We got our Christmas project done a bit later than usual this year, but here it is. An eight-foot wooden triangle filled with 51 MegaBrite RGB LED modules, controlled by an Arduino. As our projects always do...this also lights the houses across the street pretty well, running about 75 watts of LEDs maximum.
Unfortunately didn't take photos during construction, but it's nothing too difficult. Three 1x4 planks fastened at the corners with metal brackets, 3/4 square dowel cross beams, and lots of zip ties. The MegaBrites are daisy chained from a bottom corner up to the top in a zig-zag pattern. Power is connected every 7 or 8 modules, to a 7.5V 20A Meanwell supply from Jameco. For rain protection and a little diffusion, the whole thing is wrapped in a 2mil plastic drop cloth.
No, sorry I liked the Instructables people the few times I've met them, but hate the website. The killer was login requirement to view all project images, and all the nagging popups.
I have zero problem with people making money, but there has to be a less annoying way of doing it. Holding hostage data that people gave you for free is not cool. This started well after many users had uploaded projects...the users uploaded the projects with a certain understanding of how accessible their ideas would be to everyone. And then Instructables put it behind a wall. Logins are free but like most people I'm not going to log into a site to see someone's project.
