With 3 C-Cells, wouldn't you have 8000mAh * 3 = 24000mAh?  That's what I was basing my calculations from.

ok, based upon the 350 mA peak (adding resistors), Thursday - Sunday would be 4 days and using 33,600 mA.  this would be 5 C batteries (4.2) or 3 D batteries (2..  Sound correct?  I would assume that there will be a lot less than peak unless I am running the RGB's full-time. 

Since it will be turned off during the day - I would realistically expect:

2 Days maximum requirements:  2 C Batteries should work powering the RGB's full-time.

ok, I'll try that.  I was thinking to try Lithium, but wasn't sure of the calculation - so didn't know if it would help

I will be out from Thursday - Sunday running this thing without AC outlets, so batteries the whole time.  It won't be constant peak, but wanted to base the calculation on peak to be 100% sure I have enough batteries with me to power all (extended) weekend.

ok, that makes sense.

However - I need to calculate the max load and determine how long a battery pack (and what battery pack I need) would last

forgot to attach

ok, got everything working   I've attached the circuit image again and was hoping I could have some help determining powering options.  I need to power this circuit via battery.

I have 7 RGB LED's (http://adafruit.com/products/302)
I have 3 74HC595  (https://www.adafruit.com/products/450)
I have 1 DFRobot switch (http://www.dfrobot.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=36&product_id=114#.UD0Pq9ZlQbi)

I was trying to compute max current, so came up with this:

7 RGB * 120mA (peak) = 840mA
3 74HC595 * 160uA = 480 uA
1 DFRobot Switch = 100mA
Arduino UNO Board = ?


Is this how I would sum it up?  And then once I got the sum, how do I determine the right power for continuous load?

thanks again!

I loaded the only version (1.0) that could have been on my old PC.  Didn't make any difference

I honestly have no clue at all   I don't have a backup of that computer anymore.  Was whatever version there was from almost 1 year ago.

I have a project that I already loaded onto one chip (ATMega328) on an UNO board.  I moved computers and am trying to get it to work again, however, I am coming up with an odd error:

MyProject.cpp.o: In function `ShiftPWM_handleInterrupt':
C:\Users\Andy\Downloads\arduino\arduino-1.0.1\libraries\ShiftPWM/ShiftPWM.h:124: undefined reference to `ShiftPWM_balanceLoad'

It is a pretty basic program and I did load the ShiftPWM into the Libraries folder.  There is nothing inherited that is not in the libraries folder at all. This *may* be a new version of ShiftPWM, though... I had last loaded it about a year ago - Can't imagine why that would make a difference, though.

Good advice

Question:  I have soldered and wrapped all the RGB's.  It is possible while soldering that i burn out RGB's?  None are working, I'll have to go through the circuit again to make sure I have it wired - but wanted to check.  I assume, yes.

It could also be the ribbon cable as I elected to go with the plug:  https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10965.  It doesn't clamp down well, so possible that a wire isn't properly exposed to the pins.  Gotta check that too.

I am so slow at this.  It's a pain in the butt to solder the ribbon cable to the RGBs and then heat-shrink properly.  I think I need more tools   And a magnifying glass now that I'm semi-old (42).  Now I wish I would have been 'on top of' this project when I started it.  I would have had a real PCB created and some connectors to make this much easier!

Thanks!  Just picked up shrinkwire, actually... only because I saw it in the store, have a heat gun, and thought to myself I can't believe I didn't figure that out already.  Thanks again for all of your help!

ok, that sounds easy enough on the shift register side of things.  What would help on the ring side of things?  I am not quite sure how to get these wired without the RGB leads touching each other inside the ring.  I think that's where I am confused most after hours of searching

Makes sense.  I may have to make this my second revision   I'm running out of time!

What would you suggest to wire up RGB LED's remotely?  Example:  I will have the RGB's 12-24 inches away from the circuit.  I would LOVE to have the RGB wires pretty much covered so that I could place them in some sort of clear tube all together, but wired out one side (hope that made sense).  I drew it up and attached in case it was unclear

I put power and ground, but added nothing else   I thought I read that it had an internal oscillator.  Can you point me to a schematic that might show this?  I will have to purchase the oscillator, but have everything else.

Thanks for the reply.. I was thinking that could be the case, but haven't found anything supporting that thought (probably not searching well enough)