I replaced the horizontal strip holding pixels over my garage with Boscoyo ChromaTrim V3. Pretty good stuff! Plus some other updates.
Category Archives: Pixels
RGB Pixel Power Injection and a Cable Snake (2018)
Finishing up preps on the sticks, I encountered a perfect power injection example. I also created a cable snake for the line from the controller to the first pixel.
Falcon F-Amp RGB Pixel Data Signal Booster (2018)
The Falcon F-Amp is an RGB data signal booster you can use between props or within props to boost the data signal. I’ll show you how I’m planning to use these this year. Thanks to David at PixelController, LLC for sponsoring this episode!
Properly Wiring New Props (2018)
When adding a new prop to your display, check xLights first to make sure you wire it up properly. Plus, I have to replace a couple of pixels.
Christmas Expo & VLOG (2018)
This is mostly a non-technical update of my first Christmas Expo experience. I’ve included additional updates so it’s kind of a VLOG.
My online course for RGB Pixel beginners: https://bit.ly/2NgNJFm
Amazon Links: https://wp.me/P3deDh-fN
Falcon F48 Differential RGB Pixel Controller (2018)
Take a close-up look at the Falcon F48 Differential Controller. This controller allows you to put power closer to your RGB pixels and run from a centralized location.
5V 3A (wall wart) power adapter: https://amzn.to/2u3FwMP
My online course for RGB Pixel beginners (use this coupon): http://bit.ly/udemy-basics-coupon-f48
Dumb RGB Strings In Your Display (2018)
Smart pixels get all the attention these days, but dumb RGB strings may still have a place in your display. We look at controlling dumb strings with an Arduino Uno and a 2811DC15 from Hanson Electronics.
Hanson Electronics 2811DC15: https://bit.ly/2tHwwwy
Make: article: https://bit.ly/2lIUG5g
My online course for RGB Pixel beginners: http://bit.ly/udemy-basics-coupon-17
xLights Value Curves Example (2018)
Happy Father’s Day! This is a short tutorial about a powerful feature in xLights called Value Curves. It extends what you can do with normal effects. I used them a lot last year.
Gil’s original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ0DJfTV0l4
My online course for RGB Pixel beginners: http://bit.ly/udemy-basics-coupon-16
IT’S A COURSE, OF COURSE! AN ONLINE COURSE (2018)
I’ve been working on an online course for RGB pixels and it’s finally out! Here’s what it’s about and why I did it.
The course is hosted on Udemy. http://bit.ly/udemy-basics-coupon
The course is designed to take someone new to pixels through everything they need to know to get a show up and running. It covers both hardware and software. There’s even a section on sequencing using xLights that even people running shows might want to check out. If you take the course and like it, please leave a good review with a couple of sentences about how it helped you or why you liked it. Reviews really help a new course get noticed. If you see something that needs changing, please let me know that too.
Home Assistant RGB Pixel Pathway Lighting (2018)
This is a slight departure from my normal RGB pixel display videos. We look at using strip lights as pathway lights and controlling them through Home Assistant. I go through setting up Home Assistant and programming the NodeMCU modules using Ben’s code on GitHub.
SD Card Formatter: https://www.sdcard.org/
Etcher Image Writer: https://etcher.io
Home Assistant: https://www.home-assistant.io/
CloudMQTT: https://www.cloudmqtt.com/
Arduino IDE: https://www.arduino.cc
Multi-sensor GitHub Page: https://bit.ly/2GUnSmQ
Pixel controller GitHub Page: https://bit.ly/2IKBLR7
Parts Lists:
Multi-Sensor
- Raspberry Pi 3 B (not the B+) https://amzn.to/2JEcuJR
- Raspberry Pi 3 B+ https://amzn.to/2GRRuBt
- NodeMCU Development Board https://amzn.to/2qp1A2s
- Mini Pyroelectric PIR Sensor https://amzn.to/2qqaa07
- **Adjustable PIR Motion Sensor (5-pack) https://amzn.to/2qoLZ2f
- DHT22 Digital Temperature & Humidity Sensor https://amzn.to/2IOgFl3
- TEMT6000 Light Sensor https://amzn.to/2HvcWJE
- 50-pack RGB (dumb) LED https://amzn.to/2GVxxWt
Pixel Controller
- Logic Level Converter (may not need this) https://amzn.to/2qqajkb
- DC-DC Buck Converter https://amzn.to/2Jzn4lj
- 5A 12V Power Supply https://amzn.to/2GUD27V
- Aluminum Channel System https://amzn.to/2JBjlDT
My YAML configuration for this:
# Binary Sensors
binary_sensor:
- platform: threshold
name: isdark
entity_id: sensor.light_level
lower: 100
hidden: true
# Regular Sensors
sensor:
- platform: template
sensors:
rgbtemp:
friendly_name: RGB Temp
value_template: >-
{% if states('sensor.temperature')|float > 79.9 %}
Hot
{% elif states('sensor.temperature')|float < 70 %}
Cold
{% else %}
Just Right
{% endif %}
Automations
- alias: Stair Pathway Lighting On
trigger:
- platform: state
entity_id: binary_sensor.isdark
to: 'on'
- platform: state
entity_id: sensor.rgbtemp
condition:
- condition: state
entity_id: binary_sensor.isdark
state: 'on'
action:
- service: mqtt.publish
data_template:
topic: "mqtt/topic"
payload: >-
{% if is_state('sensor.rgbtemp', 'Hot') %}
{"state":"ON","color":{"r":255,"g":100,"b":100},"brightness":6,"effect":"solid"}
{% elif is_state('sensor.rgbtemp', 'Cold') %}
{"state":"ON","color":{"r":100,"g":100,"b":255},"brightness":6,"effect":"solid"}
{% else %}
{"state":"ON","color":{"r":100,"g":200,"b":100},"brightness":6,"effect":"solid"}
{% endif %}
- alias: Stair Pathway Lighting Off
trigger:
- platform: state
entity_id: binary_sensor.isdark
to: 'off'
condition:
- condition: state
entity_id: light.stair_strip
state: 'on'
action:
- service: mqtt.publish
data_template:
topic: "mqtt/topic"
payload: '{"state":"OFF"}'
