Grumpy_Mike:
I am a little confused about how to set that up though.
The strip has 4 connections. Voltage +, Voltage -, Data signal, Clock signal. Wire up the + and - to your 12V supply. Connect the - of your supply to the Arduino ground and the clock and data signals to the output pins of the Arduino, which output pins depend on the software.
I know how the connections work, but if i have to connect the the Voltage + terminal of the LED strip every few meters doesnt that ruin the voltage differential through the line making there be zero voltage drop across the LEDs from the beginning to the next place where i hook up the 12 V+?
Grumpy_Mike:
Also what kind of memeory will i need to run 15 meters of LEDs?
Work it out, for one LED you need three bytes of memory, so multiply the number of LEDs by three to get the total memory size to define one pattern. Multiply that by the number of patterns, and then get an SD card to hold it in.
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I never though of using an SD card to hold the patterns! Can you hook up an SD card to an arduino to use an more memory? And how would it hook up to a standalone arduino or arduino mini pro? Do i need to solder the SD card to the board?
arduinodlb:
Silman:
I am a little confused about how to set that up though. I am under the impression that if i hook up the 12volt source to 2 meters down from the start, then it will be pinned at 12 volts so there will be no voltage differential between the beginning of the strip and the place where i hooked it up... I must not fully understand how these LEDs work.In theory, yes it would be 12V all the way. However, wire has a current rating based on its diameter. It has to move electrons. If you move too many, the resistance of the wire becomes an issue, as well as the fact that you'll start a fire. So, if you need to carry lots of current, you need a thick wire, also called a bar of copper. Let's say, 20mA x 1700 LEDS is 34A. That's a very thick wire/metal rod.
Where are you getting 1700 LEDs from? 60 per meter for 15 meters is only 900 LEDs. Also i am curious, does this mean i cannot do this project without having a hulking piece of copper lining my ceiling also? I feel like it should be that hard to power 900 LEDs, certainly requires some power, but not huge pieces of metal.