Make your own smart strand?

[rimist]

I've been thinking about the active hub, and the level of control you have for each strand connected to it....
I have quite a few individual clip lights (dollar tree, single c7 bulb) and I have several strands of c7 and c9 that I might use, if there were a way to control each of the bulbs. In essence, I want to make a version of the little board that is included with every rgbw node, except instead of turning on LEDs each channel would turn on a separate single bulb. This would allow me to reuse lights I already have, providing finite control.

-Rimist

[dpitts]

Sounds both more expensive and work then just buying pixels at  $.57 a piece.

[rm357]

Sure.
You could build a freestyle, then run a separate wire pair to each light where the pair connects to an resistor/opto-isolator/triac circuit that is connected to the base of the bulb.

Ok. $.69 triac, $.44 opto, $.10 resistor, ?? Wire + 20 minute assembly + dip the mess in liquid electrical tape. This is per node...

There might be an all-in-one solution that you could use, but at less than $1/node, the SS are a good deal.
RM

[rrowan]

Sure.
You could build a freestyle, then run a separate wire pair to each light where the pair connects to an resistor/opto-isolator/triac circuit that is connected to the base of the bulb.

Ok. $.69 triac, $.44 opto, $.10 resistor, ?? Wire + 20 minute assembly + dip the mess in liquid electrical tape. This is per node...

There might be an all-in-one solution that you could use, but at less than $1/node, the SS are a good deal.
RM

I seriously doubt the freestyle could even power up a c7 bulb. If I remember it barely does a single LED

Rick R.

[chrisatpsu]

You could build a freestyle, then run a separate wire pair to each light where the pair connects to an resistor/opto-isolator/triac circuit that is connected to the base of the bulb.

he did mention connecting it to a circuit with an opto and triac

[rimist]

Freestyle pcb isn't available any longer afaik. I understand the pricing isn't perfect, however,I could, for instance, place a red, green, and blue bulb into a reflective holder with a translucent snowflake in the front, times ten, then space those snowflakes out three feet apart. Thirty bulbs, thirty single socket lights with power cords, and ten snowflakes I already own. Throw in some Styrofoam plates and aluminum foil, also already own. I'd like to build a little module that I'd daisy chain together, hanging off a ss controller, and basically have a custom strand that behaves like a ten node ss. Yes,I know I'd have to get a/c to the nodes. But all considered, with shipping, a ten node ss from Ray with each node being three feet apart would cost me how much?

-Rimist

[chrisatpsu]

what you ask is doable via the ssr4

[rimist]

I was hoping that it would be less expensive to build my own nodes for a smart strand, taking into consideration each node wouldn't need the Dmx portion of an ssr4-dmx, and because I'm looking for significantly lower amperage per channel

-Rimist

[chrisatpsu]

so then it would be like a regular non dmx ssr4, but with one of those chips in the smart string node or rectangle

[dpitts]

I just ordered some custom spaced strings from Ray. They were 5-5-5-12-5-5-5-12... inch spacing for the whole string of 100 nodes. They were .58 a node. If you want I could add a custom spaced string to my order to reduce shipping for you. The order will be shipping after Chinese holiday. If you are trying to light a large object maybe rectangle or square modules are the way to go. You could even set spacing yourself by soldering correct length of wire.

I am lost on how you are going to use standard SSC to turn on AC lights?

[rimist]

so then it would be like a regular non dmx ssr4, but with one of those chips in the smart string node or rectangle

Close to this, yes, but no rj45 jack, as I'll solder the lines, and a lower total power requirement. I'm hoping to eliminate the transformer by using the 12v from the SSC to run the electronics, only using the ac power for the triacs.

It's my hope that the remaining module will be fairly low cost.

I'm working on learning electronics and electronic repair currently, and this is simply a project for me to work towards. I was wondering if it was possible before getting started. It sounds like it is, but the more I delve into it, the more it sounds like it won't have a lot of practical use other than learning. I'll still probably make it, considering that even if they might be cheaper than building two or three lynx express

[rimist]

I just ordered some custom spaced strings from Ray. They were 5-5-5-12-5-5-5-12... inch spacing for the whole string of 100 nodes. They were .58 a node. If you want I could add a custom spaced string to my order to reduce shipping for you. The order will be shipping after Chinese holiday. If you are trying to light a large object maybe rectangle or square modules are the way to go. You could even set spacing yourself by soldering correct length of wire.

I am lost on how you are going to use standard SSC to turn on AC lights?

I appreciative the offer, and will send you a pm.

[Titus]

I just ordered some custom spaced strings from Ray. They were 5-5-5-12-5-5-5-12... inch spacing for the whole string of 100 nodes. They were .58 a node. If you want I could add a custom spaced string to my order to reduce shipping for you. The order will be shipping after Chinese holiday. If you are trying to light a large object maybe rectangle or square modules are the way to go. You could even set spacing yourself by soldering correct length of wire.

I am lost on how you are going to use standard SSC to turn on AC lights?

That is great news... Custom ordering longer spacing for less than a 5% cost increase would allow me to vastly increase my coverage area or reduce my budget.

[chrisatpsu]

if you're doing this just to play around and learn, then you'd want to look at the pcb like in a defective node. i don't know if that chip comes in anything other than surface mount though, and you'd have to look at how it works/performs to go from it to controlling a triac.