Rough demo (two tubes, two blinders)

[Jack]

Two tubes and two blinders combined.

Running on artnet, driven by lightjams. The blinders with PoE, the tubes controlled by more than 4000 channels.

https://youtu.be/j9LPbmM5_2g

A very short video, very rough. The intensity very low otherwise the house would turn very blueish.

It's very satisfying for me that whatever music plays, I find the effects adequate.

[Jack]

https://youtu.be/nHBbneI1U_g (a little more intensity on the blinders I think)

[Jack]

Another one. Two blinders, Two tubes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzCHw20fG_M

Chet Atkins - Yakety Axe

[Mathieu]

Nice! Good job Jack :)

[Jack]

Two blinders, Four tubes.

Chinese New Year - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hz_f2_RV1EIRq3crh0WGUN61bYSaybXi/view?usp=sharing

Kauai Blue - https://drive.google.com/file/d/117W2rQgBeiIjRUzQuz2DhvN1GqUqTmrf/view?usp=sharing

In the Chinese New Year video is an rotation effect which is done with the new Wave angle function.

It's placed a bit too high, but in sync with the music.

In the second video, Kauai Blue, the effect is placed lower so that it's better placed relative to the center of the blinders.

The tubes take up sixteen full dmx universes. The blinder only needs part of an extra 17th universe.

On Sunday, 11 March 2018 11:17:42 UTC+1, Jack wrote:

[o865324]

Hey Jack, did you make the blinders? Could you share any details of the construction or what type of LEDs/drivers you used please?

Cheers.

[Jack]

I didn't make the blinders. I bought them from a Chinese shop.

They are like these:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Disco-Light-LED-Matrix-Blinder-Pixel-Panel-30W-COB-RGB-led-dj-effect-background-support-5X5/1850006445.html

Very bright. I've had a lot of fun with them already. I build the tubes.

On Wednesday, 4 April 2018 18:49:52 UTC+2, o865324 wrote:

[Jack]

oh, I did have to replace the fans in them. They were noisy. Many chinese lights with fans make alot of noise.

4 or 5 fans in each blinder.

On Wednesday, 4 April 2018 18:49:52 UTC+2, o865324 wrote:

[Casey Wolfe]

Those tubes are amazing! I'm researching how to build just that sort of thing, do you have any idea advice or tutorials to point me to?

Thanks.

[o865324]

Hi Jack, I'm contemplating making some tubes - some questions if I may.

1. Are the tubes Acrylic? What diameter and thickness are they? Would you change anything?

2. How many LEDs in each tube? 4 x 170?

3. Did you have to power the LED strips at both ends? In the middle?

4. How have you mounted the LEDs inside the tube? On a piece of timber? Are they all facing forwards?

5. Did you make the base that the tubes fit into?

Cheers!

[o865324]

Oh, just found your other thread which answers 1 and 2!

[Jack]

Hi, I powered them at one end. One length is 112 leds, the next strip 56 leds. At the end I connected them.

So, every strip is 168 leds, but from top to bottom there are 112 leds. The 168 leds is because it´s one universe more or less.

168x3 (rgb) = 504 channels. And there are 6 strips of 112 leds. So, I made it to be 4 universes. Exactly what can be controlled with one leDMX4 P of DMX King.

Halfway a few of the led strips there is a small cut that disconnects the 56 leds that extend the 112 long strips.

I powered three strips from the bottom and three from the top. The wire to power from the top is in the tube. And of course the signal wire too.

The ledstrips are mounted on the plastic inner tube on a double sided tape with the same width as the tube. First the tape is put on the tube, after that the led strips on the tape.

The leds are facing outward. There exist led lenses that you can put on the leds of a led strip. I haven't tried that yet, but it's interesting I think.

The base where the tubes fit into are made for me. They are made of nylon. And the baseplate is made of multiplex finished with warnex, loudspeaker paint.

The knobs to level the baseplate are from china, alibaba.

[o865324]

Thanks Jack, very informative.

Can I check what you mean by "mounted on the plastic inner tube". Do you mean stuck to the inner surface of the 80mm tube? Like this?

I don't think you mean there is a separate tube inside the 80mm tube?

Did you ever try mounting them at the back of the tube like this?

Cheers!

[Jack de Visser]

Haha. I will make a photo of the inner tube. It's really very simple. I try to do it tomorrow. Then you will see how it looks like. The led strips are mounted on a double sided foam tape. The inner tube is 40mm in diameter. The foam tape is on the tube. The ledstrips are on the foam. Very simple. You'll see.

Op di 5 feb. 2019 23:00 schreef o865324 <goo...@apluck.co.uk>:

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "Lightjams" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/lightjams/ItagYRrHpgU/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to lightjams+...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to ligh...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/lightjams.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Jack]

On Tuesday, 5 February 2019 23:12:22 UTC+1, Jack wrote:

Haha. I will make a photo of the inner tube. It's really very simple. I try to do it tomorrow. Then you will see how it looks like. The led strips are mounted on a double sided foam tape. The inner tube is 40mm in diameter. The foam tape is on the tube. The ledstrips are on the foam. Very simple. You'll see.

Op di 5 feb. 2019 23:00 schreef o865324 <goo...@apluck.co.uk>:

Thanks Jack, very informative.

Can I check what you mean by "mounted on the plastic inner tube". Do you mean stuck to the inner surface of the 80mm tube? Like this?

I don't think you mean there is a separate tube inside the 80mm tube?

Did you ever try mounting them at the back of the tube like this?

Cheers!

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "Lightjams" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/lightjams/ItagYRrHpgU/unsubscribe.

To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to lightjams+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

[Jack]

This one shows where the leds are cut. You can see the foam under the led strip. (this one isn't aligned well).

[Jack]

Soldering and stuff. And how the wires go into the tube. These pictures are from the beginning of the project.

 

[Casey Wolfe]

Thanks for sharing more of your process!

Could you post some pictures of the bases you made? They look really cool.

What kind of cable did you use to go from the leDMX4 Pro to the tubes?

How far away are you able to put the tubes?

[Jack de Visser]

I'm a bit embarassed to show everything because for example the soldering is pretty bad in the picture. But everything got better along the way. The signal wire is a four band flat cable for led strips. Four, one for every universe. 

For the 12v dc power there are 4 wires. 

Two times a plus and minus combination. In the base they are split, so each wire pair powers two strips.

So I used 8 wires to drive the tube. A 4 band flat cable and 4 wires. Kept together with a sleeve. That was for the first set of tubes. The second tube set uses connectors built in the nylon bus that holds the inner and outer tube.

I have built 4 tubes. The first pair was more experimental than the second pair.

I wanted as few cabling as possible to run to the tubes, but couldn't build in the controller in the base plate. And within the 40mm tube wasn't enough space to put the controller in. 

The second pair of tubes have a 8 pole connector at the botton. That is already better than 8 wires coming out of the tube. I should make a picture of the connector. It's very handy to use connectors. A six pole connector should be enough though I think. 4 for signals and two for powering.

A third set of tubes would be better than the first and second as many improvements are possible. 

The second set of tubes have a 5 mtr. 8 pole wire to the controller. Insanely thick for it's purpose, but it works. It's a cable with a sleeve to make it look more fancy, but I should have used much thinner  cable. I wanted a cable with 4 shielded signal wires and two or four power wires but couln't find any.

I'll post a picture of the connector inside the tube. It made the tube pretty easy to handle. I used neutrik connectors. Expensive and over the top for its purpse I guess, but it works and is reliable.

All those things can be improved upon. Wires, connectors, the nylon bus that is the base for holding the tubes.

Op wo 6 feb. 2019 23:37 schreef Casey Wolfe <anarch...@gmail.com>:

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "Lightjams" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/lightjams/ItagYRrHpgU/unsubscribe.

To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to lightjams+...@googlegroups.com.

[jur1...@gmail.com]

Better to put the Stripes on Metall to have better Heat-Transport ......Heat ist one of the biggest LED-Killers.....and dont forget Fuses before the house is burning ;-)

[Jack de Visser]

Yes. But the foam provides a flat bed for the strip while it also fits nicely on the tube. It provides a good mounting of the strip. 

Op do 7 feb. 2019 09:41 schreef <jur1...@gmail.com>:

--

[o865324]

Thank you for all the detail Jack - much appreciated.

The translucent round tubes are expensive - £80 to £100.

I was thinking about using a flat piece of perspex 2m x 0.08m with an aluminium strip (for heat dissipation) on the back and the LED strips stuck to that.

Like this when viewed from the top.

The side spacers could be strips of perspex. The aluminium strip could be loosely attached to the perspex so that it comes apart for maintenance.

I think I could build these in 1m sections, for easy stacking and transport. 2 sections would come together to make a single 2m fixture.

I could apply frosting film to the perspex.

How does this sound?

[o865324]

Another cheaper idea - use translucent twinwall polycabonate roofing - such as for conservatories.

such as this

https://www.pvccladding.com/products/multiwall-polycarbonate-sheets/10mm-twinwall-polycarbonate-sheet/600mm-x-2m/opal/

With slotted timber edge pieces painted either black or white. Each LED strip could be fed down a slot in the polycarb, but wouldn't be fixed in place. Aluminium plate on the back.

Not sure if this would be good enough for heat dissipation. Alternatively, could mount the LED strips to the aluminium and place the twinwall in front.

[p_m_t...@hotmail.co.uk]

You can get twinwall with an opaque finish, no need to add extra film to the front.

[Jack]

Here's how the second set of tubes that I build are connected. Basically I took Neutrik connectors and put it in the bottom of the tube. The nylon bus holds one 8 pole connector. The cable is attached simply by clicking it in. "Click" and it's good to go. :)

You can see through the tube where the nylon bus is. It's darker there.

[Jack]

The connector is Neutrik NLT8MP in the tube. The cable has a Neutrik NLT8FC.

So, basically a tube is male, standing firm, and a connector is female connecting everything.

The wires are attached to the connector with flat push-on cable shoes. But you cannot see that in the pictures.

That is because the wires are inside the inner tube.

[Jack]

And there is one open issue. That is the fact that the ledstrip acts as an antenna. One tube has six led strips. And they are all powered and a changing signal is fed to them.

So, they start acting as an antenna and cause interference with other sources. A radio, the wifi connections.

To overcome that problem the ledstrips may have te be shielded with aluminium foil or so. I haven't worked that out yet. I have thick aluminium foil, but wrapping it around a tube with proper isolation from the copperlanes of the led strip is a bit challenging. Many holes need to be cut in the aluminium foil. It's possible to ignore the antenna effect, but I have experienced it being real. If interference doesn't matter on nearby sources than it's no problem I guess.

[jur1...@gmail.com]

Maybe the problem i your powersupply and not the LED's ?

[Jack de Visser]

The power supply is shielded with metal. I will post a picture of it. The power that is actually needed is constantly changing but can go up to 160 or 165 watt for one tube. I added a digital power meter to the supply so I know the actual wattage. The ledstrips in my setup are 12v. 

Op di 12 feb. 2019 22:48 schreef <jur1...@gmail.com>:

[jur1...@gmail.com]

Here I have 10m 5V LEDs  ....max.180 Watts .....and never had such problems

the lights are remoted over Isolated LongRangeReceiver so I can go up to 300m from my Controllerboard

Love It

[Jack]

Here are images of the power supply. The case is metal. I made two sets. One with a very thin metal and one with a bit thicker metal.

Inside the housing are the transformers (with fan) and the controller and the wiring of course. As you can see the power units have three connections:

1. power (Neutrik Powercon True1)

2. ethernet (standard rj45)

3. outgoing (Neutrik NLT8MP)

That is on all 4 units that I built. And there is a wattage meter on top of the units. Very handy. Bought them on Alibaba.

So, connection the tubes is easy and quick. And I think the units are shielded enough.

The power units don't seem to cause a nearby transistor radio to be distorted.

[o865324]

Jack, thank you for posting the detail - you've inspired me to make my own. Your setup is very professional looking and neat. I'll start a separate thread though!

The Speakon connectors seem ideal, but they are £20 each on 1st search.

[Jack]

You are right about them connectors being expensive. There must be much cheaper and better solutions.

There are alot of things I should have done better, many ideas.

You know, one of the ideas I had afterwards was to build the tube with a foot like a spacex rocket that lands. With landing legs like the rockets.

And I really should have used transformers without fans.

And my cable is really oversized, way too thick. But good and reliable connections are very important. Reliability is key.

That's why I chose the Neutriks.

[o865324]

I was looking for solutions as well. I found this small speaker stand which might be an option.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00GOQWI40

[Jack]

Very clever idea. I haven't thought about such a solution.

The tubes are 2 mtr. and the height might become problematic with such a stand.

[o865324]

How about a mic stand with the upright chopped off at a low height and attached to the tube.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B013EKR94C

I was looking around for your spacex leg ideas as I need the same. Closest I found so far is this sort of thing in the camping, or RV world.

https://camperinteriors.co.uk/products/reimo-folding-telescopic-table-leg

I started my own build thread off in the projects section.