F48 & Receiver Enclosure Builds, distro boards & F-Amps

[MarbeL]

I can't find much about how people constructed their enclosures for the F48 & the receivers. Can anyone share what they did?

For the F48, I imagine most people would use the CG-1500 mentioned in the manual along with the mounting plate from pixelcontroller.com. Do you then just run your 16 ethernet cables & 5VDC power through the sponge material at the bottom, or are people drilling holes and using PG7 glands for the ethernet & 5VDC power cord?

How are people setting up enclosures for their receivers (please include part numbers)?

Can someone help explain to me the point of the F8-Distro board. Why wouldn't I just connect things back to the power supply?

Can someone help explain to me how "F-Amp's" work? I don't understand how to know when I would need these.

[robbiet]

I've been upgrading my receiver enclosures for next season. I'm pretty proud of the finished product. These are cheap, easy to build, small and water tight. Here are some photos and links.

I'm using one 12v meanwell 350W power supply with two Falcon smart receivers in each box. Depending on my needs, I may use one or two ports on one of the receivers just for power injection.

These are housed in a small Plano ammo box. I'm using foam which I've cut to fit in the bottom and support the power supply and boards. The foam is the key to making this work (thanks canispater Christmas).  A notch is cut in the foam which holds the power supply tight to one side when the lid is shut. I am also using a small piece of acrylic to mount the two boards. Other than the holes cut for cable glands, there is no other mounting hardware needed to hold everything in place within the enclosure. The receivers sit on top of the foam and are held securely in place by all the connected wires.   You can literally shake this enclosure and there is zero movement of any of the components.

Below are photos and links. The link for the piece of foam is the perfect size to make 8 receiver enclosures.


Finished product photos:










In progress photos:







Links:

Plano Ammunition Field Box Ammo... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004W3WC84?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Case Club Customizable... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YGPFBM2?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Rock Hard Plastics - 12" x 12"... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MG8KTBX?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

InstallerParts (10 Pack) Ethernet... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XBYGL2T?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

I ordered pigtails, glands, and network pass-through from WiredWatts.com.

Good luck!


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[robbiet]

Here is one more photo. This has a regular Falcon receiver and an F8 disto board. I've since switched to all smart receivers.




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[MarbeL]

This looks very nice! I really like that you can just take everything out with this design. I also really like that you can make all 6 of them for $709.57 with the receivers, or $469.57 without the receivers. (BOM below if someone else is interested).

Only thing I notice with this build is it looks like you can only power 50 lights per port if you use 12V lights, and won't have extra power for power injection. (50 x 8 ports = 400 pixels). If you're running 5V lights, this isn't a problem. However, I can take out 1 receiver board and get 100 pixels per port and this will seem like a good setup. But then it's nowhere near as cheap... Maybe that's why people do 5V lights to begin with...

Calculation:
Current (amps) = Power (watts) / Voltage -- 350/12 = 29.17 amps. It's my understanding most pixels draw about 0.06A each, and you usually want to have 20% spare capacity, so 29.17*0.8/0.06 = 389 pixels. You can get 50 on each port this way.

Bill of Materials to Make 6 Enclosures - Each Enclosure Holds 2 Receivers &Aa 12V Power Supply.
Ammo Box $13.19 x 6 = $79.14 https://www.amazon.com/Plano-131250-1312-Ammo-Box/dp/B005IURN5M/ref=dp_ob_title_sports

Rock Hard Plastics - 12" x 12" White Acrylic Sheet Lucite Plexiglass - (.118" (1/8") $9.95 x 2 = $19.90 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YGPFBM2?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Case Club Customizable Polyethylene/Polyurethane/Convoluted Foam 18 x 16 Inches $28.95 x 1 = $28.95 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MG8KTBX?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Differential Receiver Board $20 x 12 = $240.00 https://www.pixelcontroller.com/store/index.php?id_product=56&controller=product

30 Inch 3 Core Female Pigtail Black with Ray Wu Style Connector $1.30 x 48 = $62.40 https://www.wiredwatts.com/pt3c30kf1

Ethernet Cat6 10 pack 1FT $13.49 x 2 = $26.98 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XBYGL2T?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

PG7 Water-tight Cable Gland 8 Pack $1 x 6 = $6.00 https://www.wiredwatts.com/gland-pg7

PG9 Water-tight Cable Gland 5 Pack $1 x 2 = $2.00 https://www.wiredwatts.com/gland-pg9

Network Pass-Through Gland Straight $7.50 x 6 = $45.00 https://www.wiredwatts.com/ennetpassi-network-pass-through-gland

Meanwell LRS-350-12 12v 350w AC to DC Switching Power Supply $29.50 x 6 = $177.00 https://www.wiredwatts.com/ps12v350wm-meanwell-12v-350w-switching-power-supply

AC Power Cord 3 Core 18 AWG $2.50 x 6 = $15.00 https://www.wiredwatts.com/ac-power-cord-raw-ends

12 AWG Black Stranded THHN Wire by the Foot $0.30 x 12 = $3.60 https://www.wiredwatts.com/12awgblk

12 AWG Red Stranded THHN Wire by the Foot $0.30 x 12 = $3.60 https://www.wiredwatts.com/12awgred

Total for all 12 receivers in 6 boxes $709.57 (including cost of receivers), or $469.57 without the cost of receivers. (5/21/20)

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[robbiet]

Even if you run 100% brightness, you should be able to drive 100 pixels per port at 12V. I'm probably averaging 500-600 pixels per box. Depending on the prop, I'm running between 50% and 80% brightness which is plenty bright. That gives me the ability to push more pixels.

Nice job pulling all the pricing together. They really are pretty affordable enclosures.


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[robbiet]

Couple things on your list...

You can get 8 enclosures done with one piece of foam. Not sure if you need two.

I recommend 12 gauge wire vs 10. I've used 10 but it is pretty stiff and difficult to work with in these boxes.

On the network pass through, I used the straight through version although I suppose the L shaped one would probably work also.


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[k6ccc]

Only thing I notice with this build is it looks like you can only power 50 lights per port if you use 12V lights, and won't have extra power for power injection. (50 x 8 ports = 400 pixels). If you're running 5V lights, this isn't a problem. However, I can take out 1 receiver board and get 100 pixels per port and this will seem like a good setup. But then it's nowhere near as cheap... Maybe that's why people do 5V lights to begin with...

Calculation:
Current (amps) = Power (watts) / Voltage -- 350/12 = 29.17 amps. It's my understanding most pixels draw about 0.06A each, and you usually want to have 20% spare capacity, so 29.17*0.8/0.06 = 389 pixels. You can get 50 on each port this way.

What MarbeL i talking about is a power supply limitation - NOT a controller or pixel string limitation.  And assuming WS2811 pixels (and some others), MarbeL is correct.  This is in my opinion, a big limitation to using 12 volt pixels as compared to 5 volt pixels.  WS2811 (and some others) draw the same current regardless if they are 5V or 12V pixels - 55 to 60 mA per pixel at full white.  That means the total power consumption is a bit over twice as high with 12 volt pixels.  That means the commonly used 350 watt power supplies can power over twice as many pixels when operating on a 5V system.  Rough numbers comes out to 400 pixels per 350 watt power supply at 12 volts and 1,000 pixels per 350 watt power supply at 5 volts.

There is a BUT to this.  The above paragraph assumes each pixel operating independently.  It is quite common on 12 volt ribbons, to have three adjacent RGB LEDs driven in series by one WS2811 chip (the fairly common 30 LEDs per meter, but 10 2811 chips per meter strips (or ribbons if you prefer)).  This changes the equation because now we're talking about one third as many 60 mA draws.  Although I have never seen this arrangement in pixel strings, there certainly could be.

Of course the biggest advantage to 12 volt strings is that you can run longer strings without power injection.

[MarbeL]

Couple things on your list...

You can get 8 enclosures done with one piece of foam. Not sure if you need two.

I recommend 12 gauge wire vs 10. I've used 10 but it is pretty stiff and difficult to work with in these boxes.

On the network pass through, I used the straight through version although I suppose the L shaped one would probably work also.


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I've updated the bill of materials in my first post to match this, now the cost for 6 enclosures with 12 receivers in them are only $709.57! including the cost of 12 receivers, or $469.57 for the 6 enclosures without the cost of the receivers. This is really good.

Question:
I live in Florida and it can be hot, do you think this enclosure build is OK for my area without overheating? I suspect it should be fine, but would like to be re-assured that the meanwell 350W power supply's don't overheat that easy.

I had previously been thinking about doing a similar configuration with the CG-1500's, but my price was coming out to $916.86 for everything. This build saves me $342, which is awesome. I haven't bought anything yet, but I think I may go with this setup & 5V pixels so that each of the 8 ports can power ~117 pixels from the 350W power supply with no problem (more if you forgo spare capacity or lower the brightness).

[robbiet]

That is a good question on overheating. I'm in ohio and will only use these for Halloween and Christmas so temps are cool. You may want to ask others down there or do some testing before you jump all in with this design.


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[robbiet]

I assume you already know this if you're considering 5V pixels, but you will need quite a bit of power injection if you are running lots of pixels from each box. You should have that worked into your plan.


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[k6ccc]

I assume you already know this if you're considering 5V pixels, but you will need quite a bit of power injection if you are running lots of pixels from each box. You should have that worked into your plan.

It's a trade off:
With 5V, more power injection required, but total power consumption is lower.
With 12V, longer strings without power injection, but more than twice the overall power consumption (more or larger power supplies).

Pick which one is more important to you.  And the answer to that may be different for different props.  I have a mixture of 5V and 12V in my show.  Yes, I have things VERY well labeled and marked in order to keep them separate!

Of course, in some cases, you have no choice.  For example, I have 402 GE Color Effects lights on my eves and roof and 50 in the yard.  Those are ONLY 5V.  I also have some 48 pixel per meter ribbons that were only available in 12V.

[MarbeL]

Yea, now I'm flip flopping in my head on whether to get 12V or 5V.

For 12V I read you generally need to power inject after 100 pixels.
For 5V I read you generally need to inject after 50 pixels.
I'd much rather have the ability to go 100 pixels without power injecting. I'd also want to have each port capable of powering 100 pixels, which means I'd need a 350W PS for each receiver board. If your design can withstand the Florida heat, I'm considering it for my setup (just with 1 receiver board per enclosure instead of 2).

Another question:
Does brightness & amp draw per pixel have a linear correlation? Put another way, if each pixel draws 0.06A at 100% brightness, will each pixel draw 0.03A at 50% brightness?
Looking at the pixels from wiredwatts, I calculated I could run 83 pixels on a 5A fuse before poping the fuse at 100% brightness (5A/0.06A per pixel = 83). I'm wondering how to determine how much I'd need to lower the brightness to put 100 pixels on a port.

[k6ccc]

For 12V I read you generally need to power inject after 100 pixels.
For 5V I read you generally need to inject after 50 pixels.

That's the rough rule of thumb - it WILL vary.  I absolutely had to power inject on some 12 volt strips that were 94 pixels long.

Does brightness & amp draw per pixel have a linear correlation? Put another way, if each pixel draws 0.06A at 100% brightness, will each pixel draw 0.03A at 50% brightness?

Sort of, but not exactly.  Dropping to 50% does not drop current to 50%, but I have never measured it.  And I would guess that it will vary depending on the pixels.

I will try that this evening and chart it and post here.

[k6ccc]

I did some testing with four different types of pixels that I happen to have handy for a test.  All of these are 12 volt pixels except the GECE bulbs - which are 5 volt.  For the testing, I connected the pixels to an output from a Falcon F16v3 (one string at a time).  For the measurements, I set the Falcon to a White test, and for each level, I set the Brightness setting on the Port Configuration page.  For each pixel type, there are two columns.  The first is the measured current draw with a Fluke model 112 DVM inline with the positive voltage to the string, and the second is the percentage of the current for that brightness level as compared to the current at 100% for those pixels.

[MarbeL]

The relationship between brightness & current draw (amps being used) is definitely linear. However, it looks like if we want to know how much power we're drawing on a string at a percentage, we must measure the lights like you did above.

I'm very surprised that when the controller outputs 40% brightness to the GECE's, it gives us 66.67% of the current. I thought the current would have been way closer to 40%. Thanks for charting that out, I'll need to do this with whichever pixels I end up with.