I am looking to basically do Christmas lighting around my business.
I want to do about 65' of LED.
What I am having problems finding is a controller to make a slow fade from purple to white ONLY.
Can you all help?
Yes, we can help.
Have you already purchased the strip. If so, please post a clickable link to the page describing it. If not, a 12V RGB strip (non-addressable) with 30 LEDs per metre will be the cheapest and easiest to use. Powering such a long strip will require a substantial power supply. 20m X 30 LEDs per metre = 600 LEDs. Each group of 3 LEDs will need 60mA current, so 12A in total. Get a 15A PSU
As only purple and white colours are required, the red and blue connections of the strip can be permanently wired to the supply. Only the green connection needs to be controlled by the Arduino. A mosfet such as stp16nf06l will be suitable.
I have not purchased anything. I am completely new to this type of project and have no idea what I'm doing.
After watching YouTube videos, this seems to be the only way possible to do what I want.
Something that is pretty unclear based on my knowledge is power. Can I make this plug directly into a single wall plug?
If you have a sufficiently powerful power supply, a single socket will do.
65', that's over 20m of LEDs. That's a lot indeed. You need to bring power to the strip every 2m give or take, using wires that can handle the required current. How much that current is, depends on the strip you want to buy, so you really have to figure that one out first.
Also you will need some additonal hardware to control this current - a MOSFET will do. Maybe two in parallel is better even in this case, due to the required currents. One for red, one for blue.
He’ll need RGB or RGBW or R+B+W LEDs to get white and purple.
Whichever is cheapest, most relevant and (possibly waterproof) for the application.
LED strips are the most likely for single colour across the whole length, but addressable LEDs may be preferred if you want to mix/run colours through the length.
I'll add an observation based on my limited knowledge/experience of the Arduino and C++.
If you have zero experience with electronics and C++ coding, plan to unveil your Christmas light project next year. Trust me. Unless you're a speed learner or spend every possible minute on this project, it won't happen this year.
And I in no way mean to dissuade you from taking on this project. Just a reality check, if you will.
Well, based off what I see, a huge amount of coding is available for free. All I would have to do is pull the color coding and change it. Then maybe the time delay/speed rate.
Seems like 99% of what I want is downloadable...
I just thought the component part would be easier to figure out, as their are tons of pre made RBG ropes + controllers available. Just none have the programming I am looking for.
All those are just plug n play with a remote ...
Just now discovered this device, so learning how to incorporate this into a rope of LED lighting is the interesting part I have learned yet.
I would also note that the actual length I need is like 45-50 feet. Was just going to wrap it around the building a slight bit.
Your challenge isn’t 65’ of LEDs, it’s choosing & getting them under control.
What LEDs do I need?
First, define your requirements... spacing, length, brightness, colours needed.
Second... how do i ‘drive’ those LEDs ?
Third, power supply?
Finally, software control. We can help with that.
You can’t do #4 without planning #1/2/3 first, so you need to slow down.
If you intend to use an existing off the shelf controller, then you have to find out what it’s outputs are, and only then can you develop the drivers and LED strings to suit.
Any other approach is going to be needlessly more difficult than it has to be.
FML I just typed a whole reply and hit a wrong button and lost it...
So I will include 2 pictures. 1 is my building, the other is just a Google pic of blue lights on a house. I want the solid har of light look, unlike typical Christmas lights that are very spread out.
Needs to be weather proof as it will be outside.
I am not interested in addressable at this time.
I want to stick with 65' incase I chose to take these home later.
Also due to that, I dont want to limit myself to my choice colors of purple and white. I'd like to have the full spectrum range for possible other projects in the future.
This is the video that introduced me to the programming and had me searching to find this forum.
When he tests the 3 color fade is when I realized this is basically what i need to do. Just on a house scale, not a cosplay suit lol
Maybe you should just start with a single RGB LED. Or a short piece of strip. When you get that to fade the way you want it to, it's time to think about upscaling. That also gives you the time to think about what kind of LED you want (individually addressable, or RGB/RGBW strips) and how many per meter you need for the brightness you want.
Handling 65' worth of LED strips is not trivial, and it's totally separate from the fading part of your project.
Also due to that, I dont want to limit myself to my choice colors of purple and white. I'd like to have the full spectrum range for possible other projects in the future.
ok, so you need to source RGB or RGBW strips, which will allow you to mix colours, and/or run a pure white strip when needed.
These could be (A) a string of simple LEDs, whic emit the same colour for the length of the string, or (B) a string of addressable LEDs which can be colour changed per individual,LED.
An alternative is several strips of (A) driven separately, which would allow you to run each segment as different colours without the coding overhead of addressable LEDs.
For either, you can get waterproof lengths either as a sealed plastic tube, or as a sealed plasticised strip. Both ok for under the eaves or awning as shown, but direct sunlight/UV will kill them within a couple of years.
To get some ideas, google for Christmas light animation videos - some are truly amazing ! Remember you’ll need to cable the clean power supply approximately every 2-3 metres of LED strip, or as calculated for your site.
Based on that video when he interchanges 3 colors in the fade, that's what I am looking for. 2 colors instead. Maybe slower bit that would take seeing it on the final product.
I think my biggest issue now is my lack of experience and knowledge of electricity/currents/etc
I mean, I can tell you a thing or two about electrophysiology of the heart, but a couple of LEDs and a resistor have me beat lol
OP's image
when he interchanges 3 colors in the fade, that's what I am looking for. 2 colors instead. Maybe slower bit that would take seeing it on the final product.
Those are the least of your problems, we can do almost anything once the hardware is properly defined.
You have simplified the project significantly - by using simple RGB(+W) strips (non-addressable.)
These require a controller (the Arduino), some drivers (possibly MOSFETs), and decent power suppl(y/ies)
Wire the common positive (+LED) of each strip to your LED supply, and the R/G/B cathode leads to three separate drivers from analog output pins. Add another for W if it's being implemented.
Using PWM (AnalogWrite) from the Arduino - you can control the duty cycle (brightness) of each colour.
Control could be many things, but start with simple swithes or buttons wired between the nominated INPUT_PULLUP pins and GROUND (pressed = active LOW).
Once it's all working you can add wireless, SMS, LCD or other control method.
Remember - the Arduino DOESN'T power anything other than itself. It on;y provides the control signals.
Maybe I am making this harder than it needs to be, or maybe it is.
Their are just some many pre existing "kits" for similar stuff like this, it just seems like adding one part to the equation is making it crazy
No, it’s not hard, but you have to KNOW. what you’ve got, then design around that.
There are LED strips and there. are LED strips.
You can control some with simple on-off drivers, in that case to mix colours- you need to control the on/off times proportionally at high speed (that’s PWM), or with other (neopixel) strips, you need to send RGB brightness ‘data’ to the ‘smart’ LEDs.
MikeWells:
Maybe I am making this harder than it needs to be, or maybe it is.
If you're thinking that this Arduino stuff is cool and you can see a bunch of other uses for it later, carry on and the forum members will help you get this done.
If this is just a means to an end and a one off at that (which I suspect it is), consider finding someone local who can code - a high school student perhaps. Alternatively, a college student, but the downside then is that you would have to pay them in beer 