Category: Other Builds

Mis… Misca… Misalanius?… Just (miscellaneous!) stuff that isn’t Holiday Lights.

Raspberry Pi 5v Power Regulation

August 10, 2021August 10, 2021 Wolf

We have a lot of Raspberry Pis that run various elements of our shows, and powering them from “wall warts” in enclosures isn’t always practical, especially since we are already running 5v power everywhere. The problem is- if you power them using the GPIO header, there is absolutely no internal […]

Add an OLED to a Raspberry Pi

July 30, 2021July 30, 2021 Wolf

It’s kind of silly since they spend most of their time closed up in a weathertight box, but I really like the little OLED screens on the Kulp controllers. They give me a quick indication if the controller is working, so I can at least rule it out (for the […]

FrankenPower Mk. III

February 28, 2021April 13, 2021 Wolf

FrankenPower Mark I-II used mechanical relays that were connected to conventional outlets. They were bulky, probably not very safe, and had to be placed in a tote to try to keep them protected from the weather. One of the original mechanical relays failed almost immediately upon use. Mark III uses […]

ESPixelStick ESP32 Build (Alpha)

Other Builds

November 17, 2020November 17, 2020 Wolf

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 […]

Cheap Rear Projection

November 11, 2020December 17, 2020 Wolf

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 […]

MAX485 Differential Transceivers

October 30, 2020May 11, 2021 Wolf

I was digging into how Differential Receivers for LED lighting systems work, and was told about these MAX485 Transceivers on one of the forums: 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 […]

FrankenPower v.2

September 25, 2020January 25, 2021 Wolf

Well, I couldn’t come up with anything else to call it. I also didn’t post anything about v.1 so I cover it a bit below. Earlier this year, I decided to buy an 8 channel relay board for Arduino/Raspberry Pi. My plan was to use it to power our inflatables […]

NodeMCU/ESP32 Builds

September 23, 2020September 23, 2020 Wolf

While working through WiFi issues and playing with WLED32 (See Multicast Hell and WLED), I started working with the full-sized NodeMCU v2 sticks as well as experimenting with ESP32 modules. I know the ESP32 modules have much better WiFi radios on them, but the V2 sticks use essentially the same […]

Solder-Seal Connectors

September 15, 2020September 15, 2020 Wolf

These things are a godsend to anyone who tinkers with electronics or repairs low-voltage systems in cars, boats, etc. I can’t imagine working with pixels without them. Sure- you can solder connections and shrink tube them, but when you have to do dozens or hundreds- it’s very tedious and slow. […]

Dawn Simulator

Other Builds

September 14, 2020January 25, 2021 Wolf

I was waiting for parts to continue to work on my Holiday Lights, and had some odds-and-ends extra pixels, so I did a little side-project. I love it for the few months each year in the middle of Summer when I can wake up to dawn/sunrise with light shining in […]

Newer Ammo Box PSU Builds

August 20, 2020January 20, 2021 Wolf

The PSUs most of us use for LED/Pixel displays are barely human-proof, much less water/weather-proof. While some people buy fairly expensive weather-tight electrical enclosures, many of us use plastic ammo boxes. They aren’t submersible, but are good enough for this job. Most of my current builds use Harbor Freight “Bunker […]