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Newbie Needs Suggestions


hie2kolob

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Hello!  I am just getting my feet wet with LOR but I have some experience with Arduino coding applications.

I just retired my 15 year old 4 strand Christmas light system that used a 4 channel digital special effects generator.   

 

I would like to start this year with:

- Installation of permanent LED addressable pixels mounted in a j-channel around the front and sides of my roof line.

 

Questions about a 12V system installed on the 340 foot roof line (see scanned image): 

How often do I need to insert power for voltage drop?

What controller should I use and how many will I need?  Best controller locations?

Are multiple power supplies needed?

Recommended LEDs?

LED spacing?  I don't see any spacing specs.

I am considering the 16 x 100 square pixels with controller package.  Will this cover 340 feet?

 

Thank you!

 

 

Roof Line.jpg

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Just to get you thinking (I am also a Pixel novice)

Throw some 15' Arcs to find controller vs max string locations.  The main ridge is a bear @ 105', 2 controller locations to keep distance to first PX down (15' is my max to first px. at some longer  length, you need null pixels)

I happen to use HC bullets on ~4" spacing (~ 15' between #1 and #50). I mount those on Plastic  Plumbers tape at 3" centers so I lose length . 2 strings (100 nodes) on a leg,  no issues, but I would absolutely power inject between #100, #101-150 . (150 is just about max nodes on a Pixie port also).  So 45'' would be a max leg off the controller in my case (EST LOAD 9A. squares are a bit higher ).\

Since LOR does not sell pixie2 separate, so a Pixie 4 is a possibility the main ridge near each end (also does the side leg ). On the end opposite the garage, you might put it down a and to the right and also do the 27' leg as well (1 unused port). The garage end only has 2 ports used, but you might get away with driving that 27' as well.  Then another pair on either side of the entry (location to allow short cables. The further back corners look promising.

Hope my ramblings get the layout  juices flowing.

 

Anyway,

 

 

 

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So I gather that due to control and communication issues the controller can not be anymore than 15 feet away from the first pixel of the light string.  Is that correct?  

Then a 16 pixie controller would not be best to use due to layout distance restrictions. 

If that is true then the optimal way to control my application would be with multiple 2 or 4 pixie controllers.  I don't seem to be able to find any 2 or 4 pixie controllers on LOR's web site.  Any ideas?

What is a HC Bullet? (Guessing some kind of light string)

Thank you for the info!

Edited by hie2kolob
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Me personally, I would use three 4-port controllers. I will say pixie4 but I don't use pisxie's as I put all pixels on E1.31 as it is a much faster netwok.

The distance from the Pixie to the first pixel has increased do to better drivers and LOR claims 50' now. So tecnically you could use one large Pixie16 but I would still recommend several smaller that way if a controller goes out you don't lose the entire house.

LOR sell the Pixie 2, 4 and 8 here:

http://store.lightorama.com/pico.html

 

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3 hours ago, Mr. P said:

Me personally, I would use three 4-port controllers. I will say pixie4 but I don't use pisxie's as I put all pixels on E1.31 as it is a much faster netwok.

The distance from the Pixie to the first pixel has increased do to better drivers and LOR claims 50' now. So tecnically you could use one large Pixie16 but I would still recommend several smaller that way if a controller goes out you don't lose the entire house.

LOR sell the Pixie 2, 4 and 8 here:

http://store.lightorama.com/pico.html

 

Could you explain how you "put all pixels on E1.31" as it is a faster network?

Thank you!

Edited by hie2kolob
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Other than needing a bit of splicing and power injection (could alternately be done at the 50-51 point. nothing is 100 nodes from power), I think it should work.

Controller 2 seems to be you heaviest load (est 18A using 3A/50)

(Others please chime in)

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9 hours ago, hie2kolob said:

Could you explain how you "put all pixels on E1.31" as it is a faster network?

Thank you!

LOR uses the RS485 network which is slow but works at very long distances, 4,000'. E1.31 is ethernet and much much faster but the distance is much shorter at 100m. LOR networks are limited to around 2500 pixels, depending on the complexity of the sequence, and above that you would probably need to add another network do to lag. E1.31 is much faster and you can literally put over 100,000 pixels on a network without issues.

Currently LOR sells the Pixcon16 which can work on the E1.31 network but anything other then that and you would have to go to another manufacturer.

Other things to keep in mind: LOR networks are known for simplicity, assign a Unit ID and daisy chain the controllers. E1.31 controllers need some networking knowledge and usually can't be daisy chained with a few exceptions.

Others with more knowledge of these two different protocols will chime in, you will just need to decide which one benefits you.

Edited by Mr. P
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