Planning to join the pixel club 2022

D

Dmottram1983

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Joined
Sep 29, 2020
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So I'm going to make the leap into pixel lights next year once we move into our new house.
Our house only has a small frontage so that'll help keep costs down.
After reading up on several sites, countless YouTube videos, demonstrations etc, I want to take the plunge into the money that is pixel lighting Christmas displays.
From what I gather, as a minimum for a semi decent start, I am looking at getting the following once stock starts becoming available.
Still unsure on 5v or 12v so let me know your thoughts on 'your' reasoning.
Falcon f48 controller
12 x smart boards (might as well just get the 12 now)
Quite a few power injection and power cut isolator cables (xconnect)
Let's say 6000 pixels
Cat 5 cables - let's say 100m to start
Cat 5 cable crimper
Wire strippers
Xconnect pigtails
Xconnect extension cables
A few 6 port meanwell power supplies
A few single port power supplies
Heat gun and heat shrink
Mounting plates and boxes


First up will just be house/garden outline, maybe some arches or mini trees
Following years will add mega tree and maybe a matrix on the garage door.
Eventually I will try work out raspberry pi but first year I may stick with the laptop.


I know I've probably missed a lot I need to get the ball rolling and save more coin for this but once stock starts coming back I'm, I'll have a couple of grand to get the ball rolling and add more throughout the year.


Does anyone have a rough idea on when pixelcontroller usually restock?
 
Welcome to ACL and this exciting hobby

All sounds like a reasonable list above (give or take a few items)

I would suggest to see if there is any local displays in your area at this time of year and ask if you can have a little look around their setup, that help give you a good understanding of layouts etc.

First step I would suggest is
Download the ACL 101 manual

Then download xLights and import a picture of your house and start planning your layout before making any purchases.

This will then give you a idea of what props you like and a idea of the number of pixels you will need as 6000 pixels is alot for starting out.

I would maybe suggest obtaining say 1000 pixels from a Aus based re-seller and a controller and once you have these it will give you a opportunity to get some lights connected and working before making a major investment etc.

Remember there is lots of people within this community willing to give suggestions and advise and the good thing (and sometimes confusing part) is there is multiple ways of achieving the same outcome, that is getting lights to flash in time to music :)

The 12v vs 5v voltage debate is a bit similar to this, essential 12v pixels may be better suited to say a house outline as they may require less power injection, while 5v pixels are more efficient and requires less PSU's but will require some power injection etc.
I would personally suggest obtaining 500 to 1000 12v pixels and use them as your beginner project with a pixel controller and a 12v Meanwell PSU for say house outline and maybe a simple DIY prop like spiral trees / arches etc. (Note I would suggest also ordering xConnect connectors and pigtails).

There is great great youtube videos available, as well as this forum and ACL chat and also xLights.org has a resources page and of course there is a xLights Zoom room which while at this time of year maybe very busy with people assisting each other to get their displays sorted you may find some Aussies hanging out one evening and you may be able to ask for some advise etc.
Also keep a eye out for any ACL mini's (small gathering of lighting enthusiasts) which maybe in your area, as these are a great way of obtaining lots of advise etc.

Hope that helps and welcome.
 
Last edited:
LawrenceDriveLights said:
Welcome to ACL and this exciting hobby

All sounds like a reasonable list above (give or take a few items)

I would suggest to see if there is any local displays in your area at this time of year and ask if you can have a little look around their setup, that help give you a good understanding of layouts etc.

First step I would suggest is
Download the ACL 101 manual

Then download xLights and import a picture of your house and start planning your layout before making any purchases.

This will then give you a idea of what props you like and a idea of the number of pixels you will need as 6000 pixels is alot for starting out.

I would maybe suggest obtaining say 1000 pixels from a Aus based re-seller and a controller and once you have these it will give you a opportunity to get some lights connected and working before making a major investment etc.

Remember there is lots of people within this community willing to give suggestions and advise and the good thing (and sometimes confusing part) is there is multiple ways of achieving the same outcome, that is getting lights to flash in time to music :)

The 12v vs 5v voltage debate is a bit similar to this, essential 12v pixels may be better suited to say a house outline as they may require less power injection, while 5v pixels are more efficient and requires less PSU's but will require some power injection etc.
I would personally suggest obtaining 500 to 1000 12v pixels and use them as your beginner project with a pixel controller and a 12v Meanwell PSU for say house outline and maybe a simple DIY prop like spiral trees / arches etc. (Note I would suggest also ordering xConnect connectors and pigtails).

There is great great youtube videos available, as well as this forum and ACL chat and also xLights.org has a resources page and of course there is a xLights Zoom room which while at this time of year maybe very busy with people assisting each other to get their displays sorted you may find some Aussies hanging out one evening and you may be able to ask for some advise etc.
Also keep a eye out for any ACL mini's (small gathering of lighting enthusiasts) which maybe in your area, as these are a great way of obtaining lots of advise etc.

Hope that helps and welcome.
Click to expand...
Thank you that, It certainly will be a forever learning hobby that's for sure.
I have heard the xconnect seems to be the better option.
Good thing with the suppliers all out of stock atm is that I get to do far more research before making the plunge and starting to purchase items.
 
If there is anyone either here in the haweksbury area or in corowa where I'm buying, I'd love to have a little peak at the set up and pick your brains in person. After thos busy season though ofcourse
 
I'd suggest ordering a pixel tester like this: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32261108366.html
They are cheaply available from several suppliers. Having one (or more) of these will allow you to build and test display items without having to put a more expensive controller at risk.

On the 5V versus 12V topic, I would suggest 5V if you have a large number of pixels in a small area and 12V if you have a small number of pixels spread over a large area. 5V is more energy efficient and requires fewer power supplies. 12V does not need as much power injection as 5V.

Have a look at the Display locations in the top menu. It might show you some displays that are nearby.
 
i13 said:
I'd suggest ordering a pixel tester like this: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32261108366.html
They are cheaply available from several suppliers. Having one (or more) of these will allow you to build and test display items without having to put a more expensive controller at risk.

On the 5V versus 12V topic, I would suggest 5V if you have a large number of pixels in a small area and 12V if you have a small number of pixels spread over a large area. 5V is more energy efficient and requires fewer power supplies. 12V does not need as much power injection as 5V.

Have a look at the Display locations in the top menu. It might show you some displays that are nearby.
Click to expand...
Thank you for that. I'll have a look now
 
Snowy said:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pji0AJq9D-E
Welcome . Have a look at this link this is my layout with roughly 6000 pixels . two F16v3's , 3 smart receivers 10 power supply's. and i run 12v and 5v . i do have a Showstopper Hd prop (750 pixels)as well which is mounted on the right-hand side of the tree.
Click to expand...

That looks great, thanks for that. How big is your mega tree? Pixels per strand x how many strands? If you don't mind me asking that is.
 
The tree is 24 strands 50 pixels per strand . the are 5v power injected every 100 so the power is going both directions . using 6 ports on the controller 200 pixels per port.
 
Dmottram1983 said:
I did yes, I moved about 6 years ago to Sydney. I only had a static display back in medowie.
Click to expand...

I remember it. It was a great display, good to see you're getting back into it. Truth be told I thought you were going to beat us to the punch pixel wise.

To answer some of your questions:
Still unsure on 5v or 12v so let me know your thoughts on 'your' reasoning.
I'm running a mixture, mainly because I started with 12v strip and bought 12v nodes to go with it. Nowdays I'm progressively moving more to 5v, as its more power efficient. Dense props 5v makes more sense to me, but 12v needs less injection. I don't think I'll move away from strip (at least for now) so they'll likely be a mixture (spots/roof stars/strip). You just need to pay attention to what you're doing when you plug everything in if you go down this path.

Falcon f48 controller
12 x smart boards (might as well just get the 12 now)
Makes sense from a compatibility perspective (v5 might get released next year and you wind up with no access to older boards), but are you realistically going to need 12?

Quite a few power injection and power cut isolator cables (xconnect)
I wire each segment with a 3 pin in and a 3 pin out, and I used the 3-2-3 T pieces to inject power where I need to. I don't 'cut' the positive anywhere in my display; I keep PSU segments together, and if I need more power, I'll run another segment from another data port on the controller (only running -ve and data from the controller).

Let's say 6000 pixels
Cat 5 cables - let's say 100m to start
Keep in mind that Cat5 is not recommended as a Power Injection cable, you'll likely want something a bit bigger. Some use Extension Wire (2 core and earth), some use low voltage garden lighting wire, some use 14/0.20 security wire. (theres a few suggestions in the 101 manual)

Cat 5 cable crimper
Wire strippers
You'll also need:
  • Soldering Iron
  • Wire crimper's / terminals (for psu insertion etc)
  • I would recommend grabbing some bootlace ferrules and a crimper for these (can be found cheap on aliexpress/ebay), makes wire insertion a lot quicker and easier and less prone to loose wire)
  • Multimeter for testing voltages, and testing your pigtails / t pieces (always test new stuff from vendors, it can be wrong!)
  • Spare fuses etc

Xconnect pigtails
Xconnect extension cables
Personal preference. I thought originally xconnect was for compatibility between vendors but these days they all seem to be able to make each others plugs.

A few 6 port meanwell power supplies
If you're going down the 12v path, consider some preloved HP server power supplies. Popular for crypto mining setups so you can get access to breakout boards. Most meanwells are 350W whereas you can get 1200W server supplies.
 
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