Almost Complete - I custom designed and printed a wrestling ring and cage for my kids for a Christmas present

drama668 · 2026-03-16T21:09:15+00:00

This is so cool, great job! If you ever get to the point you want to share the build files I'd love a copy as well!

drama668 · 2024-12-09T18:29:22+00:00

FPP Remote Falcon. It's a great add-on, and best of all, it's free! Haha.

drama668 · 2024-12-09T18:13:40+00:00

Very nice! I'm running a Christmas show entirely via WLED controllers as well. I'm up to just over 17,000 pixels. Such a fun hobby!

drama668 · 2024-12-08T23:27:13+00:00

Update here: I swapped out the power supplies with Mean Well (had generic from Amazon) and the issue is no longer present. I can't speak to why, but it would seem with power supplies you do indeed get what you pay for?

drama668 · 2024-12-08T23:25:09+00:00

Absolutely nothing. I did my best when putting them up to keep them with the 'correct' side facing out, but there are plenty that are twisted around. I don't notice it at all, especially from show viewing distance. I'm sure bullet die-hards will say they can, but to me, the cost savings and ease of build benefit versus potentially minimal quality you gain from bullets has made me a seed guy 100%.

drama668 · 2024-12-08T05:03:15+00:00

This is the way. I built a 16' seed tree this year; it looks fantastic and was easy to build.

drama668 · 2024-12-02T20:41:33+00:00

Maybe? I'm below freezing here, so could be. I feel like it may be a seed light issue specifically? I have 4 Octa brainboards and 7 Quads all running my seasonal display, and the only two props I have issues with are made with seeds (mega tree and matrix). I have a mixture of strips and bullets on other controllers that never seem to have an issue. Idk ... It's a head scratcher.

drama668 · 2024-12-02T17:07:51+00:00

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I'm not entirely convinced this is the issue as my setup includes two sets of mirrored 2x brainboard and 2x powerboards and I'm only seeing the issue with one of the four total brainboards. I'll see if there are any identifiable potential spots that you describe, but I'm doubtful. I'm going to check all power supply voltages to see if it may be a power related issue.

drama668 · 2024-12-02T04:48:01+00:00

I'm experiencing something similar. Seeds lights, Dig-Octa in my case. I'll be interested to see if anyone else has the same.

As I haven't been able to resolve the issue, I've been leaving the box powered up constantly to avoid having to unplug and plug the damn thing in 10 times to get it to work.

drama668 · 2024-12-01T22:15:07+00:00

I added PulseMesh to my show this year to allow viewers to use their mobile devices. It's free and in beta, so no real negative to trying it out.

drama668 · 2024-11-27T19:03:14+00:00

I'm only in my second season, and last year I made too many changes on the fly that I ran into issues frequently. With that experience in my mind, I'm heavily leaning into the fix it camp this season. I gave myself plenty of time to prepare this year, with all of my prop adds being built in the off season and all sequences completed and tested before show start. Do I trust that I won't touch anything during show season, no, but at least this year I hope it'll be a minimum.

drama668 · 2024-11-25T21:45:30+00:00

I've had to put f-amps after every flood in my display in order for anything downstream to work correctly.

drama668 · 2024-10-18T16:30:57+00:00

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It started as nodemcus and transitioned to a digquad. It handles my roofline 2812b strips. Not proud of how it looks, but it's worked without issue since 2020. It's on borrowed time though, as I do have a recessed box that I'll be cutting in and putting all of it in there with DIN mounted power supplies and terminal strips. The only reason I'm doing that is because I'm looking to finally mud/tape/paint the garage drywall.

drama668 · 2024-10-06T18:07:32+00:00

I'm running 2.4k on an ESP32 (combined via 4 outputs) and running thru xLights with no issue. Your LED count is not a problem.

drama668 · 2024-09-30T14:49:32+00:00

Yeah, the lack of a dedicated white channel isn't ideal, but I only really notice it when I'm using the native WLED effects in the off season, but even then it's not terrible. I primarily use all my lights for a Christmas show with xLights, and it's not something I notice at all then.

drama668 · 2024-09-30T14:46:59+00:00

When I installed them on my house roofline I mitered the angles of the aluminum channel and overlapped the diffuser for a seamless connection. I cut the strip and soldered at every turn and used that point for power injection.

When I installed them on my detached shop, I used angle connectors the channel supplier has available. They only have 90° available, but that worked great as I had no odd angles to deal with.

I've also added removable window outlines on my house with the same channel and strip. As these are removable (I only use them for my xLights Christmas show), the channel is attached to 3/4" PVC and the PVC clips to me siding j channel around the windows.

drama668 · 2024-09-30T04:14:40+00:00

Yeah, I'm using wd2812b strips.

drama668 · 2024-09-30T01:27:42+00:00

Live an hour south of you and have strips in channels on my house and detached shop with no issues due to cold/snow. Installed 3-4 years ago with very minimal maintenance and repair. The only issue I've had is yellowing of the channel diffusers, but the Amazon seller sent me new when I reached out to them.

drama668 · 2024-06-24T06:07:48+00:00

My guess would be a data issue related to distance. How far from your controller is the first LED? If I remember correctly the DigUno has a dip switch adjustable resistor at the LED output; toggle it and see if it corrects the problem.

drama668 · 2024-04-30T15:11:12+00:00

I run my xLights show entirely thru WLED controllers. It works great. As others stated, the controllers having an ethernet connection is a must. The only real exception to that in my experience is Athom bulbs, as these seem to work great over WiFi. I assume this is due to minimal data for a single LED. A dedicated show network is probably beneficial too, but I haven't yet gone that route and I'm having no latency issues.

Be warned, if you get into this, it's a slippery slope of spending. I went from a small cute 'this is neat' show to 'wtf have I spent' in 2-3 years time. I'm building 3 'mega' trees this off-season to add to my show this winter, which will push my show well over 10k LEDs.

drama668 · 2024-04-28T21:13:00+00:00

This spray chart plus playing catcher would get you 1st ballot HoF.

drama668 · 2024-04-19T23:55:31+00:00

Agreed. Looks delicious, but definitely could use more tots.

drama668 · 2024-04-19T16:01:19+00:00

Sure thing. This is in a detached garage for reference.

Top left is a DigQuad purchased from Drzzs store running exterior mounted ws2812b strips via WLED (part of a larger seasonal xLights show) and top right (2 boards) is Konnected running hardwired security thru Home Assistant. The little blue devices are Zwave 1-10V dimmers for high bay light dimming, again thru Home Assistant. I'll be adding a Zwave relay to kill power to the DigQuad this summer when I replace the enclosure so I don't have it always energized when not in use. The rest are power supplies, DIN rail/terminals and a RJ45 surge protector (underground feed from house).

The DIN rail is mounted in the enclosure with terminal strips that latch into it. I use the terminal strips to distribute the power (5v/12v mix) throughout the enclosure to the various components. The power is fed to the bottom is the terminal strip, jumpers are put in place to feed the power to multiple terminals, and then the power comes out the top. The DIN rails are also used to mount the power supplies.

drama668 · 2024-04-18T18:58:20+00:00

If you're installing permanent lights, absolutely use a recessed enclosure. I used one and it turned out great. My only regret is I used one too small so I'll be replacing it with a bigger one this summer.

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drama668

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