Newbie Needs Help

[Tbernstein2368]

Scenario:

1. I’ve got 15M or RGBW led pixel strip which I plan on installing on front of house (all connected in one straight 15M run.
2. I do have spare computers around to act as the player (sorry if I’m using wrong term)
3. Controller can go in garage which is less than 10-15M from the start of the string. (And the middle of the string if i’ll Need more than one output.
4. Pixels are 30 per meter so a total of 450
5. No plans to expand this over time.

Questions:

1. What co troller should I purchase and other than the controller, power supply, cabling/connectors and x@lites do I need anything else.

 

[Tony.G]

Hi Tbernstein2368
I use a advatek pixlite 4 mk2 but falcon controllers are the way to go with meanwell power supply.
This time of year would be hard to get a controller but there are other options I recommend reading the ACL 101 manual

 

[JohnsRdChristmas]

The main question is really controller,

Do you just want to control just the strip?

If so you should be ok to do it on 1 output, and you could use a bunch of different types of controllers to do it,
(But all on 1 output will likely require power injection)

From a raspberry pi (you can get add on boards, or there are pin outs available to wire your own) would give you 2 outputs,
To the christmas controllers (a long list of suppliers/boards) which can give you multiple outputs,

If you plan to expand and control a whole house, probably best to begin with the end in mind, map out your house in xlights, and then people could recommend soloutions based on the setup,

My first year i decided i just wanted the 2 outputs, and had the raspberry pi, and 12v power supply on hand, so just spent the 30 bucks for the pi hat and was up and running, (plus some wire and a few bibs and bobs (connectors, heatshirnk etc))
And although the pi is super handy and can be also used to run the show off (fpp) its not 100% required, and you could save $60 and put towards another controller and use xschedule to play the show off a computer etc,

As above the ACL 101 manual is a must read,

 

[Tbernstein2368]

Hi Tbernstein2368
I use a advatek pixlite 4 mk2 but falcon controllers are the way to go with meanwell power supply.
This time of year would be hard to get a controller but there are other options I recommend reading the ACL 101 manual

Thank you. I did get and read the manual.

 

[Tbernstein2368]

T

The main question is really controller,

Do you just want to control just the strip?

If so you should be ok to do it on 1 output, and you could use a bunch of different types of controllers to do it,
(But all on 1 output will likely require power injection)

From a raspberry pi (you can get add on boards, or there are pin outs available to wire your own) would give you 2 outputs,
To the christmas controllers (a long list of suppliers/boards) which can give you multiple outputs,

If you plan to expand and control a whole house, probably best to begin with the end in mind, map out your house in xlights, and then people could recommend soloutions based on the setup,

My first year i decided i just wanted the 2 outputs, and had the raspberry pi, and 12v power supply on hand, so just spent the 30 bucks for the pi hat and was up and running, (plus some wire and a few bibs and bobs (connectors, heatshirnk etc))
And although the pi is super handy and can be also used to run the show off (fpp) its not 100% required, and you could save $60 and put towards another controller and use xschedule to play the show off a computer etc,

As above the ACL 101 manual is a must read,

hank you very much. I did obtain and read the manual

 

[AAH]

If you're just going with the 1 strip then a Pi and a cape/hat would be what I'd go with. They are capable of controlling up to a few thousand pixels and a fair portion of them have a real time clock onboard so you can set a schedule and let it go.