RGB Pixel Power Injection and a Cable Snake (2018)
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- Finishing up on the RGB pixel sticks, I encountered a power injection problem that makes for an awesome demo. I also created a cable snake for the line from the controller to the first pixel.
If you are new to the channel and want to learn how to do computer-controlled lighting, check out my Beginner playlist: • Beginner RGB Pixels
I also have a very basic online course for RGB Pixel beginners (please use this referral link): bit.ly/ccudemyc... (designed to bring someone up to speed quickly - you may not need to take this course if you've seen all my videos)
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Affiliate link to stuff I recommend from Amazon UK: amzn.to/2TqthEz
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Affiliate link to low-cost FM transmitter on eBay: ebay.to/2L6gzY9
Hardware and software:
Falcon Pixel Controllers: bit.ly/pixelco...
Falcon Player Software: bit.ly/falconp...
xLights sequencing software: xlights.org
Boscoyo Studio bit.ly/Boscoyo...
CFOL bit.ly/crocket...
Christmas Lighting Forums:
auschristmasli...
diychristmas.or...
doityourselfchr...
falconchristmas...
nutcracker123.c...
www.planetchris...
Facebook Groups:
Advanced RGB Pixels and Controllers bit.ly/2zEMrgX
FPP, Falcon Player bit.ly/2yvc7v3
Official xLights Support Group bit.ly/2zBMwnv
xLights Support Group bit.ly/2GU2TyC
and finally, if you like what I'm doing here and just want to donate a little do-re-mi, I'll gladly accept at www.paypal.me/.... Thank you!
#ccrgbpixels #canispaterchristmas
Wishing Sadie a speedy recovery...I ordered 2 sets of the chroma poles earlier this year, but decided to make them into 3 foot (90 pixel) trees instead. Mainly because wasn't sure how to model them...lol And yes, again another great video!!!!
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@@CanispaterChristmas are you catching up on comments, I don't hardly remember this one...lol Now I'm gonna have to go back and watch it again
@@brianmcvay5455 RUclips doesn't consider a hearted comment a response so I'm "responding" to 4 or 5 at a time. Had a video about it, but watched the Wednesday night preso and decided to reshoot it. Then, smowmageddon so playing Star Trek Fleet Command. 😂
@@CanispaterChristmas LMAO! Glad y'all got some of my weather down there. Just please stay and drive safe and watch out for the ya'whos that don't pay attention to the road.
@@brianmcvay5455 We aren't going anywhere! Haha. Got provisions over the weekend. Should be cleared out by Thursday so we can make it as long as the power company does it's job. I'll expand on that a bit in the video. It's pretty hilarious, not really, but ya know.
Enjoy these tubes, learning a lot about pixels.Thanks mate!
Thanks Jarrad! Welcome to the channel!
Just a shame I can’t get the boards direct to au
@@jedi1371 You might check in on AusChristmasLighting.com. I think there is a local dealer for AU now (assuming you mean the Falcons).
Hi from the UK! Jeff, your presentation is great and I enjoy your humour (UK spelling!), please keep on giving us inspiration!
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Sadie needs rest to get better....Our two should be doing great with all the resting they do. You all will feel better when she gets to feeling better. Like the idea of the strip with holes to mount on emt. I have the regular strip and didn't do a horizontal last year, but may have to get some for over the garage door. Or....I need to figure out how to fit sagging lights into the show. ;-)
Haha. Thanks. She got her staples out, but is still a bit sore so will stay on pain meds another week. Kindof a tradeoff in getting so much done at once or putting them under several times. She doesn't like anesthesia too much so we opted for the former. Yeah, I used regular strip zip-tied to the EMT which worked, but this new stuff is much more rigid and thicker and should do a much better job. Sagging lights. lol!
Jeff, Pets and Hugs to Sadie!
Before you do too much with those ChromaStrips V3 try loading in a pixel. I am using some in my display but ended up coming up with a jig for my drill press to get these pixels loaded. They are a great product, but it will be an effort.
Thanks! Haha! Yeah, you’re a video behind. I mention that in the next one.
Your snake ??? Why not just use an extension cord and remove the power plugs and put your pigtails on then you have one cable... love the channel
Thanks! The problem is large cable is not good for data - little skinny wire works better due to impedance. Data actually travels further on skinny wire than thick wire. That would work for short runs though. Plus, I found out later that these pixels I show were defective and quite deaf (needed more data signal than most). They didn't last a season so they're gone.
Question for you. I am looking at your video and you have your smart receiver. What did you use for your 4 wire power??? Looks like 18 gauge wires but with red, black, white and green. Where did you buy that?
I went back to 2017 in my Amazon orders and not there so maybe Home Depot?
Hi from the East coast of Canada, I love the series and it has help me in making the decision of taking a step forward and trying this. Have a question after watching this clip, Could you have use Coax instead of the network cable?
Welcome! Ethernet cable is optimized to carry data so that was why I chose it. I suppose if you get the right coax (impedance matched for Ethernet data) it might be worth trying. This was really to show that data can be extended a little by using the correct cable for data. Most of the runs are fine using standard 18 gauge wire as the runs are short - less than 30 feet. Also, these pixels seemed to need a better data signal to begin with and I was going further than normal so I tried the special data cable. Turns out, the entire lot of pixels was extremely marginal to begin with and they are not going to last past this season. Lesson learned is stay away from pixels marked "promotional." :)
Hello Jeff can you tell how do I get the Fallon player on my computer I have the controller
Open a web browser to the IP address of the controller.
@@CanispaterChristmas Thank you Jeff you are my hero I love your videos you inspired me to do this stuff I am new to it I have been using LOR but I want to do better I saw yours and it swept me off my feet.
Great vid/info.
one question.
where did buy and what do call the little connectors you used on the end of the wire that screwed into the green block for the controller, I was looking for something like that instead of just putting the bare wires in the green block but did not know what they were called. thank you
They're called "bootlaced ferrules". I bought a kit (crimper and assortment of ferrules) at Amazon: amzn.to/2BCzxEY
Great video. Am fairly new to this and getting the necessary info. So I've been checking out LOR and holiday coro about the quick tree setup and they come pre made with a 16 channel and power unit and 16 × 50 nodes, each string of node to one channel but I read in a forum that I don't even need all 16 channels to power the quick tree setup but only 3. How is this possible? Are they using the power injection method or they have 2 power inputs? Thanks
Thanks! Well, not having seen the post, I'm not totally sure and I'm not familiar with the LOR setup you were looking at. Most current controllers will support many more nodes per port so yes, probably using power injection and with 5V pixels, there will be more power injection required. You can go about 50-80 nodes with 5V, then you'll need to inject power on the string. Of course, it all depends on the pixels and the brightness you're running them at. I run mine at 30% so that reduces the amount of power needed so you might be able to run more nodes if you cut the brightness. It's a balancing game. :)
Jeff, I have a similar setup for a few of my props. I'm running 60' using cat5 for signal w/ power supplies at the props - works well! I like the idea of adding an Famp for the next prop. Have you tested how far you can go using the Famp?
Just saw your next video on Famp's, you answered my question :).
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Jeff we’ve missed you
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Hello have a question new to this RGB light world. where can i find out what I need to build one tree 100 or 200 lights. Basic hookups and how many power inverters I need.? Thx
You might want to start with this playlist: ruclips.net/p/PLFyrAfJ-kKd4ZfPdXWIt8v_bav61mW_KW It covers pretty much everything. If not, let me know . Also, check out the forums I have listed in the descriptions. Very helpful people there that might answer your questions quicker than I can. Welcome to the hobby!
Jeff what wire type do you utilize to run power injection from the power supply itself, I see that you use the pigtails for the connection to the strand
Currently, I'm using a roll of 14AWG speaker wire I got from Amazon. Not the best, but it works. amzn.to/2phohoa It really depends more on the length of your runs. Longer runs are going to need larger cable. Measure the voltage to determine if you've gone too far. The pigtails are 18AWG I believe or close to it. Ray sells foot-long pigtails as well as longer extensions. I'm planning to use the pigtails and more of my own cable for new props.
Hi i am new to getting in to pixels and you mentioned several time you just added power to the end of the line. Are you back feeding the power? Can you go in to more detail on than and show more of the connections and how that all works. You also said you added power in the middle. I may be over thinking this but i am not following what you are doing or how you are connecting this in. Do you have another video that is more detail on how you are connecting all the power and data. One more thing. I am network engineer and i see you are running the power and data in parallel to each other. You may be getting cross-talk in the data from the power induction. If you separate the power from data as much as possible you can get further data cables.
A couple of things. Go through this playlist: ruclips.net/p/PLFyrAfJ-kKd4ZfPdXWIt8v_bav61mW_KW It covers all the basics. This ruclips.net/video/bvN91XDH2V0/видео.html covers power injection a little more. Basically, each node uses some power and after some number of them, the voltage drops to a point where it negatively affects the light so you add more power to bump it back up. Data flows one way, but power doesn't care (as long as you get the positive and negative correct). You are correct, but we typically run less than 30-feet between the controller and the first pixel so crosstalk isn't a problem. I made a hybrid cable in this video because the pixels I had were essentially defective (which I figured out later) and required more signal than normal, but I've never had to do it prior to this. There are other tools for longer runs (up to 300m) if needed.
I put the power injection video in the playlist. It's actually part of the basics. I will be covering it again soon though.
New to the pixel world. I've been looking to buy the green connectors you use for the controller board. where do you order yours from Jeff, along with more pigtails for the controllers?
10 Pcs Pitch 3.5mm 4way/pin Screw Terminal Block Connector w/ Straight-pin Green Color Pluggable Type Skywalking www.amazon.com/dp/B00AND3VTG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_hJP3CbJXN55PE
Not sure how I missed this. They are included with the controller purchase.
Jeff, Hoping a quick recovery for Sadie. I've have 3 pups as well and all have had health issues this year.
As for the Chroma Pole from Boscoyo. We're adding 4 of them to our display this year as well. You mentioned trying to model them as a matrix. I have mine modeled as a 6 x "y" Mega Tree where "y" is my number of pixels. I have just configured xLights for a 180 tree, with 6 strands and a Bottom/Top Ratio to 1. The model looks good. I'm also creating submodels for 8 sections so I can mimic our old LED AC light pole. It looks OK within xLights, but was wondering if you saw any advantage of one over the other? Your thoughts or a video ;) would be appreciated.
Hmm. A 180-tree might be a better idea. :)
Love the video as always.
I notice that when I go to your Amazon links the landing page shows up but there is only text there, no links. I could use the links.
Hmm. Where are you on the planet? They may only work in the US.
I'm in Southern California.
I see the text on the page and I really want to go to Amazon for the products but there's nothing clickable.
Hmm. I just checked on my phone. Do you see a product image with a “shop now” button at the bottom? Oh, maybe Chrome doesn’t like it being HTTP instead of HTTPS? - WIP. What product are you interested in? I may be able to paste the link here.
Double hmmm. Works fine on my phone too. Just doesn't work on my PC in Chrome. I don't see the pictures at all.
Yeah, Chrome is pushing everyone to HTTPS which that site isn't. I'm overhauling it to fix that problem, but too busy playing lights ATM. lol! Guess I need to give it a little love sooner than planned. :)
where do you get the nice pigtails from they look pretty good for water proofing connections
I buy them from Ray (or wherever you get the pixels from). They are OK in the rain, but not in a puddle of water. Experience talking there... :)
I was going to buy pixels from Ray but after adding in shipping costs it wasn't a very good deal $5 for 50 pc but $15 for shipping found some others on ali-express $136 for 1000pc with free shipping
do you think it would be possible to make those boards into candy canes? Or would that be to many pixels on one run?
Might be a little tough with those. Those boards are made out of PVC or a PVC-like material. I have some of the Boscoyo Chroma Canes you just insert pixels into that work great.
I'm working on a large outline with Square pixel inches what size wire need for the end at 250 feet using 1000 pixel
Well, let me see if I understand you correctly. You have a 1000-pixel string running about 250 feet? First off, you'll want to inject power at several points along the string (roughly every 80-100 for 12V pixels, 50-80 for 5V) and this assumes you're running them at 100% brightness.
CanispaterChristmas what gauge of wire to power the last 100 pixel
John, Not an easy question to answer. I use 14AWG speaker wire for power injection just because I have it. I also limit my runs to less than 30ft. The farther you go, the larger the wire needed to maintain voltage, so keeping them short is best. The pixels will look dim or won't light if they don't have enough power. In that case, measure the voltage and inject if needed. You'll just have to experiment with your lights.
Curious, why did you choose to use cat5 for the signal instead of just the third wire on your power lead as usual? Also, what is the website for that Chroma supplys (strip)?
Cat5 transports data much better than 18awg wire. For runs between the controller and first pixel > 30ft, the data signal can be attenuated to the point it starts being too low for the first pixel to read it properly. Additionally, these pixels seem to require more data signal than all of the other pixels I've used and the run to the first pixel on this prop is further than I'm comfortable going with normal cables. The demo illustrates the problem.
Oh, Boscoyo Studio. www.boscoyostudio.com
@@CanispaterChristmas Jeff, I'm curious about how this works. Please correct me where I am wrong in my thoughts. By using only one conductor of the cat-5, we do not utilize the twisted pair cancelling cross talk. Since the 18awg stranded wire is thicker than the 24awg cat-5 solid wire, I can only assume the reason the cat-5 wire being used for signalling works better is simply because electrons flow better in solid copper rather than stranded aluminum/copper wiring?
@@gleaminx My electrical knowledge here is limited, but even though data is just ones and zeros, it behaves more like an AC signal so impedance comes into play here. Every wire has tiny inductors and capacitors. For DC, the inductive and capacitive effects are small to none, but as frequency increases, these effects can reduce the signal to an unusable level. CAT5 is impedance-matched for the data signals we're using and carries those signals better than larger wires.
Dose all your pixel sticks have the F- amp at the end?
Yes. All but the last one. I did that to boost the data signal for the next one.
Hot glue works great till it’s cold outside... then it simply pops off. Hope it withstands the cold.
Well, if they all fall off, I'll post an update. lol!
Ain’t she a beauty
Thanks!
Jeff,
Always enjoy the videos!
Take a look at this cable: tinyurl.com/y775vauh
I have used this cable up to 32 ft. with 84 pixels (2811 12v bullets) from my Falcons with no issues.
Yours are not bullets so you may still need to power inject.
Same as what you did but much neater work with.
Take care, Ed
Haha Thanks! Yeah, I figured there was something out there already that accomplished the same thing! lol! I am going to try running it with just ethernet from the controller for data only + GND then power it off a power supply out in the yard since I need to inject power anyway. If that works, then I can re-route the power portion to the power supply. Note to self - pick up some inline fuses...
i wanna pet that dog
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BAY-UM!
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Frankensolder!
Haha! Yeah, it's pretty ugly!
@@CanispaterChristmas hey, all that matters is if it works!
Haha. Yeah, I'm going to try just coming out of the controller with ethernet and inject all the power at the prop, but the snake will be a backup since I KNOW it works.
Ethernet works great for getting data from controller to props. I use it out of my Falcon's for all of my props that require power injection.
Double, triple or quadruple up on the wires you use on the Ethernet cable to ensure solid signal transmission, and don't forget to connect up the ground connection as well.
Yep. One skinny line for the data and the rest for ground. That should be the best impedance match for the data. Although, I haven't tested using multiple lines for the data - might make a good video. :) Most of my stuff is relatively close so I can use Ray's standard pigtails. This prop seems to want more signal, hence the F-Amps between each one. I figure ethernet will get me the 30-ish feet to the first pixel easily.
Poor Baby.
She's actually much better now. Trying to keep her from re-injuring her shoulder will be an ongoing thing as she gets a little cra cra on our walks, but she's over this. :)