Mounting multiple DSCs - need ideas

[jnealand]

I am redoing my 3D star for the top of my mega tree with dumb strings (from Ray).  The mega tree uses standard 120v AC LEDs - no smart strings on this tree.  Since I have 3 separate strings and therefore 3 separate controllers, I thought I would just mount the boards in a medium size cable box and keep them all together.  I've attached a picture of a mockup of my current plan.  In this plan I would run one SS coax cable into the box and then use a 4 port passive hub to split the signal to the three DSCs.  I cut a 1/2" thick board to fit in the case for mounting everything on.  Questions:

1.  How should I mount the DSCs to the wood board since there are no mounting holes in the pcb?  It looks like I might be able to drill a couple of holes in the corners since I do not see any circuits there when holding them up to a light.  If not that I will try to  zip tie them to the mounting board.  The Passive hub does have mounting holes.

2.  How should I power the DSCs?  I believe the passive hub will strip the power off the the coax so I may need a small power supply if I could find one in that would fit in the open space of the box or somehow use the power coming in to the box thru a single coax or else I will have to run a second cable from my nearest active hub.  To me the best scenario is that I could power all 3 short dumb strings with one coax from the active hub.  I have not put the lights on the star yet, but estimate there will be less than 30 bulbs per string or less than 90 coming off this whole box.  Each side of the star is about 7ft of lights.  I do not know what the limit of bulbs would be for a single DSC and therefore a single coax if all were powered from one DSC.  I assume I could put at least 100 dumb bulbs per DSC.

Your input is welcome. 
Thanks

[jnealand]

Or is this the place to use a pixelnet splitter?  I do not understand the need or use of the pixelnet splitter.

[IndianaChristmas]

Can you use the peg board in the picture and zip tie the controllers to it and then the peg board to the enclosure? I would make the peg board just a bit narrower than the controllers to allow the node wires and cat5 some space.

[jnealand]

That pegboard is the same size as the piece of mdf the boards are laying on in the picture.  I thought about that first and that is still an option.

[chrisatpsu]

I'm not sure about using wood, as it can pull in and retain moisture from the air.

remember with this setup, you will need to supply your own regulated 12v to the passive hub for the dsc's to get power.

[JerryPlak]

Jim,
I am Planning on use three of the DSCs and pixelnet splitter
the way I am looking at this is runny one pixelnet data line from an PixelNet 16 Port Active Hub
with a 18 STP2 wire from the 12v optional output
this will go into the 4 Port Passive Hub, then from the 4 Port Hub in to the three DSCs..

as for mounting look into plexiglass or Lexan  don't use wood..

[zwiller]

as for mounting look into plexiglass or Lexan  don't use wood..

Or coro since it is election season    

Maybe zip tie the pigtail and 4 wire connector to the mount? 

It would be nice if both the DSC and SSC had at least one mounting hole for this reason.  Maybe there could be a DSC4 or SSC4 for situations similar to these having multiples on a single pcb mountable to a CG1500 would be beneficial.  There would be no pigtails but jacks etc. 

[jnealand]

2 years ago I made an mdf board that I clamped to my mega tree pole with U clamps and then screwed my CG1500 to the mdf.  That piece of mdf (bare) still looks as good as the day I cut and it was outside in the weather for a whole season, so I am not to worried about the mdf and water esp since this one will be inside a case.  To prove a point one time I took a piece of mdf and put it in a bucket of water for a month and it came out only wet!!  No swelling, no issues whatever.  I understand the issue of some wood absorbing moisture, but I have not had any problems with this type of mdf.  I do have some unused pieces of lexan around that I bought for a model railroad project and I like the idea of using that so that may be the better way to go.  Still have to figure the mounting out though.  I will not have an active hub near my megatree so I am trying to avoid pulling a long piece of spt2 from one of my two active hubs.  I would prefer to find a small 12v power supply that would be sufficient to power just the maximum of 90 nodes that I will have on the star.  My yard is mostly DMX and runs using wireless.  With most stuff being LED there are not a lot of cords laying around in my yard since one cord can power a lot of LEDs and I would like to keep it that way.  I could always buy another battery box to put inside my mega tree with a small PC power supply and one of the 12v adapter boards that I have.  Will cost more than spt2, but then I eliminate the wire in the yard.  Actually I have everything but the extra battery box now.  I just have one 12ga card running to the megatree now that easily runs all 64 LED strings and the old incan ropelight star.

Jerry - why the pixelnet splitter?  You say you are going thru a 4 port passive hub.

No one has mentioned how many dumb bulb can be run on one DSC.  Anybody know the answer?

[JerryPlak]

OK on the pixelnet splitter: you come out of the Pixelnet EtherDongle and you what to put two or more Active Hub or Passive Hub in two different area of your display
you come out of the Pixelnet EtherDongle into the pixelnet splitter then you can run an line to the Hub in the part of your display the output #2 or #3 of  pixelnet splitter  you run an line to that hub..

with out the pixelnet splitter you come out of the Pixelnet EtherDongle run your line into the first hub and out of this hub to your next hub aka daisy chain!

[jnealand]

Why couldn't I just run from a straight pixelnet out connection to the the passive hub?  And there are two pixelnet output jacks on the active hub.  I keep thinking that since I have only a small qty of lights I could run off a jack that would go to an SSC and there would be enough power to run the lights, except that I need to split the signal for programming purposes.  I assume the pixelnet out jacks on the hub do not have any injected power, but the other output jacks would have power to them.

[JerryPlak]

you can  maybe this video from RJ will help You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

[rm357]

Assuming you are going to have less than 120 LEDs that are similar to the smart strings without the smarts...

Assuming the Ethernet cable coming to your enclosure is coming from a powered hub.

Assuming you are willing to take a chance on an unapproved and untested configuration that might not work.

With the power off, Use a knife to cut through the insulation on the cable going to the passive hub and strip back about 4 inches of insulation while trying to not damage the internal wires. You will cut three of the wire pairs as close to the passive hub as possible - green/green white, blue/blue white, and brown/brown white. Do not cut the orange/orange white pair. Do not untwist the orange pair.

You will need to untwist the other three pairs.

There are three +12 and three ground wires coming from the powered hub as follows:

+12v
White with Blue Stripe
Blue
White with Green Stripe

Ground
Green
White with Brown Stripe
Brown

Strip about a half inch from each wire, twist the three together, and insert into the proper power connection on the passive hub and tighten the screws.

Sometimes the colors in the wires are different, so it is a good idea to test the wires before twisting them together. If one gets crossed, you will blow the fuse. Also, you must observe the maximums, more than 120 rgb leds will most likely burn out the fuse on the powered hub after a few hours of use...

[jnealand]

Thanks rm357  That is exactly what I was going to try, but I was looking for some confirmation that the draw of the DSCs would not be to much for one cable.  I did not think the draw of the lights would be to much.  I do not have a problem trying this as long as I am not going to destroy a DSC.  I also thought about skipping the passive hub and running the ethernet cable to a terminal strip and then just running wires from the terminal strip to the the 3 DSCs.  No jacks involved at all in the DSC mounting box.

[chrisatpsu]

the limit of the cable for powering one device SSC, DSC is about 4amps total. so you can power whatever you want, just keep it under 4A@12V  or you'll need to run at least another cable.

What is the mast of you megatree?

and idea I'm starting to build...
My incan megatree has a pvc mast, but i'm using 4 metal squares inside an acrylic globe on top powered by a SSC.

at the top of the mast, I have a flange (to hold the guy wire, and the incan strings, and a bushing to drop down to 1" inside diameter.

inside of this, i have my thinwall pvc attached (held on by bushing, won't fall through the pipe)  my cat5 cable will come up through a small hole in the bottom of the mast. then come up to the 1" thinwall. inside will contain my SSC, and of the part of the thinwall sticking up above the mast i'll have holes drilled into it to support the metal squares. with the globe fitting on top of it all.

[jnealand]

My big megatree uses a Monkman JUMP pole, one if the best things I ever invested in.  No guy wires and rock solid.