Signal distances - P2 to injected power

bob_moody

bob_moody

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Oct 20, 2012
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Huntsville, TX
Does anyone have any advice on far I can travel with D0 and Gnd from a P2 to the injected power supply for the pixels?

P2 is powered by its own supply and not outputting any power.
A cat5 cable will be run from the P2 to the PS carrying signal only then at the prop, the +12v will be injected using waterproof 4 pin connectors to carry signal and power from prop to prop.

Would I be better off outputting +12 from the P2 and build a null pixel to insert between the P2 and the PS to amplify (or regen) the signal?

Or is there a better way

Thanks for the help

Bob
 
How far are we talking about here from controller to the first pixel? I had many sections that were 25-30 ft from controller to the first pixel with no problem. Are you wanting more than 30ft from the controller to the first pixel?

If so you could do like you said and put in a null pixel or if you need even greater distances like 200ft type distance you could use the ECG-PPX..............

http://www.j1sys.com/ecg-ppx/
 
What i have done is power the null pixels from the P2 as the current load will be below that of the P2 limit. and then every 5 to 7 metres (dont you love metric :D ) i would put in a null pixel until the distance was where i wanted. I have one cable with 3 null pixels. Then just connect the ground and data to the lights and connect the +V only to the lights and you should be good to go. You could do this for upto 20 to 25 null pixels being supplied through the P2. As long as you dont power your main lights through a P2 as its max load limit is 25 pixels.

You can even use different pixels for this, like 2811 5v pixel string lights as the null pixels and then use 12vdc 2811 strip or the other way around. I did this for some 24vdc pixels that were running from a 5vdc E680 setup. So there is a lot of flexability.
 
Andy,

Thanks for the link. I dont have exact placements determined yet, but since I have centered my system on J1sys products, the extenders would be a good match.

Eddy,

As always, I appreciate your feedback.

Let me expand on my proposed setup. There is one prop set in particular that I am focusing on at the moment.

I have 8 of the HolidayCoro CandyCanes. Each is filled with 16 rectangular pixels. The idea is to place 4 in the back corner of the yard, then the other 4 in the other back corner.

The P2 would be located about midway. A signal cable would run approximately 25 to 35 feet to the first candy cane of the first set. Then a 4 condutor cable would carry the power and the signal to the other set which would be maybe 50 feet away.

P2 ....... PS --> Cane -- Cane -- Cane -- Cane --> .........................Cane -- Cane -- Cane -- Cane
25' 3' 3' 3' 50' 3' 3' 3'

(If the formatting stays, the above is the straight line idea)

Does this change any of the suggestions?

Bob
 
The same still applies. The main consideration you will need is to ensure that voltage drop is managed between long runs
 
Thanks for the advice. I went ahead and set up my controller box(es) and configured the P2 to supply +12Vdc. As stated this will allow me to power a null pixel or a pixel extender between the controller and the prop where I will inject the pixel power.

Here is a link to how what I did to set up the boxes (one for my D2 and one for the P2)

http://moodychristmas.weebly.com/dmx-controller-boxes.html

its not "really" a How-To. Its more of a this was the way my pea brain came up with....

Bob (watching for drop bears)
 
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