Raspberry pi 4

[teamdesousa19]

Finally, looking to bite the bullet and take the leap into pixels. Im a total newbie and never done this before, so excuse me for some dumb questions

Have been looking as buying the raspberry pi 4b. I did see some on Amazon. If I but that do I need to install the fpp. Whst would be an OK pixel controller to purchase. Looking at starting with a small light show first with a few arches and mini trees.

Thanks. Kevin

 

[Juddge]

i recommend for a starter

rPI-28D+ | Hanson Electronics

Pixel controller with DMX

www.hansonelectronics.com.au

this is both the FPP player or remote depending on setup , and your pixel controller
but there are other options out there, but i use these and they work flawlessly

 

[Skymaster]

Finally, looking to bite the bullet and take the leap into pixels. Im a total newbie and never done this before, so excuse me for some dumb questions

I would suggest reading through the 101 Manual which gives loads of information about all aspects of the hobby.

Have been looking as buying the raspberry pi 4b. I did see some on Amazon. If I but that do I need to install the fpp. Whst would be an OK pixel controller to purchase. Looking at starting with a small light show first with a few arches and mini trees.

An RPi 4B will work fine as a show player. You will need FPP installed on it to utilise it. You would want to add an external sound card (Such as the SB Play3!) to get good quality audio out of it.

The RPi can also operate as a controller with an appropriate cape; the one linked above, is an example. There are a number of options with varying counts of outputs, but remember to factor in the licence cost for FPP should you go down that route. Note that you'd only last 1 or 2 seasons on something like this attached to your show player (assuming less than about 1400 pixels), at which point it'd need to be replaced.

Another option of really good controller to start with is the Baldrick8 - https://www.hansonelectronics.com.au/product/baldrick/ - this one will drive up to 6000 pixels, is very cost effective, and adding more of these down the track is a great expansion path.

 

[teamdesousa19]

Thanks for the reply. Ok, if I go down the line of a baldrick 8 from Hanson, I saw on there website that they have a ready to run 8 port pixel controller already in the case with power supply.
Is that a good option for beginners as it already has everything in it. My show will be small with around 4 arches and some mini trees?

What other equipment is required to have my light show up and running.

Thanks in advance and apologies for these questions.

 

[BAZMick]

ready to run 8 port pixel controller already in the case with power supply.

Perfect option, I set up 3x this year for Halloween. Really easy to set up with xLights and worked flawlessly.