Maximum distanct between 12V RGB pixels

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pneumatic
 
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Maximum distanct between 12V RGB pixels

Post by pneumatic »

I've got an outdoor project and I'm hoping to use the 36mm Square 12V Digital RGB LED Pixels (http://www.adafruit.com/products/683).

I'm trying to figure out the maximum distance between pixels. I'm hoping to space them about 10 feet (3 meters) apart. I know that's too far for the neopixels, but I'm hoping that because these are clocked, they're more resilient.

I know I'm going to have to use a heavier gauge wire (maybe 16 awg or so) for the power lines, given the long distances.

Any advice?

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Maximum distanct between 12V RGB pixels

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

3 meters between pixels may be pushing it a bit. But you can probably make it work using a 'blind' pixel in the middle as a repeater.

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pneumatic
 
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Re: Maximum distanct between 12V RGB pixels

Post by pneumatic »

Just thought I'd update this thread with my experience. I managed to separate two pixels by approx. 10 feet using cat-5 cable.

I used the orange and green for data and clock respectively, and then used the white/orange, white/green and white/blue as ground, and the brown, white/brown and blue and +12v. I figured that the shielding provided using the other part of the twisted pair as ground would help with the noise picked up from that distance, and that tripling the power and ground lines would allow for higher current. I don't know if I can get away with this for the whole strip, but I'm going to try.

The idea for using cat-5 came from a email exchange with a tech at macetech, to give credit where credit is due.

- Mitch

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Maximum distanct between 12V RGB pixels

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Thanks for the follow-up and the cat-5 solution. The Macetech folks know their stuff.

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