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Pixels flickering


idahocampers

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My experience is that too much voltage drop is almost always the cause.  I have had to run 12 or in some cases 10 gauge wire to my pixel fixtures to keep them from flickering.  100 ft is a long way in the DC low voltage world (especially if you're running 5v pixels).  Power inject like crazy to avoid these problems.

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1 hour ago, idahocampers said:

How do i assign a null Pixel in SE?

As Jim stated, there's no way to "officially" designate null pixels in the SE.  There's a real easy workaround though.

Last season I was using a Pixie4  (which doesn't allow for null pixels) running 4 identical props at 66 pixels per output.  One of the prop locations required a null pixel due to the distance from the controller.  What I did was to solder the "null" pixel into the cable like usual, and then in the SE I gave that prop 67 pixels.  I moved pixel #1 into a storage area and sequenced pixels 2-67 just the same as the other matching props.  Worked just fine.

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Brilliant bulbs from HC are 12v pixels. 

Move away from 5v pixels to save a lot of money on cable.

Only use 5v for props that are close to the controller. Pixel trees.  Matrix props.  These are good 5v candidates.

But imho you don't gain anything going 5v.  Injecting is painful tedious work.  The 5v bulbs look the same as 12v bulbs. Strips do go from 3 leds on the 12v variety to 1 led on the 5v but I can go to 12v ink to overcome this limitation if I really need to.

Cost of 10 AWG cable though....ouch.  Plus weight for storing...cumbersome to move around...etc etc.

 

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19 minutes ago, dibblejr said:

Pixie16 does not have an "advanced option" feature. Cannot program null pixels.

JR

So I can just put 51 pixels in SE and ignore the 1st one and program 2 to 51 for my string. #1 being the null?

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5 minutes ago, idahocampers said:

So I can just put 51 pixels in SE and ignore the 1st one and program 2 to 51 for my string. #1 being the null?

I do not know the answer to that since I do not use nul pixels.My controllers are affixed to the props or very close by. Within 15'. 

GS above may have that answer but hes speaking of pixie4 but perhaps its the same.

JR

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1 hour ago, George Simmons said:

As Jim stated, there's no way to "officially" designate null pixels in the SE.  There's a real easy workaround though.

Last season I was using a Pixie4  (which doesn't allow for null pixels) running 4 identical props at 66 pixels per output.  One of the prop locations required a null pixel due to the distance from the controller.  What I did was to solder the "null" pixel into the cable like usual, and then in the SE I gave that prop 67 pixels.  I moved pixel #1 into a storage area and sequenced pixels 2-67 just the same as the other matching props.  Worked just fine.

So my strings are 50 pixels long 

Would it just make them 51 in SE and ignore the first one and program 2 to 51 #1 being the null?

I would assume I would need to reset the controller in hardware manager to 100 pixels long instead of 50 right 

Thanks for the help

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50 minutes ago, idahocampers said:

So my strings are 50 pixels long 

Would it just make them 51 in SE and ignore the first one and program 2 to 51 #1 being the null?

I would assume I would need to reset the controller in hardware manager to 100 pixels long instead of 50 right 

Thanks for the help

Yes, and yes. 

You're welcome.

 

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For 100' I would guess you will need 3 null pixels...one every 25'.  And then you would not program pixels 1-3.  

Or, you could just change the address in sequence editor where pixel one is address 10,11,12, pixel 2 is 13,14, 15 etc. and never have the true 1-3 pixels in the sequence editor at all.  

This is done easily in the sequence editor by adding a device....dmx....correct universe....starting address 10....number of pixels 50.  Instantly have your 50 pixels starting at address 10 and your 3 null pixels in place but not in the sequence editor.

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