Power Injection Plan Thoughts?

[akakfreeman]

Hoping to get some feedback on my proposed power injection plan. The attached PDF shows my layout with 5 color coded strings. Each string has a colored line connecting various props and a lightning bolt showing where I plan to inject power (about every 200 pixels). Each lightning bolt has a colored outline for the string it belongs on.

You can ignore the roofline lights and long vertical lines (that's last year's lights and they will remain the same).

[k6ccc]

From a power injection standpoint, assuming that 200 pixel spacing is OK with the voltage, pixels, and dimming level you are using, the only one that is of concern is the top windows.  I believe you are injecting at the two ends, and at the joint between the far left window and the next one to the right..  That leaves 486 pixels between injection points.  I would add another injection point in the middle of the middle of those three 162 pixel windows.

On the other hand, you have some really long string.  While yes, it should work, but it makes a pixel or wiring failure have a far greater impact on your show.  This is my opinion, but I am not a fan of really long strings - especially between multiple props.  Too many points of failure.

[akakfreeman]

k6ccc, thanks for the quick response. I like your suggestion to add another power injection point between the far left window and the next one to the right.

I've read many posts about the risk of longer strings and different props. My main reason is that I'm running out of ports on my F16v3 (I have 6 left and this new design consumes 5 more). If you see the 8 vertical strips on the house now, each of those are on their own port. I might move those to fewer ports, allowing me to then just put the snowflakes on their own, or split up the candy canes. I'll give that some thought. Or, I might just see what happens this year and hope not to regret it!

[k6ccc]

I understand the issues of running out of ports on controllers.  As a general rule of thumb, I don't tend to run long strings.  Now, I will also point out that I have been running pixels since 2012.  Back then, the pixels and controllers were FAR more limited on usable distance between pixels.  As a result, pretty much everything in my show is only a few feet from the controller that is driving it.  The only exception is some GE Color Effects strings which are able to run fairly long distances because the data rate is fairly slow. 
This year, I am doing a lot of controller / pixel replacements and re-arrangements.  I will now have a few strings that will be quite a ways from the controller.  The longest will be something like 100 feet, and I will be using a differential receiver being driven by a F4v3.  Four more strings will likely have a differential receiver being driven by a F16v3.  I am not opposed to running multiple controllers in order to keep string lengths shorter.  My longest string this year will be just over 400 pixels (about 68 feet of 60 LED (20 pixel chip) / meter 12v strip) with multiple power injection.  Entertainingly, that will function as 17 logical pixels.  That is part of my year round landscape lighting and should be in service in a few weeks.  Until it gets rebuilt in a few weeks, it is being driven in the middle with a SanDevices E6804 that is getting retired.  Other than that, the longest is 100 pixels.