KeysNole Posted February 12, 2018 Share Posted February 12, 2018 I will be making a purchase this week, deciding on the controller for our mega tree. I know the Falcon has a good reputation. We currently run an Alphapix for our ribbon tree and have had no issues. Either controller would be customized for additional outputs. Falcon V3 with two 350 watt Meanwell supplies and 32 channel outputs. I could only run the tree at 30%, per Brian at HLE Cost is $650. Additional power options could be a few hundred more. Two Alphapix16 units, two 350 Watt Meanwell supplies. Per David at HC, this could be run at up to 70%. I am not concerned about the price difference as much as I am about the ability to only run the display at 30%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Laff Posted February 12, 2018 Share Posted February 12, 2018 Well I run a couple falcons one is using 24 outputs with 2 30 amp 350 watt power supplies 100 2811 pixels each output at 100 % I have no problems why did HLE say only 30% I also think the Falcon is one of the easiest E1-31 controllers to setup just my opinion . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted February 12, 2018 Share Posted February 12, 2018 How many strings and how many pixels per string? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebuechner Posted February 12, 2018 Share Posted February 12, 2018 I have run a few different controllers including the alphapix. And the Falcon is the best controller you can get for the money today. In fact I was so impressed with them I bought four controllers last year to replace everything that I had and I have one of the new f48 on order. 3 of My f-16v3 are set up with 4 400w power supplies so I have a hundred watts per output. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. P Posted February 12, 2018 Share Posted February 12, 2018 You can do a comparison of the most popular controllers here: http://nutcracker123.com/nutcracker/rgb_controllers/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 A few hundred for additional power options. I can buy a MW PS-750-12 for $30. I run 24X50 channels at 100% easily with the 750. Is this a 32 X 100 tree? Mine are run off LOR pixie16's and a pixie16/pixie8 combo for my 24x50 matrix JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeysNole Posted February 13, 2018 Author Share Posted February 13, 2018 7 hours ago, k6ccc said: How many strings and how many pixels per string? Sorry, I should have noted that. Looking at 24 strings x 120 pixels per strand. 2880 total. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncledan Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 F16v3 and expansion board would probably be best/cheapest bet with one psu per bank with 4 psus total if you limit intensity. Two 350w psus's isn't going to run that tree. DMoore @ Holiday Coro needs to punch the numbers again... Call DPitts not DMoore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 1 hour ago, KeysNole said: Sorry, I should have noted that. Looking at 24 strings x 120 pixels per strand. 2880 total. That is very similar to what I am doing with my pixel tree this year. Mine will be 24 x 100 plus 270 pixels in the star on top. I have always used SanDevices controllers for my pixels, so I will have two E682 controllers for the tree and star. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry72 Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 13 hours ago, KeysNole said: I will be making a purchase this week, deciding on the controller for our mega tree. I know the Falcon has a good reputation. We currently run an Alphapix for our ribbon tree and have had no issues. Either controller would be customized for additional outputs. Falcon V3 with two 350 watt Meanwell supplies and 32 channel outputs. I could only run the tree at 30%, per Brian at HLE Cost is $650. Additional power options could be a few hundred more. Two Alphapix16 units, two 350 Watt Meanwell supplies. Per David at HC, this could be run at up to 70%. I am not concerned about the price difference as much as I am about the ability to only run the display at 30%. I would not listen to anything Brian, he obviously has no idea what he is talking about.. There is a reason everyone prefers the Falcon over the all others. The Falcon F16 V3 is $200, expansion board is $50, 2 PSU's $70, that is only $320. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 If you need the larger 750 PSUS let me know at under $30 each you cannot beat that price. Meanwell PS-750-12. Cant post link here but can send it via pm JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithzone Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 This doesn't make sense - the controllers take very little power and the only thing you are changing in this scenario is the controller. It doesn't quite work like this, but that would sort of imply that the Falcon uses (or wastes) 280 watts more than the Alpha (40% diff * 700w). There is no way that is right. Good impartial compare of options is here - http://nutcracker123.com/nutcracker/rgb_controllers/ Disclaimer alert - I run a F4v3 (with expansion) and just picked up a F16v3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpageler Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 Didn't find any references to a MW ps-750-12? Did see SP-750-12 and RSP-750-12 but they are in the $200 range. I was running several Sandevices E6804 (4 outputs) and upgrade the past yearr to several F16V3's...I'm totally impress in what Falcon is doing. Wth their rep, never even consider any other 16 channel controllers. Doesn't HC have an additional charge for "support'. Just learned of their "differential board and receiver" that lets you place a reciever (4 outputs), 250ft from the F16....I placed an order right on the sport for the differential gear. It's this kind of technology that IMO, makes Falcon the industry leader in pixel controllers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 Sorry guys- yes They are actually SP-750-12’s $27.30 each brand new JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeysNole Posted February 14, 2018 Author Share Posted February 14, 2018 That's a good point...at the end of the day, both of these setups have the same power supply. I think I could run the mega tree in the 50% range...but 30% wouldn't give me enough flexibility. So for the power and pixel gurus...can anyone give us concrete info on 700w of power running 2880 pixels? All white isn't necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 That MIGHT get you by. The rough rule of thumb I tend to use is 1,000 pixels for each 350W power supply. That will get you full white but not much extra. Depends on the pixels too - A LOT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry72 Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 I am switching over to server power supplies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OzAz Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 The number of power supplies you will need depends on 1) wattage of each pixel 2) total number of pixels - the attached calculator shows several examples, and also allows you to enter your own. (make sure you hover your mouse of the row header to see the explanation comments.) Wattage of pixels is obtained from the vendor's website, pixels can range from .3 W to .8 W each, which is a big difference in total watts when using 1,000s of pixels Numbers of power supplies required is based on running the power supply at 85% of it's maximum rated output (this is a generalised recommended max) for all white pixels with controller at 100% brightness. Obviously you'll also need an amount of power for the controller itself, though most 16 ch rgb controllers don't use that much power (yet to find power usage ratings for rgb controllers). Obviously if you run your controllers at reduced brightness (I run mine at 40-50% and it's still quite bright to look at) then you could get away with fewer power supplies in some instances. Word of warning - relying on reduced brightness in the controller to overcome power draw from the power supply could have catastrophic consequences, do so at own risk. In the scheme of things the cost of power supplies is not that much, if you are going to power inject (which you'll need to for 24 strings of 120 pixels) then you may as well be conservative. Design for all white pixels (ie max wattage per pixel) with controller at 100% brightness and max of 85% power draw from power supply; and you shouldn't have any issues. power calculator.xls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caniac Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 On 2/12/2018 at 4:00 PM, Ebuechner said: I have run a few different controllers including the alphapix. And the Falcon is the best controller you can get for the money today. In fact I was so impressed with them I bought four controllers last year to replace everything that I had and I have one of the new f48 on order. 3 of My f-16v3 are set up with 4 400w power supplies so I have a hundred watts per output. what he said, I have used both and the Falcon by far is the better of the two. And you don't need a 1400 watt power supply! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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