Christmas Lights 2020 - xLights in Indigo

Posted on
Mon Nov 30, 2020 12:18 pm
Colly offline
Posts: 535
Joined: Jan 16, 2016
Location: Ireland

Christmas Lights 2020 - xLights in Indigo

I decided to up my game this year with regards to my outdoor lights. I went with a plan of building a Mega Tree for my garden, creating some custom shows created with xLights software and obviously bringing control in to Indigo. Some browsing online told me that there would be a reasonably high upfront cost but it would be expandable over the next few years at a more affordable level.
Non exhaustive parts list:
17 x WS2811 50 pixels
16 x pixel mounting strips
1 x 50 pixel Star
1 x 60A DC power supply
1 x Falcon pixel controller
1 x rPi with Falcon Pi Player (FPP) build
1 x outdoor enclosure to house pixel controller, power supply & rPi
Numerous junction boxes for power injection, I used 5 V pixels
Home made pole/structure made from unistrut I had lying around

Most of the items above were purchased from https://buildalightshow.com , Nic was my very helpful contact there. There are multiple sources of this equipment across the world, particularly in the US and Australia where there are very active communities.

The end result is a very satisfying Mega Tree on which I can create custom light shows and more importantly (easily) lean on the existing worldwide community for synchronised light/music shows.

Warning! This hobby can be addictive and costly - there are cheaper ways to do the same, the Falcon controller seemed to suit my needs and I reckon it will be a stable and expandable system for me. I’ve already placed another order for delivery this week to expand on this years plan.

Integration in to Indigo was easy via @Flying Divers MQTT plugin - my use of which is ever-growing. Thanks Joe. The FPP can be communicated with via MQTT. The light shows are created in xLights, uploaded to FPP and then added to a playlist. This playlist can then be started/stopped/queried for playing status etc.

See link to video https://youtu.be/8aEH5u4sJX4 with a special message for Matt & Jay. :)

Merry Christmas (Hope it’s not too early for that!)

Colly

PS. I’m not the first to do this in Indigo, however the previous forum member didn’t have the availability at the time to use MQTT directly from Indigo.
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Posted on
Mon Nov 30, 2020 1:35 pm
siclark offline
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Location: UK

Re: Christmas Lights 2020 - xLights in Indigo

That's amazing. But also I've been complaining that I couldn't find stock of 12v strings in this country and is left it to late for AliExpress. Wish I'd known about this site sooner, it's going to be an expensive day tomorrow!!

Although for now I'm sticking with WLED and nodemcu. Can't justify the falcon just yet!

Looks awesome though.

Posted on
Mon Nov 30, 2020 1:42 pm
DaveL17 offline
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Re: Christmas Lights 2020 - xLights in Indigo

How neat is that? Love the message for Matt & Jay.

How much of your expensive equipment is kept outside? I'd be worried that someone might nick it.

I came here to drink milk and kick ass....and I've just finished my milk.

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Posted on
Mon Nov 30, 2020 2:07 pm
Colly offline
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Joined: Jan 16, 2016
Location: Ireland

Re: Christmas Lights 2020 - xLights in Indigo

siclark wrote:
Wish I'd known about this site sooner, it's going to be an expensive day tomorrow!!

Yes it can be expensive! I trawled the internet and eventually stumbled on that site, the community is quite big in the UK. Seems like only a few at it here in Ireland. I went with the 5 V versions, picked up nearly half of their remaining stock last night. One advantage of using their pixels is that they have waterproof connectors.

Posted on
Mon Nov 30, 2020 2:10 pm
Colly offline
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Joined: Jan 16, 2016
Location: Ireland

Re: Christmas Lights 2020 - xLights in Indigo

DaveL17 wrote:
How neat is that? Love the message for Matt & Jay.

How much of your expensive equipment is kept outside? I'd be worried that someone might nick it.

It's all outside, the larger grey box contains controller, rPi and power supply - other box is just mains. I live in a reasonably quiet area so reckon I'm ok.. But then again you have me thinking about adding some security now!

Posted on
Mon Nov 30, 2020 2:10 pm
siclark offline
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Joined: Jun 13, 2017
Location: UK

Re: Christmas Lights 2020 - xLights in Indigo

Colly wrote:
siclark wrote:
Wish I'd known about this site sooner, it's going to be an expensive day tomorrow!!

Yes it can be expensive! I trawled the internet and eventually stumbled on that site, the community is quite big in the UK. Seems like only a few at it here in Ireland. I went with the 5 V versions, picked up nearly half of their remaining stock last night. One advantage of using their pixels is that they have waterproof connectors.


So I am going to pick up their remaining 12v stock! I soldered my own waterproof barrel connectors onto mine last year, 4 sets, and had to just redo one as my soldering failed as I moved them yesterday. Pre-soldered sounds amazing, assuming their connector matches mine, and I have a hunch they might come from the same factory. I also got mine from one of the better Chinese factories.

But still limiting myself to 400 pixels and a nodemcu... for now!

I do like the look of the icicles and the holder.

Posted on
Mon Nov 30, 2020 3:04 pm
Colly offline
Posts: 535
Joined: Jan 16, 2016
Location: Ireland

Re: Christmas Lights 2020 - xLights in Indigo

siclark wrote:
Colly wrote:
siclark wrote:
Wish I'd known about this site sooner, it's going to be an expensive day tomorrow!!

Yes it can be expensive! I trawled the internet and eventually stumbled on that site, the community is quite big in the UK. Seems like only a few at it here in Ireland. I went with the 5 V versions, picked up nearly half of their remaining stock last night. One advantage of using their pixels is that they have waterproof connectors.


So I am going to pick up their remaining 12v stock! I soldered my own waterproof barrel connectors onto mine last year, 4 sets, and had to just redo one as my soldering failed as I moved them yesterday. Pre-soldered sounds amazing, assuming their connector matches mine, and I have a hunch they might come from the same factory. I also got mine from one of the better Chinese factories.

But still limiting myself to 400 pixels and a nodemcu... for now!

I do like the look of the icicles and the holder.

The connections are good, although there are numerous different types, x-connect, ray-wu etc. I'll start preparing for Xmas 2021 in Jan..

I have 1500 WS2811 strips around the roofline of the house.. Now that the tree is sorted I'm getting brave and planning to the get all connected to the Falcon.. Time will tell if I've bitten off more than I can chew!

Posted on
Mon Nov 30, 2020 8:35 pm
matt (support) offline
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Re: Christmas Lights 2020 - xLights in Indigo

That awesome (especially the personalized message)! Are you doing more lights around the house? Definitely post the final results once you are done.

We have two tree trunks wrapped, lights around our door frame, and everything plugged into a single outdoor appliance module. Basically, the bare minimum we could get away with. 8) A cobbler's house has no lit shoes, or something?

Image

Posted on
Tue Dec 01, 2020 1:53 am
siclark offline
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Joined: Jun 13, 2017
Location: UK

Re: Christmas Lights 2020 - xLights in Indigo

Colly wrote:

I have 1500 WS2811 strips around the roofline of the house.. Now that the tree is sorted I'm getting brave and planning to the get all connected to the Falcon.. Time will tell if I've bitten off more than I can chew!


1500 strips X 50 pixels or 1500 pixels? The former sounds like an impressive display!!

Posted on
Tue Dec 01, 2020 1:55 am
Colly offline
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Joined: Jan 16, 2016
Location: Ireland

Re: Christmas Lights 2020 - xLights in Indigo

Realised I made an error in that earlier.. 1500 pixels


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Posted on
Tue Dec 01, 2020 1:56 am
siclark offline
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Joined: Jun 13, 2017
Location: UK

Re: Christmas Lights 2020 - xLights in Indigo

Haha. Shame. Would have liked to see that. Was thinking it couldn't be too near to any airports!!!

Posted on
Tue Dec 01, 2020 1:58 am
Colly offline
Posts: 535
Joined: Jan 16, 2016
Location: Ireland

Re: Christmas Lights 2020 - xLights in Indigo

matt (support) wrote:
That awesome (especially the personalized message)! Are you doing more lights around the house? Definitely post the final results once you are done.

We have two tree trunks wrapped, lights around our door frame, and everything plugged into a single outdoor appliance module. Basically, the bare minimum we could get away with. 8) A cobbler's house has no lit shoes, or something?
Thanks Matt,
Yes the plan is for a few more additions and to add in the roof line to the controller. Was running a section off an esp chip but as I increased the number the WLED is limits come into play. Will post when I make progress. Delivery due Thursday..


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Posted on
Tue Dec 01, 2020 1:58 am
Colly offline
Posts: 535
Joined: Jan 16, 2016
Location: Ireland

Re: Christmas Lights 2020 - xLights in Indigo

siclark wrote:
Haha. Shame. Would have liked to see that. Was thinking it couldn't be too near to any airports!!!
Exactly, although airports are quiet these days.


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Posted on
Tue Dec 01, 2020 6:05 am
norcoscia offline
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Re: Christmas Lights 2020 - xLights in Indigo

Hats off to you - really nice work!!!!!!

_______
Norm

Posted on
Tue Dec 01, 2020 8:55 am
Korey offline
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Re: Christmas Lights 2020 - xLights in Indigo

Looks great!!

:D :D :D

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Korey

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