In yet another cycle of how I learn something new, start with something really simple and try to make my early mistakes as cheaply as possible. Since all of the parts are readily available, head down to the local hardware store and load up a basket full of Mega Tree guts.
Yeah, right. In the real world there are two choices: go with a supplier of Mega Trees and components like Holiday Coro or Boscoyo Studio. Or get a bunch of cheap components straight out of the Far East and build everything from scratch.
Not a difficult decision. Fire up Amazon and prepare to be confused by all of the choices! Recall that I need power, controller, and lights.
The first major decision is what voltage to use – this drives every component in the system: 5V is easiest to work with but limited for long runs of lights. 12V is best for longer runs but is a bit more complicated to work with. 24V is for professional use. 5V it is!
With several hundred LEDs planned I will need a fair amount of power. That looks like at least a 200 watt power supply. Throw a BTF Lighting 200 watt 5V power supply in the cart.
The lighting controller is the heart of the system. This is where I’ll need to do most of the experimenting and learning. Proven controller packages for Mega Trees run several hundred dollars. After going around in circles (something I’m really good at) I finally decided to get a couple of cheap LED controllers and see if I can get them to work. If needed I can easily replace the controller next year without having to touch the rest of the system.
The WLED software package running on an Arduino microcontroller is popular. Hmm, packaged WLED controllers are pretty cheap. For $27 an Aromfentu WLED controller goes in the cart. Since the Aromfentu looks a bit basic, a more programmable controller would be good to experiment with. K-1000C controllers seem to fit that bill, so drop another $37.
Nothing left but lights. The good news is that LED pixel lights are surprisingly affordable. The target is pixel strings, so grab a Rextin WS2811 Pixel String. LED strip lights are widely used, so add a BTF Lighting WS2812B strip. A string of Fairy Lights was kind of cute, so for $10 why not?
These strings were good for basic testing but wouldn’t show any of the patterns that you display on a Mega Tree.
For that testing an 8 pixel by 32 pixel panel made up of WS2812B LEDs is perfect. At $17 it is a no-brainer to add to the testbed.
Add in a few packages of the electrical connectors for the LED strings and I should have all of the pieces I need. Specifically, the pieces needed to learn what pieces I really need.