have with data and voltage drop. F4v3 in garage for garage door and eaves above garage. You could use one output for the eaves and two for the garage door. Receiver in the middle/left of front door. One output for for window left of front door, front door and window right of front door. Another output for eaves above front door. Another output for the two windows on the left and last output for the eaves on the left. No long data runs and minimal power injection. 25ft to the receiver isn't a problem at all

 

[i13]

OK, perfect, thank you. Did you attach the second power supply to the board or did you use it for power injecting?

I power all of my pixels directly from the power supply with power injection. I don't use the positive outputs from the controllers.

I notice that you're using the 12V pixel icicles which (judging by mine from Ray Wu) are the 12V regulated pixels. These are very tolerant of voltage drop. There is a thread with information on them here: https://auschristmaslighting.com/threads/12161/

 

[BrianZ]

Lots of ways to do things. The closer the props are to the controller and psu's the less issues you will have with data and voltage drop. F4v3 in garage for garage door and eaves above garage. You could use one output for the eaves and two for the garage door. Receiver in the middle/left of front door. One output for for window left of front door, front door and window right of front door. Another output for eaves above front door. Another output for the two windows on the left and last output for the eaves on the left. No long data runs and minimal power injection. 25ft to the receiver isn't a problem at all

OK great, I like this idea. My original idea was to daisy chain all the icicle strings on the eaves from the F4v3 in the garage, but would require a lot more power injection. I'll just have to figure out how to run the cabling up to the windows with minimal visibility of the cables themselves. Thanks again. I plan on using PVC pipes with holes in them for the pixels, just have to figure out how to keep them on the wall or in the window sill.

 

[BrianZ]

I power all of my pixels directly from the power supply with power injection. I don't use the positive outputs from the controllers.

I notice that you're using the 12V pixel icicles which (judging by mine from Ray Wu) are the 12V regulated pixels. These are very tolerant of voltage drop. There is a thread with information on them here: https://auschristmaslighting.com/threads/12161/

OK, I see. So to clarify, your lights are attached to a port and the board is run by 1 power supply. Then you use the other to power supply to inject all of your lights only connecting the V- to the strings?

 

[i13]

I think you're correctly describing my setup. I connect negative and data to the controller. I connect the positive and negative directly from the pixels to a power supply. This allows me to power the controller with 5V and connect 12V lights to it or vice versa. An important point to note is that powering is not directional. I have an string of pixels in my display where I have connected the power supply between pixels 30 and 31 and the power travels backwards to pixel 1.

I've attached a diagram showing an example of the sort of configuration that I use. The labels say "Strip" but it would be the same for pixel nodes or modules etc. The power supplies in this example can be different voltages.

 

[BrianZ]

Lots of ways to do things. The closer the props are to the controller and psu's the less issues you will have with data and voltage drop. F4v3 in garage for garage door and eaves above garage. You could use one output for the eaves and two for the garage door. Receiver in the middle/left of front door. One output for for window left of front door, front door and window right of front door. Another output for eaves above front door. Another output for the two windows on the left and last output for the eaves on the left. No long data runs and minimal power injection. 25ft to the receiver isn't a problem at all

I did have a question...can you connect two F4's together with a CAT6 cable? Or just a diff expansion to receivers?

 

[i13]

Falcon controllers allow daisy chaining so the short answer is yes. It doesn't take up the place of a receiver either. I wouldn't do excessively long daisy chains because it is the equivalent of stacking another switch every time. If you want to connect a large number of E1.31 controllers to the same network then a network switch is the way to do it. It should be fine to connect two falcons together though.

 

[BrianZ]

I think you're correctly describing my setup. I connect negative and data to the controller. I connect the positive and negative directly from the pixels to a power supply. This allows me to power the controller with 5V and connect 12V lights to it or vice versa. An important point to note is that powering is not directional. I have an string of pixels in my display where I have connected the power supply between pixels 30 and 31 and the power travels backwards to pixel 1.

I've attached a diagram showing an example of the sort of configuration that I use. The labels say "Strip" but it would be the same for pixel nodes or modules etc. The power supplies in this example can be different voltages.

OK, I see. My idea is to power the controller and pixels from the boards PSU (350w). Then have a separate PSU with a fuse block just for power injecting depending on how many lights I'm running in the area. If it's not too many, I'll just use the controller's PSU to inject. Am I on the right track?

 

[BrianZ]

Falcon controllers allow daisy chaining so the short answer is yes. It doesn't take up the place of a receiver either. I wouldn't do excessively long daisy chains because it is the equivalent of stacking another switch every time. If you want to connect a large number of E1.31 controllers to the same network then a network switch is the way to do it. It should be fine to connect two falcons together though.

Thank you. I guess it's better to use a diff expansion to receivers if I need to run more lights. The new Falcon receivers can be daisy chained as well which is great.

 

[i13]

For the power question, yes, it sounds like you're on the right track. I just sometimes find it easier to have the power supply near the pixels.

On the topic of adding another Falcon F4, when the receivers are daisy chained, their capacity is divided up between them. Adding an expansion board allows the F4v3 to run up to 12 strings without dividing up the capacity. When you daisy chain Falcons, you're adding to the total number of pixels supported because they can each have their own outputs, expansion board and/or receivers. I'm not as familiar with the F4 as the F16 though. This is my interpretation of the documentation.

 

[chris19681986]

Hello all. I've been doing some reaching, watching, and reading. Especially the 101 manual. I love Christmas and looking forward to starting for this coming year. My confusion comes with what controller to use for my first display. I plan on running icicle lights along the front roof line (approx. 35ft), so about 600-700 pixels daisy chained and power injected, the garage outline, four windows, and the front door. I'm estimating approx. 1500 pixels total. I plan on putting the main controller in the garage and from there, I can come up to the roof and the garage outline. I'll have to then go 15-30ft away for the windows. My question comes in should I use the Falcon F16v3 with extension cabling for the furthest windows, but then data my be an issue? Or an F4v3 to run the roof icicles and garage and data out to another F4v3 or smart receivers? I do plan to expand out to several trees about 20-30ft away in the future. Sorry for the questions, but it's hard to decide the best course of action. Thanks for any input.

I'm new to this as well but cat5 or 6 wire for data I believe can be run for quite a long distance. Another guy I've been watching, Cantispater Christmas said 200 or 250ft.
I was in the same boat and these guys have been incredibly helpful. I'm starting off with the f16v3. 5v lights on roof line and 12v lights for leaping arches. Only difference is I'm keeping my power supply(s) in garage and run 12 or 14 gauge wire in conduit out to the arches. 5v will have 16ga running to them and 18 gauge for power injection. F16 you can keep on expanding quite a bit

 

[chris19681986]

This is a great pic!!! Thank you for this, because this is similar to my idea. Did you have to power inject at the end of each icicle string or did you inject all the way at the other end of the roof? Did you add a power supply to your F16?

One way to do it is inject all the way at the end and see what the lights look like. If not great then inject in the middle as well