Mega Tree star controller cable length

[brichi]

I am building a 16 foot high tree and want to use the Holidaycoro 270 node 3 foot wide star at the top

my question is where to mount the controller for it, I wanted to leave both the Pixie16 (for the tree) and the pixie4 (for the star) on the ground mounted to a pole or something but will running 16 to 17 foot wires from the pixie4 up to the star be too far? I don't really want to mount the box up by the star due to the weight and sway if its really windy so trying to think of ideas. Maybe I can somehow just mount the pixie4 to the back of star and run the power and ethernet up the pole being I know that will be ok? not sure the length the data part of the cable can run. thanks guys

Edited February 21, 2017 by brichi

[zvacman]

If you're running 12v you should be ok having the controller on the ground. I've found that 20-25' has been pretty safe.  If you want you can add a null pixel inline or consider power injection, totally up to you. I've been getting crisp white out to 25' without any help.

 

Z

[brichi]

awesome, it is 12v so I should be good, obviously ill run tests in my house before i start 

[B.Y.R.G.]

It shouldn't be a problem as I have my controller/power supplies on the ground.  I didn't need null pixels or injection for my pixel star 16' high.  Why are you using the pixie 4 to control the star?  I would think the pixie 16 would be enough to control both the tree and star if one output can power 100 pixels without injection.

[brichi]

3 hours ago, B.Y.R.G. said:

Why are you using the pixie 4 to control the star?  I would think the pixie 16 would be enough to control both the tree and star if one output can power 100 pixels without injection.

Im doing 16 strips on 16 ports, I can add 50 pixels to 6 of those ports onto the star but it would be a simpler layout and less confusing to just use a pixie4 for the star and have a simple channel/port layout in LOR

[B.Y.R.G.]

7 minutes ago, brichi said:

Im doing 16 strips on 16 ports, I can add 50 pixels to 6 of those ports onto the star but it would be a simpler layout and less confusing to just use a pixie4 for the star and have a simple channel/port layout in LOR

Ahhhhhhh......simplicity.......gotta love it!

[brichi]

Exactly. First year going all rgb so I'm making it as simple of a layout as possible for trouble shooting reasons. I'm doing the tree, 7 window frames and 8 arches with 150leds (50 pixels) in each arch. Simple layout. Controller for each section pretty much. I'm up to 4 pixie 4s and a 16


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[caniac]

4 hours ago, brichi said:

Im doing 16 strips on 16 ports, I can add 50 pixels to 6 of those ports onto the star but it would be a simpler layout and less confusing to just use a pixie4 for the star and have a simple channel/port layout in LOR

don't forget on most controllers you can zig zag, in lay-men's terms you may only need three outputs/ports (each can handle 100 pixels and you set the controller to zig zag at 50 (nothing to change in your sequence, it will behave like you used 6 outputs)).

[brichi]

thanks, should i set that in the hardware utility or in visuals?

[caniac]

5 minutes ago, brichi said:

thanks, should i set that in the hardware utility or in visuals?

neither, should be something setup on the controller.  I use an AlphaPix and I just log on to the controller to tweak any/all settings.  there is a column setting for zig zag and a listing for each output.  you set the number of pixels per output and set the zig zag.  In my case I had 100 pixels on that output and told it to zig zag at 50.

[brichi]

i use the pixie4's and 16, i think only the pixcon in the LOR series lets you do that

[caniac]

17 minutes ago, brichi said:

i use the pixie4's and 16, i think only the pixcon in the LOR series lets you do that

I think it is a feature of all RGB controllers, you just need to find out where it gets set.

[brichi]

ok awesome, will do... thank you