leaping arch construction (pixels/m)??

[rickswa]

Hello,

This year I'll be changing over my old LOR LED arches to pixels.  I have the HDPE tubing from McMaster and planned to do a 10' arch since that's what mine are now.  My original plan was to use 12v ws2811 nodes with holes drilled on the back for mounting like I did on my drive arches.  However, since these are closer to the road and I think maybe a cleaner look would be better, I have changed my mind to using 12v 2812b strips inside based on Matt Johnsons setup.  I have two questions maybe you guys could give opinions on.  The first is the actual variation in brightness where the pixels are with the strips being inside.  I really like the look of the arches with the nodes in from the back at 1 1/2" spacing as there are no bright spots were the nodes are unlike it seems some strips have.  But would using strips result in a dark spot along the inside arc of the tube where the strip is laying or would the tubing itself help diffuse the light around this darker area?  Also, if using strips will give a smooth look, would 30 pixels/m or 60pixels/m be better off for a 10' arch?  I was going with 12v strips and not 5v just because all my strings so far are 12v and I have 12v supplies so I just thought that would be easier.  Thanks for any advice.

I just tried running the CCR I have thru the tubing and that looked pretty bad.  If I had the same type strip, I don't know that I would turn the brightness down because the "diffused" lighting was a good brightness and couldn't go much lower but you could see a brighter spot where every single pixel is where the strip is resting.  On pure white, it looked somewhat like a zebra with the darker spots showing along the strip.  Does anyone have any experience using strips with arches and not getting the bright spots along the pixels?


These are the ones I had planned on using..

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/5m-DC12V-WS2812B-addressable-pixel-strip-waterproof-in-silicon-tube-30pcs-WS2812B-M-with-30pixels-36W/701799_32313871852.html?spm=2114.12010612.0.0.51142c9cxx6MwR

[Todd]

I have the same arches as you are planning on making. I have 2" HDPE tubing with 2812 strips. I run the strips with three RGB's controlled as one. I tried the individually controlled strips and they did not look as good as these. With these the color bands are much nicer. With the individually controlled the color bands were very narrow and blended together. There are no dark spots and no hot spots. The area where the strip lays is barely noticed. Nice even color. The arches look like a neon tube. I run the strips on 100% brightness. I didn't like the look of them with less brightness. I started at 60% and worked up from there landing at 100% brightness.


https://www.aliexpress.com/item/WS2811-IC-Strip-Vedio-show-addressable-individually-ip30-or-waterproof-ip67-5050-RGB-SMD-30/32624331128.html?spm=2114.search0104.3.57.584e8d29kiZvTH&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_1_10152_10065_10151_10344_10068_10130_10324_10342_10547_10325_10343_10546_10340_10548_10341_10545_10084_10083_10618_10307_5711211_10313_10059_10534_100031_10103_10627_10626_10624_10623_10622_5722411_10621_10620_10810_10811_5711311,searchweb201603_2,ppcSwitch_5&algo_expid=3f9fff80-1d21-4510-8f00-19a7188a99b0-8&algo_pvid=3f9fff80-1d21-4510-8f00-19a7188a99b0&transAbTest=ae803_3&priceBeautifyAB=0

[tmarshall]

I am almost finished building 20 HDPE arches. I used 60 pixel/meter INK 1003 strips. I tried some 30 pixel/meter ws2812 strips but it had definite hot spots. 60 pixels/meter looks much better, I opted for the true 60 pixel per meter instead of three pixels per group. It probably does not matter much if you go grouped or not, but I would definitely recommend 60 lights per meter.


If you are really looking for it, you can see a dark area on the bottom side of the arch, but really, it is barely noticeable.


I also came up with a great low cost DIY way to fasten the bungee cords to the pixel strips. I have lots of scrap Boscoyo mega tree strips laying around, so I cut them into small strips that I glued onto the pixel strips using Loctite PLastic Bonding System glue which holds great on the HDPE megatree strips.


Here is a crud video of my first prototype arch taken with my iPhone (the colors don't show very well)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0s8imdeqbme5ia2/ArchTest1.MOV?dl=0


Also attached are some images of my system for fastening the bungee cords.

[rickswa]

Thank you guys so much for the info.  This really helps me out a ton.  I love the boscoyo idea because the ones from living lights were $8 for 2 and this will help save a bunch of money as well.  thanks for posting pics too and the links!!!! 


Also, TMarshall, are you happy with the INK1003 strips?  I was looking at getting them from Ray Wu and love that I can get 12v strips where I can cut them to length by LED and not by meter like the 2812 12v seem to require.  I'm running xlights from a laptop and F16v3.  Ive read some people (and this may be older posts) have had issues with them working with certain controllers or having strobing issues.  Have you had any problems running these at all and did you get the 12v versions from Ray?  Sorry to ask to many questions but these strips seem just what I'm looking for and just wasn't sure of the differences between these and the 2812 

[tmarshall]

It is still best if you cut them by section. There are 30 pixels per section. You can tell where one section started and the other ends by the solder joints. I cut each strip exactly in half so that I can make two arches from each strip. You CAN cut them anywhere bu each 30 pixel section has a buck converter. And it back feeds to the section before it. If you don't cut is on a section joint, the some of the pixels won't get powered by the buck converter. You can also supply 5v and bypass the buck converters entirely if you wanted to.
I am also using an F16V3 along with remote differential receivers and an FPP. I have not noticed any strobing issues, but I will be able tell you more in a couple days when I fire up all 6000 pixels worth of arches. ...and yes, I got mine from Ray Wu.


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[MichRX7]

Hello @tmarshall I was just wondering a few things after looking at your video.
Is this is the tubing you used (semi-clear)? https://www.mcmaster.com/hdpe-tubing
What did you use for the bases? 
Did you just attach them with a small screw clamp on each end?
Did you weld that spreader bar to the screw clamps?

I'm thinking of converting my old school 7-string blue arches to smart pixels and your video looks like they'd be easy to setup and store.

[Todd]

No, you want to look for HDPE opaque tubing from McMaster.


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[tmarshall]

Hello @tmarshall I was just wondering a few things after looking at your video.
Is this is the tubing you used (semi-clear)? https://www.mcmaster.com/hdpe-tubing
What did you use for the bases?
Did you just attach them with a small screw clamp on each end?
Did you weld that spreader bar to the screw clamps?

I'm thinking of converting my old school 7-string blue arches to smart pixels and your video looks like they'd be easy to setup and store.

That looks right. The part number I used was 50375K64

I used orange rebar caps I found at Lowe's. I'll put together some more details tonight



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[MichRX7]

That looks right. The part number I used was 50375K64

I used orange rebar caps I found at Lowe's. I'll put together some more details tonight



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Thanks, I look forward to reading it!

[tmarshall]

Thanks, I look forward to reading it!

Sorry I didn't get to this sooner. I just moved into a new house, and have a lot going on.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so, I created a document with pictures that shows all the steps with pictures and links to most of the parts. See link below

Making HDPE Arch Rebar Cap Feet

[ebrown19721972]

I have considered using neon flex ws2811 for arches. I had 6 circles in my display this year using neon flex. It's just a thought for an alternative way to do some good looking arches that one would not need to purchase HDPE tubing. The neon flex is somewhat expensive but I purchased mine from Daniel Zhang and you can order them in custom lenghts.