I like the idea and have already printed the topper. Waiting on filament to print the mounting base. Will a links be added for the hub and PEX tubing soon? I have watched your channel for ideas and inspiration - thank you for taking the time to make videos like this.
Great job thanks. I had been wondering about using seed pixels instead of normal pixels, although I have just designed and am making my own mini trees out of coreflute, with stars and have had to limit the number of pixels to 150 per tree/star due to power injection and data etc.
Great work! Do you have a video of constructing the pvc frame? Would like to use this for a sleigh and 2 reindeer (2d) on my roof. Was wondering size of pvc used and where on the frames do you attach the cable running to your roof?
I did not do a video on the PVC frame. I used 1/2 inch PVC pipe setup in a triangular orientation. I attach the line to the frames base and then connect it to the sand bags.
You should be able to do a single post, just need to make sure it is strong enough. There is a Facebook post in the xLights group with some ideas in it.
Nice build. Power injecting from separate power supplies, do you break the positive so the controller power and other power supplies are not feeling same string?
Great job. Thanks for sharing you idea/design. Well done. It would be great to see the topper and star design and attachment along with the guy wires and how they attach when the tree is up. Thanks.
Glad you liked the approach. Setup is one of my future videos. For the star I have used a floor flange with my custom made Star. I welded my own star using the same technique as my wireframe video. The star is welded to a 1/2 inch pipe that screws into the floor flange.
@@bergmannlights5149 Thank you for the reply! I look forward to seeing the detail in the Star, specifically how it attaches to the topper, which I think I understand from your description is that you have a 1/2 floor flange screwed to the topper, and from what I could see, just in front of the pole hole, which has a 1/2 pipe supporting your star. Given the topper goes up and down, with the star, do you have support wires at the top of the pole and if so is the top of the pole some distance above the star to allow for wire clearance, or do you have no support wires and the 2" square tube and lower structure is the only support for the pole?
I plan on attaching guy wires to the top of the pulley. There is a chance that the star will have some potential interferences. I plan on making an extension for the pulleys top plate which I can bolt to the top to allow the guy wires to clear the star if needed.
Using the Pixel Paradise Pulley, how are you running your guy wires while using the Mattos topper? It would seem like your guy wires would have to be really close to the base or there is a lot of room at the top. I want my guy wires at the top so if I have to raise and lower the topper I can keep the pole supported.
At this point I am going to connect directly to the top plate. If the topper or star get in the way I will make some extensions with 1x1 angle to move the connection point away from the center.
I was looking at the same thing. I have seen other people weld tabs onto the Mattos cap and they only stick out maybe 1.5” so you may be fine. Rather than weld tabs it might be easier to cut a bigger round plate and drill holes for that top plate. I think I might buy the pixel paradise pulley and cancel my Mattos pulley and cap.
Looks great! I am with you regarding the 800 lbs of concrete in the ground. I installed a flag pole sleeve with roughly that amount of concrete to be certain my tree wouldn't tip over. The trunk of my mega tree is totally different than yours but my 1/2 ring base is supported in a similar manner. I found that I still needed to add anchors under the ring due to the strips pulling it up. You probably have a plan for that already but I thought I would mention it. Look forward to seeing more of your videos as the season approaches!
I have 4 earth anchors that I use for the base ring and will have 4 guy wires on the top. I believe that will keep everything secure. I am debating if I need to put in some small turnbuckles on the bottom of the strips. This ring is much truer than my old one. Thinking I wouldn’t need them.
@@bergmannlights5149 I used 4 earth anchors around the perimeter with heavy duty zip ties like they use for installing flexible hvac duct. I just ran the zipties over the base ring between the J bolts. If the ring is true and secured to the ground, you might get away without the turnbuckles. Another option might be to bend your brackets to an angle that would let you use J bolts in them if that doesn't mess up your spacing.
Great suggestions. If needed I can cut another piece of 1x1 angle and bolt it to the ones on the top of the ring. That way I could use the j hooks like you suggest.
You need to make sure the wire is sized appropriately. The Meanwell power supplies I use pull 6.8 amps AC when on 115VAC based on the company’s data sheet.
That is what I used. Make sure your AC plugs wire size is big enough. I used 16 awg, which is undersized a bit since it is rated for 13 amps. I do not push my controllers beyond 80% so it is fine. If you are pushing your power supplies you may want to jump up to 14 awg.
hi would u be able to help me out maybe if i could ask u some questions about pixel related stuff im needing to use them for a project im working on and have been doing lots of research and have been watching alot of ur videos witch have been helpful im just needing guidance as im new and well after watching alot of videos i have general idea but not 100% sure idk if u have facebook or something i could maybe contact u thank you
Thanks Not sure but it is heavy. I am guessing 100 lbs. I can lift it to place it on my work bench but it is difficult to. That is why I made wheels for it and I use some hand hoists to install it for my show.
Yea, I’m using a pixel matrix now but it’s very heavy too was hoping the panels would be lighter, maybe I can build it in two or three pieces and just clip them together
You get different looks from a pixel matrix and a P5 panel. You need to decide which one you prefer. Your Pixel store sells P panel setups with prebuilt enclosures. I believe they are aluminum so they should be lighter. Another option is to use a cheap TV
Excellent video, I plan on watching all your videos, just starting my journey on a full yard light show. I've been doing a smaller one just to learn how to program a show. I do have a question, what 3d printer are you using?
Glad the videos are helpful. My 3D printer is a Bambu P1P. If you get one of there printers I would recommend the Bambu P1S. It comes with an enclosure and extra cooling. I also believe it is a bit faster.
I connected the output of the first arch to the input of the next. I was able to power 2 before I needed to inject power. If you are not doing power injection I would only run two off of one controller output.
I have another question. Hope it doesn’t come off as being a dumb question. What are the benefits in using 2 power supplies to power the controller? Thanks again for your help.
It allows you to power more pixels per port. The typical controllers power 8 ports on each side of the board. You quickly run out of power using standard pixels with only one power supply
@@bergmannlights5149 , thank you. I’m thinking of changing to the small YPS enclosure. I currently using a CG1500 enclosure for main controller & one power supply. Thanks for your informative videos.
thanks for confirming what i suspected in that 3d printing and this hobby go well together! Your design seems top notch! How many candy canes can you get out of one spool of PETG? in other words, how much per candy cane?
Thanks, this was very informative. Showing the Xlights and yard really helps to visualize the end product. I will be incorporating this in my next show.
I do not put a fuse between my power supply and my controller. Don’t think one is needed when you have high quality power supplies like the meanwells I am using
@@TopBlackWaterSniper yes. if you look at the controller in the video, it has 16 orange square pieces that stand up between the outputs. Those are auto resetting fuses. Most controllers will have fuses built in.
@@adegraw , I understand that because I have the same controller. Im not using Meanwell power supplies. I have generic ones. My original question was if I should fuse the power between the power supply and the controller.
Thank you very much!!! This video definately helped me understand how to build this box.. Did you have a video for the YPS large box with a 32 port Experience Pro 32 controller?
Glad it helped. I have not done a build with the Experience Lights 32 port controller. Process should be very similar. I did do a build with the large box using the 16 port controller. Check it out on the channel
Do you mind if I ask you a question? I am getting in pixel lights a displays. I have a lot to learn but my question is have is with my old displays. I have 3’ words that spell out “HERE COMES SANTA” with two 4’ snowflakes. I spent a lot of time making it. I’m trying to salvage it some way. Do you know of any device out there like some sorta switch relay. That I could use to plug each unit into that would turn the lights just on and off in a way were “HERE” is flash’s on and everything else is off. Then it turn off and “comes” flashes on and “Santa” then turns on with the snow flakes. Lastly they all flash on at the same time. Then it repeats. I’m sorry if I’m not explaining that correctly. Thank you for any advice or help.
I guess what I am trying to find out if I can use the leds (non smart) to run a small sequence. Everything is off then “here” turns on and quickly off. Then “comes” turns on and off. The “Santa and the snowflakes” turn on and off. Lastly they all turn on “❄️HERE COMES SANTA❄️the same time and off and it sequence repeats. I worked really hard on this and have about 2000lights just in it. Ii just can’t come to start over on it just yet. I’m sorry if that was a dumb question. Thank you again for any help or advice.
Yes there are several products out there that can be used to control your lights. If you already have a pixel controller you can use Experience lights Pixels to Things products. Light-O-Rama also sells controllers. I have also seen guys make their own relay boxes. Kind of depends on what your vision is. I am not an expert on the AC control side. I suggest you join one of the Christmas light Facebook groups like Holiday lighting think tank.
I did permatrack last spring and am doing my first show this year. Your videos have been a huge help. I have some questions about your megatree dimensions. What size star? How tall from ground to topper, and what diameter base? Are you switching to a mattos system? Thanks for all the help.
Glad the videos are helping. Bottom of my mega tree has a diameter of 7 ft, 3.5 ft radius. The height to my topper is about 17 ft. My star is about 3 ft in diameter. My tree next year will be a modified Mattos system. I will use his topper but have custom designed a tilt up system for the main mast.
@@bergmannlights5149 ok. good to hear. Im going to be slightly under the 2:1 ratio, which you are too and I think the slimmer trees look better. Also I think the 36" "smaller" stars look better on a big tree. I think people often put too big of a star on the tree. Im using the mattos modular pole, and doing a permanent hole because I have large property. Plan is 19' to topper, 9' diameter base, and a boscoyo 36" star. 225 lights per strand w 1" spacing and 32 strands (180 tree). I just picked up a 9' trampoline for a base for $100.
I have been looking at several different designs trying to decide what I wanted. I just built my first one as a trial and this is by far the cheapest and easiest I have seen yet. Thanks for posting this video.
Great job of teaching us your system! Please tell me where you source your steel rods- everywhere I click wants hundreds of dollars for shipping . Thanks!
Glad the video was helpful. I source my steel from a local steel supply vendor. I have Pacific steel in my location. I suggest you look for a local supplier. You can also try local fabricators, they will sometimes sell to the public.
I am looking into building a p5 matrix like you did. Have you had any issues with your indoor panels being used outdoors? and how long have you had yours. I live in Ohio and we get all types of weather.
My enclosure is well sealed so no issues with weather. I do hang it under my pouch, so no direct rain. That being said I do get some intense wind, and it does fine. I let it swing so a good portion of the wind load is deflected
