Starting my research into a Mini Mega Tree.....

HoogieBurner

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Mar 20, 2017
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Vancouver
So I am going to build a 4' High 2' Diameter 180 Degree Mini Mega Tree(s).
A few questions that perhaps someone that has a little more experience in this than me.....
How many strands should I use?
What should the spacing be? I'd like to do graphics and perhaps text......
It will have a dedicated power supply and run it off my Falcon Player V3
Thoughts?
Suggestions?
I have read through the forums quite a bit already but thought id tap into the wealth of knowledge.
Thanks
 

Richie4540

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Jul 30, 2015
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Brisbane
just my 2cents worth, whats your display area like, I have a small yard so went for a 2D tree but higher and used 8 strings x 100 pixels bent at the top of the tree in half, so I ended up with 16 x 50 strings in a 5m (15 foot) height, which then means I could run 8 outputs of a Falcon Player V2 directly and not have to worry about power injection or joining strings for data connections. also if a string goes bad its a simple matter to change out a whole string and repair it off the tree without stopping the rest working.

So for your tree see if you can zig zag each string into smaller sections - you might be able to do say 4 x 25 on each string and then have say 6 strings to cover a 180 degree tree,

Richie
 

JPB

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May 13, 2010
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That might be a little small for graphics and text.
The resolution of the graphics will also depend on the vertical spacing between the pixels in the string as well as number of strings. If you have your pixels 2 inches apart in the string you will have 24 in each vertical slice of your 4ft tree, which is possibly not enough. Can your tree grow a foot or two?

My 360 degree Midi Tree has 20 vertical strings, 200 mm apart at the bottom. Each string is 2.5m long and has 25 pixels at 100 mm apart. I can sort of display poor quality graphics and text is unreadable. Part of the issue with a tree is that strings are bundled tighter at the top than the bottom so anything being displayed gets distorted, so you need to start with good resolution. But you can still get great visual effects.

Jon
 

HoogieBurner

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Mar 20, 2017
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Vancouver
My front yard is pretty shallow and I'm restricting the height because in the future there will be a matrix behind it. Don't want to overwhelm what little yard I have.
I possibly could go the extra foot (5') at 2" spacing giving me a string length of 30.
Is there a minimum amount of strings that should be on the tree? Or do you just cram on as many strings as your frame will hold?
 

HoogieBurner

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Mar 20, 2017
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tree.jpg This was my thought on the layout of the lights. I will be using a 12mm WS2811 RGB 12V light.
I'm working on the tree frame in my head. Likely will fabricate something from aluminum or light gauge steel.
 

JPB

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May 13, 2010
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Nice shape, pleasing to the eye.
Things to consider when constructing.
Storage. Can it be broken down for easier storage in the other 11 months of the year.
How to hold the base off the ground ( you want it up a little bit ) while still anchoring the whole thing to the ground.
You need a fair bit of tension in the strings to keep the them straight ( but not the strings themselves, the carrier material) and this can cause the tree to warp. In a 360 tree the strings opposite each other balance each other out, in a 180 tree the tension on the front strings will try and bend your centre pole unless you go heavy on the material or use someway to brace it. If you are fixing to, or just in front of a wall you can use the wall to brace the centre pole.

but dont let any of this discourage you, trees are great and perfect canvas' to add some extra zing to your display. Best thing I ever did is my tree.
 
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