About

Canispater

 

It’s Latin for “Dog Father” (kinda).

I like dogs and technology.

 

 

 

 

 

 

104 thoughts on “About

  1. Barry Edwards

    I truly love that wreath Can you get a close up shot of it??? maybe with some measurements, or even better a how to video. Live in SE Oklahoma — I truly get a kick out of your youtube’s!

  2. Dog Father Post author

    Thanks Barry! Yeah, that was an interesting build I did before I started making the videos. It’s a piece of 3/16″ acrylic I bought from a local plastic supplier measuring 4x4ft. Pretty expensive and I broke one of the corners off so I sawed two of them off to make it look like I knew what I was doing. Haha

    It’s 288 pixels total, 4 rings of 72. I had a friend make an Adobe Illustrator file for me as a guide for the holes and had it printed at a local print shop that had large formate printers (about $20 for a 4ft square sheet of paper). I put everything on top of a 3/4″ piece of MDF and just drilled 1/8″ holes through the paper, acrylic and MDF. That way, if any of the holes were off, I could make a small adjustment. Then back through the acrylic with a graduated 1/2″ bit (for drilling through plastic) and wired it up. I do want to re-wire it after this year with different pixels to see if I can get the mounting any better, but I’m pretty happy with it. With the rings symmetrical, it’s very easy to do nice looking patterns. The other wreath is LED strip inside PEX tubing, but it isn’t an equal number of nodes per ring so I’m more limited in the patterns I can generate.

    I have straight on shot of it in “Injecting Power For RGB Pixels” at 0:43.
    Jeff

  3. Benjamin Smith

    Jeff,
    Thanks for the link! Hey, my work has a huge plotter, any chance you can send me the file of the wreath hole spacing (pitch chords) I can probably get a piece of scrap Lexan for my project here at work as well šŸ˜‰
    Thanks again!
    Ben Smith

  4. Bill Brothers

    I was laughing so hard at the snowmageden video I almost fell out of my chair. I am up in Georgetown, TX and the way people talked up here about the “MASSIVE STORM” was a hoot. We recently moved from Colorado where is does snow occasionally. Good thing we left the snow tires on the car! 2018 will be my first computer-controlled lighting event. Thanks for your vids, they help a lot. I do technology for a living and have been wanting to do this for a while.

    Bill Brothers
    P.S. we are dog lovers too. Good to know about the dog event in Austin. Will try to get to the next one.

  5. Dog Father Post author

    Bill,

    Welcome to the hobby!

    Yeah, I’ve lived in Texas for most of my life and I’ve noticed the reporting seems to get worse each year. It’s rare when we get snow, but ice IS A huge problem. They try spreading sand or chemicals, but really don’t deal with it well because it doesn’t happen often either. I’ve been caught trying to drive over an overpass on solid ice and I just stay home now. šŸ™‚

    I started the channel because I had a few people ask me how I do it, it’s more than a 60-second conversation and I wanted to be able to say “go here” so I hope it’s helpful. It is a lot of fun once you get the hang of it and it does help if you are a techie – shorter learning curve at least. I’ll do my best to help out when you get stuck, but there are also a lot of forums and Facebook groups with people I learned from. There’s a great beginner guide on auschristmaslighting.com (the Aussies are really into this too).

    There’s actually a lot of dog-related events in Austin throughout the year. This one is close and we’ve gone every year.

    Welcome to Texas!

    Jeff

  6. Paul North

    Good Afternoon, I am new to the RGB pixels. For the past year I have been learning and acquiring the hardware, as well as building elements. My questions are:
    1. I want to put (8) spinners atop of 20 foot poles the poles will be spaced about 20 feet from each other, what type of controller(s) should I get from the falcon christmas store?
    2. I been reading about people putting fuses between the power supply and controller. Is this correct and if so where would I get such fuses?
    When all said and done my display will have (2) 20 foot 16-100 lights each strip mega trees, (8) 4′ trees 100 lights, (8) 6′ trees 168 lights, (4) 8′ trees 168 lights., 8 spinners, 8 arches.
    I’ve acquired (1) f16v3 controller with (2) expansion boards., I think I will need to get another f16v3, 12 distro boards for power injection on the 6 and 8 foot trees.
    Remaining items I need are the lights. And anything else you might suggest Sir. Thank You for Your Time and Help.

  7. Dog Father Post author

    Wow. Well, with the distances involved, you might look at the F48 & differential receivers. I’m waiting on one myself, but that would handle the distance easily. You may be wasting some ports with that setup unless you need 4 per spinner (maybe kick those up a notch). šŸ™‚

    You only need fuses if you aren’t using the built-in power distribution from the F16 (or differential receiver). I’ll bypass that sometimes if I have really long strings or on my wreath that has 288 pixels (which exceeds the 5-amp fuse on the F16). Also, if you power inject directly from the power supply, use a fuse. There are several options. Amazon has some automotive inline fuse-holders and Hanson Electronics (Australia) has the hex fuse board. I also use Hella fuse holders in my distribution box. All that depends on your brightness setting. I run 30% brightness so the display uses 1/3rd the power – any higher and I’d probably start getting complaints from neighbors because pixels are bright.

    That all sounds like a nice display! It sounds like you have everything covered.

  8. stephen gill

    Hi, first my condolences on our loss and best wishes to the other half aka the boss.
    Have watch with great interest all your vids. can you help, (i know you DONT usually answer queeries.
    My hope is being from the other side of the planet you may take pity on me.
    I am looking at going to pixels for my display that at the moment is basic and static none coordinated units (stuff you buy and put up), usual case of money no time, time no money!!! Question is i would like to use the Falcon system but cannot obtain the parts here (nz) Aus person used to be David Pitt web site now closed.
    Tried Falcon direct no help there, is it a conspiracy against us nuc free people!!!! Do you have a contact/web site/ anything that could help. Looked at Light o Rama too restricted, vixen is a maybe, xlights looking favourite for software. reason to do this i am retiring this year 68 yrs younge
    Any help would be most gratefully received Please keep up the great work and slow and easy. look after all around you, more so those you love.

  9. Dog Father Post author

    Stephen,
    Thanks! I do answer queries, but mostly on YouTube as I get notified quicker. As for getting you a Falcon controller, David WILL ship one internationally, but I forget what the requirements are. He had a problem once and is more cautious now. You can email him directly at david@pixelcontroller.com. I’m not sure what you mean by the website being closed. https://www.pixelcontroller.com seems to work fine for me – unless you mean the checkout won’t let you enter an international address. xLights is my sequencing software of choice. The developers are always adding new stuff and fixing bugs. It is being updated constantly by guys that run light shows. šŸ™‚
    Thanks again!
    Jeff

  10. Larry

    Jeff, Great video on the F48 as usual. I have created an excel template I am using as I convert over to F48 and xLights. May be good content for a video especially for folks like me who are taking the plunge. If you send me your email, I will send you the excel template and instructions if you think it would be useful for some. I’m sure you can describe it better than I.

    By the by, thanks for the shoutout about setting up the pixel poles as trees with no offset. Hope that works for you.

  11. Dog Father Post author

    Larry, Great and Thanks! You can get my email on the YouTube channel in the about section. I don’t post it here due to spam although I doubt that really helps much. LOL! So what is the Excel sheet for? Just keeping track of which strings go to which receiver port?

  12. John lubenow

    This will be my first year trying pixels. I found your YouTube channel and love the videos. I live out in Round Rock.

    I would like to see your lights when the show goes live this year. Will you post the address?

  13. Justin Byers

    Hey I’m trying to get into the RBG hobby. I want to start acquiring and learning so I can be ready for Christmas 2019. Any advice for beginners? What should I buy first? Ect.

  14. Dog Father Post author

    Justin, I would hold off buying anything right now – plenty of time to do that between March and September. I have a beginner playlist of videos on YouTube that pretty much covers everything you need to know to get started so I’d start there. Then look at any other videos that might be interesting. There are usually a bunch of comments attached to each video so if you have questions, they may already be answered there and if not, feel free to add one. Check into the Wednesday night xLights call (see xlights.org). Maybe download xlights and go through the tutorials in the video section of that website. After that, you should have a good idea of what you want to do and what you need to do it. I also have forums and Facebook groups listed in the descriptions of my videos that are a great resource for getting help and ideas. I also put an online course together on Udemy that goes through the basics if you like that sort of learning, but it’s basically the same material as is on YouTube, just boiled down to a 2-hour course. So, Welcome! That should get you started and help get you ready for 2019! šŸ™‚ Jeff

  15. Chris Vince

    Question About your P10 panels

    Can a P10 (or P5 for that matter) be run directly from xLights? I see you used a Beaglebone Black. Is that necessary or can you run from xLights direct?

    Thank you in advance for your help/

  16. Dog Father Post author

    Chris, The panels need something to drive them. There is a cape for the BBB or a hat for the Pi. The BBB cape handles more panels, but other than that, pretty much the same. Falcon Player runs on both and can be configured to output to the panels. You can run them in bridge (passthru) mode, but mine looked funny (colors were off) when I did that.

  17. Tim Kerner

    I would like to thank you for all your videos on YouTube. They have entertained me and helped me set up my first pixels on our living room real Christmas tree. With your help I have them sequenced on xlights and playing on a raspberry Pi. Now if I can convince my wife into letting me buy more I’d like to set up a pixel tree and other displays on our corner lot. Thanks again for the laughs and info.

  18. Dog Father Post author

    Not specifically. P10 or P5 panels could probably hit that number easily. If you mean discrete, 12mm pixels, it would be big, but doable. Are you building one?

  19. Benjamin Smith

    Jeff,
    Just thought Iā€™d drop you a note to say Iā€™m still working on my light show project. Iā€™ve been buying bits and pieces here and there. I just ordered my Falcon V16v3, bought a Raspberry PI and one of those AMMO crates to mount everything in. Iā€™ve been amassing bits and pieces here and there, the technicians at my work hooked me up with a dozen ā€œ Woodhead pigtailsā€ basically the same as the black ones you get from Ray Wu. Iā€™ve also got several gland fittings to pass the cables through the case. Iā€™ve still to buy my power supplies and Pixel strands, but in due time.

    Iā€™ve been experimenting with Xlights and how to setup the effects. I really enjoy all your videos, and sometimes I need to rewind and go over a few things, but Iā€™m progressing rather well. Iā€™d like to see a finished video of how your matrix turned out, and if you donā€™t mind explaining what types of effects that can do, Iā€™d appreciate that. Your ā€œStaff of Zortonā€ was impressive as well. I remember seeing a video on how someone made one of those Mega trees that you raise with a boat winch, that was a slick setup.
    If you donā€™t mind, may I ask what those ā€œBoscoyo productsā€
    Cost? Like the matrix and rolls of pixel mounting materials cost?
    As usual, your knowledge and presentation of this hobby have given me some inspiration and my wife is already telling everyone that Iā€™m gonna have a nice display next year ( Guess I’d better get crackinā€™ or Iā€™ll have mud in my eyeā€)
    Thanks again!
    Ben Smith

  20. Dog Father Post author

    Ben,

    Haha! Yes, you will need to deliver! LOL! I think you mean the ASAP pole for the tree (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8XRpqi3dvU). James has prices listed on everything on the web site (https://www.boscoyostudio.com). It might be more difficult to figure out how much you will need, but they might be able to help figure that out if you contact them directly. The matrix turned out well and you can see it in action in the music videos I posted. You can basically do any pattern xLights has on a matrix since that is how it actually renders everything. Some props look better with certain patterns, but a matrix will display almost anything. Keep me posted on your progress!
    Jeff

  21. Ben Smith

    Jeff,
    Thanks for the vote of confidence that Iā€™ll deliver! (Iā€™ll need that) I do have one request though, I cannot find anyone who can print that mega wreath file you sent me, apparently, they need a specific image format, I.e.
    Corel draw, .dwg, etc…. any ideas on how to change the format? Somebody mentioned fedex office might be able to do it, not sure.

    Iā€™ve tried applying the setting to my Arches in my model, but they donā€™t chase left to right or -vs. right to left, they just flash the pattern at the top of the arch, any hint of what I might be doing wrong here? Iā€™ve downloaded the manual for Xlights and Iā€™m sure Iā€™ll stumble across a solution sometime soon, just thought Iā€™d ask. I can email you a screen shot showing what Iā€™m talking about if you would like.
    Thanks again for the wonderful info and delightful videos!
    Ben Smith

  22. Dog Father Post author

    I got mine printed at a local blueprint printing shop, but Fedex might have large-format printers too. As for the arches, you’ll either want to change the direction (usually defaults to UP) or change the buffer to single-line. Also, be sure to check into the Wednesday night xLights call (see xlights.org). A lot of great into there and folks that can help you out live if you get stuck!ļ»æ They have people in there most of the time so it’s not just limited to Wednesday nights. Also, there’s a 3-hour long xLights training Keith did recently. You might want to invest an evening watching that as it’s a great intro to xLights.

  23. Tom Russell

    Would appreciate an email from you… interested in discussing pixels if you have the time. Thanks very much! Tom

  24. Dog Father Post author

    Hi Tom,

    Time is in short supply (so responses may be slow), but what is your question? I may be able to direct you to a place where you’ll get a quicker response.

    Jeff

  25. Dallas Pitzen

    Hi Jeff,

    Great Youtube videos and content. It’s been fun to watch what you put out and has been very easy to follow. I started this year with my big box LED’s to see if I could get them to sync and flash through a serial controller and now I am hooked and ready to start pixels with the mega tree of course. If you wouldn’t mind, could you tell me why you went with 12 100ct pixel strings vs 24 50ct or some other combination? Or was it purely a price point decision? Do you have a recommendation of what 12mm bullet pixels are good or a price point decision as well? Thanks in advance and I look forward to more videos!

  26. Dog Father Post author

    Hey Dallas,

    Thanks! Number generally has to do with voltage. If you go with 5V pixels, you need to inject power more frequently so they are usually 50-count. 12V strings waste more power, but generally require much less power injection and come in 100-count strings though you can find 50-count 12V strings. I actually created 4×300-count strings (as far as the controller is concerned), but inject power at the ends. I started with 50-count strings my first year and that is the safest until you figure out power injection to keep power running through the board under 5 amps. I also run them at 30% brightness which saves on power demands. More than 30% in the city and aircraft start circling for a landing – pixels are very bright.

    I buy my pixels directly from a manufacturer in China (Ray Wu). Affiliate link to Ray Wu’s store on AliExpress: http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bEJTQvP6 Stay away from “promotional” items, but I’ve been happy with the rest. For bullets, I get the 18AWG 12V version. They also make flat bullets if space in the rear is an issue. They can also put pigtails on the ends according to your specifications if you contact him.

    Be sure to go through my beginner playlist if you haven’t already and check into the xLights (see xlights.org) Zoom meeting on Wednesday nights. There is usually someone hanging out in the room to help if you get stuck on something. Not guaranteed all the time, but more than just Wednesday nights. Also, check out the Facebook groups and forums listed in my videos. They are great resources for learning this stuff. The xLights site also has a video section with all kinds of videos from several in the community.

    Finally, if you already have a display, just add pixels the first year. That way of it totally goes sideways, you won’t be stressed by having a dark yard. lol! Good luck and welcome to the hobby!

    Jeff

  27. Terry Fink

    Hi Jeff.

    Was wondering if you will be going through a setup of the Falcon F48 in the 2019 season?

    After all this time has passed, I still get a kick out of your “look” when you dropped that flood-light lol!!

    Regards,

    Terry

  28. Dog Father Post author

    Terry,

    Haha. Thanks! I could, but with xLights being able to configure it, that is less of a concern. I do go over the web interface in my video: https://youtu.be/fcf5U7XByfE.
    Is there anything specific you want to see?

    Jeff

  29. Terry Fink

    Hi Jeff.

    I was more thinking if you were going to incorporate it into your display setup as the main controller, using the remote 4 string power cards & power supplies and how you fair(ed) doing so and all the unique experiences you have that show up in your videos + it’s a chance for the dogs to help šŸ™‚

    Thanks.

    Terry –

  30. Dog Father Post author

    Haha. Due to the crazies driving in our neighborhood, the dogs don’t go out front off leash so they don’t get to help. šŸ™‚ Yeah, I very much enjoyed using the F48 this past year. Very easy to set up. I’ll probably talk about it in the October timeframe for the setup video.

  31. Dallas

    Hi Jeff,
    Thanks for the words of wisdom on pixels.I have my first order in with Ray through paypal and everything happened as shown on your video. We went with 12v 12mm pixels to start off at they seem to be one of the “standards” to at least start with. It should be a good addition to the standard big box LEDs we have on display and ready to start creating!

    Thanks again for all your efforts.

    -Dallas

  32. Dallas Pitzen

    Hi Jeff,

    One more question…..for now……
    Would you be willing to tell the diameter of you megatree topper? Trying to get a rough estimate on size.

    Thanks!

    -Dallas

  33. Wendel Young

    Will any flood light work with the falcon f48? I have 8 acreas an trying to limit the controls. Hoping having the f48 will do that. I have never done anything remotely like this so going big right from start. How do I get in contact with ray wo? You the one at fault for all this lol. Your videos have inspired this hobby. I have been a huge lionel train collector an thought this would be a great attraction for the people coming to see the trains.

  34. Dog Father Post author

    Haha! I get that a lot! As for the F48 & floods… It only controls specialized RGB-pixel floods (Ray has some). You could also buy a DMX board for normal AC floods and control them with the F48, but that’s a more advanced topic. If you’re going big, make sure to check out my beginner playlist if you haven’t already: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFyrAfJ-kKd4ZfPdXWIt8v_bav61mW_KW and Ray’s store link is: http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bEJTQvP6 and his email is ray@rita-light.com

    Jeff

  35. Dallas Pitzen

    Hi Jeff,

    We were successful in making a mega tree back from my last questions in March. 1200 pixels, 15ish feet tall 360 degrees and I even did some quick sample test patterns to make sure it all will work! The rest of the yard will be dark unless I can get my AC (big box Led lights) to work in X-lights as the budget was broke building up the tree for this year. My question is, do you still run AC lights and what would be the best practice in doing so in the X-lights platform?

    Last year I randomly choose to start with Vixen, FFP on a Pi for my player, an Ardunio board and the relay board like everyone else to get going. I would like to reuse most of my old set up except to bring the data into the Ardunio through an ethernet cable (E1.31 like my Sans Device 682) so I can put the wiring outlet box farther away then a usb cable length from the FPP like I did last year.

    Any tips, suggestions, places to start ? Possibly a great new video? lol I have just joined the X-lights user page and have seen some stuff from Keith W but his Ardunio knowledge is far past mine.

    Thanks again and always great videos on your youtube channel.

  36. Dog Father Post author

    Dallas, Thanks! Haha, well, this is a bit outside my expertise. I haven’t run AC lights for several years and never with pixels. All my AC lights slowly died off to the point of being unusable and I made the full switch to pixels. I know there are some inexpensive AC boards that use DMX which I believe the 682 can output, but you might check to see if someone on the forums has experience running Arduinos that can point you in the right direction. E1.31 can go 100m or 328ft so that should allow you to run the old setup and put the 682 wherever you need. You might also ask in the xLights Zoom room. It’s mainly for the Wednesday night call, but I understand there are people in there most of the time. Hope that helps. Jeff

  37. Greg

    Chris, sorry for the newbie question, I have watched all your videos and want to say thanks. I am specifically interested in your power injection videos. Where does the source come from, are you (a) running off the same power source say lighting 16 channels and the farest run is flickering, or (b) do you have a separate, dedicated source just for power injection? I use Holidaycoro controllers if that matters thanks

  38. Dog Father Post author

    Greg,
    Power injection doesn’t care about which controller you have, it’s a method of keeping the voltage across all pixels the same. It’s easiest to use the same power supply. It gets a little tricky if you have to use more than one power supply for the same string.
    Jeff

  39. Mel

    Hey Jeff,
    Just wanted to say thanks for the videos, real fun and informative. Did you have any issues dealing with Ray Wu when it comes to pixels not working? I’m having a few issues which I explained via email and he hasn’t responded, not sure what to do now.

  40. Dog Father Post author

    Thanks! Ray has been good about sending new pixels if I get a string that is bad. However, if you get “promotional” pixels, he’s less helpful. Have a look at my sticks video at the end of last year and you’ll see what I mean. His English isn’t great so if you go into detail about something, he may not understand. If you stick with the standard bullets or flat bullets, those have been excellent for me. I occasionally get a string with a bad pixel. If it’s just one, I usually don’t worry about it and just cut it out. If there are several, I’ll send him a note and he usually sends me a new string. So if it was a new order, just send a note saying X # of strings were bad.

  41. Mel

    Just finished watching “Some Good, Some Bad, Some Ugly (2018)”. The ones I purchased were not promotional, they were the 7 nodes 15 drops Icicles string. I sent another email with a lot less explanation, hopefully he responds. Thanks again and now I’m off to watch more of your power injection videos. My first year, wish me luck. Mel

  42. Dog Father Post author

    Excellent! Let me know what happens. Check into the xLights zoom call (see xlights.org) on Wednesday nights. There are people in the room at other times if you need help with something. It’s a great resource for info and assistance. Keep me posted on your progress.

  43. Benjamin Smith

    Jeff,
    Just wanted to check-in, itā€™s been a while since I last dropped you a line. I started having issues with Xlights and my sequences that I spent hours on, up and vanished….
    Couldnā€™t find anything in my back ups, tried to restore the laptop but to no avail. I ended up dumping all the XLights and re-installed it, and I had to do the same with the Queen Mary Vamp plug in.
    It is now up and running fine, and I took your advice on re-imaging the Raspberry Pi SD card to the latest image and everything comes up just as it should.

    So, six steps forward, ten steps back, six steps forward again. Iā€™m trying to figure out how to apply shared sequences to my models ( I basically want to use their timings/bars/beats,etc.
    any words of wisdom with regards to this?
    I asked Keith and Sean as well.
    Well, I must return to the ā€œDungeonā€ to resume
    My mad scientistā€™ duties!ā˜ ļø
    have a good one!
    Ben Smith

    P.S. do you have any Halloween props or templates or can you point me in that direction?

  44. Dog Father Post author

    Computers! Haha. I believe there is a video about mapping sequences to your house on videos.xlights.org, but I don’t do that. Blinking lights is enough (unique) for my neighborhood so I don’t worry about getting too fancy and don’t use sequences from others so I don’t have experience re-mapping models. I don’t typically do Halloween, but will probably start setting up a little early this year so may run a Halloween palette butterfly effect over everything that’s set up this year. I believe Boscoyo has some Halloween stuff.
    Jeff

  45. Benjamin Smith

    Jeff,
    As usual, thanks for your suggestions and Iā€™ve been
    plugging away at getting set up. I just finished cutting all my
    Biscottis mounting strips for all the horizontal runs, windows and Eaves. And last prop to build, my Arches! Bought my PEX tubing last night, my wife kept thinking it was Tygon tubing, I explained it is white like PVC, but more flexible, and those Pixels have no problem lighting that tubing up. I already had some 3/4ā€ Tygon tubing that Iā€™m gonna use to outline my sidewalk up to my entry way of the house.
    Well, hope things are going well at your end!
    Have a Great Day!
    Ben

  46. Clayton Cullen

    I absolutely love your videos and love your dogs. We have a silver Lab. I have a rather extensive LOR display even included video mapping projection on the house. I even have 3 of my neighbors tied into my programming. We collect food for the local food bank at our display as well. Loads of fun.
    I have never done pixels but I want to change out my mega tree and go with pixels. I think it would be awesome! Since I already have all my sequences in LOR, including the videos, I am leaning toward their pixel controller. However, their nodes are expensive. Is there any problem with buying nodes from Ray Wu and integrating them into the LOR controller? The length I need is about 80 nodes per string. Can I just cut the excess off of a 100 node string with no problem? Is there any advantage to square vs bullet nodes? Sorry for the 20 questions. I feel so ignorant. Thank you for your videos. Love them.
    Clayton

  47. Dog Father Post author

    Clayton,
    Thanks! Sounds great! Honestly, I don’t know the answer since I don’t have any of the LOR pixels. I would ask this question on one of the LOR boards like PlanetChristmas to see if there are any “gotchas.” If they are like standard strings of pixels, then yes you could cut them to length.

  48. Dog Father Post author

    Clayton,
    It went into the SPAM folder for some reason. I noticed the youtube link on that message, but none on this one. Not really sure and thanks for asking as I don’t usually check the spam folder because it’s normally spam. I answered the previous post separately.
    Jeff

  49. Clayton Cullen

    Thank you so much. I took your Udemy course, loved it. I ended up getting pixels from Amazon since I am under the gun time-wise. I got the PixCon controller from Wow Lights (Light O Rama), fabricated the mega tree frame, and am now installing nodes in the strips. My hands are sore! I will send you a photo when I get it all together. Thanks for all your help.
    Clayton

  50. Larry Owens

    I’ve learned a lot from your videos. Thank you for taking the time to make them. I recently viewed the videos on the P10 enclosure and P10 to P5 conversion. I’m currently constructing a P5 panel “Tune To” sign. Would you be willing to share the xLights sequence you use for your tune to sign?

  51. Clayton Cullen

    Is there a way to send you photos? I would love to show you my mega tree progress.
    Thanks again for all your help.
    Clayton

  52. Dog Father Post author

    No, unfortunately, time is the problem there. I work full time and care-give to my wife when I come home so no time for providing support. There is a Zoom room (see xlights.org) you can use for free. It was originally set up as a Wednesday night call, but there are people in there (especially this time of year) just hanging out offering assistance most of the time. The advantage is that it’s live interaction to help you get running quickly.
    Jeff

  53. John Pappas

    Jeff,
    I am new to the pixel world. I bought the F16V3 controller and a string of pixels to test it out. Are you willing to consult as I cannot get my FPP to talk to the F16V3 and am at my wit’s end?

    John

  54. Dog Father Post author

    You would get a faster (and probably better) response from using the Facebook group/forums or the xLights Zoom call tonight, but happy to help where I can. Best way to do this is walk backwards from the lights. Do the lights work with the controller in test mode? What are you.using for a sequencer? What is your setup/how is everything connected?
    Jeff

  55. John Pappas

    Jeff,
    Thanks for the help! The controller is a Falcon F16V3 and the lights work when it is in test mode. The sequencer is xLights version 2020.11. For the computer, I am using a PI 4 which is running FPP v3.6.2 (v3.6 branch). I have the network configured correctly because I can access both the FPP and the Falcon via browser.

    As far as connections, my MacBook pro connects to the FPP via Wifi, which is then connected to the F16 via ethernet.

  56. Dog Father Post author

    What are the IP addresses of both interfaces on the Pi, the controller and your MacBook? How are you connecting the Pi to the controller?

  57. John Pappas

    BTW, if I had not said it yet, thank you for helping! These have been strange times and I v alue the time you’ve spent helping!

  58. Dog Father Post author

    No worries. Try setting the wlan0 gateway to 192.168.1.101 instead of 192.168.101.1

  59. John Pappas

    I regret to report that it did not work. I can test the lights from the controller web interface, but cannot test the lights or run the sequence from FPP.

  60. Dog Father Post author

    You have a cable going directly from the ethernet connector on the Pi to the ethernet connector on the controller?

  61. Dog Father Post author

    When you send data from FPP to the controller, can you see if you are receiving data on the home page of the controller?

  62. JOHN A SIMMONS

    Iā€™ve watched a number of your videos and find them entertaining and helpful. Iā€™ve also noticed you use xLights on a Mac. Iā€™m a relative newbie at this but Iā€™m a retired EE with a software background. I thought Iā€™d try this Xmas lighting stuff to keep my brain active and have some fun (as long as my wife doesnā€™t see what I spend on pixels and props).

    Iā€™m having one issue with xLights on my MacBook Pro when trying to Import Effects. It shows the donor models but not the recipient models. To do an Import Effects I have to pull out my old Windows PC which is kind of a pain. Iā€™ve reported it as a bug on the xLights forum a couple of weeks ago but have not seen a fix. Assuming you may use this tool, I was wondering if you had a fix or work around.

    Thanks in advance for your help.

    BTW, I may have screwed up and sent this to your business email address.

  63. Dog Father Post author

    John,

    No worries.

    Hmm. I imported effects recently on .18 and it worked fine. Do you have models created on the recipient side? That’s the only reason I can think of as to why they wouldn’t show. Wrong show folder maybe? It might be better to file a bug so they can see all your versions and see if it’s a problem.

    Jeff

  64. Gary Wilson

    Jeff,
    In your video for the Falcon v3 board there was a lot of “Will be supported in a future firmware update” have these happened and do you intend to update your video?

    just waiting for my Falcon v3 board to arrive.

  65. Dog Father Post author

    Gary, I don’t know if all of it has, but there have been firmware updates. I have a later video about updating the firmware for the new chainable differential receivers and go through the upgrade process. What are you interested in using that wasn’t enabled with the original firmware?

  66. Dog Father Post author

    OK. I know the WiFi radio has been enabled, but not sure about audio or the rest of the proposed FPP remote functionality. I have everything hard-wired so didn’t mess with WiFi, but others have reported success. David Pitts would have more info on actual firmware features that have been implemented. His contact info is at the bottom of the web page on pixelcontroller.com if you want to reach out.

  67. Mel

    Jeff,
    Bought a F16V3 Expansion Board on 10/2 received it 10/7. I started testing the board and ports 13 thru 16 are not working. I sent an email to David Pitts on the same day I received the board and have yet to receive a response. Does he usually take this long to respond? Have any tips on what else I could try to test these ports. I bought a F16V3 Pixel Controller in 2018 and its still working perfectly.

  68. Dog Father Post author

    He gets a lot of email and does better on the phone. His number is at the bottom of the page on his website. You didn’t happen to get a differential receiver did you? That will take 4 ports from an F16.

  69. Benjamin Smith

    Jeff,
    Long time no see ,er-write LoL. Anyway, hope everything is going well there in Texas! Itā€™s getting cold here in Missouri and I start hanging my lights and Props tomorrow!
    I have a question for you:
    I just bought an expansion board for my Falcon F16V3 ( I forget the model number) any wayā€™s, Do I need to update the firmware since I have installed the expansion board?

    I learned a lot last year, and without your guidance
    (Obi Wan) it would not have happened! I owe my success to you and your vast expertise of Falcon controllers and networking.
    I have been meaning to send you a ā€œ Care Packageā€ for all your
    Help and time in helping me with my questions, but I have misplaced your address….. could you forward that to me again?
    Thanks again Jeff!
    Benjamin.L.Smith@hotmail.com

  70. Dog Father Post author

    Sorry for the late reply. Just saw this. The only thing requiring a FW update that I know of is the new chainable differential receivers – the ones with 2 RJ-45 connectors. Glad to hear the show was successful last year! Jeff

  71. Benjamin Smith

    Jeff,
    Can you send me your email address and your Home address, Iā€™ve been meaning to send you some goodies but lost your address…….
    Ben Smith
    Benjamin.L.Smith@hotmail.com

    My show is gonna be a little bit larger this year, doing some ā€œMini Treesā€ and driveway ā€œRunway lightsā€(just outlines of the driveway and side walk entry to the front door) Iā€™ll send you a clip once I power it all up and check fir any issues.
    One question for you, the Sequences I put together last year are not in my show folder, I havenā€™t searched for the .fseq files as of yet, I have been wiring lights like a mad man. Bought two 350 watt 5v meanwell power supplies, not that I need it, I had two strings that showed under voltage(Dim nodes) but otherwise
    Worked flawlessly!
    I made up another ā€œammo crate boxā€ for my power injection setup, Iā€™m going to run power injection at every 100 nodes this year @ 30% brightness as you have suggested.
    Thanks again!
    Ben Smith

  72. Dog Father Post author

    Let the lights tell you when you need to inject. Injecting every 100 is more for 100% brightness. Since you’re doing 30, you can probably go further without injecting power. Measure voltages before adding power. Not sure what your question was regarding the sequences. Assuming you forgot where you put them?

  73. Benjamin.L.Smith

    Jeff,
    When I ā€œknocked the Dust offā€ my Xlights program in preparation for this years show, my previous sequences were nit in my show folder, I did a search for ā€œ.Fseq ā€œ files, they were all gone. I donā€™t believe
    I erased them, but they are gone now. Guess Iā€™ll make a thumb drive copy this time so it doesnā€™t happen again.
    Did you by chance email me your mailing address?
    I have a couple of questions for you too:
    With regards to ā€œMega Treesā€ how many strands will a single output port handle? I know the ports are capable
    Of 1,024 nodes, or did I just answer my own question?

    Two: using my Falcon in test mode, I had four strands of 50 nodes and most lit just fine, but the last Five did not. I suspected a bad string, spliced in 5 other nodes,
    Same issue. Is that because of a default setting in the falcon only allowing a specified number if nodes to light in test mode?

    I hope you and yours had a Happy ThanksGiving and look forward to reading your new posts and videos!
    Take care!
    Ben Smith

  74. Dog Father Post author

    Ben,
    Also look for XML or XSQ files. Those would be the source files. FSEQ is the output. Strings is controller connections. Strands is how many parts to the string. I use 6 strands per string on the tree. Not sure if there is a limit on that one. Sent you email. Falcon defaults to 50 pixels on the output. You’ll need to change it for longer strings.
    Jeff

  75. Mel

    Hey Jeff,
    I have a F16V3 and F16V3 Expansion board being powered by separate 12v power supplies. Do I have to run a ground wire between the power supplies with this setup? Everything was working perfectly yesterday with no issues. I powered up the controller and expansion board today and random flickering/flashing with no sequence running. All the lights flickering are connected to the controller. Any thoughts on what might be causing the flickering after everything was working perfectly the day before. Thanks man.

  76. Dog Father Post author

    Mel,

    I actually had a couple of strings of lights do that this year. Replaced the strings and no problemo. They were the new 12V regulated pixels from Ray.

    You don’t need to tie the grounds together if they aren’t feeding the same string and I believe the ribbon cable provides a ground between the controller and expansion board.

    Any chance a connector is sitting in a puddle of water (eg: any rain last night)? Other than that, just make sure the connections aren’t loose. It’s usually a bad ground somewhere and they can be touch to find, but any of this ringing a bell?

    Jeff

  77. Mel

    Jeff,
    It rained today but my controller box (MTM ACR8 Ammo Crate Utility Box) and most of my connectors are under my little patio space. All the lights I have are from Ray and the ones flickering were all bought in 2019. I will check all the connections tomorrow. What’s weird is all the ones flickering are only the icicles. All my lights have end cap waterproof connectors.

    Controller has 1170 pixels, expansion board has 800. All running at 20% brightness. I’ll let you know the outcome, fingers crossed.

    Mel

  78. Mel

    Like you said sir, tough to find if its a bad ground. I just placed a order with Ray for replacements. Hopefully I can get a show running in the last two weeks of December. Oh well live and learn. Thanks again for your help. Merry Christmas!

  79. Pace Bonner

    Hi Jeff,

    Noob here. I have been wanting to get into the choreographed Christmas lights for a few years now. Finally have time to do it. Love your videos.

    Iā€™m in Pflugerville, TX. I believe you are close by. Iā€™d love to meet sometime. Drop me an email.

    Thanks,

    Pace

  80. Dog Father Post author

    Thanks! Yeah, I’m in Austin, but things are a little busy around here at the moment. I haven’t even had time to make videos lately. Should calm down a little soon though. Jeff

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