rgb strips

[joshuashu]

Ok i am not sure where to post this so here it goes.

I have seen a lot of folks making rgb strips.  How do i go about doing this? i have not seen a how to on this and would love to make some out lines of my house and windows with rgb. what is the cost involved, where do i get parts?  thanks for bearing with me as i learn more..  

[rrowan]

Hi Joshuashu,

AussiePhil had done some how to videos on his site.

There are Pixel Strings and Pixel Strips

This is normally 12v DC.
 
Pixel Strings (Nodes) are single LEDs with chip and wires. They need a decoder to run them on a dmx.

Pixel Strips are LEDs and chip in a ribbon type. You can get SMD RGB Leds (call 5050) and solder wire leads on and place them in groups up to 7. Each group or single LED would get 3 channels (RGB)

FastEddy has put together some info. Now not everything is tested yet but a few people are working in it. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

RGB is where everything should be going but there are still some challenges ahead (just my opinion)

hope that helps

Rick R.

Any one please correct any mistakes. Still learning myself

[n1ist]

I am working on a color strip; 8 "5050" RGB LEDs per side (or just one side if you prefer), each independently DMX controllable.  I have proto PCBs on order.  More info is over at You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
/mike

[Rainlover]

So if you have 1,000 individual  pixel RGB, you would need 3,000 channels to control them.?
WOW!!

John

[n1ist]

There's another option that I have been playing with, though not for RGB yet.  You can make a strip that lets you trigger a pre-programmed sequence (snowfall, random sparkle, all flash) via DMX (just a few channels - pattern, speed, number or repeats), so 3 channels can handle say 32 pixels.

But yes, the big problem that we are all heading towards is the channel count explosion, how to control it, and more importantly, how to sequence it.
/mike

[joshuashu]

Thanks so much for the great info! i am using LSP so programming should not be so hard. Cost is my biggest fear, I have seen the 5050 and am looking into this idea. This brings a whole new avenue to Christmas lighting and when the price comes down it would be cool to have strips like a CCR to outline the house and windows. I have also seen the nodes and the price seems to be about the same, but once again the channel count is a big thing. you would have to run multiple networks to accomplish this with each being dmx i guess?

[rrowan]

Hi Folks,

Just an FYI

My plan is to convert my 16 micro trees over to RGB (hoping next year).  The current plan is to have about 56 LEDS per tree but only use 3 channels. If a strip of leds is 8, then I plan to connect 7 strips in parallel to keep the channel count low.

So if my math is correct that is 48 channels for all 16 trees.

Cheers

Rick R.

[joshuashu]

Hi Folks,

Just an FYI

My plan is to convert my 16 micro trees over to RGB (hoping next year).  The current plan is to have about 56 LEDS per tree but only use 3 channels. If a strip of leds is 8, then I plan to connect 7 strips in parallel to keep the channel count low.

So if my math is correct that is 48 channels for all 16 trees.

Cheers

Rick R.

Look into the 3 channel DMX DC controllers for $6 - that way you can mount the controller and power supply ($6-7) to each tree and then it's completely self contained - just plug in a CAT5 cable and power and you are done.

Can you provide a link to one of those? thanks

[rrowan]

here is the post talking about the 3 channel dmx

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Rick R.

[ThaiWay]

This is all really great stuff... RGB is the future, and with it comes endless possibilities for our displays.  I can't tell you how excited I am to be associated with a group of people who are on the cutting edge of the new technology... people so willing to share their knowledge and make it possible for all of us to reap the benefits.

Thank you! 

John

[dowdybrown]

I'll be doing my gutters and eves with waterproof rgb strips this year. I already have 5 5m strips in hand along with 4 MR16 controllers. I'll be using the rgb strips for Halloween too, so that will give me a jump on the Christmas setup.

Matt

[Kwajtony]

Don't mind if I say this is extremely interesting, I have been trying to play with some individual LEDs (RBG of course) in my spare time, but this is well beyond playing.  I purchased 10000 more lights for this year  which could have been only 3300 if the technology was there.

[jstjohnz]

I know there are a couple of other controller projects in the works, but I am building a controller that will control up to 16 separate RGB strips.  It allows grouping of pixels to reduce the number of channels required.  It will handle from 1 to 4 DMX universes, for a possible total of 680 separate RGB pixels or groups of pixels. 

Programmable parameters for each of 4 groups of 4 strips:
DMX start address.
Length of strips in pixels
Repeat Count (lights up multiple pixels per channel to reduce channel count where full resolution isn't needed).
Strip controller type,  6803 or 2801 supported now.
Programmable pixel order to accommodate strings that aren't in true R->G->B sequence.

Two on-board RJ-45 connectors for DMX.  For 1 DMX universe, 2nd RJ-45 is a pass-through.  For multiple universes both RJ-45s are used as inputs with ability to terminate on the board.  Max 4 universes using 2 DMX signals on each RJ-45.

4-pin male polarized headers for strip connections.  Screw terminals for power.  2 Separate power rails to split the load or to handle 5V and 12V strips simultaneously.


My goal was to have a single controller that would control an entire mega-tree, or similar.  With just one DMX input, you could have a 12-strip tree, with 14 pixel groups per strip.  Or a 16-strip tree with 10 pixel groups per strip.

With 4 DMX universes you could control every pixel on 12 50-pixel strings.

I am presently testing the 1st PC boards.  Next batch of boards is due in Friday and I should be able to complete testing over the weekend.  I will post some pics.

-jim-



Each set of 4 strings is programmed independently so you could have 12V strips in one group, 5V strips in another, even strips based on different controller chips.