I just added a Pixel Resources page with links to the vendors and sources I've relied on this year. I decided it would be best to collect them all in one place. Also, I wanted to share links to our Oak Hills Lights project, which started all of this... Twitter: @oakhillslights Facebook: @oakhillslights YouTube: Oak..
Ch-Ch-Changes…
So, I think I've made it through a big learning curve with regard to Master and Remote FPP setups, and controllers in-general... First I found out that the Kulp K16A-B controller is fantastic as a stand-alone controller, or as a Remote, but NOT as a Master. For some reason it just has media timing issues..
Up and Running!
Oak Hills Lights officially started on Saturday night, Nov. 28th! It's been an uphill battle the last couple of weeks, as I noted in my previous post. The problems have primarily been syncing issues, scheduler issues, and problems with our WiFi SparkleBalls. Our display is running now through Jan. 3rd. Current hours (subject to change..
Update. Frustration!
Okay, so to get a few things out of the way... The Redneck Matrix Mark II was fairly quickly replaced with Redneck Matrix Mark III. I needed more resolution to make text more readable, since I'm using it for tune-in and song information. I didn't do a build post for it because it happened pretty..
“Dolphin” Connectors for Pixel Repairs
I mentioned in an earlier post about Scotchloks ™ that I was also going to check out "Dolphin" connectors. I don't have any experience with them, but I have seen them used as an alternative to Scotchloks in Tele/Data-com applications. I bought a pack of them on Amazon. "Dolphin" Connectors These are "IDC" (Insulation Displacement..
ESPixelStick ESP32 Build (Alpha)
First off, FYI- there is a new release of ESPIxelStick v.3.2 that fixes the Mac flashing issues that have been a problem for v3.1. If you are running the original ESPixelSticks, or NodeMCUs based on ESP12, like D1 Mini or similar- get that release as it is pre-compiled and just works. https://github.com/forkineye/ESPixelStick Note: I am..
Oak Hills Lights Quick Stats
Testing our static display. Our display consists of 4560 actual LED pixels (not including the projector virtual matrix). This is considered a "small" show in the pixel world. LED pixels contain three colored LEDs- Red, Green, and Blue in a single sealed epoxy "bulb" that can create millions of colors. Including the virtual matrix in..
Quick Update
We got all of the remaining lights up last weekend, including our flat-tree (which I guess we can't really call a "mega tree" since it isn't freestanding). I spent the week chasing down problems/bugs in xLights and FPP, along with controller, cabling, and bad pixel issues. I finally got everything working yesterday (Friday). Fortunately I..
Scotchloks ™ for Pixel Repairs
Quick Update (December 2021): Corning purchased 3M’s communications products division, so now these are sold as Corning Brand. I’ve been using these "UY2" connectors for emergency repairs this year (2021), and still have a few repaired strings left over from last year. I haven't had any issues with any of them. Older ones are showing..
Vankyo Projector Power Control
I posted earlier about the dirt-cheap Vankyo projectors that some people use for their displays (for rear or front projection). These things are about as cheap as you can get for reasonable quality. One problem with them is there is no way to control the power without either physically pressing a button on top of..
Cheap Rear Projection
A few of the sequences I downloaded/purchased this year actually have video files. I also wanted to try out a Virtual Matrix, since it just wasn't going to be practical to build a large enough one this year for what I wanted to do. So- I decided to try a rear-projection setup. First up- the..
Quick-Hack: Jumper
Can't find your baggie of circuit board jumpers and need one in a pinch? Do you have some Scotchloks and some jumper wires (that you CAN find)? Then just do this: Scotchlok Jumper Hack Scotchlok Jumper Hack Now, granted, I could have just used the jumper wire, but I didn't really want an extra foot..
MAX485 Differential Transceivers
I was digging into how Differential Receivers for LED lighting systems work, and was told about these MAX485 Transceivers on one of the forums: 485MAX RS-485 Transceivers These little boards cost around $1 each, and can be used to extend a WS2811 (Pixel) data signal for hundreds of feet (probably close to 1000 with proper..