From the Forums: Driving NeoPixels over long runs of CAT5 #neopixels

Teknynja Driving WS2812 NeoPixels RGB LEDS over CAT5 Ethernet Cable 2

Fantastic customer project by “Teknynja” for driving NeoPixel strips over large distances using CAT5 cable shared on the Adafruit Forums! And check out his blog post for detailed how-to:

While working on an outdoor Christmas project using NeoPixel strips, I ran into a small problem. I wanted to be able to have several groups of pixels many feet apart from each other, but still all synchronized and controlled by the same single controller. I worked out a way to use RS-485 drivers to push the data through CAT5 cable, along with using small, low cost DC/DC converters to distribute the power to the remote strips. I was able to control a full 5 meter roll of NeoPixels through 100 feet of CAT5 using the technique, more than enough for my project.

You can check out all the gory details here.

Thank you to all of you for your excellent blog and forum posts, without which my lurking (and learning) would not be possible!

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