Full Circle or Half MegaTree

[chrisatpsu]

it's not hijacking at all, everyone throw in your mega tree ideas!!!

[kgustafson]

it's not hijacking at all, everyone throw in your mega tree ideas!!!

Looking into brass grommets instead of the melting.  Does anyone know if a #2 die (3/8") brass grommet is the right size to squeeze the nodes through?  A brass grommet punch is about $9.  The grommets are about $2-3 for 100.  The only hassle is punching that many grommets may be daunting (a grommet press is about $150, and a bit of money for the hobby).  I know that they melted a 3/8" hole in the above technique.  However, I am certain there is an amount of play in the webbing material.  Brass is a little less pliable.

Kurt

[dpitts]

I burned the holes with a tooling pin. See picture below. When you pull the pin out the hole shrinks a little. The pliability of the material is a plus because the hole is slightly smaller then the node and creates a tight fit. I used a thinner material then a few friends in my area. They bought the material I linked to in previous post and their nodes fit real tight and did not need any hot glue.  Dont forget to use a fan to blow the fumes away from you. 

[kgustafson]

I did some more research on both the RGB lights and grommets.

The RGB lights are designed to be used with 12mm holes (for push through).  12mm = 0.47241 inches.  The closest grommet is 1/2" (this would be slightly larger than needed, but it is considered the 12mm equivalent in the grommet world).

So, if you decide to use brass grommets, you will need a 1/2" grommet die kit with 1/2" grommets.

Kurt

[shaunkad]

The cheapest I think are at habor freight. You also may want to use some glue around the hole in the webbing to keep it from fraying.

[bcstuff]

2011 & 2012 I did full mega tree 24 strings of 60 on parachute cord with about 3.8" spacing (not measured).
bbing
For 2013 I am planning on a half mega tree with 24 strings of 80 with 3" measured spacing.

Now I was planning on using poly strapping and taping the nodes similar to what Walter Monkhouse did but this new idea of using poly webbing with holes melted from David (dpitts) is looking pretty good.

David did your friends have any problems with fraying?
Also where do you find a tooling pin and did the handle get hot when you were heating it up and melting the holes?

[dpitts]

2011 & 2012 I did full mega tree 24 strings of 60 on parachute cord with about 3.8" spacing (not measured).
bbing
For 2013 I am planning on a half mega tree with 24 strings of 80 with 3" measured spacing.

Now I was planning on using poly strapping and taping the nodes similar to what Walter Monkhouse did but this new idea of using poly webbing with holes melted from David (dpitts) is looking pretty good.

David did your friends have any problems with fraying?
Also where do you find a tooling pin and did the handle get hot when you were heating it up and melting the holes?

First I take no credit for webbing method. I saw it on this board but the member used a punch and someone else mentioned we should burn them. So I burned them.

There was zero fraying. The pin I had left over from my "jig and fixture builder" days when i worked at Northrop Aircraft in the 90's. Any 3/8 metal pin will work, preferably a smooth hardened surface. The end should have a tapered rounded end. I held it with a pair of vise grips. I got it orange/red hot because I was able to burn more holes per heating. It took longer when I tried to burn without it being red hot.   

[bassmants]

Thank you for sharing.  Looking to put together my first mega tree and love the idea.

[shaunkad]

I recomend looking for a drift ( punch or pin) they are hard and tapered they do not have a T handel though.

[dpitts]

I recomend looking for a drift ( punch or pin) they are hard and tapered they do not have a T handel though.

I think that is a great idea. Harbor freight may be a good place to look. Also I never held it by the handle. I clamped vise grips onto the non handle part so a punch would be fine.

[JonB256]

  What if there was a mega tree controller (MTC) that was basically an a passive hub with 16 SSC's on one board with terminal blocks for 3 wire hookup?  I mean, all the channels will be grouped. 

The SanDevices E682 and the J1Sys ECG-P12R already do this, including pluggable terminal blocks. They are E1.31 devices and will run the TM1804 and TM1809 chips, plus others (5v and 12v). No need to reinvent.

They don't do PixelNet, but because of the way E1.31 Multicast works, they can coexist with the Etherdongle and Pixelnet.

[sebjsan]

Can the conductor run the ECG P12R?

[zwiller]

Yeah, thought about the 682 for this as well as for a matrix sign.  I am not comfortable enough to stray from the Lynx gear yet.  That said, it would be half the price, easier to hookup, and I could use cheaper nodes and mega tree is not exactly an inexpensive element to add to your show...

I assume if one were to feed dmx to the 682 from a hub is all it takes.  The j1sys gear is just over my head...

Getting back on topic.  I am thinking more about the grommet idea.  I wonder if just punching 3/8" holes is enough.  A good punch is $10.  I am just a bit freaked about burning 1,000 holes in a garage filled with my wooddorking stuff...   

[kgustafson]

The grommet hole will be too small for a 3/8" hole.  You will need a 12mm hole for the RGB pixel to be pushed through (via their specifications).  This means a 1/2" grommet as the closest thing to 12mm.

Kurt

[dpitts]

The grommet hole will be too small for a 3/8" hole.  You will need a 12mm hole for the RGB pixel to be pushed through (via their specifications).  This means a 1/2" grommet as the closest thing to 12mm.

Kurt

Kurt,

Thank you for last post. It made me go out and measure diameter of pin. The burning pin was 1/2".