Instructions permanent Christmas lights

[Dr_Aplet]

You could always get the equipment that you are thinking lay it on the ground turn them on and see what happens.  Mounting the controller in between your runs somewhere would help reduce the pixel length.  You can also size up the wire from the controller to the lights to help with voltage drop across that section.  Play around with it and see.

[TheDucks]

And if you go the F-amp route, it belongs near the middle of the cable LENGTH. It regenerates the signal.

40+ Y as a Electronics Sr Technician. Maximums are numbers to avoid getting near. Those assume every part is great quality, while what we usually buy-get is 'hobby grade' to save $.

FWIW My drip line has 436 12V bullets, driven from 4 different controller (locations), 8 ports (could do with 5, but I thought I wanted to use the resolution feature of the pixies which requires strings of 50.). (Those locations also have other lighting tasks, so most of them are a Pixie4/8 and a CMB24)

Longer is not always better. Voltage drop. Waveform (the data) deteriorates causing erratic operation.

Bigger (controller port count) has limits, downsides. The big ones are great for dense-close together props like mega trees. They require Bigger/ second POWER supplies

[Little_b]

I have 2 different types of Wi-Fi controllers that I use with my shows that may work for your purpose.  I use ESPixelstick and a DIG-Uno.   You can connect the Pixel strands to the power supply at one end (as well as run lines for Power Injection as needed), and connect the controller at the other.   With the controller in the middle, you can eliminate the need for Null pixels.  The ESPIxelstick fits in a small piece of PVC Pipe and the DIG-Uno is small enough that I found a small enclosure (3"x2"x1.5") that can attach behind the J-Channel and doesn't stick out too bad.  They run off E1.31 network so the LOR software can talk to them.  They can also run off of a freeware software, WLED, of you want to control them via your phone.  I don't know the total number of pixels you plan to use, but in a different project I did, I believe I have about 360 pixels connect to a Dig-Uno in my longest run that run just fine, signal wise, I did add power injection at each 100 pixel mark.  If you are just trying to save $$ on a simple set up, this is a good way to go.  If you ever decide to go "big", I recommend sticking with controllers that you can connect directly to.   When effects start getting wild and fast, the WIFI controllers don't always keep up, at least in my experience.  This is why I didn't go the Wi-Fi route on the house.  I am a fan of the Pixcon16 myself, the Pixie controllers are smaller and work great if you can get them in a centralized location.

Edited October 3, 2022 by Little_b
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