Are regular LED's the old mini?

[taybrynn]

I don't have a problem with white minis as much as the red and esp. the green ... which just fade a lot.  The other negative with minis is you have a bulb crushed or go out ... and you usually loose at least 1/2 the string.  I noticed that some years, when the wind got bad ... it would whip the mini lights into the pole and then I'd have a lot broken and some GFCI trips because of that.

I agree that the quality of the SS nodes isn't the best (but has improved a lot) ... but what I do like is that I can splice out one bad node and replace it ... and it normally works on the rest of the string till I do that.
I also like that I can use anything between 1 node and 128 ... and vary spacing some.   I mean, I'm a die hard mini light user (and will be for some time) ... but I hate being limited to 50 or 100 on everything ... and having one bulb being able to knock out stuff so easily.  So while the new nodes DO stink, they have some advantages to be sure.

For me, in CO ... the rain just isn't an issue ... and the snow seems dry enough that its also really a non-issue.  It did rain (just a little) last weekend, which is unusual, esp. for January and at night.

[SteveMaris]

I'm curious to see what they look like when you're done.

I will take a quick video in about a week or so.
 I am currently working on the singing monster faces.
Making custom strings, and playing the light bright game.....

[smeighan]

I think rgb pixels is just the latest trend that is in right now in lighting animation, but it will soon come to a end. Once the newness wears off and something else came out on the market; everyone will be switching to that new trend. My opinion, the chinese made nodes that everyone one loves buying is a piece of junk. The nodes are never really waterproofed enough like what is said, and till then i am not wasting my money on that stuff.

Why do you say the pixels from Ray are junk? I had 4000 of them this year and had no issues . we had rain, snow and -5F weather.

The flex strips are in a plastic sleeve and sealed with 1" of RTV. I put one of them in the bathtub for 3 days to check the seal. no issues.

I understand that 2 years ago the pixels were ip66, water resistant. This last year they were ip68, water proof.

Now i haven't seen them for 2 or 3 years to see how they hold up but hundreds or thousands of DIY'ers are using them. I am sure if there was a large quality issue all the forums would have been full of comment. I find this crowd is not shy about sharing their opinion.

One , maybe valid reason, to hold off is that the price is dropping.

Today the 1809 flex strip is $0.35 per pixel
if you use 5v ws2811 its is $0.25 and 12v ws2811 is $0.21 per pixel.

3 or 4 years ago it was close to $1 per pixel. I assume it will only continue to drop. It is low enough now that i would rather be using them in a display this year rather than wait.

[Jeffl]

I also noticed some of the new ws2811 strips have the chip mounted on the LED.  I'm betting that this option reduces the cost of materials.  Now if they could do something like this on the plain nodes that would help as well.

[Gary]

I think rgb pixels is just the latest trend that is in right now in lighting animation, but it will soon come to a end. Once the newness wears off and something else came out on the market; everyone will be switching to that new trend. My opinion, the chinese made nodes that everyone one loves buying is a piece of junk. The nodes are never really waterproofed enough like what is said, and till then i am not wasting my money on that stuff.

Ouch.

Personally, I haven't changed over to RGB pixels yet for several reasons. The first was cost and not to mention being essentially a beta tester for such new technology, there was also the issue of programming thousands of nodes--both being able to do what I visualize in my head, and the amount of time that it takes. While the first two issues are--for the most part--a non-issue now, the ease programming is only now coming to reality. First came brilliant Sean's Nutcracker software creating effects, which was awesome but not my cup of tea as its effects were on its own "island" so to speak, but with rumours of it tightly integrating into Vixen 3 and HLS, along with so many other extras, now I'm starting to  .

I do have one concern about smart strings though... they aren't as "Christmassy" as traditional incandescent or LED strings--especially the strips. With the whole idea of my bushes changing colour and my gutter light pixels in chasing effects, I feel it would be less of a house decorated with Christmas Lights, and more of a cool light show that happens to be around Christmas time. (?)

[RJ]

I do have one concern about smart strings though... they aren't as "Christmassy" as traditional incandescent or LED strings--especially the strips. With the whole idea of my bushes changing colour and my gutter light pixels in chasing effects, I feel it would be less of a house decorated with Christmas Lights, and more of a cool light show that happens to be around Christmas time. (?)

We say the exact same type of post about LED Christmas lights when they came out. I also read long ago when they went to electric Christmas lights from candles that some felt the same way. It fades and they become accepted as normal over a few years.

RJ

[kgustafson]

Based on a few things using LEDs entirely,   they are plenty 'Christmassy'.  I judge this on the number of calls, emails, and notes I received from folks in my church, my neighborhood, my work, and my kids' organizations.  There was not one that said, "You know that white is too white and not orange enough like the old incans".  Most of the comments were Ooohs and Aaaahs followed by a comment on their favorite song/sequence.  I have had more people stop me on the street and say, "you are part of our Christmas tradition now!"  Not everyone is into the craziness of our hobby and there may be one or two detractors.  But this pales in comparison of the ones that were truly touched by the show.

Kurt

[Gary]

I also read long ago when they went to electric Christmas lights from candles that some felt the same way.

I guess that not accidentally burning your house down is a pretty good incentive to switch from candles!

[taybrynn]

Great point about the switch from candles to incan. lights !

I know in some place, like new mexico, lumanaries are still rather popular ... and those candles inside bags always struck me as somewhat of a fire hazard, but they ARE beautiful !

I think a smart string node in a bag might even work?!

[Gary]

Great point about the switch from candles to incan. lights !

I know in some place, like new mexico, lumanaries are still rather popular ... and those candles inside bags always struck me as somewhat of a fire hazard, but they ARE beautiful !

I think a smart string node in a bag might even work?!

I like how Zwiller used [plastic?] luminaries [tubs?] in his display. Simple, and it looks good too.

This example doesn't use smart strings, but you get the idea:
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[typoagain]

I also read long ago when they went to electric Christmas lights from candles that some felt the same way.

I guess that not accidentally burning your house down is a pretty good incentive to switch from candles!

The funny thing is that for the first few years that incandescent lights were used on Christmas trees, setting the tree on fire was a big issue. The lights simply got too hot. Technology improved but the lights still remained fairly hot on into the 60's. That is when the mini light come of the market. One of the big selling points for mini lights after the first couple of years is that you could actually touch a bulb that had been on for a while and not get burned.

[typoagain]

Great point about the switch from candles to incan. lights !

I know in some place, like new mexico, lumanaries are still rather popular ... and those candles inside bags always struck me as somewhat of a fire hazard, but they ARE beautiful !

I think a smart string node in a bag might even work?!

Now days a lot of luminaries use battery powered candles. I myself have a dozen rechargeable votive-style candles I use at halloween