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AusChristmasLighting 101 Manual
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[QUOTE="i13, post: 78656, member: 21708"] Hi Brett82 I have a Christmas display that is 100% computer controlled and about 90% store bought. Personally I thought it was worthwhile keeping my store bought lights when I converted to computer control. This was not as easy as setting up pixels or dumb RGB because you're not using the lights for their intended purpose - it is a bit of a hack. The biggest difficulty was that the light sets required a variety of voltages in the range from about 24V DC to 36V DC. I had to hack each light set so they now all run at 31V DC with the same power supplies. The exact voltage(s) you choose will depend on your lights and personal preference. The first thing to do is to separate your lights into two categories. The first category is those that either have no 8 function controller or they have an 8 function controller and at least 3 wires going to the lights. The second category is those that have an 8 function controller and only 2 wires going to the lights. The hacking process for these two categories is different and they also require a different type of controller when you convert to computer control. I use and recommend an E1.31 setup even for store bought lights due to the high reliability and future expandability. The computer (or optional Raspberry Pi) outputs the E1.31 signal and I have an E1.31 to DMX bridge to convert the E1.31 signal to DMX for the DC controllers. Many pixel controllers have a DMX bridge built in so you get some bonus pixel outputs as well. 240V AC controllers are not recommended for light sets that have low voltage plugpacks. The Raspberry Pi is convenient in that you can have your light show running without your computer connected and it is a cheap way to support high channel counts. If you're only using store bought lights then your channel count will be low. I have pixels but only for main feature items that I want to have stand out above the rest. There are two main things you're likely to have or want that I would strongly recommend replacing with pixels as store bought lights are not as practical for these purposes [list] [*]Firstly the leaping arches - this is what pixels are designed to do. With store bought lights you'd have to cut the light sets up and run a separate wire back to the controller for each arch segment. This is a big task and you'll quickly use up the controller's channels. Only the light sets in the first category above are able to be cut up. [*]The other thing I would replace with pixels or at least single colour dumb strip is any ropelights. 240V ropelights require prohibitively expensive and not particularly safe AC controllers although you may be able to find one second hand. Low voltage ropelights can have their required voltage increased with the hacking process but you can't decrease it. On top of these issues, ropelights are short-lived and you can't repair them. From a distance, viewers don't notice if you replace your ropelights with strips. [/list]It would make sense to wait until after the mini for your controller purchases but there are some things that you could get already. The first is software. Vixen and xLights are both capable of running your display and they're completely free so you may as well get started. The other thing is a power supply - you'll definitely need one regardless of your controller choice. Having one would allow you to start with the hacking. A multimeter and decent soldering station help with this too. Hacking and sequencing were actually the two most time consuming things for me when I converted to computer control in 2013. You're on the right track reading the forums and chat as it will help to have some background knowledge when you go to the mini. I know you're not planning a pixel megatree but for the sake of anyone else reading this thread I want to add a couple of points to the advice already given. If you're using pixel nodes (not strip) then I'd definitely use 5V. Voltage is a personal preference thing but in my opinion 5V is a good choice when you want to have a large number of pixels in a small area. It uses less power and you can get around voltage drop by using power injection. Power injection is more practical when all of your pixels are close to the power supply. There is more information in this thread [url=http://auschristmaslighting.com/forums/index.php/topic,2595.0.html]http://auschristmaslighting.com/forums/index.php/topic,2595.0.html[/url] and keep in mind while reading it that 12V pixels from Ray Wu often draw ~18mA per colour which is not good as it increases their power requirements and voltage drop problems. Strips are different because the 12V ones have three LEDs in series to use the voltage more efficiently than 12V nodes. This means that each pixel has 3 RGB LEDs instead of one. It may be chepaer to buy multiple smaller power supplies instead of a smaller number of big ones. I'm actually really pleased to see ACL members other than me giving technical advice in the new members' section. This is what gets these sorts of productive discussions started. BTW, I don't think your post was long winded. As you can see, I start typing and don't stop. [/QUOTE]
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