There's no Sanity Clause

merryoncherry

merryoncherry

Senior elf
Generous elf
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Apr 2, 2022
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Cherry St., Hudson MA USA
Well, all that kit was very easy to order online. Clickety, clickety, on September 26 I had the first orders in, way ahead of schedule. I guess I didn't realize it would take 10-20 seconds per pixel to get it all assembled, installed, wired, and sequenced. Remarkably, thanks largely to products and software refined by a lot of work by the earlier pioneers and xLights community, I got the last of the 54,000 pixels running by December 17 last year (and thankfully the weather wasn't "winteresting"). So, yet another display is (re)born.

Oh, there are so many refinements to make this year, and so many more pixels to add. Here to learn and share tips.
 
Well, today (Sept 26, 2022) marks the first anniversary of my very first order of blinky. In that year, I’ve wasted a lot of money on the hobby, and it turns out a lot of that money was wasted unnecessarily. Here are some cash-saving tips I picked up in my rookie year:
  • It turns out that “red” wire and “black” wire are made of the same materials and are electrically identical. While nobody will fault the manufacturers for differentiating their products in hopes of attracting higher profit margins, the savvy consumer will purchase whichever color is cheapest.
  • Modern polymers are mostly derived from petroleum, and oil prices are notoriously volatile. Take advantage of this by placing bulk orders for plastic items such as zip ties, nylon PCB stand-offs, and xConnect O rings when crude prices temporarily dip.
  • On the subject of zip ties, many people are already aware that ties should not be clipped and discarded, but should be released with a small screwdriver. If you’ve trimmed the end of the zip tie, you’ll save a lot of time next year if you bin them by length as you return them to storage. (Be sure they are lying completely flat when you measure them with the ruler, or you risk placing a longer, more valuable zip tie in the bin with the shorter, cheaper ones.)
  • A typical Cat 5 cable has 8 conductors in it, but 10/100 Ethernet requires only 4, and Light-o-Rama and DMX need even fewer (2 or maybe 3). Obviously, if you split your cables down the middle, you can save a pile of money here. (It was pointed out to me that if you have preconfigured your show controllers in the lab and only intend to send data without receiving any status back, you only need two conductors… but in my opinion this sort of person should just get it over with and use WiFi and not purchase cables at all.) Another valid option here is to try to locate a vendor that is trying to unload outdated, surplus Cat 4 cable for cheap.
  • Capping unused connectors saves money in the long run by protecting your cables, but the caps are rather expensive for what you get. Re-purpose caps from shampoo, Vegemite, economy-size toothpaste tubes, or other household products. (Do not be afraid to tap new threads if the size is close but the cap won’t screw on properly.)
  • Instead of discarding blown fuses, repair them by soldering small wire across the leads. WARNING: Do not use wire that is too thick, as this is clearly a waste of expensive materials and partially defeats the purpose of repairing the fuse to save money.
  • Electricity is expensive, and prices have really been going up. (This is all the more egregious in light of the fact that the power company takes the electrons back from you when you are done with them, and hasn’t actually “generated” any new electricity since the 1960s (1980s in ANZ, Ed.), but I digress...) To defray the cost, put solar cells on your enclosures. Those who argue that this is pointless because they run their shows in the dark are apparently too mesmerized by their blinking lights to realize that they can strategically orient the controller to aim the cells at their shows, thus capturing some of their power back.
  • While traditionalists insist on using “pigtails” on their controllers and props, soy-based products are easier on your wallet and less damaging to the planet.
  • In a similar vein, do not pay extra for phoenix connectors that have been professionally unscrewed by the manufacturer before you get them. Just loosen them yourself when it is time to attach them to the pigtails (or plant-based alternatives).
  • Coro props are expensive, so if you do a Halloween show, flip your Christmas coros over and use the other side rather than purchasing new.
  • 0-bits are far more common than 1-bits. While the price may appear attractive, do not fall for a vendor package that contains an equal amount of 0s and 1s, as this is just their way of shifting a pile of their surplus 1s over to you.
  • Though this is rarely advertised, many sequence vendors offer discounts if you don’t need all the props in the sequence. For example, if you have only 6 arches and the sequence calls for 8, you could get a 25% discount on the arch portion. Conversely, if you have 10 arches, you may owe the vendor extra, but our peers rarely report being audited and therefore creating a decoy xlights_rgbeffects file may not be warranted.
  • The cost of zoom room assistance calls can really add up, especially when you consider the long-distance charges. Be sure you’ve carefully read the manual, and phoned a local friend, before resorting to zoom.
  • There is some debate on 5V vs 12V, with 5V proponents touting energy-efficiency and 12V proponents getting over twice as many volts per dollar of power supply purchased. Split the middle by turning the little knob on a 12V PSU down to 10, and putting 2 5V props in series.
  • Very few people really need to shell out the cash for an xLights Advanced license, and can continue to use the free version if they learn a few new tricks. Some features, such as submodel groups and shadow models, are crippled in the UI of the base version, but can be worked around by editing the xLights XML files directly. Other operations, like changing face outlines to states, can be performed manually in the base version on a per-effect basis. (Admittedly, the ability to remap moving heads between vendors is a really handy feature of xLights Advanced and far superior to a manual approach, but I suppose if you can afford 8 moving heads and vendor sequences, you can afford a license for xLights Advanced.)
  • Many have complained of price gouging in the market for raspberry pies. Over half of us who have dared to try strawberry find the taste of it is also acceptable, and the vendors fairer. (We do tend to keep a bit of raspberry in the freezer in case company comes, but since we are too busy with lights to invite anyone over, this expense is probably unnecessary.)
Well, that’s what I learned in year 1. Maybe I’ll have some more after year 2, assuming my CLAP isn’t cured by then.
 
I neglected to mention that many pixels come supporting 16m colors, and you'll use only the tiniest fraction of that. You can probably deduct everything except red, green, and white, for a huge savings!
 
merryoncherry said:
they can strategically orient the controller to aim the cells at their shows, thus capturing some of their power back.
Click to expand...
Back when I ran AC lights, I had some solar powered Christmas pathway lights that turned on via a light sensor. I thought they were really cool until I realized they would never turn on because I had so many other Christmas lights that they thought it was day, so this checks out.
 
CargoLights said:
Back when I ran AC lights, I had some solar powered Christmas pathway lights that turned on via a light sensor. I thought they were really cool until I realized they would never turn on because I had so many other Christmas lights that they thought it was day, so this checks out.
Click to expand...
Yep, I turn everything off and anything I have with a solar panel lights up for the rest of the night
 
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