Strips or Bullets for a Mega Tree?

Mischka

Mischka

New elf
Joined
Dec 21, 2014
Messages
25
Hi Everyone,

I've been a member for about maybe 3 years just reading and watching everyone's amazing light displays. So I'm getting ready this year to put together my display in Canberra. I've got a Pixlite 16 MKII to power some of my lights , but I was wondering why does everyone use RGB Bullets instead of RGB strip lights for they Mega Trees? Is it because the Bullets put out more light than the strip lights?

Cheers
Geoff
 
Strips are fragile and the connections fatigue with all the movement in the wind and such. I think everyone who started with strips on a mega tree had to replace them due to excessive failure rate. Bullets mounted either rigidly or in mounting strips survive much better.
 
I use bullets, unless you are doing a 12x or 16x strip tree. My 2014 walk through shows how to build a pixel tree with 1/4 inch irrigation hose and pixel clips.
Most folks use the Boscoyo method.

-Blu
 
Strips can be OK if they are mounted to something rigid. There's a few who have built flat trees and mounted the strips to flat pieces of aluminium strip.
But if you are doing a round tree 180, 270 or 360 degree; then you are better off with individual pixels (either bullets or square) mounted to boscoyo pixel strip or some other method as per users above.

When strip breaks or it's pixels die, it's much more difficult to fix than bullet or square pixels.

Also strip often has 3 pixels 'linked' together so you can't get as good a definition / resolution as you can with individual pixels.
 
Might depend on what type of tree you like the look of.
Flat trees (with no rounding) and more commonly strip as they produce clean straight lines more easily when mounted to something rigid as Oz mentioned.
Once you start doing 180, 220, 360deg trees, in my opinion nodes look better. Depending on how close together you have the nodes at the top of the tree may determine the type of pixel (node or square) you may need to use.
 
I use strip on my flat tree (16 strands). I had one fail on me half way through the strip, but a tap and it was fixed. But I have ordered back up lengths for when it does fail. I just like the way it works with the images etc.
 
i use strip 30/metre ws2811. zipped ti 20mm pvc pipe. keeps the strip rigid as well as being easy to store (i don't take the strip off).
Effects look ok, text is ok, gifs etc are ok (not great) as resolution is low. Although logans star wars work well
Tree is 16 str x 25 pix and people view from 8-20 metres away.
If going again would like to try bullets & boscoyo strip purely as an improvement for gifs/video etc.
Cheers Boof63
Use F16V3 and only two outputs for current tree.
 
I had strips on my 16 string 75 node tree for two years and was very happy with the look but I am replacing them with bullets this year. I had a few faulty pixels and failures with connections on the strips until I fitted some strain reliefs I made. Mine were mounted on conduit with hooks at each end for mounting and worked very well.

Going to 12V bullets in Boscoyo strips which should arrive soon but this is an expensive change with having to purchase more lights, looking back I would rather have spent once and used bullets. These are more robust and easier (and cheaper) to repair so I expect a few years life out of the new ones.

Cheers Kev
 
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