https://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Dirknerklediychristmas.org wiki - User contributions [en]2026-11-03T03:12:30ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.35.11https://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Archived_ChristmasWiki&diff=5909Archived ChristmasWiki2026-08-07T12:24:50Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div><div style="border: 2px solid #b8860b; background-color: #fff8dc; padding: 12px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><br />
<br />
'''Historical Archive'''<br />
<br />
This section contains a reconstructed archive of the original '''DoItYourselfChristmas.com ChristmasWiki''', preserved from pages recovered through the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine and other archived resources.<br />
<br />
The goal of this project has been to reproduce the original ChristmasWiki as faithfully as possible, preserving its original page names, content, images, formatting, navigation, downloadable files, and internal links.<br />
<br />
This archive is intended as a historical reference. Many articles describe hardware, software, vendors, websites, and techniques that may no longer be available, supported, or considered current best practice.<br />
<br />
During the restoration, every recoverable page, image, and downloadable file was preserved. Only eight referenced image files could not be recovered despite an extensive search of all available archived sources. Pages that reference those missing images have been preserved exactly as they originally appeared, with the missing image links left intact.<br />
<br />
This archive is maintained separately from the current DIYChristmas.org Wiki and is preserved to ensure that the knowledge contributed by the Christmas lighting community over many years remains available to future hobbyists.<br />
<br />
</div><br />
<br />
= Archived ChristmasWiki =<br />
<br />
Welcome to the archived DoItYourselfChristmas.com ChristmasWiki.<br />
<br />
This archive contains over 320 restored Wiki pages together with their associated images and downloadable files. The content has been preserved as closely as possible to the original ChristmasWiki and has intentionally not been rewritten, modernized, or reorganized.<br />
<br />
Some articles may be incomplete because they were never finished by their original authors. You may also encounter links to pages, files, or images that were missing from the original archived materials. These have been preserved to maintain the historical accuracy of the archive.<br />
<br />
The archived ChristmasWiki serves as a snapshot of the knowledge and experience shared by the DIY Christmas lighting community during the early years of computer-controlled holiday lighting.<br />
<br />
<center>'''[[Archived ChristmasWiki:Main]]'''</center></div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Archived_ChristmasWiki&diff=5908Archived ChristmasWiki2026-08-07T12:18:19Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div><div style="border: 2px solid #b8860b; background-color: #fff8dc; padding: 12px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><br />
<br />
'''Historical Archive'''<br />
<br />
This section contains a reconstructed archive of the original '''DoItYourselfChristmas.com ChristmasWiki''', preserved from pages recovered through the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine and other archived resources.<br />
<br />
The goal of this project has been to reproduce the original ChristmasWiki as faithfully as possible, preserving its original page names, content, images, formatting, navigation, downloadable files, and internal links.<br />
<br />
This archive is intended as a historical reference. Many articles describe hardware, software, vendors, websites, and techniques that may no longer be available, supported, or considered current best practice.<br />
<br />
During the restoration, every recoverable page, image, and downloadable file was preserved. Only eight referenced image files could not be recovered despite an extensive search of all available archived sources. Pages that reference those missing images have been preserved exactly as they originally appeared, with the missing image links left intact.<br />
<br />
This archive is maintained separately from the current DIYChristmas.com Wiki and is preserved to ensure that the knowledge contributed by the Christmas lighting community over many years remains available to future hobbyists.<br />
<br />
</div><br />
<br />
= Archived ChristmasWiki =<br />
<br />
Welcome to the archived DoItYourselfChristmas.com ChristmasWiki.<br />
<br />
This archive contains over 320 restored Wiki pages together with their associated images and downloadable files. The content has been preserved as closely as possible to the original ChristmasWiki and has intentionally not been rewritten, modernized, or reorganized.<br />
<br />
Some articles may be incomplete because they were never finished by their original authors. You may also encounter links to pages, files, or images that were missing from the original archived materials. These have been preserved to maintain the historical accuracy of the archive.<br />
<br />
The archived ChristmasWiki serves as a snapshot of the knowledge and experience shared by the DIY Christmas lighting community during the early years of computer-controlled holiday lighting.<br />
<br />
<center>'''[[Archived ChristmasWiki:Main]]'''</center></div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=4039Main Page2026-08-02T17:07:55Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div><strong>Welcome to the diychristmas.org wiki</strong><br />
<br />
'''This wiki is a work-in-progress''', and content is provided by knowledgeable volunteers from the membership of the diychristmas.org community. Therefore, please understand that our intention is that the informational pages provided here are guidelines for successfully accomplishing various DIY tasks and do not reflect the ''only'' methods for doing so.<br />
<br />
::'''Prior to using any of the information provided here, users agree to hold harmless diychristmas.org, its owners, administrators, moderators, wiki authors and editors from any and all damages that may arise from using any of the documentation contained herein.'''<br />
<br />
AND - Thanks to long-time Christmas Lighting hobbyist '''Ernie Horning''' for his work on recreating the original Christmas Wiki with the link below:<br />
<br />
<center>'''[[Archived ChristmasWiki]]'''</center><br />
<br />
== Main Topic Areas ==<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Beginners]]''' If you're new to this hobby or want to get started in it, please read this first. You won't regret it!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Terminology/Definitions]]''' Every hobby has its buzzwords, these are good to know<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Lights & Electronics]]''' Information about lights, LEDs, pixels, electricity, electronics, PCB manufacturing and more.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Audio/FM Radio]]''' Selecting/understanding music/help your visitors hear your show<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[DIY Display Construction]]''' Designing/building your own props - PVC, coroplast, wire frames, 3D printing, more. Lots of examples!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Animatronics]]''' Using servo or motors to make animated displays<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Arduino]]''' Anything related specifically to cool Arduino stuff<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Raspberry PI/BeagleBone]]''' Topics related to setting up or using these inexpensive computer platforms<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Networking]]''' Contributors' instructions for network-related issues<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[ESPixelStick_Reference_Guide]]''' All the news that's fit to print about the ESPixelStick<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware Tips & Techniques]]''' How to modify firmware settings, compile firmware, flash chips, etc.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware - multiple versions]]''' Various versions of firmware and how to use them.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Assembly Guides]]''' Misc. Contributors' assembly instructions<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Troubleshooting]]''' How to troubleshoot hardware, software, connections, etc. and tools you can use.<br />
<br />
[[file:Pumpkin.JPG|45px]] '''[[Halloween Displays]]''' We're not just about Christmas... we often decorate for other holidays, too!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[PDF Gallery]]''' Miscellaneous PDF files and/or links to PDF documentation<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] [http://diychristmas.org/vb5/ '''diychristmas.org'''] Return to the diychristmas.org forum<br />
<br />
<br />
*If you wish to be a contributing author to our Wiki project, click here for more info: '''[[Editorial Guidelines]]'''<br />
<br />
*If you are new to editing Wiki pages, consult the [//meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents '''User's Guide'''] for information on using MediaWiki software.<br />
<br />
''Please note that all content displayed in the diychristmas.org wiki is considered to be in the public domain unless a copyright is specifically expressed by its author.''</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=4038Main Page2026-08-02T16:17:20Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div><strong>Welcome to the diychristmas.org wiki</strong><br />
<br />
'''This wiki is a work-in-progress''', and content is provided by knowledgeable volunteers from the membership of the diychristmas.org community. Therefore, please understand that our intention is that the informational pages provided here are guidelines for successfully accomplishing various DIY tasks and do not reflect the ''only'' methods for doing so.<br />
<br />
'''Prior to using any of the information provided here, users agree to hold harmless diychristmas.org, its owners, administrators, moderators, wiki authors and editors from any and all damages that may arise from using any of the documentation contained herein.'''<br />
<br />
AND - Thanks to long-time Christmas Lighting hobbyist '''Ernie Horning''' for his work on recreating the original Christmas Wiki with the link below:<br />
<br />
<center>'''[[Archived ChristmasWiki]]'''</center><br />
<br />
== Main Topic Areas ==<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Beginners]]''' If you're new to this hobby or want to get started in it, please read this first. You won't regret it!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Terminology/Definitions]]''' Every hobby has its buzzwords, these are good to know<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Lights & Electronics]]''' Information about lights, LEDs, pixels, electricity, electronics, PCB manufacturing and more.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Audio/FM Radio]]''' Selecting/understanding music/help your visitors hear your show<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[DIY Display Construction]]''' Designing/building your own props - PVC, coroplast, wire frames, 3D printing, more. Lots of examples!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Animatronics]]''' Using servo or motors to make animated displays<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Arduino]]''' Anything related specifically to cool Arduino stuff<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Raspberry PI/BeagleBone]]''' Topics related to setting up or using these inexpensive computer platforms<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Networking]]''' Contributors' instructions for network-related issues<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[ESPixelStick_Reference_Guide]]''' All the news that's fit to print about the ESPixelStick<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware Tips & Techniques]]''' How to modify firmware settings, compile firmware, flash chips, etc.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware - multiple versions]]''' Various versions of firmware and how to use them.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Assembly Guides]]''' Misc. Contributors' assembly instructions<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Troubleshooting]]''' How to troubleshoot hardware, software, connections, etc. and tools you can use.<br />
<br />
[[file:Pumpkin.JPG|45px]] '''[[Halloween Displays]]''' We're not just about Christmas... we often decorate for other holidays, too!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[PDF Gallery]]''' Miscellaneous PDF files and/or links to PDF documentation<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] [http://diychristmas.org/vb5/ '''diychristmas.org'''] Return to the diychristmas.org forum<br />
<br />
<br />
*If you wish to be a contributing author to our Wiki project, click here for more info: '''[[Editorial Guidelines]]'''<br />
<br />
*If you are new to editing Wiki pages, consult the [//meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents '''User's Guide'''] for information on using MediaWiki software.<br />
<br />
''Please note that all content displayed in the diychristmas.org wiki is considered to be in the public domain unless a copyright is specifically expressed by its author.''</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=4037Main Page2026-08-02T16:15:14Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div><strong>Welcome to the diychristmas.org wiki</strong><br />
<br />
'''This wiki is a work-in-progress''', and content is provided by knowledgeable volunteers from the membership of the diychristmas.org community. Therefore, please understand that our intention is that the informational pages provided here are guidelines for successfully accomplishing various DIY tasks and do not reflect the ''only'' methods for doing so.<br />
<br />
'''Prior to using any of the information provided here, users agree to hold harmless diychristmas.org, its owners, administrators, moderators, wiki authors and editors from any and all damages that may arise from using any of the documentation contained herein.'''<br />
<br />
We wish to thank long-time Christmas Lighting hobbyist '''Ernie Horning''' for his work on recreating the Christmas Wiki with the link below:<br />
<br />
<center>'''[[Archived ChristmasWiki]]'''</center><br />
<br />
== Main Topic Areas ==<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Beginners]]''' If you're new to this hobby or want to get started in it, please read this first. You won't regret it!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Terminology/Definitions]]''' Every hobby has its buzzwords, these are good to know<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Lights & Electronics]]''' Information about lights, LEDs, pixels, electricity, electronics, PCB manufacturing and more.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Audio/FM Radio]]''' Selecting/understanding music/help your visitors hear your show<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[DIY Display Construction]]''' Designing/building your own props - PVC, coroplast, wire frames, 3D printing, more. Lots of examples!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Animatronics]]''' Using servo or motors to make animated displays<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Arduino]]''' Anything related specifically to cool Arduino stuff<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Raspberry PI/BeagleBone]]''' Topics related to setting up or using these inexpensive computer platforms<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Networking]]''' Contributors' instructions for network-related issues<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[ESPixelStick_Reference_Guide]]''' All the news that's fit to print about the ESPixelStick<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware Tips & Techniques]]''' How to modify firmware settings, compile firmware, flash chips, etc.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware - multiple versions]]''' Various versions of firmware and how to use them.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Assembly Guides]]''' Misc. Contributors' assembly instructions<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Troubleshooting]]''' How to troubleshoot hardware, software, connections, etc. and tools you can use.<br />
<br />
[[file:Pumpkin.JPG|45px]] '''[[Halloween Displays]]''' We're not just about Christmas... we often decorate for other holidays, too!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[PDF Gallery]]''' Miscellaneous PDF files and/or links to PDF documentation<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] [http://diychristmas.org/vb5/ '''diychristmas.org'''] Return to the diychristmas.org forum<br />
<br />
<br />
*If you wish to be a contributing author to our Wiki project, click here for more info: '''[[Editorial Guidelines]]'''<br />
<br />
*If you are new to editing Wiki pages, consult the [//meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents '''User's Guide'''] for information on using MediaWiki software.<br />
<br />
''Please note that all content displayed in the diychristmas.org wiki is considered to be in the public domain unless a copyright is specifically expressed by its author.''</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=4036Main Page2026-08-02T16:11:14Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div><strong>Welcome to the diychristmas.org wiki</strong><br />
<br />
'''This wiki is a work-in-progress''', and content is provided by knowledgeable volunteers from the membership of the diychristmas.org community. Therefore, please understand that our intention is that the informational pages provided here are guidelines for successfully accomplishing various DIY tasks and do not reflect the ''only'' methods for doing so.<br />
<br />
'''Prior to using any of the information provided here, users agree to hold harmless diychristmas.org, its owners, administrators, moderators, wiki authors and editors from any and all damages that may arise from using any of the documentation contained herein.'''<br />
<br />
We wish to thank long-time Christmas Lighting hobbyist '''Ernie Horning''' for his work on recreating the Christmas Wiki with the link below:<br />
<br />
'''[[Archived ChristmasWiki]]'''<br />
<br />
== Main Topic Areas ==<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Beginners]]''' If you're new to this hobby or want to get started in it, please read this first. You won't regret it!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Terminology/Definitions]]''' Every hobby has its buzzwords, these are good to know<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Lights & Electronics]]''' Information about lights, LEDs, pixels, electricity, electronics, PCB manufacturing and more.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Audio/FM Radio]]''' Selecting/understanding music/help your visitors hear your show<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[DIY Display Construction]]''' Designing/building your own props - PVC, coroplast, wire frames, 3D printing, more. Lots of examples!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Animatronics]]''' Using servo or motors to make animated displays<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Arduino]]''' Anything related specifically to cool Arduino stuff<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Raspberry PI/BeagleBone]]''' Topics related to setting up or using these inexpensive computer platforms<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Networking]]''' Contributors' instructions for network-related issues<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[ESPixelStick_Reference_Guide]]''' All the news that's fit to print about the ESPixelStick<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware Tips & Techniques]]''' How to modify firmware settings, compile firmware, flash chips, etc.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware - multiple versions]]''' Various versions of firmware and how to use them.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Assembly Guides]]''' Misc. Contributors' assembly instructions<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Troubleshooting]]''' How to troubleshoot hardware, software, connections, etc. and tools you can use.<br />
<br />
[[file:Pumpkin.JPG|45px]] '''[[Halloween Displays]]''' We're not just about Christmas... we often decorate for other holidays, too!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[PDF Gallery]]''' Miscellaneous PDF files and/or links to PDF documentation<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] [http://diychristmas.org/vb5/ '''diychristmas.org'''] Return to the diychristmas.org forum<br />
<br />
<br />
*If you wish to be a contributing author to our Wiki project, click here for more info: '''[[Editorial Guidelines]]'''<br />
<br />
*If you are new to editing Wiki pages, consult the [//meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents '''User's Guide'''] for information on using MediaWiki software.<br />
<br />
''Please note that all content displayed in the diychristmas.org wiki is considered to be in the public domain unless a copyright is specifically expressed by its author.''</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=4035Main Page2026-08-02T16:10:45Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div><strong>Welcome to the diychristmas.org wiki</strong><br />
<br />
'''This wiki is a work-in-progress''', and content is provided by knowledgeable volunteers from the membership of the diychristmas.org community. Therefore, please understand that our intention is that the informational pages provided here are guidelines for successfully accomplishing various DIY tasks and do not reflect the ''only'' methods for doing so.<br />
<br />
'''Prior to using any of the information provided here, users agree to hold harmless diychristmas.org, its owners, administrators, moderators, wiki authors and editors from any and all damages that may arise from using any of the documentation contained herein.'''<br />
<br />
We wish to thank long-time Christmas Lighting hobbyist '''Ernie Horning''' for his work on recreating the Christmas Wiki with the link below:<br />
<br />
'''[[[Archived ChristmasWiki]]''' , center]<br />
<br />
== Main Topic Areas ==<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Beginners]]''' If you're new to this hobby or want to get started in it, please read this first. You won't regret it!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Terminology/Definitions]]''' Every hobby has its buzzwords, these are good to know<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Lights & Electronics]]''' Information about lights, LEDs, pixels, electricity, electronics, PCB manufacturing and more.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Audio/FM Radio]]''' Selecting/understanding music/help your visitors hear your show<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[DIY Display Construction]]''' Designing/building your own props - PVC, coroplast, wire frames, 3D printing, more. Lots of examples!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Animatronics]]''' Using servo or motors to make animated displays<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Arduino]]''' Anything related specifically to cool Arduino stuff<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Raspberry PI/BeagleBone]]''' Topics related to setting up or using these inexpensive computer platforms<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Networking]]''' Contributors' instructions for network-related issues<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[ESPixelStick_Reference_Guide]]''' All the news that's fit to print about the ESPixelStick<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware Tips & Techniques]]''' How to modify firmware settings, compile firmware, flash chips, etc.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware - multiple versions]]''' Various versions of firmware and how to use them.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Assembly Guides]]''' Misc. Contributors' assembly instructions<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Troubleshooting]]''' How to troubleshoot hardware, software, connections, etc. and tools you can use.<br />
<br />
[[file:Pumpkin.JPG|45px]] '''[[Halloween Displays]]''' We're not just about Christmas... we often decorate for other holidays, too!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[PDF Gallery]]''' Miscellaneous PDF files and/or links to PDF documentation<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] [http://diychristmas.org/vb5/ '''diychristmas.org'''] Return to the diychristmas.org forum<br />
<br />
<br />
*If you wish to be a contributing author to our Wiki project, click here for more info: '''[[Editorial Guidelines]]'''<br />
<br />
*If you are new to editing Wiki pages, consult the [//meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents '''User's Guide'''] for information on using MediaWiki software.<br />
<br />
''Please note that all content displayed in the diychristmas.org wiki is considered to be in the public domain unless a copyright is specifically expressed by its author.''</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=4034Main Page2026-08-02T16:10:04Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div><strong>Welcome to the diychristmas.org wiki</strong><br />
<br />
'''This wiki is a work-in-progress''', and content is provided by knowledgeable volunteers from the membership of the diychristmas.org community. Therefore, please understand that our intention is that the informational pages provided here are guidelines for successfully accomplishing various DIY tasks and do not reflect the ''only'' methods for doing so.<br />
<br />
'''Prior to using any of the information provided here, users agree to hold harmless diychristmas.org, its owners, administrators, moderators, wiki authors and editors from any and all damages that may arise from using any of the documentation contained herein.'''<br />
<br />
We wish to thank long-time Christmas Lighting hobbyist '''Ernie Horning''' for his work on recreating the Christmas Wiki with the link below:<br />
<br />
'''[[[Archived ChristmasWiki]],center]<br />
<br />
== Main Topic Areas ==<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Beginners]]''' If you're new to this hobby or want to get started in it, please read this first. You won't regret it!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Terminology/Definitions]]''' Every hobby has its buzzwords, these are good to know<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Lights & Electronics]]''' Information about lights, LEDs, pixels, electricity, electronics, PCB manufacturing and more.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Audio/FM Radio]]''' Selecting/understanding music/help your visitors hear your show<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[DIY Display Construction]]''' Designing/building your own props - PVC, coroplast, wire frames, 3D printing, more. Lots of examples!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Animatronics]]''' Using servo or motors to make animated displays<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Arduino]]''' Anything related specifically to cool Arduino stuff<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Raspberry PI/BeagleBone]]''' Topics related to setting up or using these inexpensive computer platforms<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Networking]]''' Contributors' instructions for network-related issues<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[ESPixelStick_Reference_Guide]]''' All the news that's fit to print about the ESPixelStick<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware Tips & Techniques]]''' How to modify firmware settings, compile firmware, flash chips, etc.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware - multiple versions]]''' Various versions of firmware and how to use them.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Assembly Guides]]''' Misc. Contributors' assembly instructions<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Troubleshooting]]''' How to troubleshoot hardware, software, connections, etc. and tools you can use.<br />
<br />
[[file:Pumpkin.JPG|45px]] '''[[Halloween Displays]]''' We're not just about Christmas... we often decorate for other holidays, too!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[PDF Gallery]]''' Miscellaneous PDF files and/or links to PDF documentation<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] [http://diychristmas.org/vb5/ '''diychristmas.org'''] Return to the diychristmas.org forum<br />
<br />
<br />
*If you wish to be a contributing author to our Wiki project, click here for more info: '''[[Editorial Guidelines]]'''<br />
<br />
*If you are new to editing Wiki pages, consult the [//meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents '''User's Guide'''] for information on using MediaWiki software.<br />
<br />
''Please note that all content displayed in the diychristmas.org wiki is considered to be in the public domain unless a copyright is specifically expressed by its author.''</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=4033Main Page2026-08-02T16:06:45Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div><strong>Welcome to the diychristmas.org wiki</strong><br />
<br />
'''This wiki is a work-in-progress''', and content is provided by knowledgeable volunteers from the membership of the diychristmas.org community. Therefore, please understand that our intention is that the informational pages provided here are guidelines for successfully accomplishing various DIY tasks and do not reflect the ''only'' methods for doing so.<br />
<br />
'''Prior to using any of the information provided here, users agree to hold harmless diychristmas.org, its owners, administrators, moderators, wiki authors and editors from any and all damages that may arise from using any of the documentation contained herein.'''<br />
<br />
We wish to thank long-time Christmas Lighting hobbyist '''Ernie Horning''' for his work on recreating the Christmas Wiki with the link below:<br />
<br />
'''[[Archived ChristmasWiki]]'''<br />
<br />
== Main Topic Areas ==<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Beginners]]''' If you're new to this hobby or want to get started in it, please read this first. You won't regret it!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Terminology/Definitions]]''' Every hobby has its buzzwords, these are good to know<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Lights & Electronics]]''' Information about lights, LEDs, pixels, electricity, electronics, PCB manufacturing and more.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Audio/FM Radio]]''' Selecting/understanding music/help your visitors hear your show<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[DIY Display Construction]]''' Designing/building your own props - PVC, coroplast, wire frames, 3D printing, more. Lots of examples!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Animatronics]]''' Using servo or motors to make animated displays<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Arduino]]''' Anything related specifically to cool Arduino stuff<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Raspberry PI/BeagleBone]]''' Topics related to setting up or using these inexpensive computer platforms<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Networking]]''' Contributors' instructions for network-related issues<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[ESPixelStick_Reference_Guide]]''' All the news that's fit to print about the ESPixelStick<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware Tips & Techniques]]''' How to modify firmware settings, compile firmware, flash chips, etc.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware - multiple versions]]''' Various versions of firmware and how to use them.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Assembly Guides]]''' Misc. Contributors' assembly instructions<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Troubleshooting]]''' How to troubleshoot hardware, software, connections, etc. and tools you can use.<br />
<br />
[[file:Pumpkin.JPG|45px]] '''[[Halloween Displays]]''' We're not just about Christmas... we often decorate for other holidays, too!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[PDF Gallery]]''' Miscellaneous PDF files and/or links to PDF documentation<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] [http://diychristmas.org/vb5/ '''diychristmas.org'''] Return to the diychristmas.org forum<br />
<br />
<br />
*If you wish to be a contributing author to our Wiki project, click here for more info: '''[[Editorial Guidelines]]'''<br />
<br />
*If you are new to editing Wiki pages, consult the [//meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents '''User's Guide'''] for information on using MediaWiki software.<br />
<br />
''Please note that all content displayed in the diychristmas.org wiki is considered to be in the public domain unless a copyright is specifically expressed by its author.''</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=4032Main Page2026-08-02T16:05:44Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div><strong>Welcome to the diychristmas.org wiki</strong><br />
<br />
'''This wiki is a work-in-progress''', and content is provided by knowledgeable volunteers from the membership of the diychristmas.org community. Therefore, please understand that our intention is that the informational pages provided here are guidelines for successfully accomplishing various DIY tasks and do not reflect the ''only'' methods for doing so.<br />
<br />
'''Prior to using any of the information provided here, users agree to hold harmless diychristmas.org, its owners, administrators, moderators, wiki authors and editors from any and all damages that may arise from using any of the documentation contained herein.'''<br />
<br />
'''We thank long-time Christmas Lighting hobbyist Ernie Horning for his work on recreating the Christmas Wiki with the link below:'''<br />
<br />
'''[[Archived ChristmasWiki]]'''<br />
<br />
== Main Topic Areas ==<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Beginners]]''' If you're new to this hobby or want to get started in it, please read this first. You won't regret it!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Terminology/Definitions]]''' Every hobby has its buzzwords, these are good to know<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Lights & Electronics]]''' Information about lights, LEDs, pixels, electricity, electronics, PCB manufacturing and more.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Audio/FM Radio]]''' Selecting/understanding music/help your visitors hear your show<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[DIY Display Construction]]''' Designing/building your own props - PVC, coroplast, wire frames, 3D printing, more. Lots of examples!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Animatronics]]''' Using servo or motors to make animated displays<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Arduino]]''' Anything related specifically to cool Arduino stuff<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Raspberry PI/BeagleBone]]''' Topics related to setting up or using these inexpensive computer platforms<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Networking]]''' Contributors' instructions for network-related issues<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[ESPixelStick_Reference_Guide]]''' All the news that's fit to print about the ESPixelStick<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware Tips & Techniques]]''' How to modify firmware settings, compile firmware, flash chips, etc.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware - multiple versions]]''' Various versions of firmware and how to use them.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Assembly Guides]]''' Misc. Contributors' assembly instructions<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Troubleshooting]]''' How to troubleshoot hardware, software, connections, etc. and tools you can use.<br />
<br />
[[file:Pumpkin.JPG|45px]] '''[[Halloween Displays]]''' We're not just about Christmas... we often decorate for other holidays, too!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[PDF Gallery]]''' Miscellaneous PDF files and/or links to PDF documentation<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] [http://diychristmas.org/vb5/ '''diychristmas.org'''] Return to the diychristmas.org forum<br />
<br />
<br />
*If you wish to be a contributing author to our Wiki project, click here for more info: '''[[Editorial Guidelines]]'''<br />
<br />
*If you are new to editing Wiki pages, consult the [//meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents '''User's Guide'''] for information on using MediaWiki software.<br />
<br />
''Please note that all content displayed in the diychristmas.org wiki is considered to be in the public domain unless a copyright is specifically expressed by its author.''</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=4031Main Page2026-08-02T16:04:05Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div><strong>Welcome to the diychristmas.org wiki</strong><br />
<br />
'''This wiki is a work-in-progress''', and content is provided by knowledgeable volunteers from the membership of the diychristmas.org community. Therefore, please understand that our intention is that the informational pages provided here are guidelines for successfully accomplishing various DIY tasks and do not reflect the ''only'' methods for doing so.<br />
<br />
'''Prior to using any of the information provided here, users agree to hold harmless diychristmas.org, its owners, administrators, moderators, wiki authors and editors from any and all damages that may arise from using any of the documentation contained herein.'''<br />
<br />
'''We thank long-time Christmas Lighting hobbyist Ernie Horning for his work on recreating the Christmas Wiki here:'''<br />
<br />
'''[[Archived ChristmasWiki]]'''<br />
<br />
== Main Topic Areas ==<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Beginners]]''' If you're new to this hobby or want to get started in it, please read this first. You won't regret it!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Terminology/Definitions]]''' Every hobby has its buzzwords, these are good to know<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Lights & Electronics]]''' Information about lights, LEDs, pixels, electricity, electronics, PCB manufacturing and more.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Audio/FM Radio]]''' Selecting/understanding music/help your visitors hear your show<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[DIY Display Construction]]''' Designing/building your own props - PVC, coroplast, wire frames, 3D printing, more. Lots of examples!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Animatronics]]''' Using servo or motors to make animated displays<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Arduino]]''' Anything related specifically to cool Arduino stuff<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Raspberry PI/BeagleBone]]''' Topics related to setting up or using these inexpensive computer platforms<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Networking]]''' Contributors' instructions for network-related issues<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[ESPixelStick_Reference_Guide]]''' All the news that's fit to print about the ESPixelStick<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware Tips & Techniques]]''' How to modify firmware settings, compile firmware, flash chips, etc.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware - multiple versions]]''' Various versions of firmware and how to use them.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Assembly Guides]]''' Misc. Contributors' assembly instructions<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Troubleshooting]]''' How to troubleshoot hardware, software, connections, etc. and tools you can use.<br />
<br />
[[file:Pumpkin.JPG|45px]] '''[[Halloween Displays]]''' We're not just about Christmas... we often decorate for other holidays, too!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[PDF Gallery]]''' Miscellaneous PDF files and/or links to PDF documentation<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] [http://diychristmas.org/vb5/ '''diychristmas.org'''] Return to the diychristmas.org forum<br />
<br />
<br />
*If you wish to be a contributing author to our Wiki project, click here for more info: '''[[Editorial Guidelines]]'''<br />
<br />
*If you are new to editing Wiki pages, consult the [//meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents '''User's Guide'''] for information on using MediaWiki software.<br />
<br />
''Please note that all content displayed in the diychristmas.org wiki is considered to be in the public domain unless a copyright is specifically expressed by its author.''</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=4030Main Page2026-08-02T16:02:47Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div><strong>Welcome to the diychristmas.org wiki</strong><br />
<br />
'''This wiki is a work-in-progress''', and content is provided by knowledgeable volunteers from the membership of the diychristmas.org community. Therefore, please understand that our intention is that the informational pages provided here are guidelines for successfully accomplishing various DIY tasks and do not reflect the ''only'' methods for doing so.<br />
<br />
'''Prior to using any of the information provided here, users agree to hold harmless diychristmas.org, its owners, administrators, moderators, wiki authors and editors from any and all damages that may arise from using any of the documentation contained herein.'''<br />
<br />
'''We thank long-time Christmas Lighting hobbyist Ernie Horning for his work on recreating the Christmas Wiki here:'''<br />
<br />
'''[[Archived Christmas Wiki]]'''<br />
<br />
== Main Topic Areas ==<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Beginners]]''' If you're new to this hobby or want to get started in it, please read this first. You won't regret it!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Terminology/Definitions]]''' Every hobby has its buzzwords, these are good to know<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Lights & Electronics]]''' Information about lights, LEDs, pixels, electricity, electronics, PCB manufacturing and more.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Audio/FM Radio]]''' Selecting/understanding music/help your visitors hear your show<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[DIY Display Construction]]''' Designing/building your own props - PVC, coroplast, wire frames, 3D printing, more. Lots of examples!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Animatronics]]''' Using servo or motors to make animated displays<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Arduino]]''' Anything related specifically to cool Arduino stuff<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Raspberry PI/BeagleBone]]''' Topics related to setting up or using these inexpensive computer platforms<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Networking]]''' Contributors' instructions for network-related issues<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[ESPixelStick_Reference_Guide]]''' All the news that's fit to print about the ESPixelStick<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware Tips & Techniques]]''' How to modify firmware settings, compile firmware, flash chips, etc.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware - multiple versions]]''' Various versions of firmware and how to use them.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Assembly Guides]]''' Misc. Contributors' assembly instructions<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Troubleshooting]]''' How to troubleshoot hardware, software, connections, etc. and tools you can use.<br />
<br />
[[file:Pumpkin.JPG|45px]] '''[[Halloween Displays]]''' We're not just about Christmas... we often decorate for other holidays, too!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[PDF Gallery]]''' Miscellaneous PDF files and/or links to PDF documentation<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] [http://diychristmas.org/vb5/ '''diychristmas.org'''] Return to the diychristmas.org forum<br />
<br />
<br />
*If you wish to be a contributing author to our Wiki project, click here for more info: '''[[Editorial Guidelines]]'''<br />
<br />
*If you are new to editing Wiki pages, consult the [//meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents '''User's Guide'''] for information on using MediaWiki software.<br />
<br />
''Please note that all content displayed in the diychristmas.org wiki is considered to be in the public domain unless a copyright is specifically expressed by its author.''</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Firmware_-_multiple_versions&diff=3654Firmware - multiple versions2026-07-24T14:03:27Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div><br />
== Table of Contents ==<br />
<br />
:* '''[http://diychristmas.org/vb5/showthread.php?197-Mega-List-of-Generic-Renard-Firmware&p=982&viewfull=1#post982/ Mega-List of Renard Firmware]''' - As listed in the forum posting, includes diagnostic and Ren-C firmware<br />
<br />
Sets of pre-compiled (hex) or source (asm) firmware:<br />
<br />
:* '''[[File:All_pwmP57600.zip]] ''' Renard-start_address - Phil Short's original addressable firmware for the PIC16F688 chip @57,600 baud<br />
<br />
:* '''[[File:Headblinker_firmware.zip]] ''' Pre-compiled hex and asm for Ren48LSD or HeadBlinker with start_address for the PIC16F688 chip @57600 baud<br />
<br />
:* '''[[File: Renard_1825_LSD.zip]] '''Pre-compiled hex and asm for Ren48LSD or HeadBlinker with start_address for the PIC16F1825 chip @57,600 baud<br />
<br />
:* '''[[File:Renservo asm.zip]] ''' GDYRDAVE's original R1 servo firmware and Chris Maloney's V2 updated servo firmware with servo limiting<br />
<br />
:* '''[[File:Renard 1825 1-36.zip]]''' Pre-compiled hex and asm firmware files for the PIC16F1825 chip @57,600 baud<br />
<br />
<br />
:* '''[[ESP Controller Firmware]]'''</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Firmware_-_multiple_versions&diff=3652Firmware - multiple versions2026-07-24T13:59:58Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div><br />
== Table of Contents ==<br />
<br />
:* '''[http://diychristmas.org/vb5/showthread.php?197-Mega-List-of-Generic-Renard-Firmware&p=982&viewfull=1#post982/ Mega-List of Renard Firmware]''' - As listed in the forum posting, includes diagnostic and Ren-C firmware<br />
<br />
Sets of pre-compiled or source (asm) firmware:<br />
<br />
:* '''[[File:All_pwmP57600.zip]] ''' Renard-start_address - Phil Short's original addressable firmware for the PIC16F688 chip @57,600 baud<br />
<br />
:* '''[[File:Headblinker_firmware.zip]] ''' Pre-compiled hex and asm for Ren48LSD or HeadBlinker with start_address for the PIC16F688 chip @57600 baud<br />
<br />
:* '''[[File: Renard_1825_LSD.zip]] '''Pre-compiled hex and asm for Ren48LSD or HeadBlinker with start_address for the PIC16F1825 chip @57,600 baud<br />
<br />
:* '''[[File:Renservo asm.zip]] ''' GDYRDAVE's original R1 servo firmware and Chris Maloney's V2 updated servo firmware with servo limiting<br />
<br />
:* '''[[File:Renard 1825 1-36.zip]]''' Pre-compiled hex and asm firmware files for the PIC16F1825 chip @57,600 baud<br />
<br />
<br />
:* '''[[ESP Controller Firmware]]'''</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=File:Renard_1825_1-36.zip&diff=3651File:Renard 1825 1-36.zip2026-07-24T13:59:20Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div></div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Firmware_-_multiple_versions&diff=3648Firmware - multiple versions2026-07-24T13:55:33Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div><br />
== Table of Contents ==<br />
<br />
:* '''[http://diychristmas.org/vb5/showthread.php?197-Mega-List-of-Generic-Renard-Firmware&p=982&viewfull=1#post982/ Mega-List of Renard Firmware]''' - As listed in the forum posting, includes diagnostic and Ren-C firmware<br />
<br />
Sets of pre-compiled or source (asm) firmware:<br />
<br />
:* '''[[File:All_pwmP57600.zip]] ''' Renard-start_address - Phil Short's original addressable firmware for the PIC16F688 chip @57,600 baud<br />
<br />
:* '''[[File:Headblinker_firmware.zip]] ''' Pre-compiled hex and asm for Ren48LSD or HeadBlinker with start_address for the PIC16F688 chip @57600 baud<br />
<br />
:* '''[[File: Renard_1825_LSD.zip]] '''Pre-compiled hex and asm for Ren48LSD or HeadBlinker with start_address for the PIC16F1825 chip @57,600 baud<br />
<br />
:* '''[[File:Renservo asm.zip]] ''' GDYRDAVE's original R1 servo firmware and Chris Maloney's V2 updated servo firmware with servo limiting<br />
<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=48/ Renard-Servo-range limits & start address]''' Chris Maloney's new RenServo firmware for the PIC16F1825 chip @57600 baud<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=19/ Renard_1825-start_address]''' Pre-compiled hex and asm firmware files for the PIC16F1825 chip @57,600 baud<br />
<br />
<br />
:* '''[[ESP Controller Firmware]]'''</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=File:Renservo_asm.zip&diff=3645File:Renservo asm.zip2026-07-24T13:51:41Z<p>Dirknerkle: GDYRDave's original R1 version of servo firmware, and Chris Maloney's updated version with servo limiting (V2)</p>
<hr />
<div>== Summary ==<br />
GDYRDave's original R1 version of servo firmware, and Chris Maloney's updated version with servo limiting (V2)</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Firmware_-_multiple_versions&diff=3637Firmware - multiple versions2026-07-24T13:05:18Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div><br />
== Table of Contents ==<br />
<br />
:* '''[http://diychristmas.org/vb5/showthread.php?197-Mega-List-of-Generic-Renard-Firmware&p=982&viewfull=1#post982/ Mega-List of Renard Firmware]''' - As listed in the forum posting, includes diagnostic and Ren-C firmware<br />
<br />
Sets of pre-compiled firmware:<br />
<br />
:* '''[[File:All_pwmP57600.zip]] ''' Renard-start_address - Phil Short's original addressable firmware for the PIC16F688 chip @57,600 baud<br />
<br />
:* '''[[File:Headblinker_firmware.zip]] ''' Pre-compiled hex and asm for Ren48LSD or HeadBlinker with start_address for the PIC16F688 chip @57600 baud<br />
<br />
:* '''[[File: Renard_1825_LSD.zip]] '''Pre-compiled hex and asm for Ren48LSD or HeadBlinker with start_address for the PIC16F1825 chip @57,600 baud<br />
<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=9/ Renard-Servo-start_address]''' GDYRDAVE's modified RenServo firmware for the PIC16F688 chip @57600 baud<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=48/ Renard-Servo-range limits & start address]''' Chris Maloney's new RenServo firmware for the PIC16F1825 chip @57600 baud<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=19/ Renard_1825-start_address]''' Pre-compiled hex and asm firmware files for the PIC16F1825 chip @57,600 baud<br />
<br />
<br />
:* '''[[ESP Controller Firmware]]'''</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Firmware_-_multiple_versions&diff=3636Firmware - multiple versions2026-07-24T13:04:55Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div><br />
== Table of Contents ==<br />
<br />
:* '''[http://diychristmas.org/vb5/showthread.php?197-Mega-List-of-Generic-Renard-Firmware&p=982&viewfull=1#post982/ Mega-List of Renard Firmware]''' - As listed in the forum posting, includes diagnostic and Ren-C firmware<br />
<br />
Sets of pre-compiled firmware:<br />
<br />
:* '''[[File:All_pwmP57600.zip]] ''' Renard-start_address - Phil Short's original addressable firmware for the PIC16F688 chip @57,600 baud<br />
<br />
:* '''[[File:Headblinker_firmware.zip]] ''' Pre-compiled hex and asm for Ren48LSD or HeadBlinker with start_address for the PIC16F688 chip @57600 baud<br />
<br />
:* '''[File: Renard_1825_LSD.zip]] '''Pre-compiled hex and asm for Ren48LSD or HeadBlinker with start_address for the PIC16F1825 chip @57,600 baud<br />
<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=9/ Renard-Servo-start_address]''' GDYRDAVE's modified RenServo firmware for the PIC16F688 chip @57600 baud<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=48/ Renard-Servo-range limits & start address]''' Chris Maloney's new RenServo firmware for the PIC16F1825 chip @57600 baud<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=19/ Renard_1825-start_address]''' Pre-compiled hex and asm firmware files for the PIC16F1825 chip @57,600 baud<br />
<br />
<br />
:* '''[[ESP Controller Firmware]]'''</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=File:Renard_1825_LSD.zip&diff=3635File:Renard 1825 LSD.zip2026-07-24T13:02:53Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div></div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Firmware_-_multiple_versions&diff=3634Firmware - multiple versions2026-07-24T13:00:36Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div><br />
== Table of Contents ==<br />
<br />
:* '''[http://diychristmas.org/vb5/showthread.php?197-Mega-List-of-Generic-Renard-Firmware&p=982&viewfull=1#post982/ Mega-List of Renard Firmware]''' - As listed in the forum posting, includes diagnostic and Ren-C firmware<br />
<br />
Sets of pre-compiled firmware:<br />
<br />
:* '''[[File:All_pwmP57600.zip]] ''' Renard-start_address - Phil Short's original addressable firmware for the PIC16F688 chip @57,600 baud<br />
<br />
:* '''[[File:Headblinker_firmware.zip]] ''' Pre-compiled hex and asm for Ren48LSD or HeadBlinker with start_address for the PIC16F688 chip @57600 baud<br />
<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=20/ Renard 1825-LSD_start_address]'''Pre-compiled hex and asm for Ren48LSD or HeadBlinker with start_address for the PIC16F1825 chip @57,600 baud<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=9/ Renard-Servo-start_address]''' GDYRDAVE's modified RenServo firmware for the PIC16F688 chip @57600 baud<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=48/ Renard-Servo-range limits & start address]''' Chris Maloney's new RenServo firmware for the PIC16F1825 chip @57600 baud<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=19/ Renard_1825-start_address]''' Pre-compiled hex and asm firmware files for the PIC16F1825 chip @57,600 baud<br />
<br />
<br />
:* '''[[ESP Controller Firmware]]'''</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=File:Headblinker_firmware.zip&diff=3633File:Headblinker firmware.zip2026-07-24T12:59:40Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div></div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Firmware_-_multiple_versions&diff=3632Firmware - multiple versions2026-07-24T12:56:13Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div><br />
== Table of Contents ==<br />
<br />
:* '''[http://diychristmas.org/vb5/showthread.php?197-Mega-List-of-Generic-Renard-Firmware&p=982&viewfull=1#post982/ Mega-List of Renard Firmware]''' - As listed in the forum posting, includes diagnostic and Ren-C firmware<br />
<br />
Sets of pre-compiled firmware:<br />
<br />
:* '''[[File:All_pwmP57600.zip]]''' Renard-start_address - Phil Short's original addressable firmware for the PIC16F688 chip @57,600 baud<br />
<br />
:* '''[[Media:a_All_pwmP57600.zip] Renard LSD-start_address]''' Pre-compiled hex and asm for Ren48LSD or HeadBlinker with start_address for the PIC16F688 chip @57600 baud<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=20/ Renard 1825-LSD_start_address]''' Pre-compiled hex and asm for Ren48LSD or HeadBlinker with start_address for the PIC16F1825 chip @57,600 baud<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=9/ Renard-Servo-start_address]''' GDYRDAVE's modified RenServo firmware for the PIC16F688 chip @57600 baud<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=48/ Renard-Servo-range limits & start address]''' Chris Maloney's new RenServo firmware for the PIC16F1825 chip @57600 baud<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=19/ Renard_1825-start_address]''' Pre-compiled hex and asm firmware files for the PIC16F1825 chip @57,600 baud<br />
<br />
<br />
:* '''[[ESP Controller Firmware]]'''</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Firmware_-_multiple_versions&diff=3631Firmware - multiple versions2026-07-24T12:55:39Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div><br />
== Table of Contents ==<br />
<br />
:* '''[http://diychristmas.org/vb5/showthread.php?197-Mega-List-of-Generic-Renard-Firmware&p=982&viewfull=1#post982/ Mega-List of Renard Firmware]''' - As listed in the forum posting, includes diagnostic and Ren-C firmware<br />
<br />
Sets of pre-compiled firmware:<br />
<br />
:* '''[File:All_pwmP57600.zip]]''' Renard-start_address - Phil Short's original addressable firmware for the PIC16F688 chip @57,600 baud<br />
<br />
:* '''[[Media:a_All_pwmP57600.zip] Renard LSD-start_address]''' Pre-compiled hex and asm for Ren48LSD or HeadBlinker with start_address for the PIC16F688 chip @57600 baud<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=20/ Renard 1825-LSD_start_address]''' Pre-compiled hex and asm for Ren48LSD or HeadBlinker with start_address for the PIC16F1825 chip @57,600 baud<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=9/ Renard-Servo-start_address]''' GDYRDAVE's modified RenServo firmware for the PIC16F688 chip @57600 baud<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=48/ Renard-Servo-range limits & start address]''' Chris Maloney's new RenServo firmware for the PIC16F1825 chip @57600 baud<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=19/ Renard_1825-start_address]''' Pre-compiled hex and asm firmware files for the PIC16F1825 chip @57,600 baud<br />
<br />
<br />
:* '''[[ESP Controller Firmware]]'''</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Firmware_-_multiple_versions&diff=3630Firmware - multiple versions2026-07-24T12:40:59Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div><br />
== Table of Contents ==<br />
<br />
:* '''[http://diychristmas.org/vb5/showthread.php?197-Mega-List-of-Generic-Renard-Firmware&p=982&viewfull=1#post982/ Mega-List of Renard Firmware]''' - As listed in the forum posting, includes diagnostic and Ren-C firmware<br />
<br />
Sets of pre-compiled firmware:<br />
<br />
:* '''[https://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/images/6/6d/All_pwmP57600.zip/ Renard-start_address]''' Phil Short's original addressable firmware for the PIC16F688 chip @57,600 baud<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=12/ Renard LSD-start_address]''' Pre-compiled hex and asm for Ren48LSD or HeadBlinker with start_address for the PIC16F688 chip @57600 baud<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=20/ Renard 1825-LSD_start_address]''' Pre-compiled hex and asm for Ren48LSD or HeadBlinker with start_address for the PIC16F1825 chip @57,600 baud<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=9/ Renard-Servo-start_address]''' GDYRDAVE's modified RenServo firmware for the PIC16F688 chip @57600 baud<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=48/ Renard-Servo-range limits & start address]''' Chris Maloney's new RenServo firmware for the PIC16F1825 chip @57600 baud<br />
:* '''[http://digwdf.org/store/attachment.php?id_attachment=19/ Renard_1825-start_address]''' Pre-compiled hex and asm firmware files for the PIC16F1825 chip @57,600 baud<br />
<br />
<br />
:* '''[[ESP Controller Firmware]]'''</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=File:All_pwmP57600.zip&diff=3629File:All pwmP57600.zip2026-07-24T12:39:09Z<p>Dirknerkle: Phil Short's addressable firmware for the pic16f688 chip</p>
<hr />
<div>== Summary ==<br />
Phil Short's addressable firmware for the pic16f688 chip</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=3599Main Page2026-07-23T02:03:01Z<p>Dirknerkle: Added the ESPixelStick guide menu link</p>
<hr />
<div><strong>Welcome to the diychristmas.org wiki</strong><br />
<br />
'''This wiki is a work-in-progress''', and content is provided by knowledgeable volunteers from the membership of the diychristmas.org community. Therefore, please understand that our intention is that the informational pages provided here are guidelines for successfully accomplishing various DIY tasks and do not reflect the ''only'' methods for doing so.<br />
<br />
'''Prior to using any of the information provided here, users agree to hold harmless diychristmas.org, its owners, administrators, moderators, wiki authors and editors from any and all damages that may arise from using any of the documentation contained herein.'''<br />
<br />
== Main Topic Areas ==<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Beginners]]''' If you're new to this hobby or want to get started in it, please read this first. You won't regret it!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Terminology/Definitions]]''' Every hobby has its buzzwords, these are good to know<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Lights & Electronics]]''' Information about lights, LEDs, pixels, electricity, electronics, PCB manufacturing and more.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Audio/FM Radio]]''' Selecting/understanding music/help your visitors hear your show<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[DIY Display Construction]]''' Designing/building your own props - PVC, coroplast, wire frames, 3D printing, more. Lots of examples!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Animatronics]]''' Using servo or motors to make animated displays<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Arduino]]''' Anything related specifically to cool Arduino stuff<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Raspberry PI/BeagleBone]]''' Topics related to setting up or using these inexpensive computer platforms<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Networking]]''' Contributors' instructions for network-related issues<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[ESPixelStick_Reference_Guide]]''' All the news that's fit to print about the ESPixelStick<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware Tips & Techniques]]''' How to modify firmware settings, compile firmware, flash chips, etc.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware - multiple versions]]''' Various versions of firmware and how to use them.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Assembly Guides]]''' Misc. Contributors' assembly instructions<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Troubleshooting]]''' How to troubleshoot hardware, software, connections, etc. and tools you can use.<br />
<br />
[[file:Pumpkin.JPG|45px]] '''[[Halloween Displays]]''' We're not just about Christmas... we often decorate for other holidays, too!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[PDF Gallery]]''' Miscellaneous PDF files and/or links to PDF documentation<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] [http://diychristmas.org/vb5/ '''diychristmas.org'''] Return to the diychristmas.org forum<br />
<br />
<br />
*If you wish to be a contributing author to our Wiki project, click here for more info: '''[[Editorial Guidelines]]'''<br />
<br />
*If you are new to editing Wiki pages, consult the [//meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents '''User's Guide'''] for information on using MediaWiki software.<br />
<br />
''Please note that all content displayed in the diychristmas.org wiki is considered to be in the public domain unless a copyright is specifically expressed by its author.''</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=3598Main Page2026-07-23T02:01:14Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div><strong>Welcome to the diychristmas.org wiki</strong><br />
<br />
'''This wiki is a work-in-progress''', and content is provided by knowledgeable volunteers from the membership of the diychristmas.org community. Therefore, please understand that our intention is that the informational pages provided here are guidelines for successfully accomplishing various DIY tasks and do not reflect the ''only'' methods for doing so.<br />
<br />
'''Prior to using any of the information provided here, users agree to hold harmless diychristmas.org, its owners, administrators, moderators, wiki authors and editors from any and all damages that may arise from using any of the documentation contained herein.'''<br />
<br />
== Main Topic Areas ==<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Beginners]]''' If you're new to this hobby or want to get started in it, please read this first. You won't regret it!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Terminology/Definitions]]''' Every hobby has its buzzwords, these are good to know<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Lights & Electronics]]''' Information about lights, LEDs, pixels, electricity, electronics, PCB manufacturing and more.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Audio/FM Radio]]''' Selecting/understanding music/help your visitors hear your show<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[DIY Display Construction]]''' Designing/building your own props - PVC, coroplast, wire frames, 3D printing, more. Lots of examples!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Animatronics]]''' Using servo or motors to make animated displays<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Arduino]]''' Anything related specifically to cool Arduino stuff<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Raspberry PI/BeagleBone]]''' Topics related to setting up or using these inexpensive computer platforms<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Networking]]''' Contributors' instructions for network-related issues<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[ESPixelStick_Reference_Guide]]''' All the news that's fit to print about the ESPixelStick<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware Tips & Techniques]]''' How to modify firmware settings, compile firmware, flash chips, etc.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Firmware - multiple versions]]''' Various versions of firmware and how to use them.<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Assembly Guides]]''' Misc. Contributors' assembly instructions<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[Troubleshooting]]''' How to troubleshoot hardware, software, connections, etc. and tools you can use.<br />
S<br />
[[file:Pumpkin.JPG|45px]] '''[[Halloween Displays]]''' We're not just about Christmas... we often decorate for other holidays, too!<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] '''[[PDF Gallery]]''' Miscellaneous PDF files and/or links to PDF documentation<br />
<br />
[[file:logo7small.png]] [http://diychristmas.org/vb5/ '''diychristmas.org'''] Return to the diychristmas.org forum<br />
<br />
<br />
*If you wish to be a contributing author to our Wiki project, click here for more info: '''[[Editorial Guidelines]]'''<br />
<br />
*If you are new to editing Wiki pages, consult the [//meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents '''User's Guide'''] for information on using MediaWiki software.<br />
<br />
''Please note that all content displayed in the diychristmas.org wiki is considered to be in the public domain unless a copyright is specifically expressed by its author.''</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Understanding_Music&diff=3459Understanding Music2026-07-18T13:36:43Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div>:Music is one of the most complex forms of communication there is, and unless you're listening to a recording alone in a dark room, no two performances are even close to the same. The old adage, "goes in one ear and out the other" is literally true. Once the music has happened, it'll never be heard the same way again. Ever. <br />
<br />
:However, music can be written down so that the printed form is exactly the same every time you look at it. Music uses a "system" for recording the notes to be played, the relative speed and volume in which they're to be played and the musical instruments to be used to play them -- which includes the human voice. But because there are no two human beings who think, feel or do things exactly the same way as a machine might, this infinite human variability creates the wonderful potential for different performances of the same pieces of music. Likewise, there is infinite variability in those that hear the music, too. This dual-variability is why music is so complex -- it's never performed the same nor is it ever heard the same. But it always communicates ''something'' in the process. <br />
<br />
:Understand that it's not necessary to memorize or study everything presented here -- this is a general explanation of how music is designed and its effects on the listener. This is intended to help the non-musically-trained person learn what to listen for and be able to find specific kinds of musical nuances which, in turn, can and will help you design visual representations of what you hear with your ears.<br />
<br />
:'''Geometry'''<br />
::Stand in front of your display area where your viewers might be and just look. Your yard/house/shrubs, etc. all have 3D physical properties. There's left-to-right width, top-to-bottom height and front-to-back depth. Likewise, most people have a head that turns left and right (width), up and down (height), and eyes that can focus close and far away (depth). Can you see everything all at once, or do you have to move something to view an object on the left side of your house, or the top of your roof, or the base of your front steps, or the bicycle by the garage? Well, it's quite obvious how lights can be used to move the viewer's attention from one place to another in your display, isn't it? <br />
<br />
::Musical sound can do the same thing because the ears on either side of your head can discern left-right, up-down, near and far dimensions, too. When you couple the music to the visual effects, it opens a whole new and pleasurable experience for the viewer. As you're standing in front of your display are, close your eyes and think about a piece of music you can't wait to use in your show. Is it quiet and calm? Is it wild with lots of drums, guitar riffs and horns? Is it a duet with a piano on one side and the vocalist on the other? Is it an orchestra on stage with violins in the front left, heavy kettle drums in the back, a snare drum back-center, a harp or piano on the back-left, maybe a flute, clarinet or saxophone in the center, trumpets and trombones on the back right and maybe violas on the front right and double-basses way off on the far right? Maybe it's the 'Hallelujah Chorus' from G.F. Handel's oratorio, 'Messiah' where you hear the orchestra in front and the massive choir behind them standing on risers. As humans, we sometimes "move with the sound." When an actor is on the left or right side of a movie screen sometimes his/her voice will come from speakers on that side of the room, too. A train the comes to the station gets louder as it approaches and then the noise moves from left to right as the train passes, doesn't it? Are you starting to see how sound has "geometry" too? Maybe then you can also see how you can use music to highlight different props or areas in your show.<br />
<br />
:'''Other Dimensions'''<br />
::But sound has much more than left-right, top-bottom and front-back dimensions to it. It has '''loudness''', for example. Have you ever gone to a movie and at a certain part of the movie, the sound is REALLLLLLY LOUD!!!? It kind of pushes you back in the seat, doesn't it. Or have you ever leaned forward in the seat to hear some dialogue that's especially soft? Music does that, too -- and often, only a moment apart. Loudness can be used to help simulate depth in your show because loudness will push the viewer back while soft musical passages can draw his/her attention in. Loudness can also be thought of as light intensity where the lights are super-bright for super-loud passages and softer/dimmer for quieter sections.<br />
<br />
::Human hearing spans a wide frequency range. In this context, music has a '''pitch''' dimension. At the high end, piccolos, flutes and violins generally rule; at the low end, tubas, bassoons, double-basses and some percussion take over. Horns, clarinets, saxophones, violas and the like are generally mid-range instruments. All instruments are capable of playing very wide ranges of pitches but when you push a musical instrument outside its "normal" range, the sound it makes can become a bit strange, unpredictable and downright awful. But here again, music shows it's "height" component. You can use that as you design your lighting sequences.<br />
<br />
::Another dimension is '''timbre'''. Timbre is what the sound is apart from its loudness or pitch. Timbre is what allows you to hear the difference between a horn and a violin even though they may be playing the same note. Vocally, female and male voices generally have different timbres, which is partly because of different physical factors in the throats of the singers, the lengths of their torsos and sizes of resonating cavities inside their heads and chests. In a way, the speakers that you use to listen to music emulate these factors by having "woofers" and "tweeters" -- large or small speakers inside the speaker cabinets. So as you listen to your show music, consider what instruments are highlighted and use that to create different highlights in your lighting.<br />
<br />
:'''Speed'''<br />
:: Musical speed is called ''''tempo'''' and it's related to how fast the music is moving. We typically measure tempo in terms of 'x number of beats per minute' where a lot of beats is generally considered 'fast' and few beats is 'slow.' This isn't completely correct though, because music has a lot of mathematical components built into it and here's where things get a little wacky because music has different kinds of notes. It has 'whole' notes, 'half'-notes, 'quarter'-notes, eighth, sixteenth, thirty-second and even sixty-fourth notes. And believe it or not, there's even a 128th note, too. The wacky part of this is that these fractional notes work just like fractions in math where the tempo of a whole note is the same as two half-notes because two halves make a whole. Or a whole note can be represented by four quarter-notes, or eight eighth-notes. You get the idea. Well a slow tempo of perhaps one beat per second (60 beats per minute) sounds a whole lot faster to the ear when instead of playing only one note every second, the musician plays four notes per second: to the listener, it ''sounds'' four times as fast. In any event, you don't need to know what the exact tempo is, but you need to be sensitive to what the speed "sounds" like. If the music seems fast, the players likely require a lot more energy to play it and therefore, putting more of energy into the lighting effects makes sense.<br />
<br />
::'''Note Grouping'''. Huh? Wha?!? This is what's called the 'time signature' or 'meter' of the music and it's closely related to the tempo but is a bit broader in scope. The time signature is designed into the music by the composer and it's intended to help the musicians physically play the music in a way so that it sounds how the composer intended it to sound. Grouping several beats together into regular-sized groups gives the music a ''''pace'''' so that the music seems to flow more smoothly. (For the director who's waving his arms out there in front of the orchestra, pace also makes the music directable instead of the director wildly flapping his arms as if he's trying to lift himself off the ground.) For the players, the music's meter/time signature makes it easier to play and allows a way for all the players to be synchronized together. Typically, the meters used for most music is called either duple or triple -- music using two or three beat groups of notes. Time signatures of four are still called duple meters because they are easily divisible by two. A time signature of 6 can be looked at in two ways: two groups of three notes each or three groups of two notes each. Lesser-used time signatures of 5, 7, 9, 11 and even 13 exist, but the further you get past divisible by 2 or 3 makes the music difficult to play and sometimes, even harder to listen to because it doesn't seem to make sense -- it just sounds "off." The good news is that almost no Christmas music uses any of the weird time signatures. (Can you think why? Right! Because Christmas music is supposed to be 'feel-good' music -- you don't want it to sound harsh.)<br />
<br />
::But note grouping -- i.e. the time signature -- is important because of how it helps make the music flow at a regular, predictable speed. The 'pace' of the music is what causes people to "tap their toes." And more than not, the pace becomes what's called "the measure" where each group of notes becomes a "measure" on the written score. For example, think of the song, "Silent Night." Got it in your mind right now? Can you hear it and maybe hum or sing it a little? Well, Silent Night's time signature has beats that sound like they're organized into groups of 3. "Siiii--ih-lent niiiite, hoooo-o-ly niiiite, right? It's not "Si. Lent. Night. Ho. Ly. Night." straight away from one to the next, is it? No, it flows. It flows because the syllables of the song's lyrics match groups of 3 so well. Organized in this way, when we sing the song, we usually put a little emphasis on the first beat of every group of 3 beats so it we sing it as "'''SIIII'''-ih-lent '''NIIII'''te, '''HOOOO'''-o-ly '''NIIII'''te", don't we? We sometimes even sway from side-to-side singing a song like this. Now you understand what 'pace' means. (Don't blow your mind when I tell you that Silent Night is actually written in a 6 time signature with the counts being 1-2-3, 4-5-6 -- two groups of 3 beats each -- but it still "feels" at its base like the triple meter 1-2-3, doesn't it? But you'd sway to the music because of its 1-2-3, 4-5-6 pace with a sway one way on 1-2-3 then a sway the other way for 4-5-6 and comfortably back-and-forth through the whole song -- like a count of 2! You'd sway left/right for each "measure" of the song. This is why a 6-meter can sound like two groups of three beats.) <br />
<br />
::Pace is one of those warm-and-fuzzy things that gives viewers a comfortable and friendly experience watching your show. It's calming and non-threatening. They'll say "I liked that one" when it's over because they not only knew the song, they could participate along with it. On the other hand, if you threw some avant garde, wild-and-wooly, super-high-energy loud and dissonant blow-your-hair-back music at them that they've never heard before, they might start the car and drive away.<br />
<br />
:'''Music Construction'''<br />
::Generally speaking, we think that if something goes up, it will come down again; if a road turns left, somewhere ahead it'll turn to the right; if something is too soft to hear, it'll probably get louder, etc. These things are all true in most musical compositions. It's this way because humans like balance. We're willing to go out on a limb for a little while but after that, we like to come back to the trunk of the tree for safety, don't we? Music composers use this technique all the time. There's always a center -- a "core" to a popular piece of music. Sometimes it's the chorus or refrain, but it's always there. In the song 'Silent Night,' it's the phrase "sleep in heavenly peace" -- a line that's repeated for assurance. Therefore, look for similarities in the music. Does the music's melody start in one place and then at some later point, you hear the same basic melody but it's noticeably higher in pitch. That's called a "key change" or "modulation." In any event, the composer did it to make a similar line of music sound different. It's something new. Use that to your advantage in your lighting effects by doing something similar yet different with the lighting effects.<br />
<br />
::Music is full of repeats of things and you need to listen for them. Earlier we covered he concept of groups of notes, which then become "measures" of the song -- the "pace." When groups of measures are assembled together, they become "phrases" in exactly the same way that poems often are constructed with lines that have exactly the same number of syllables and even rhyme. Why is this important? Well, humans like balance. We like it when something we hold in one hand is balanced off by something in the other hand. So you listen to the rhymes, and listen to how the music goes up and down, or how the music may move left-to-right, from soft to loud and then soft again, etc. and you can mimic those things with light.<br />
<br />
:::You will find that 95% of the time in a song, a group of four "measures" will constitute a phrase, and it will be followed by another set of four measures as an offset phrase to balance it out. Then you'll discover that those eight measures will be balanced off with another set of 8 measures, after which the song will change and do something new. This is the "16-measure bridge" that happens over and over and over, especially in vocal music. Recognizing this gives you the ability to divide a song into 3 parts or 4 main sections, each of which has essentially the same length and number of beats, and often there's a short ending, sometimes a repeat of the last line of the song. For example, you might have this:<br />
::::::Section 1: Instrumental introduction (16 measures)<br />
::::::Section 2: Vocal, first verse and chorus/refrain (16 measures)<br />
::::::Section 3: Instrumental bridge (16 measures)<br />
::::::Section 4: Vocal, 2nd verse and chorus/refrain (16 measures)<br />
::::::End (optional, sometimes because they're out of words - 4 measures, sometimes 8)<br />
<br />
:::You'll find the above structure in most country music songs and to a slightly lesser extent, pop music. You'll even find it in traditional classical orchestral music, although not nearly as often as pop or country. You'll find it in Broadway show music. You'll find it's a common structure of church music, and certainly, in Christmas music. Note that sometimes, the number of measures per phrase is cut in half because of the lyrics used, but the concept is the same. If it's not 16-16-16-16-4 it's likely 8-8-8-8-2. The point is, it's '''predictable.''' Use that to your advantage when you design your lighting effects.<br />
<br />
:::Grab a church hymnal sometime and look at commonly well-known songs such as Silent Night, We Three Kings, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, and others. You'll easily be able to recognize their structures and you'll see that analyzing musical construction doesn't have to be that hard.<br />
<br />
:::Silly Tip: sometimes the music is so predictable that you can even take the first section of the song and copy and paste it two or three more times into your sequence -- and it'll still work!<br />
<br />
:'''Surprises - things that happen out of the norm'''<br />
::For fun, many modern composers (over the past 120 years anyway) inject a little something extra into their music every now and then. Mannheim Steamroller and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra do this all the time. Usually it's an extra beat, or an extra pair of beats, a half-measure or sometimes a whole extra measure -- and they do it to create something different. It's ear candy, throwing the regular, expected beat out of whack for bit. And you find these things by analyzing the music's structure, asking yourself, "why does this part of the music seem slightly out of balance?" Well, it sounds that way because is IS out of balance -- by design! The composer injected something into the music to flick your earlobes and wake you up! These musical ear-tweaks are fantastic opportunities to add something unexpected into your lighting effects, too. Use them to your advantage. Do they repeat? Sometimes. Sometimes not.</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Understanding_Music&diff=3458Understanding Music2026-07-18T13:34:19Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div>:Music is one of the most complex forms of communication there is, and unless you're listening to a recording alone in a dark room, no two performances are even close to the same. The old adage, "goes in one ear and out the other" is literally true. Once the music has happened, it'll never be heard the same way again. Ever. <br />
<br />
:However, music can be written down so that the printed form is exactly the same every time you look at it. Music uses a "system" for recording the notes to be played, the relative speed and volume in which they're to be played and the musical instruments to be used to play them -- which includes the human voice. But because there are no two human beings who think, feel or do things exactly the same way as a machine might, this infinite human variability creates the wonderful potential for different performances of the same pieces of music. Likewise, there is infinite variability in those that hear the music, too. This dual-variability is why music is so complex -- it's never performed the same nor is it ever heard the same. But it always communicates ''something'' in the process. <br />
<br />
:Understand that it's not necessary to memorize or study everything presented here -- this is a general explanation of how music is designed and its effects on the listener. This is intended to help the non-musically-trained person learn what to listen for and be able to find specific kinds of musical nuances which, in turn, can and will help you design visual representations of what you hear with your ears.<br />
<br />
:'''Geometry'''<br />
::Stand in front of your display area where your viewers might be and just look. Your yard/house/shrubs, etc. all have 3D physical properties. There's left-to-right width, top-to-bottom height and front-to-back depth. Likewise, most people have a head that turns left and right (width), up and down (height), and eyes that can focus close and far away (depth). Can you see everything all at once, or do you have to move something to view an object on the left side of your house, or the top of your roof, or the base of your front steps, or the bicycle by the garage? Well, it's quite obvious how lights can be used to move the viewer's attention from one place to another in your display, isn't it? <br />
<br />
::Musical sound can do the same thing because the ears on either side of your head can discern left-right, up-down, near and far dimensions, too. When you couple the music to the visual effects, it opens a whole new and pleasurable experience for the viewer. As you're standing in front of your display are, close your eyes and think about a piece of music you can't wait to use in your show. Is it quiet and calm? Is it wild with lots of drums, guitar riffs and horns? Is it a duet with a piano on one side and the vocalist on the other? Is it an orchestra on stage with violins in the front left, heavy kettle drums in the back, a snare drum back-center, a harp or piano on the back-left, maybe a flute, clarinet or saxophone in the center, trumpets and trombones on the back right and maybe violas on the front right and double-basses way off on the far right? Maybe it's the 'Hallelujah Chorus' from G.F. Handel's oratorio, 'Messiah' where you hear the orchestra in front and the massive choir behind them standing on risers. As humans, we sometimes "move with the sound." When an actor is on the left or right side of a movie screen sometimes his/her voice will come from speakers on that side of the room, too. A train the comes to the station gets louder as it approaches and then the noise moves from left to right as the train passes, doesn't it? Are you starting to see how sound has "geometry" too? Maybe then you can also see how you can use music to highlight different props or areas in your show.<br />
<br />
:'''Other Dimensions'''<br />
::But sound has much more than left-right, top-bottom and front-back dimensions to it. It has '''loudness''', for example. Have you ever gone to a movie and at a certain part of the movie, the sound is REALLLLLLY LOUD!!!? It kind of pushes you back in the seat, doesn't it. Or have you ever leaned forward in the seat to hear some dialogue that's especially soft? Music does that, too -- and often, only a moment apart. Loudness can be used to help simulate depth in your show because loudness will push the viewer back while soft musical passages can draw his/her attention in. Loudness can also be thought of as light intensity where the lights are super-bright for super-loud passages and softer/dimmer for quieter sections.<br />
<br />
::Human hearing spans a wide frequency range. In this context, music has a '''pitch''' dimension. At the high end, piccolos, flutes and violins generally rule; at the low end, tubas, bassoons, double-basses and some percussion take over. Horns, clarinets, saxophones, violas and the like are generally mid-range instruments. All instruments are capable of playing very wide ranges of pitches but when you push a musical instrument outside its "normal" range, the sound it makes can become a bit strange, unpredictable and downright awful. But here again, music shows it's "height" component. You can use that as you design your lighting sequences.<br />
<br />
::Another dimension is '''timbre'''. Timbre is what the sound is apart from its loudness or pitch. Timbre is what allows you to hear the difference between a horn and a violin even though they may be playing the same note. Vocally, female and male voices generally have different timbres, which is partly because of different physical factors in the throats of the singers, the lengths of their torsos and sizes of resonating cavities inside their heads and chests. In a way, the speakers that you use to listen to music emulate these factors by having "woofers" and "tweeters" -- large or small speakers inside the speaker cabinets. So as you listen to your show music, consider what instruments are highlighted and use that to create different highlights in your lighting.<br />
<br />
:'''Speed'''<br />
:: Musical speed is called ''''tempo'''' and it's related to how fast the music is moving. We typically measure tempo in terms of 'x number of beats per minute' where a lot of beats is generally considered 'fast' and few beats is 'slow.' This isn't completely correct though, because music has a lot of mathematical components built into it and here's where things get a little wacky because music has different kinds of notes. It has 'whole' notes, 'half'-notes, 'quarter'-notes, eighth, sixteenth, thirty-second and even sixty-fourth notes. And believe it or not, there's even a 128th note, too. The wacky part of this is that these fractional notes work just like fractions in math where the tempo of a whole note is the same as two half-notes because two halves make a whole. Or a whole note can be represented by four quarter-notes, or eight eighth-notes. You get the idea. Well a slow tempo of perhaps one beat per second (60 beats per minute) sounds a whole lot faster to the ear when instead of playing only one note every second, the musician plays four notes per second: to the listener, it ''sounds'' four times as fast. In any event, you don't need to know what the exact tempo is, but you need to be sensitive to what the speed "sounds" like. If the music seems fast, the players likely require a lot more energy to play it and therefore, putting more of energy into the lighting effects makes sense.<br />
<br />
::'''Note Grouping'''. Huh? Wha?!? This is what's called the 'time signature' or 'meter' of the music and it's closely related to the tempo but is a bit broader in scope. The time signature is designed into the music by the composer and it's intended to help the musicians physically play the music in a way so that it sounds how the composer intended it to sound. Grouping several beats together into regular-sized groups gives the music a ''''pace'''' so that the music seems to flow more smoothly. (For the director who's waving his arms out there in front of the orchestra, pace also makes the music directable instead of the director wildly flapping his arms as if he's trying to lift himself off the ground.) For the players, the music's meter/time signature makes it easier to play and allows a way for all the players to be synchronized together. Typically, the meters used for most music is called either duple or triple -- music using two or three beat groups of notes. Time signatures of four are still called duple meters because they are easily divisible by two. A time signature of 6 can be looked at in two ways: two groups of three notes each or three groups of two notes each. Lesser-used time signatures of 5, 7, 9, 11 and even 13 exist, but the further you get past divisible by 2 or 3 makes the music difficult to play and sometimes, even harder to listen to because it doesn't seem to make sense -- it just sounds "off." The good news is that almost no Christmas music uses any of the weird time signatures. (Can you think why? Right! Because Christmas music is supposed to be 'feel-good' music -- you don't want it to sound harsh.)<br />
<br />
::But note grouping -- i.e. the time signature -- is important because of how it helps make the music flow at a regular, predictable speed. The 'pace' of the music is what causes people to "tap their toes." And more than not, the pace becomes what's called "the measure" where each group of notes becomes a "measure" on the written score. For example, think of the song, "Silent Night." Got it in your mind right now? Can you hear it and maybe hum or sing it a little? Well, Silent Night's time signature has beats that sound like they're organized into groups of 3. "Siiii--ih-lent niiiite, hoooo-o-ly niiiite, right? It's not "Si. Lent. Night. Ho. Ly. Night." straight away from one to the next, is it? No, it flows. It flows because the syllables of the song's lyrics match groups of 3 so well. Organized in this way, when we sing the song, we usually put a little emphasis on the first beat of every group of 3 beats so it we sing it as "'''SIIII'''-ih-lent '''NIIII'''te, '''HOOOO'''-o-ly '''NIIII'''te", don't we? We sometimes even sway from side-to-side singing a song like this. Now you understand what 'pace' means. (Don't blow your mind when I tell you that Silent Night is actually written in a 6 time signature with the counts being 1-2-3, 4-5-6 -- two groups of 3 beats each -- but it still "feels" at its base like the triple meter 1-2-3, doesn't it? But you'd sway to the music because of its 1-2-3, 4-5-6 pace with a sway one way on 1-2-3 then a sway the other way for 4-5-6 and comfortably back-and-forth through the whole song -- like a count of 2! You'd sway left/right for each "measure" of the song. This is why a 6-meter can sound like two groups of three beats.) <br />
<br />
::Pace is one of those warm-and-fuzzy things that gives viewers a comfortable and friendly experience watching your show. It's calming and non-threatening. They'll say "I liked that one" when it's over because they not only knew the song, they could participate along with it. On the other hand, if you threw some avant garde, wild-and-wooly, super-high-energy loud and dissonant blow-your-hair-back music at them that they've never heard before, they might start the car and drive away.<br />
<br />
:'''Music Construction'''<br />
::Generally speaking, we think that if something goes up, it will come down again; if a road turns left, somewhere ahead it'll turn to the right; if something is too soft to hear, it'll probably get louder, etc. These things are all true in most musical compositions. It's this way because humans like balance. We're willing to go out on a limb for a little while but after that, we like to come back to the trunk of the tree for safety, don't we? Music composers use this technique all the time. There's always a center -- a "core" to a popular piece of music. Sometimes it's the chorus or refrain, but it's always there. In the song 'Silent Night,' it's the phrase "sleep in heavenly peace" -- a line that's repeated for assurance. Therefore, look for similarities in the music. Does the music's melody start in one place and then at some later point, you hear the same basic melody but it's noticeably higher in pitch. That's called a "key change" or "modulation." In any event, the composer did it to make a similar line of music sound different. It's something new. Use that to your advantage in your lighting effects by doing something similar yet different with the lighting effects.<br />
<br />
::Music is full of repeats of things and you need to listen for them. Earlier we covered he concept of groups of notes, which then become "measures" of the song -- the "pace." When groups of measures are assembled together, they become "phrases" in exactly the same way that poems often are constructed with lines that have exactly the same number of syllables and even rhyme. Why is this important? Well, humans like balance. We like it when something we hold in one hand is balanced off by something in the other hand. So you listen to the rhymes, and listen to how the music goes up and down, or how the music may move left-to-right, from soft to loud and then soft again, etc. and you can mimic those things with light.<br />
<br />
:::You will find that 95% of the time in a song, a group of four "measures" will constitute a phrase, and it will be followed by another set of four measures as an offset phrase to balance it out. Then you'll discover that those eight measures will be balanced off with another set of 8 measures, after which the song will change and do something new. This is the "16-measure bridge" that happens over and over and over, especially in vocal music. Recognizing this gives you the ability to divide a song into 3 parts or 4 main sections, each of which has essentially the same length and number of beats, and often there's a short ending, sometimes a repeat of the last line of the song. For example, you might have this:<br />
::::::Section 1: Instrumental introduction (16 measures)<br />
::::::Section 2: Vocal, first verse and chorus/refrain (16 measures)<br />
::::::Section 3: Instrumental bridge (16 measures)<br />
::::::Section 4: Vocal, 2nd verse and chorus/refrain (16 measures)<br />
::::::End (optional, sometimes because they're out of words - 4 measures, sometimes 8)<br />
<br />
:::You'll find the above structure in most country music songs and to a slightly lesser extent, pop music. You'll even find it in traditional classical orchestral music, although not nearly as often as pop or country. You'll find it in Broadway show music. You'll find it's a common structure of church music, and certainly, in Christmas music. Note that sometimes, the number of measures per phrase is cut in half because of the lyrics used, but the concept is the same. If it's not 16-16-16-16-4 it's likely 8-8-8-8-2. The point is, it's '''predictable.''' Use that to your advantage when you design your lighting effects.<br />
<br />
:::Grab a church hymnal sometime and look at commonly well-known songs such as Silent Night, We Three Kings, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, and others. You'll easily be able to recognize their structures and you'll see that analyzing musical construction doesn't have to be that hard.<br />
<br />
:::Silly Tip: sometimes the music is so predictable that you can even take the first section of the song and copy and paste it two or three more times into your sequence -- and it'll still work!<br />
<br />
:'''Surprises - things that happen out of the norm'''<br />
::For fun, many modern composers (over the past 120 years anyway) inject a little something extra into their music every now and then. Mannheim Steamroller and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra do this all the time. Usually it's an extra beat, or an extra pair of beats, a half-measure or sometimes a whole extra measure -- and they do it to create something different. It's ear candy. And you find these things by analyzing the music's structure, asking yourself, "why does this part of the music seem slightly out of balance?" Well, it sounds that way because is IS out of balance -- by design! The composer injected something into the music to flick your earlobes and wake you up! These musical ear-tweaks are fantastic opportunities to add something unexpected into your lighting effects, too. Use them to your advantage. Do they repeat? Sometimes. Sometimes not.</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Making/Wiring_Mono-Pixels&diff=3271Making/Wiring Mono-Pixels2026-04-16T17:49:34Z<p>Dirknerkle: /* Understanding */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[File:Candy_cane.png | 200px |right]]<br />
This is a tutorial on how to make a pixel string manually with regular, single-color LEDs instead of 3-color RGB LEDs. It's a rather labor-intensive project but once finished, the result is quite rewarding and along the way, you'll acquire worthwhile knowledge on how pixels work. You'll also acquire much-improved soldering skills!<br />
<br />
For this project, the author wanted to replace the incandescent mini-lights in some commercial candy canes with white leds, but also gain the ability to animate each cane individually. The diameter of each cane tube was too small for a normal RGB pixel to fit, and as the tubes were clear, red plastic, showing a green or blue from within wouldn't have worked very well anyway. So instead, the author chose to make his own. Click this link to view the working prototype: '''http://vimeo.com/214309360'''<br />
<br />
== Materials ==<br />
::* Commercial plastic candy canes, about 27" tall. Purchase from Home Depot, Lowe's, Target, etc.<br />
::* Common, clear lens white LEDs (12 per candy cane)<br />
::* WS2811 driver boards (purchased off eBay) (4 per candy cane)<br />
::* LED carrier boards (DIGWDF Store sells these, but you can also use common prototyping boards, 8 per candy cane)<br />
::* 5-conductor ribbon cable (about 28" used per candy cane)<br />
::* 4-pin male and female plugs (any kind will do)<br />
::* ESPixelStick controller (to power and control them, but most any pixel controller will suffice)<br />
<br />
== Understanding ==<br />
<br />
To get started, let's understand how the pixel driver board works and how to wire it. At 5/16" wide and 1/2" tall, the driver board is quite tiny and consequently can be a bit testy to work with. This is the same driver board that's in most RGB bullet pixels and uses a single WS2811 chip. The top and bottom sides of the board are shown below along with the assignment of connections. This tutorial will use the 5vdc version of the driver board; pixels that use 12vdc use a variant of the same board but the differences are only to accommodate the larger voltage -- the same concepts presented here apply to the 12vdc version. The WS2811 chip has internal circuitry to serve as a constant-current driver that delivers 18.5ma of current to the three outputs; each chip requires three different channels to control its three outputs.<br />
<br />
[[File:1-understanding.png | 400px | center]]<br />
::* The four holes along the top of the board are for the four pins of a common-anode RGB led; the RGB LED is soldered directly into these holes on a regular RGB pixel. Monopixels use only a white LED, which connect to either the R, G, or B and +V holes.<br />
::* Because the board uses RGB leds of the a common-anode type, switching is done by taking the output control pins to ground, thereby completing the circuit and allowing each respective color to light up. <br />
::* Except for the data in and data out pads, the top and bottom sides of the driver board share the same connections.<br />
::* The bottom side is clearly marked with an arrow to show the direction of data flow into the chip on the center pad. <br />
::* Data is passed through the chip and on to the next chip via the data out pad on the top side of the board.<br />
::* On a normal RGB pixel, three wires connect to the bottom side as "incoming power and data" and another three wires are connected to the top side of the board as "outgoing power and data" so that the wires can continue to the next pixel. These wires are often colored to help identify the wires but they may all be one color. In such cases, you must study the pixel carefully to try to read which wire is for which connection because the power and ground must be correct and the data must flow according to the arrow on the first pixel of a string; any other order won't work and may damage one or more pixels in the string.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[File:2-understanding.png| 300px | center]]<br />
::* To create a mono-pixel string that has only one color (white in this example) yet use all 3 channels of each WS2811 chip, one solders a white LED in place of the red, and then carries the green and blue outputs to two more blank "carrier boards" where the 2nd and 3rd leds will be mounted. Further, the power, ground and data lines must also be brought forward so that the LED in the carrier boards can light as well as feed the ''next'' WS2811 chip in the string.<br />
::* A five-conductor cable is required; suggested types are colored ribbon cable or cat5 cable to help keep the connections consistent.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[File:3-understanding.png| 500px | center]]<br />
::* At the first led carrier board, all five incoming connections come in on one side and go out the other to the second led carrier. However, only the GND, Data and +V lines are used by the next WS2811 driver to connect to the 2nd carrier board.<br />
::* For consistency, black was used as ground and red the +V line. (While the colors you use really don't matter, it's a good idea to adhere to as many normal colors for DC current as you can or at least be consistent with your choices.) Because the cabling was manufactured with green between the black and red, I chose green to carry the data line out of convenience.<br />
::* In this example, the blue wire was connected to the "G" channel output of the WS2811 driver board; the white wire was connected to the "B" channel output. (Again, the cable manufacturer provided the cable colors -- I just kept them consistent throughout the project.)<br />
::* At carrier board #1, the LED is soldered across the +V and "green" channel (blue wire, shown with purple lines in the picture).<br />
::* All 5 lines should continue on to the 2nd carrier board although only 4 are required. It's just easier to stay consistent.<br />
::* At carrier board #2, the LED is soldered across the +V and "blue" channel (white wire, shown with orange lines in the picture).<br />
<br />
<br />
[[File:9-prep.jpg| 800px |center]]<br />
::* This becomes one completed, 3-led, 3-channel section of the mono-pixel string.<br />
::* Notice that only three wires are connected to the WS2811 driver board (far right in the picture); these are the feed wires bringing power and data into the first chip of the mono-pixel string.<br />
::* Notice that from the WS2811 driver board to the led carriers, the 5-line wire is used per the instructions above.<br />
::* Building the string to the desired length is then as simple as connecting these 3-channel sections together. The order of the boards is DRIVER-carrier-carrier-DRIVER-carrier-carrier-DRIVER-carrier-carrier- etc. Connecting a driver board onto the 2nd carrier board of a section is easy: solder ground, data and +V to keep those three lines going to all boards in the string.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[File:4-understanding.png| 500px |center]]<br />
::* In this example, the strings comprised four WS2811 driver boards and eight led carriers for a total of 12 boards, 12 lights. The total length of the string was 34" and was intended to be inserted into a candy cane. But it was desirable to daisy chain several candy canes together so that they could be sequenced and animated. Therefore, it was necessary to carry the data line through to the next candy cane so that connections could be made at the base of the candy cane.<br />
::* The very LAST carrier board of the string included a single wire for the data line that was brought down the candy cane to the base so that a connector could be fashioned to connect to the next candy cane. A thin cat5 wire was used to make the connection.<br />
::* The result was a candy cane that required only 12 channels to control (one channel for each led). It's certainly possible to use normal RGB pixels instead, but to produce white, it requires that all 3 channels of each pixel be on, and that's also three times the number of channels required for each candy cane. The mono-pixel string is more efficient in its use of channels.<br />
<br />
== Construction Tips ==<br />
<br />
:* Preparing for assembly is an important part of this project. A small dollop of solder on each of the solder pads helps a lot. Make sure you do both sides of the driver board. Soldering a tinned wire to a dollop of solder is quicker and lessens the potential of heat damage to the WS2811 chip.<br />
::::[[File:1-prep.jpg |300px]] [[File:2-prep.jpg |290px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* If you're planning to use ribbon cable, this kind of cable stripping tool is a real lifesaver and strips all the wires simultaneously. Cost is anywhere from $10-$25 on Amazon or eBay.<br />
::::[[FIle:3-prep.jpg | 400px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* You'll want to tin the wires so they fit neatly through holes. Twisting the ends rarely works very well, especially with multi-conductor cable. Notice the blip of solder on the black cable: a simple swipe of the soldering iron from the insulation to the tip will smooth that out so it fits through a hole. Tinned wires also take to the dollops of solder faster which lessens heat to the WS2811 chip (which can damage the chip).<br />
::::[[FIle:4-prep.jpg | 400px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* When soldering the cables to the led carriers, keep the same wire order throughout so you don't get confused. This carrier is ready for installing the LED. (Grelllbbb, DIGWDF's head engineer made these LED carriers capable of 6 lines on both the top and bottom of the 2-sided PCB. We've found them convenient for interconnecting many different types of cables in addition to their original use as a carrier for RGB or other LEDs. Actually, Grelllbbb is more of a head-case than a head engineer, but that's a story for another time... )<br />
::::[[File:5-prep.jpg |310px]] [[File:6-prep.jpg |260px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* Here are a couple views of the WS2811 driver. Note that the inbound cable is soldered to the bottom and the outbound to the top keeping the colors the same to minimize confusion. A typical bullet pixel is soldered so both wires come out the bottom; since I wanted a linear string, I soldered the outbound wires upward so I wouldn't have to bend them upward, thus making for a smaller package. This is why normal pixels wouldn't fit inside these narrow candy canes.<br />
::::[[File:7a-prep.jpg |300px]] [[File:7b-prep.jpg |300px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* This WS2811 driver board is waiting for the LED to be soldered. It's a personal preference if you solder the led on either the top or bottom of the board. Instead of installing it flush onto the board, it's a good idea to leave enough of the led's solder legs so you can bend it to face in a different direction if you need to later.<br />
::::[[File:8-prep.jpg |300px]] [[File:Lights.jpg |300px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* When you connect the second led carrier to the next WS2811 driver board, only 3 wires are required. This carrier is waiting for its led, too.<br />
::::[[File:10-prep.jpg |300px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* Here's a wiring layout of how the mono-pixel string is built.<br />
::::[[File:Monopixel_wiring.png |800px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* In panels of WS2811 driver boards, the cost gets down to about $.15 per board -- and a benefit is they're already assembled. It's cheaper and easier to buy these than to design and fabricate your own. Purchase from eBay, or you might find them at aliexpress.com or even Amazon.<br />
::::[[File:Pixelpcbs.JPG |500px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* If the LEDs you choose are too directional and you need more diffusion, rub the LED casings with some sandpaper to rough them up. This will disperse the light a little better. Clear on the left; sanded on the right.<br />
::::[[File:Clear-sanded.jpg |500px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* To make inbound and outbound pluggable connections for the candy canes, I used an LED carrier as the "interface" and placed it inside and at the base of each candy cane. Note that the +V and GND cables are common and actually form a sort of power injection at each cane for better efficiency; the outgoing green data wire connects to the small cat5 cable that comes from the top LED in the cane to daisy chain to the next cane. (The blue wire is unused; it's just a pass-thru connection.) This is an example of another use for the LED carriers that was mentioned above.<br />
::::[[File:Cable-2.jpg |420px]] [[File:Cable-1.jpg |390px]]<br />
<br />
== Candy Cane Base Mount ==<br />
A handy base mount can be fashioned out of PVC, a couple zip ties and some stiff wire. If you look closely, you'll see that the connection wires exit the sides through slots cut on either side of a short tube of PVC. The stiff wires were bent to fit into small holes that were drilled into the side along with small grooves to keep the wires in place. Then they were simply zip-tied to the tube. This base was preferred over the traditionally weak plastic spike that was originally provided with the plastic canes and allows the bases to be inserted into the ground separately, followed later by inserting the canes into the bases.<br />
<br />
[[File:IMG_0616.JPG | 400px]] [[File:IMG_0680.JPG | 350px]]<br />
<br />
== MonoPixel PCB ==<br />
<br />
::DIGWDF created a flexible PCB which eliminates the hassle of manually wiring monopixels as shown above. The PCBs are 1/2" wide x 11" long and three or more can be daisy chained together and slid into a plastic cane in place of the manual wiring method. If the store link doesn't work (the store closed in 2018), the Gerbers are available from Dirknerkle via the forum. DIGWDF Store link: ''' http://digwdf.org/store/product.php?id_product=254 '''<br />
<br />
[[File:Monopixels.JPG | center | 800px]]</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Making/Wiring_Mono-Pixels&diff=3270Making/Wiring Mono-Pixels2026-04-16T17:46:36Z<p>Dirknerkle: /* Understanding */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[File:Candy_cane.png | 200px |right]]<br />
This is a tutorial on how to make a pixel string manually with regular, single-color LEDs instead of 3-color RGB LEDs. It's a rather labor-intensive project but once finished, the result is quite rewarding and along the way, you'll acquire worthwhile knowledge on how pixels work. You'll also acquire much-improved soldering skills!<br />
<br />
For this project, the author wanted to replace the incandescent mini-lights in some commercial candy canes with white leds, but also gain the ability to animate each cane individually. The diameter of each cane tube was too small for a normal RGB pixel to fit, and as the tubes were clear, red plastic, showing a green or blue from within wouldn't have worked very well anyway. So instead, the author chose to make his own. Click this link to view the working prototype: '''http://vimeo.com/214309360'''<br />
<br />
== Materials ==<br />
::* Commercial plastic candy canes, about 27" tall. Purchase from Home Depot, Lowe's, Target, etc.<br />
::* Common, clear lens white LEDs (12 per candy cane)<br />
::* WS2811 driver boards (purchased off eBay) (4 per candy cane)<br />
::* LED carrier boards (DIGWDF Store sells these, but you can also use common prototyping boards, 8 per candy cane)<br />
::* 5-conductor ribbon cable (about 28" used per candy cane)<br />
::* 4-pin male and female plugs (any kind will do)<br />
::* ESPixelStick controller (to power and control them, but most any pixel controller will suffice)<br />
<br />
== Understanding ==<br />
<br />
To get started, let's understand how the pixel driver board works and how to wire it. At 5/16" wide and 1/2" tall, the driver board is quite tiny and consequently can be a bit testy to work with. This is the same driver board that's in most RGB bullet pixels and uses a single WS2811 chip. The top and bottom sides of the board are shown below along with the assignment of connections. This tutorial will use the 5vdc version of the driver board; pixels that use 12vdc use a variant of the same board but the differences are only to accommodate the larger voltage -- the same concepts presented here apply to the 12vdc version. The WS2811 chip has internal circuitry to serve as a constant-current driver that delivers 18.5ma of current to the three outputs; each chip requires three different channels to control its three outputs.<br />
<br />
[[File:1-understanding.png | 400px | center]]<br />
::* The four holes along the top of the board are for the four pins of a common-anode RGB led; the RGB LED is soldered directly into these holes on a regular RGB pixel. Monopixels use only a white LED, which is soldered to either the R, G, or B and +V holes.<br />
::* Because the board uses RGB leds of the a common-anode type, switching is done by taking the output control pins to ground, thereby completing the circuit and allowing each respective color to light up. <br />
::* Except for the data in and data out pads, the top and bottom sides of the driver board share the same connections.<br />
::* The bottom side is clearly marked with an arrow to show the direction of data flow into the chip on the center pad. <br />
::* Data is passed through the chip and on to the next chip via the data out pad on the top side of the board.<br />
::* On a normal RGB pixel, three wires connect to the bottom side as "incoming power and data" and another three wires are connected to the top side of the board as "outgoing power and data" so that the wires can continue to the next pixel. These wires are often colored to help identify the wires but they may all be one color. In such cases, you must study the pixel carefully to try to read which wire is for which connection because the power and ground must be correct and the data must flow according to the arrow on the first pixel of a string; any other order won't work and may damage one or more pixels in the string.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[File:2-understanding.png| 300px | center]]<br />
::* To create a mono-pixel string that has only one color (white in this example) yet use all 3 channels of each WS2811 chip, one solders a white LED in place of the red, and then carries the green and blue outputs to two more blank "carrier boards" where the 2nd and 3rd leds will be mounted. Further, the power, ground and data lines must also be brought forward so that the LED in the carrier boards can light as well as feed the ''next'' WS2811 chip in the string.<br />
::* A five-conductor cable is required; suggested types are colored ribbon cable or cat5 cable to help keep the connections consistent.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[File:3-understanding.png| 500px | center]]<br />
::* At the first led carrier board, all five incoming connections come in on one side and go out the other to the second led carrier. However, only the GND, Data and +V lines are used by the next WS2811 driver to connect to the 2nd carrier board.<br />
::* For consistency, black was used as ground and red the +V line. (While the colors you use really don't matter, it's a good idea to adhere to as many normal colors for DC current as you can or at least be consistent with your choices.) Because the cabling was manufactured with green between the black and red, I chose green to carry the data line out of convenience.<br />
::* In this example, the blue wire was connected to the "G" channel output of the WS2811 driver board; the white wire was connected to the "B" channel output. (Again, the cable manufacturer provided the cable colors -- I just kept them consistent throughout the project.)<br />
::* At carrier board #1, the LED is soldered across the +V and "green" channel (blue wire, shown with purple lines in the picture).<br />
::* All 5 lines should continue on to the 2nd carrier board although only 4 are required. It's just easier to stay consistent.<br />
::* At carrier board #2, the LED is soldered across the +V and "blue" channel (white wire, shown with orange lines in the picture).<br />
<br />
<br />
[[File:9-prep.jpg| 800px |center]]<br />
::* This becomes one completed, 3-led, 3-channel section of the mono-pixel string.<br />
::* Notice that only three wires are connected to the WS2811 driver board (far right in the picture); these are the feed wires bringing power and data into the first chip of the mono-pixel string.<br />
::* Notice that from the WS2811 driver board to the led carriers, the 5-line wire is used per the instructions above.<br />
::* Building the string to the desired length is then as simple as connecting these 3-channel sections together. The order of the boards is DRIVER-carrier-carrier-DRIVER-carrier-carrier-DRIVER-carrier-carrier- etc. Connecting a driver board onto the 2nd carrier board of a section is easy: solder ground, data and +V to keep those three lines going to all boards in the string.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[File:4-understanding.png| 500px |center]]<br />
::* In this example, the strings comprised four WS2811 driver boards and eight led carriers for a total of 12 boards, 12 lights. The total length of the string was 34" and was intended to be inserted into a candy cane. But it was desirable to daisy chain several candy canes together so that they could be sequenced and animated. Therefore, it was necessary to carry the data line through to the next candy cane so that connections could be made at the base of the candy cane.<br />
::* The very LAST carrier board of the string included a single wire for the data line that was brought down the candy cane to the base so that a connector could be fashioned to connect to the next candy cane. A thin cat5 wire was used to make the connection.<br />
::* The result was a candy cane that required only 12 channels to control (one channel for each led). It's certainly possible to use normal RGB pixels instead, but to produce white, it requires that all 3 channels of each pixel be on, and that's also three times the number of channels required for each candy cane. The mono-pixel string is more efficient in its use of channels.<br />
<br />
== Construction Tips ==<br />
<br />
:* Preparing for assembly is an important part of this project. A small dollop of solder on each of the solder pads helps a lot. Make sure you do both sides of the driver board. Soldering a tinned wire to a dollop of solder is quicker and lessens the potential of heat damage to the WS2811 chip.<br />
::::[[File:1-prep.jpg |300px]] [[File:2-prep.jpg |290px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* If you're planning to use ribbon cable, this kind of cable stripping tool is a real lifesaver and strips all the wires simultaneously. Cost is anywhere from $10-$25 on Amazon or eBay.<br />
::::[[FIle:3-prep.jpg | 400px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* You'll want to tin the wires so they fit neatly through holes. Twisting the ends rarely works very well, especially with multi-conductor cable. Notice the blip of solder on the black cable: a simple swipe of the soldering iron from the insulation to the tip will smooth that out so it fits through a hole. Tinned wires also take to the dollops of solder faster which lessens heat to the WS2811 chip (which can damage the chip).<br />
::::[[FIle:4-prep.jpg | 400px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* When soldering the cables to the led carriers, keep the same wire order throughout so you don't get confused. This carrier is ready for installing the LED. (Grelllbbb, DIGWDF's head engineer made these LED carriers capable of 6 lines on both the top and bottom of the 2-sided PCB. We've found them convenient for interconnecting many different types of cables in addition to their original use as a carrier for RGB or other LEDs. Actually, Grelllbbb is more of a head-case than a head engineer, but that's a story for another time... )<br />
::::[[File:5-prep.jpg |310px]] [[File:6-prep.jpg |260px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* Here are a couple views of the WS2811 driver. Note that the inbound cable is soldered to the bottom and the outbound to the top keeping the colors the same to minimize confusion. A typical bullet pixel is soldered so both wires come out the bottom; since I wanted a linear string, I soldered the outbound wires upward so I wouldn't have to bend them upward, thus making for a smaller package. This is why normal pixels wouldn't fit inside these narrow candy canes.<br />
::::[[File:7a-prep.jpg |300px]] [[File:7b-prep.jpg |300px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* This WS2811 driver board is waiting for the LED to be soldered. It's a personal preference if you solder the led on either the top or bottom of the board. Instead of installing it flush onto the board, it's a good idea to leave enough of the led's solder legs so you can bend it to face in a different direction if you need to later.<br />
::::[[File:8-prep.jpg |300px]] [[File:Lights.jpg |300px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* When you connect the second led carrier to the next WS2811 driver board, only 3 wires are required. This carrier is waiting for its led, too.<br />
::::[[File:10-prep.jpg |300px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* Here's a wiring layout of how the mono-pixel string is built.<br />
::::[[File:Monopixel_wiring.png |800px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* In panels of WS2811 driver boards, the cost gets down to about $.15 per board -- and a benefit is they're already assembled. It's cheaper and easier to buy these than to design and fabricate your own. Purchase from eBay, or you might find them at aliexpress.com or even Amazon.<br />
::::[[File:Pixelpcbs.JPG |500px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* If the LEDs you choose are too directional and you need more diffusion, rub the LED casings with some sandpaper to rough them up. This will disperse the light a little better. Clear on the left; sanded on the right.<br />
::::[[File:Clear-sanded.jpg |500px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* To make inbound and outbound pluggable connections for the candy canes, I used an LED carrier as the "interface" and placed it inside and at the base of each candy cane. Note that the +V and GND cables are common and actually form a sort of power injection at each cane for better efficiency; the outgoing green data wire connects to the small cat5 cable that comes from the top LED in the cane to daisy chain to the next cane. (The blue wire is unused; it's just a pass-thru connection.) This is an example of another use for the LED carriers that was mentioned above.<br />
::::[[File:Cable-2.jpg |420px]] [[File:Cable-1.jpg |390px]]<br />
<br />
== Candy Cane Base Mount ==<br />
A handy base mount can be fashioned out of PVC, a couple zip ties and some stiff wire. If you look closely, you'll see that the connection wires exit the sides through slots cut on either side of a short tube of PVC. The stiff wires were bent to fit into small holes that were drilled into the side along with small grooves to keep the wires in place. Then they were simply zip-tied to the tube. This base was preferred over the traditionally weak plastic spike that was originally provided with the plastic canes and allows the bases to be inserted into the ground separately, followed later by inserting the canes into the bases.<br />
<br />
[[File:IMG_0616.JPG | 400px]] [[File:IMG_0680.JPG | 350px]]<br />
<br />
== MonoPixel PCB ==<br />
<br />
::DIGWDF created a flexible PCB which eliminates the hassle of manually wiring monopixels as shown above. The PCBs are 1/2" wide x 11" long and three or more can be daisy chained together and slid into a plastic cane in place of the manual wiring method. If the store link doesn't work (the store closed in 2018), the Gerbers are available from Dirknerkle via the forum. DIGWDF Store link: ''' http://digwdf.org/store/product.php?id_product=254 '''<br />
<br />
[[File:Monopixels.JPG | center | 800px]]</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Wiring_a_Pixel_to_an_external_SSR&diff=3269Wiring a Pixel to an external SSR2026-04-16T17:40:49Z<p>Dirknerkle: /* Power Injection */</p>
<hr />
<div>It's possible to rewire a pixel to drive 3 channels of a DC SSR instead of the RGB LED. By so doing, you can gain control to other devices by using your normal pixel control data stream. A caveat is that in your sequencing, you need to remember which channels these devices are so you don't get confused. This example uses the Bullet or Square pixel using the WS2811 chip as the example and 5vdc power. Pixels that are powered via 12vdc may not work with this method unless the measured output voltage from the WS2811 chip doesn't exceed what the DC SSR can use as its control signal, which is usually 5vdc.<br />
<br />
== How an WS2811 Chip Works ==<br />
::First, let's understand how a WS2811 chip works by looking at the PCB for a typical square pixel:<br />
<br />
::::::[[File:Guts-4.png|200px]]<br />
::Notice there are TWO ground pads, TWO 5v pads, a DI (data in) and a DO (data out) pad, and arrows that indicate the direction of the data flow. Also notice the four holes intended for a common anode RGB led (R, +, G, B). Data, power and ground comes into the chip, the chip lights the appropriate color of the LED, and extra data, power and ground goes back out to the next pixel in line. <br />
<br />
::::::[[File:Bullet_pixel.png|200px]]<br />
::A round bullet pixel has the same connection pads and the only difference is that they're on either side of the PCB instead of all on the bottom side.<br />
<br />
== Wiring Connections ==<br />
::Here's a look at how a bullet pixel is wired -- if you recall, 3 wires come into the pixel and 3 wires go out to the next one. Notice that there's a DI and a DO connection for data. DI = INCOMING data, DO = OUTGOING data (i.e. to the next pixel).<br />
::::::[[File:Guts-1.png |160px ]] [[File:Guts-2.png | 160px]]<br />
<br />
::In place of the RGB Led, connect the WS2811 to a cat5 wire as follows:<br />
<br />
::::::[[File:To_cat5.png | 200px]]<br />
<br />
::How this works is that since a pixel requires three channels to light the LED, connecting the LED outputs to a CAT5 cable instead of to an LED and plugging that cable into a DC SSR gives you 3 channels of complete control, including dimming capability. Slick! Optionally, if the SSR needs a ground connection on pin 7 so that the SSR's status light pops on, solder the brown/white wire of the cat5 cable to the ground connection on either side of the WS2811 chip. Also note that if the order of "colors" for the WS2811 chip is RGB, the "red" would equate to channel A of the SSR, "green" would be channel B and "blue" would be channel C. If the order is GBR or some other order, then of course the order of the channels for your control would be different and you may wish to wire the cat5 cable differently.<br />
<br />
::Does this also work with AC SSRs? Yes and no: yes you will have simple on/off control with an AC SSR, but no, you won't have dimming ability.<br />
<br />
== Power Injection ==<br />
<br />
::It's a good idea to consider injecting power to the WS2811 chip as well because of the potential distance between the chip and the external SSR and the resulting resistance of the wire. Your mileage may vary, but if you find the external SSR doesn't fire on cue, it's probably because power injection is needed. When a string of pixels is lit for full white (all pixels at 100%), if the resulting color is slightly pink, then power injection is a must; the pink color results from low current. Usually, injecting power at both ends of the string solves the problem.<br />
<br />
== Cat5 Wire Length ==<br />
<br />
The WS2811 chip puts out 18.5ma per channel, and as such, the control signal should be able to go quite a distance to a remote SSR. When one considers that a typical PIC outputs about 10ma/pin, a signal with nearly twice the current strength should be viable for at least as far as a control signal from a PIC-based controller.<br />
<br />
== Sample Finished Cable ==<br />
<br />
::Here's a finished cable that's designed to be plugged into the END of a string of pixels. The author chose to plug it into the end as opposed to between strings because it was easier to keep track of the 3 channels. Also note the additional wire used for power injection.<br />
<br />
[[File:NoPIC-3.jpg |600px|center]]</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=ESP-01&diff=3268ESP-012026-04-16T17:34:35Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div>The ESP8266 chip incorporates complete WiFi capability in a tiny package that's about 1/4" square. The chip is used on several versions of ESP modules, such as the popular and inexpensive ESP-01 version, shown below:<br />
<br />
[[file:Esp8266_module.jpg | 256px]]<br />
<br />
The module is programmable using the Arduino interface and since introduced in 2013, a great many Arduino interface add-ons and applications have been written for it.<br />
<br />
A few basic things to know about the ESP module:<br />
<br />
:* It is a 3.3v chip. It does not tolerate higher voltages well, even for short periods of time. Before connecting to an ESP module, verify that your voltage is 3.3v or the chip may be damaged as soon as power is applied.<br />
<br />
:* It is power-hungry: it generally requires 250-300ma of current during startup and operation. If the available current drops out of the required range, the ESP module usually disconnects from any network connection; afterwards, it does not reconnect on its own and usually must be restarted.<br />
<br />
:* It usually connects to an access point or wireless router rather quickly, but if it can't find one within 4-5 seconds, it gives up trying and power-cycling the unit is about the only way to restart it.<br />
<br />
:* Several manufacturers produce modules that incorporate the ESP8266 chip; not all are the same. For example, some may provide two LEDs on the module, one for power and one that monitors the TX line while other manufacturers may use only one LED that serves both functions. Therefore, the LED display from one can appear completely different than another, leading you to believe the module may not be functioning properly when it's perfectly fine.<br />
<br />
:* The modules are relatively easily damaged by static electricity, power surges or rough handling. Plugging a new module into a live circuit is generally not a good idea.<br />
<br />
:* As they can be quite inexpensive (< $2 each) having several replacement spares is a good idea, especially for an experimenter. Virtually all of them are manufactured in China, so allow for adequate delivery time.<br />
<br />
:* The modules use an external flash memory chip which is key to the operation of the ESP8266 chip. Users have experienced problems with modules manufactured with the PUYA memory chip. The symptoms are that either one can't connect to the chip or that the chip's SPIFFS memory cannot be used, which may be a requirement for some versions of custom ESP firmware (such as the ESPixelStick firmware). Modules known to be suitable for use have the BGMicro, cFEON or WinBond memory chips (there may also be other types that are acceptable).<br />
<br />
:* The blue modules generally have 512k memory; black modules usually have 1m or greater memory. The black ESP-01S modules have larger memory and can accommodate the version 4 ESPixelStick firmware. (The ESPixelStick firmware requires 1mb or greater memory).</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=ESP-01&diff=3267ESP-012026-04-16T17:31:48Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div>The ESP8266 chip incorporates complete WiFi capability in a tiny package that's about 1/4" square. The chip is used on several versions of ESP modules, such as the popular and inexpensive ESP-01 version, shown below:<br />
<br />
[[file:Esp8266_module.jpg | 256px]]<br />
<br />
The module is programmable using the Arduino interface and since introduced in 2013, a great many Arduino interface add-ons and applications have been written for it.<br />
<br />
A few basic things to know about the ESP module:<br />
<br />
:* It is a 3.3v chip. It does not tolerate higher voltages well, even for short periods of time. Before connecting to an ESP module, verify that your voltage is 3.3v or the chip may be damaged as soon as power is applied.<br />
<br />
:* It is power-hungry: it generally requires 250-300ma of current during startup and operation. If the available current drops out of the required range, the ESP module usually disconnects from any network connection; afterwards, it does not reconnect on its own and usually must be restarted.<br />
<br />
:* It usually connects to an access point or wireless router rather quickly, but if it can't find one within 4-5 seconds, it gives up trying and power-cycling the unit is about the only way to restart it.<br />
<br />
:* Several manufacturers produce modules that incorporate the ESP8266 chip; not all are the same. For example, some may provide two LEDs on the module, one for power and one that monitors the TX line while other manufacturers may use only one LED that serves both functions. Therefore, the LED display from one can appear completely different than another, leading you to believe the module may not be functioning properly when it's perfectly fine.<br />
<br />
:* The modules are relatively easily damaged by static electricity, power surges or rough handling. Plugging a new module into a live circuit is generally not a good idea.<br />
<br />
:* As they can be quite inexpensive (< $2 each) having several replacement spares is a good idea, especially for an experimenter. Virtually all of them are manufactured in China, so allow for adequate delivery time.<br />
<br />
:* The modules use an external flash memory chip which is key to the operation of the ESP8266 chip. Users have experienced problems with modules manufactured with the PUYA memory chip. The symptoms are that either one can't connect to the chip or that the chip's SPIFFS memory cannot be used, which may be a requirement for some versions of custom ESP firmware (such as the ESPixelStick firmware). Modules known to be suitable for use have the BGMicro, cFEON or WinBond memory chips (there may also be other types that are acceptable).<br />
<br />
:* The blue modules generally have 512k memory; black modules usually have 1m or greater memory. The black 01S modules sometimes have larger memory. (The ESPixelStick firmware requires the larger memory).</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Terminology/Definitions&diff=3266Terminology/Definitions2026-04-16T17:21:16Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div>This page is a constant work in progress as the hobby is constantly changing.<br />
{{Compact_ToC}}<br />
== A ==<br />
'''AC — alternating current.''' An electrical current that reverses directions at regular intervals. Wall power, or mains, is AC and in North America, it cycles 60 times per second, while in England and Australia, it cycles 50 times per second.<br />
<br />
'''Arduino.''' An Open Source system for developing microprocessor-controlled projects, including a reference design for a project board, as well as an integrated development environment (IDE) that supports an easy-to-use programming language and linking to the Atmel firmware development chain. Further, a series of printed-circuit boards that can plug into the Arduino board — called “shields” — have been developed for the project boards, extending the capabilities of the project environment.<br />
<br />
'''ATmega.''' A brand of microcontroller developed and sold by Atmel Corp. The Arduino line of project boards uses ATmega microprocessors (the 168, 328p, 1280 and 2560, depending upon the Arduino model). ATMega chips have an entire different firmware development chain than chips from [[Terminology/Definitions#M|Microchip Technology]] and therefore can’t share code.<br />
<br />
'''Audacity.''' Open Source audio editing application available for a variety of personal computer operating systems. See http://www.audacityteam.org/.<br />
<br />
'''AusChristmas.''' A [http://www.auschristmaslighting.com/ web forum] that focuses on Christmas lights in Australia.<br />
<br />
'''Amps (amperes).''' A unit of electrical current, an amp is the amount of electricity being drawn through the power system. A product that draws 10 amps uses twice as much electricity as a product that draws five amps. See also [[Terminology/Definitions#E|Electricity basics]].<br />
<br />
== B ==<br />
'''BBB/BBG - Beaglebone Black/Beaglebone Green''' A system on a chip board, these are used for running falcon player (FPP) software to run your show. These microcomputers are very powerful and have numerous capes that attach to them allowing them to do a myriad of things for your show <br />
<br />
'''BNC — bayonet nut connection.''' A type of common radio frequency connector used on coaxial cables. See [[Terminology/Definitions#R|RG-58]].<br />
<br />
'''Board.''' A shortened term for 'circuit board,' which is a thin layer of fiberglass or other material that has electrical circuitry fused to it. Electronic components are soldered to the 'board' circuitry to create electronic devices such as controllers.<br />
<br />
'''BOM — bill of materials.''' A list of parts — including quantities, manufacturers and serial numbers — needed to build a specific project.<br />
<br />
== C ==<br />
'''C7, C9 light bulbs.''' Known as the “traditional” Christmas light, these types of strings had their hey-day in the 1950s and 1960s. Many lighting hobbyists switched to “mini” bulbs in the 1970s. The C7 bulb is about 2-inches tall, while the C9 is about 3-inches tall. The C7 uses the candelabra base, while the C9 uses the intermediate base (both of which are [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edison_screw Edison screw] types). Both sizes come in both clear and opaque colors and both come in 7-watt versions, while the C7 comes in a 2.5-watt version and the C9 in a 3.5-watt version. The maximum number of 2.5-watt lamps per 15-amp circuit is about 575 (or 765 lamps per 20-amp circuit) or 300 lamps per outlet, while the maximum number of 7-watt lamps per 15-amp circuit is about 200 (274 per 20-amp circuit) or about 125 lamps per outlet. These terms have also been appropriated by [[Terminology/Definitions#L|LED]] Christmas-light makers and therefore C7 and C9 LEDs are also available.<br />
<br />
'''Capacitor.''' An electrical component that stores an electric charge and releases it when its needed. Typically used in Christmas lighting as a filter in power supply circuits.<br />
<br />
'''Cat3, Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6.''' Traditionally used as the cable in Ethernet networking, “Cat” is short for “category” and the numbers refer to different signaling standards. Cat5 cable has four pairs of 22- to 24-gauge wires, usually designated by the colors orange, green, blue and brown; each colored wire in the pair has a solid color and the same color with a white stripe. The orange/orange-white pair in Cat5 is twisted, while all the pairs in Cat5e and Cat6 are twisted.<br />
<br />
'''Channel.''' In Christmas lighting, the method of identifying a lighting element in sequencing software. An element can be an individual lamp (such as in a smart pixel) or a string of lights.<br />
<br />
'''Circuit.''' The path (usually wire) through which current flows between an electrical energy source and an electrical device, appliance or fixture.<br />
<br />
'''Co-op.''' See [[Terminology/Definitions#G|group buy]].<br />
<br />
'''Color organ.''' An electronic device that takes in audio signals and automatically outputs digital signals that can be assigned to lights. While a color organ can be designed to respond to music, the result isn’t as appealing as a song sequenced by a person.<br />
<br />
'''Controller.''' A device that accepts signals from a computer running a lighting sequencer and controls lights based on those signals (turning them on or off, dimming up or dimming down).<br />
<br />
'''Current.''' The amount of electricity flowing through a circuit, measured in [[Terminology/Definitions#A|Amperes]] (A), milliamperes (ma) or microamperes (ua).<br />
<br />
== D ==<br />
'''dB — decibel.''' A unit of relative sound or radio transmission intensity.<br />
<br />
'''DC — direct current.''' An electrical current that flows continuously in one direction. Batteries and fuel cells produce direct current and alternating current can be rectified and changed into direct current with diodes.<br />
<br />
'''Decoupling capacitor.''' A capacitor that is included in circuits with microcontrollers to insure that voltages don’t dip and spike elsewhere around the circuit because of the needs of the microcontroller. Like a water tower in a community, the circuit slowly fills up the decoupling cap with electricity. When the microcontroller needs a burst of energy (or, in the analogy, if somebody needs to flush three toilets at once), the decoupling cap provides the needed energy without the water pressure throughout the community dropping.<br />
<br />
'''DIGWDF Store''' The on-line store that once produced weird yet curiously helpful circuits, adapters and gizmos that helped DIY'ers create customized solutions to blinky-flashy problems. DIGWDF had three main engineers, Grelllbbb, Hngnnorrgg and Fffllleeennnkkk, and the three of them collaborated and do most of the creative work. Periodically they posted information in the forum in a language that has been termed "Lutefisk-ese." It's a somewhat phonetic language that takes getting used to, which seems somewhat consistent with the various weird adventures the engineers got into from time to time... And those are all meant to be taken tongue-in-cheek... What IS true however is that ALL profits from the DIGWDF Store, however small, were directed toward the expenses of running the diychristmas.org site and forum. Sadly, the DIGWDF Store closed operations on Dec 31, 2018.<br />
<br />
'''Diode.''' An electrical device that will allow current to pass in only one direction.<br />
<br />
'''DIP — dual in-line package.''' A method of mounting integrated circuits, microcontrollers and other electronics components on printed circuit boards. Sometimes called “through-hole package,” because holes are drilled in the PC boards and the package is soldered to the board on the side opposite the package. Compare this with “surface mount,” where components are mounted to the PC board on its top side by soldering leads directly to pads.<br />
<br />
'''Dipole.''' A basic radio antenna that consists of two elements, each of equal length. The length of the elements is an algorithmic function of the frequency over which the broadcast is being made. It’s used in Christmas light shows by FM transmitters to broadcast music.<br />
<br />
'''DirkCheap.''' A concept and philosopy that Dirknerkle used to help lower the cost of participating in this hobby. It applies to several products the DIGWDF engineers created, such as the DirkCheapSSR, a no-frills 4-channel unit that is "dirt cheap" to make... In most cases, "DirkCheap" products used minimal parts due to their extra-sparse designs, such as no protective fusing or terminal blocks for convenience. It was the end-user's responsibility to address these issues on his/her own. The first product to carry this moniker was indeed the DirkCheapSSR, which lowered the DIYer's cost per A/C control channel by almost 70%, down to less than $1/channel.<br />
<br />
'''Dirknerkle.''' The original patron saint of this site, which started in November 2011. Dirk also was the proprietor of The DIGWDF Store [http://digwdf.org/ Dirknerkle’s Inventorium and Generally Worthless Device Factory], an online store that provided items of greater or lesser interest to holiday lighting enthusiasts. (based on sales totals, mostly lesser...)<br />
<br />
'''DIYC.''' Can refer to either [http://www.DoitYourselfChristmas.com DoitYourselfChristmas.com] or [http://www.DIYChristmas.org DIYChristmas.org].<br />
<br />
'''DMX (also known as DMX-512).''' Digital MultipleX. A theater and stage-lighting system based on the RS485 differential signaling electrical communications system that supports controlling light intensity across 255 steps. The system supports 512 different channels (called a “universe”) of lighting control and larger numbers of devices can be controlled by adding more transmitting controllers. Receiving controllers are daisy-chained together with each controller receiving and processing all 512 channels, but only acting upon those channels to which it has been assigned. Traditional DMX-512 uses five-pin XLR connectors, while in holiday-lighting [[Terminology/Definitions#C|Cat5]] cable and [[Terminology/Definitions#R|RJ45]] telecommunications products have been adopted. Renard DMX is one implementation of the DMX protocol that's designed for Renard-type controllers.<br />
<br />
== E ==<br />
'''E1.31.''' A digital standard protocol for transmitting [[Terminology/Definitions#D|DMX-512]] data over Ethernet networks.<br />
<br />
'''EDM Design.''' A South African company that makes low-powered FM transmitters. While these are sold in the United States as “[http://www.edmdesign.com/orders-1.html kits]” — a term used to skirt FCC regulations — 99 percent of the transmitter comes completed.<br />
<br />
'''Electricity basics.''' The flow of electrons typically over wire, electricity is energy converted from fuels or natural resources and distributed to homes and businesses via a grid of utility companies. Electricity has three basic units: voltage, current (measured in amps) and resistance (measured in ohms). The basic equation of electrical engineering is that amps = volts divided by ohms. The fourth basic element of electricity is watts, which is volts times amps. The most common analogy used to describe electricity is that of plumbing and water: the pressure of water in a pipe is like voltage, while the flow of the water in a pipe is like amps.<br />
<br />
'''Electrolytic.''' A type of fixed capacitor. See [[Terminology/Definitions#C|capacitor]].<br />
<br />
'''Endless loop.''' A mistake in computer programming where instructions circle back and forth, never ending. See [[Terminology/Definitions#I|infinite loop]].<br />
<br />
'''Engineer.''' One who designs, builds, invents, maintains or otherwise creates or supervises processes, structures, machines, devices, materials and/or systems. At DIGWDF (see [[Terminology/Definitions#D|Dirknerkle]]), staff engineers include Fffllleeennnkkk, Grelllbbbb and Hngnnorrgg. They were supervised by Mr. Nerkle and Monica Momglobs, the DIGWDF receptionist.<br />
<br />
== F ==<br />
'''Farad.''' A unit of measurement for electrical capacitance. See [[Terminology/Definitions#C|capacitor]].<br />
<br />
'''FCC — The Federal Communications Commission.''' The FCC was established by the Communications Act of 1934 and is charged with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire (telegraph, telephone), satellite and cable.<br />
<br />
'''FCC Part 15.''' A section of the Federal Communications Commission’s rules and regulations that deals mainly with unlicensed transmissions. In the Christmas light world, FCC Part 15 is discussed because it regulates the way low-power FM transmitters, which are used in the Christmas lights community to broadcast the music that accompanies the light shows, should work. The general consensus in our community is that one way of measuring whether an FM transmitter might meet Part 15 rules is that it should not transmit further than 250 feet away from its antenna.<br />
<br />
'''Firmware.''' The set of instructions input into a microprocessor. Firmware is usually developed on a personal computer, compiled into assembly code and uploaded to the microprocessor.<br />
<br />
'''FM02.''' An inexpensive a low-powered FM radio transmitter that meets FCC Part 15 rule. Unfortunately, it was no longer manufactured after 2014. Also see [[Terminology/Definitions#V|Vastelec]].<br />
<br />
'''FPP - Falcon player''' Falcon player formerly known as Falcon Pi Player hence the fpp designation, is a linux based scheduling software ran on a Beaglebone Black or green (BBB/BBG) or Raspberry Pi system on a chip (soc) microcomputer. This is capable of running your entire show on one of these inexpensive boards. The Beaglebones have 1 usb and 1 ethernet out with no onboard sound, the Raspberry Pi's on the other hand have 2 to 4 usb outs, 1 ethernet out, and onboard sound, the latest version of the Pi has built in wifi. <br />
<br />
'''Full wave.''' A method of converting AC to DC using a rectifying circuit of a group of four diodes, called a bridge. A bridge rectifier can be a single component.<br />
<br />
'''Fuse.''' A device designed to make electronic and electrical circuits safer by breaking (“blowing”) in the event of an electrical short circuit or overload. A fuse will blow before wires become so hot they catch on fire.<br />
<br />
== G ==<br />
'''Gerber Files.''' - The standard file formats that PCB production facilities use to set up their equipment to manufacture the boards. Usually provided as a set of 8 or sometimes more files; each file describes a specific layer of the PCB, such as the top copper layer (GTL), bottom copper layer GBL), top solder mask (GTS), bottom solder mask (GBS), top silkscreen (GTO), bottom silkscreen (GBO), drill hole sizes (TXT or DRL) and a mechanical (outside dimension, GML) layer. Gerber files are generally produced by PCB design software as an export function.<br />
<br />
'''GFCI — ground fault circuit interrupter.''' An electrical safety device installed in a power panel, sub-panel or outlet box that instantly shuts off the electricity when a leakage to ground occurs. This leakage can increase the risk of electrical shock. A GFCI should be used in all outdoor high-voltage environments and the device should be tested on a regular basis.<br />
<br />
'''Grelllbbbdweeno''' - A variant of the Arduino, this is a stripped-down version without the bells and whistles that can be used to build into projects. It was invented by Grelllbbb, one of the DIGWDF engineers.<br />
<br />
'''Grounded/grounding.''' A conducting connection, whether intentional or accidental, by which an electric circuit or equipment is connected to the earth, or to some conducting body of relatively large extent that serves in place of the earth.<br />
<br />
'''Group buy.''' Volunteers take the initiative to gather the components of a project and resell them to other hobbyists. Because electronics retailers and wholesalers frequently give quantity discounts, a group buy leverages the buying power of members of the community, delivering lower prices for a project.<br />
<br />
== H ==<br />
'''HC595.''' A serial, shift-register microchip that can control up to eight different devices. HC595 chips can be connected in series, allowing for an almost infinite number of devices to be controlled through the serial output pin of a microcontroller. This microchip is made by a variety of manufacturers using a variety of different names, though they always have “595” in them.<br />
<br />
'''Half wave.''' See [[Terminology/Definitions#F|full wave]]. In Christmas lighting, term used to refer to strings of LEDs that don’t have a rectifier included.<br />
<br />
'''Heat sink.''' A piece of metal attached to an electronics component — microprocessor, microcontroller, Triac, optoisolator — that serves to dissipate or absorb unwanted heat. Many electronics components have two ratings, a lower one when a heat sink is not used and a higher one where a heat sink is in place. Also called a dissipator. ('''Note:''' This term is often misspelled as "heat sync" which doesn't make any sense at all.)<br />
<br />
== I ==<br />
'''IC — integrated circuit.''' An electronic component in which many elements are fabricated and interconnected by a single process (into a single chip), as opposed to a “nonintegrated” circuit in which the transistors, diodes, resistors and other components are fabricated separately and then assembled. Elements inseparably associated and formed on or within a single substrate.<br />
<br />
'''Infinite loop.''' A mistake in computer programming where instructions circle back and forth, never ending. See [[Terminology/Definitions#U|unproductive loop]].<br />
<br />
== J ==<br />
'''Jumper.''' A connector on a printed circuit board that allows two parts of a circuit to be completed. Also, a short length of wire to complete a circuit.<br />
<br />
== K ==<br />
'''Komby.''' A holiday lighting system based on the Arduino platform that sends lighting commands wirelessly via 2.5MHz radio frequency using the [[Terminology/Definitions#N|nRF24l01]] transceiver. Input can be in a variety of protocols ([[Terminology/Definitions#R|Renard]], [[Terminology/Definitions#D|DMX-512]], [[Terminology/Definitions#E|E1.31]]) and various outputs are also supported (Renard, DMX-512, smart pixels). Named after hobbyist Greg Scull, the primary developer, whose childhood nickname was “[http://www.komby.com Komby].”<br />
<br />
== L ==<br />
'''LED — light emitting diode.''' A solid-state, semiconductor device that converts electrical energy directly into light. LEDs show up in Christmas lighting in two contexts: the first is as a power or signal indicator in controllers or SSRs, while the second is their use as a substitute for incandescent lamps. LED Christmas light strings use about one-tenth the energy of an incandescent lamp and have an extraordinary life span (some makers claim as many as 20,000-50,000 hours of use).<br />
<br />
'''Lutefisk.''' The main dish in the official Christmas holiday meal of DIYC.org; a Scandinavian delicacy. Lutefisk is cod fish that has been air-dried to preserve it. Prior to cooking, it must be reconstituted by soaking for days in a lye solution and then rinsed thoroughly before being cooked for the meal -- preferably steamed. It has the consistency of a gelatin dessert -- some call it "fish jello." It is said that half the Scandinavians who came to America came to escape lutefisk and the other half came to proselytize on its behalf. In any event, it's truly something of an experience... The three stages of eating lutefisk are as follows:<br />
<br />
[[file: Three stages of lutefisk.jpg| center]]<br />
<br />
'''Lynx.''' A group of holiday lighting products developed by hobbyist Robert Jordan. Initially based on DMX-512, the Lynx product line now supports both wireless transmissions as well as driving smart pixels. The most popular of the Lynx products is the [http://www.diylightanimation.com/wiki/index.php?title=ExpressUse Express], a 16-channel AC controller.<br />
<br />
== M ==<br />
'''M5.''' A type of [[Terminology/Definitions#L|LED]] Christmas light that is modeled after mini-lights. Typically, an M5 has a faceted cover and 110v AC strings come in 30, 50, 70, 90, 100 or 120 bulbs. These strings are made of combination series/parallel circuit construction and use resistors to compensate for the difference between the total bulb count and the input voltage. Commercial M5 strings are usually [[Terminology/Definitions#F|full wave]], while hardware or drug store strings are usually [[Terminology/Definitions#H|half wave]].<br />
<br />
'''Mains.''' The alternating current electricity provided by the utility company; a Britishism/Aussy slang for the American phrase “wall power.” In North America, typically 120 volts, AC. In the United Kingdom and Australia, typically 240 volts, AC.<br />
<br />
'''Microchip Technology Inc.''' [http://http://www.microchip.com/ Maker] of the [[Terminology/Definitions#P|PIC]] line of microcontrollers.<br />
<br />
'''Microcontroller.''' A computer-on-a-chip that emphasizes high integration, low power consumption, self-sufficiency and relatively low cost. Typically, a microcontroller has flash-type read-write memory allowing a programming station (usually called a PIC programmer) to enter in task-specific programs, which can be written in programming languages such as C, C++, BASIC or even in assembly code (which, of course, is the most efficient).<br />
<br />
'''Mini-lights.''' Holiday lighting incandescent bulbs that are about 7/32nds of an inch in diameter, they come in strings as short as 35 bulbs and as long as 400 bulbs, officially known as the T1-3/4. The strings are wired in series and parallel, usually in 50-bulb groups (the 50 bulbs are in series which are then wired parallel to the others, making 100-, 150-, 200-, 250-, 300-, 350- or 400-bulb strings). Pretty universally, strings that are grouped by 50 bulbs can be cut down to single 50-bulb strings. Mini-lights that are grouped by 50s use 2.5-volt, 170 mA bulbs, while 35-bulb strings use 3.5-volt bulbs. Colored mini-light bulbs are traditionally painted with a transparent paint, which can under certain weather conditions chip or fade.<br />
<br />
'''MOC3023.''' A 6-Pin DIP 400V Random Phase Triac Driver Output Optocoupler from Fairchild Semiconductor. It provides both [[Terminology/Definitions#T|Triac]] services and [[Terminology/Definitions#O|optoisolator]] services in one package.<br />
<br />
'''MORON.''' What other DIY'ers will think of you if you don't RTFM (see below).<br />
<br />
== N ==<br />
'''nRF24l01.''' A type of digital radio transceiver that supports transmission rates up to 2 megabits per second, using the 2.4GHz frequency, manufactured by Nordic Semiconductor. The radio is made as a 4mm x 4mm QFN surface-mount chip and requires certain additional components to operate. It only became popular when it was packaged in a small, pre-built printed circuit board with an antenna (or antenna connector) and an eight-pin connector. Has an effective range of about 250-500 feet in line-of-site environments. Used in the [http://www.komby.com Komby] line of wireless Christmas-lighting controllers.<br />
<br />
'''NOP.''' A "no-op" or "no-operation" command is often used in assembly language programming to cause the CPU to use-up one or more clock cycles just doing basically nothing. In this way, one can tweak the exact timing of a chip's CPU to better match a needed circuit function.<br />
<br />
'''Null pixel.''' In instances where the first pixel of the display and the controller are too far apart, a “null pixel” is included halfway in between in order to boost the signal. The device is usually just the [[Terminology/Definitions#P|pixel]] controlling chip without the [[Terminology/Definitions#L|LEDs]].<br />
<br />
== O ==<br />
'''Ohms.''' The measure of resistance to the flow of an electric current (the resistance through which one volt will force one amp). Resistors in electronic circuits are measured in ohms, as is the voltage drop of an electrical wire. See also [[Terminology/Definitions#E|Electricity basics]].<br />
<br />
'''Optoisolator (opto, optocoupler).''' A device that insures that a non-electrical barrier exists between a high-voltage environment and a low-voltage environment. It usually has some type of emitter — like an LED or a neon bulb — and an optical receiving element with a little dark tunnel between them. The high voltage causes the LED to brighten and that light then drives the low-voltage optical receiver. This way wall plug voltage doesn’t stream down low-voltage wires and into your controller or PC.<br />
<br />
'''Oscillator.''' A circuit that produces a sustained AC waveform with no external input signal. Oscillators can be designed to produce sine waves, square waves, or other wave shapes. They are typically used in Christmas lighting to produce fading and dimming.<br />
<br />
== P ==<br />
'''PCB — printed circuit board.''' An electronics board that contains layers of circuitry that connect the various components of a system. A PCB can be mass manufactured or can be “home etched,” where a hobbyist transfers the design of the PCB to a copper-clad board, uses caustic chemicals to etch away the areas not needed and then drills the holes him or herself.<br />
<br />
'''PIC.''' A brand name for microcontrollers from Microchip Technology Inc., it has become a generic term for any microcontroller, which is a computer-on-a-chip. Importantly, the development chain for the PIC is different from that of other microcontrollers (such as the ATmega series), so the underlying code of firmware cannot be shared between chip families.<br />
<br />
'''Pixel.''' In computer graphics, a picture element. On most digital screens, a single spot on the monitor. In holiday lighting, an LED that has three colors (red, green, blue), either controlled as a group (“dumb pixels”) or as a single element (“smart pixels”). Holiday-light pixels are available in a number of form factors, including strips, strings of rectangular pixels, strings of “bullet” pixels, strings of “square” pixels and strings of “C9” pixels.<br />
<br />
'''POD — power over DMX.''' Using [[Terminology/Definitions#R|RJ45]] connectors and [[Terminology/Definitions#C|Cat5]] cabling, 12-volt power is sent over three of the eight pairs of wires, while [[Terminology/Definitions#D|DMX-512]] signal is sent over two of the wires. The orange and orange-white wires carry the DMX, while the solid green, blue and brown wires carry 12-volts negative and the white-green, white-blue and white-brown wires carry 12-volts positive. Developed by Dave Moore of [http://www.holidaycoro.com/kb_results.asp?ID=92 HolidayCoro.com].<br />
<br />
'''Polarity.''' The electrical condition of being either positive or negative. The direction of current between two leads or the direction of a magnetic field.<br />
<br />
'''Programmer.''' A device that connects to a personal computer to a microcontroller to download an application from the PC to the chip. See PIC.<br />
<br />
'''Protocol.''' The data "language" that is used between devices so that they can communicate with one another. Examples are RS-232, RS-485, RS-422, Ethernet, Renard, DMX, E1.31, SACN, etc. Devices must be using the same protocol to be able to communicate. For example, a device that's sending data in the RS-232 format cannot be understood by a device that's expecting to receive DMX data.<br />
<br />
'''PWM — pulse width modulation.''' A method of controlling analog devices with digital signals; used in dimming lights and the speed of small DC motors. Rather than increasing or decreasing voltage, PWM controls the number of time segments the full voltage is applied (in microseconds).<br />
<br />
== Q ==<br />
'''Question.''' Things that you are free and encouraged to ask about the hobby or how to do it. Answering them is what our users are here to do. Our motto is, "There's no such thing as a dumb question."<br />
<br />
== R ==<br />
'''Ramsey Electronics.''' former maker of FM radio transmitter and other electronic kits. Ramsey is out of business but some of its kits are carried by HobbyTron: [https://www.hobbytron.com/search.php?Ntt=ramsey+kits HobbyTron]<br />
<br />
'''Raspberry Pi.''' A full UNIX-based computer the size of a bar of soap. The Pi uses a system-on-a-chip (SoC) from Broadcom and has full USB, memory card, HDMI video output and audio input/output support. In holiday lighting, used in conjunction with the [http://falconchristmas.com/forum/index.php/board,8.0.html FPP] software, which schedules and plays lighting sequences.<br />
<br />
'''RDM — remote device management.''' An expansion to the [[Terminology/Definitions#D|DMX-512]] protocol for configuring, updating and maintaining lighting equipment by allowing that equipment to send data back to the controlling computer.<br />
<br />
'''Resistor.''' A component in an electrical circuit that controls current by providing resistance. See [[Terminology/Definitions#O|ohms]].<br />
<br />
'''Renard.''' A method of controlling holiday lights using a microcontroller as an interface between a personal computer and the lights, conceived by hobbyist Phil Short in 2006. Renard is three things: controller hardware designs; the firmware running in the microcontroller, and the serial protocol for sending the commands from the personal computer to the lights. The initial hardware design was for eight channels and controlled two, four-channel SSRs using a Microchip PIC 16F688 processor. Renard controllers are designed by a variety of hobbyists and are available as printed circuit boards or as kits (which can be found [https://digwdf.com/store/ here], [http://www.renard-plus.com/ here], [http://radiant-holidays.com/radiant_holidays/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=14&zenid=03c23714a63b9953fcdb7254cb26d169 here], [http://n7xg.net/sr32.html here] or [http://www.diyledexpress.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=35&zenid=b6e4ea4c3d0e343972b4c1b1a29f3fed here]). The name “Renard” is a play on the French slang for a male fox; in 2006 the leading DIY Christmas light sequencer was [[Terminology/Definitions#V|Vixen]], which while the name of one of Santa’s reindeers in the poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” is also a word describing a female fox.<br />
<br />
'''RG-6, RG-8, RG-11, RG-58, RG-59.''' These are all coaxial cables of varying thicknesses and impedance. The RG stands for “radio guide,” an old, obsolete military specification; the numbers are arbitrary. Most coax manufactured today is “RG-xx type,” because manufacturers don’t necessarily always meet the precise specifications. In the Christmas light world, you will encounter RG-58, a 50-ohm cable, because it is used in radio transmission and is discussed along with low-power FM transmitters that broadcast the music that accompanies the light shows.<br />
<br />
'''RGB — red, green, blue.''' A color model typically used in light applications (other color models include hue, saturation and lightness — HSL — and hue, saturation and value — HSV — as well as cyan, magenta, yellow, black — CMYK). In Christmas lighting, it is a term frequently used to designate a pixel, which has three LEDs, each of the named color. Note that the physical wiring order of different pixel types may be in RGB order, or RBG, or GBR, or GRB. Therefore the term RGB is a descriptive term, not necessarily a standard.<br />
<br />
'''RJ45.''' Registered Jack 45 is a telecommunications or computer connector that has four pairs of wires, for eight conductors. Wires can be attached in two different patterns, AT&T T568A or AT&T T568B.<br />
<br />
'''RoHS — restriction of hazardous substances.''' A directive by the European Union that is designed to keep harmful chemicals and materials to a minimum. It is used by electronics manufacturers to denote components that meet the EU requirements.<br />
<br />
'''RS232.''' A telecommunications protocol, Recommended Standard 232 was originally designed to connect teletypes with modems; it has survived to this day as the way computer serial ports send out data. RS232 is implemented in a variety of connectors, but is most commonly seen in the DB9 and DB25 devices. It uses nine wires and supports transmitted data, received data, request to send, carrier detect and ring indicator. It is used in Christmas lights by as the physical layer between PC serial ports and Christmas lights controllers.<br />
<br />
'''RS485.''' A telecommunications protocol, Recommended Standard 485 is typically used in building automation, the programming of logic controllers, sound system control, lighting control and video surveillance camera control. It is a two-wire system that uses a differential form of signaling that supports the transmission of data packets. It can be used over a long distance and supports multi-point connections. It is used in Christmas lights as a distribution system for light controllers signaling devices, sometimes using the DMX512 or the Renard protocols.<br />
<br />
'''RTFM''' A long-standing acronym in the tech community that stands for "READ THE F***ING MANUAL." Many DIY projects available in this community do have accompanying user guides, assembly manuals and other printed documentation. Don't be a moron -- when documentation is available, take the time to read it and follow it. It's there for a reason.<br />
<br />
== S ==<br />
'''Sequencer, sequencing.''' A computer program that allows hobbyists to align and apply lighting commands to music, or the process or using such a program. An early Christmas lighting sequencer was Comet, which was followed by Vixen (which has branched into two offerings, [http://www.vixenlights.com Vixen3] and [http://www.vixenplus.com VixenPlus]). Other freeware sequencers include [http://hinkles-lighting-sequencer.wikia.com/wiki/Hinkle%27s_Lighting_Sequencer_Wiki HLS] and [http://nutcracker123.com/nutcracker/tutorials/intro.pdf Nutcracker/xLights]. Commercial sequencing applications include Light Show Pro and Madrix.<br />
<br />
'''SMT, SMD — surface-mount technology, surface-mount device.''' A type of printed circuit board assembly that uses components that are soldered directly to the top of the board, rather than through holes drilled in the board. Most hobbyists view it as a more challenging technique than through-hole assembly. See also [[Terminology/Definitions#D|DIP]].<br />
<br />
'''SNR — signal to noise ratio.''' A measure of signal strength relative to background noise. In Christmas lights, would be used in conjunction with an FM transmitter, that itself would be used to broadcast music with the light shows.<br />
<br />
'''SPT — service parallel thermoplastic.''' A type of electrical wire, commonly referred to as “zip cord” or “lamp cord.” Usually used in conjunction with the numbers 1, 2 or 3, which indicate 64ths-inches of insulation. SPT1 is usually 18 gauge wire, while SPT2 is available as 16 or 18 gauge and SPT3 can be as large as 10 gauge.<br />
<br />
'''Start channel.''' In [[Terminology/Definitions#D|DMX]] or [[Terminology/Definitions#W|wireless]] environments, the first [[Terminology/Definitions#C|channel]] a receiver has been programmed to accept. For example, a four-channel DMX receiver might be set to receive only channels 8-11, though all 512 channels pass through it, so its start channel would be 8.<br />
<br />
'''SSR — solid-state relay.''' In general electronics, an digital switch, rather than a switch with mechanical parts. In Christmas lighting, a light controller that includes a solid-state relay.<br />
<br />
'''Surface mount technology; surface mount device (SMT, SMD).''' A method of mounting integrated circuits, microcontrollers and other electronics on printed circuit boards. The method mounts the devices on the top of a PC board rather than using holes through the board. Compare this with [[Terminology/Definitions#D|DIP]].<br />
<br />
'''SWR — standing wave ratio.''' Usually used in the phrase “SWR meter,” which is a device coupled between a radio transmitter and an antenna and is used to tune the antenna accurately to the frequency over which the radio waves are being transmitted.<br />
<br />
== T ==<br />
'''Transformer.''' An electro-magnetic device designed to raise or lower electrical voltage.<br />
<br />
'''Transistor.''' A basic solid-state semiconductor that has three terminals and can be used for amplification, switching and/or detection.<br />
<br />
'''TRIAC — triode for alternating current.''' An electronic component used to turn on and off AC power to an electrical device such as a Christmas light. Specifically designed to handle dimming circuits.<br />
<br />
'''Twisted pair.''' Two insulated wires bent and curled together. Usually used in electronic signaling such as RS232 and RS485.<br />
<br />
== U ==<br />
'''ULN2803.''' An array of eight Darlington transistors (which themselves are arrays of two transistors) that amplify current. Often used in Christmas lights as devices to increase the current coming from a microcontroller to an SSR so that there is enough power to turn on (or off) the SSR.<br />
<br />
'''Universe.''' In DMX, 512 channels of lighting.<br />
<br />
'''Unproductive loop.''' A mistake in computer programming where instructions circle back and forth, never ending. See [[Terminology/Definitions#E|endless loop]].<br />
<br />
'''USB — universal serial bus.''' A type of connection typically found on a personal computer linking peripheral devices to the computer. It is a four-wire serial interface that includes 5-volt, DC.<br />
<br />
== V ==<br />
'''Vastelec.''' Maker of FM radio transmitters, with divisions based in Hong Kong and Zhuhai, China.<br />
<br />
'''Vixen.''' One of Santa Claus’ “eight tiny reindeer” as defined in the 1823 poem, “[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Visit_from_St._Nicholas A Visit from St. Nicholas]” (also known as “The Night Before Christmas” or “’Twas the Night Before Christmas”). Also, the name of a light-sequencing application initially developed in 2006 by hobbyist K.C. Oaks, who on his own wrote versions 1, 2, 2.1 and 2.5. In 2013 he wrote the underlying code for [http://www.vixenlights.com/ Vixen 3] and then turned development over to a group of volunteers. Also in 2013, a parallel project was started by John McAdams, which he calls [http://www.vixenplus.com VixenPlus].<br />
<br />
'''Voltage drop.''' The loss of electrical voltage in a circuit which is determined by two main factors: the size of the wire (or wire gauge) and the length of the wire run. While it can be experienced in any circuit, it typically is more of a problem in lower voltage circuits (5 volts-24 volts). Voltage drop on a long run of wire can be helped by increasing the wire gauge, using a smaller AWG number wire.<br />
<br />
'''Voltage regulator.''' An electronic device designed to take a higher voltage and make it conform to a specific lower voltage. Provide a 5-volt regulator with 12 volts as an input and it will put out a steady 5 volts; provide a 12-volt regulator with 13 volts and it will output a steady 12 volts. While some regulators are designed for specific voltages, others can provide a range of voltages depending upon resistance applied; variable voltage regulators can be controlled by potentiometers (i.e.: volume control), so that you can turn a knob and get various voltages depending on where the knob is.<br />
<br />
'''Volts.''' A measure of “electrical pressure” between two points in a circuit. The higher the voltage, the more current will be pushed through the circuit. See also [[Terminology/Definitions#E|Electricity basics]].<br />
<br />
== W ==<br />
'''Wall power.''' The alternating current electricity provided by the utility company. In North America, typically 120 volts, AC. In the United Kingdom and Australia (where it’s known as “mains”), typically 240 volts, AC.<br />
<br />
'''Watts.''' A measure of the amount of electrical power drawn by a load, such as a light bulb. A watt is determined by multiplying volts by amps. A kilowatt is 1000 watts and electrical utilities measure electricity consumption by kilowatt hours. For example, if you have two 500-watt heaters, and you leave them both on for one hour, you have used one kilowatt hour of electricity. See also [[Terminology/Definitions#E|Electricity basics]].<br />
<br />
'''Williams, Carson.''' An early Christmas light show hobbyist, Williams videotaped his sequence of the song [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizards_in_Winter “Wizards in Winter”], by the group [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Siberian_Orchestra Trans-Siberian Orchestra] in 2004 and posted it on [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmgf60CI_ks YouTube]. The video gained millions of viewings in 2005 and helped launch the popularity of computerized Christmas lights shows sequenced to music.<br />
<br />
'''Wire gauge.''' A way of measuring the diameter of a wire. It is determined by the number of times a piece of metal is passed through successively smaller dies. So, the smaller the number (2, 4, 6, 8) the larger the diameter of the wire, while the larger the number (18, 22, 24), the smaller the diameter of the wire. Frequently expressed as AWG, meaning American Wire Gauge.<br />
<br />
'''Wireless.''' Radio transmission of signals. In holiday lighting, a method of transmitting sequences over a low-power radio such as an [[Terminology/Definitions#X|xBee]] or [[Terminology/Definitions#N|nRF24l01]].<br />
<br />
== X ==<br />
'''XBee.''' A type of digital radio transceiver that supports transmission rates up to 250 kilobits per second, manufactured by Digi International Inc. Available in a variety of output powers (up to 100 mW), topologies (point-to-point, star, mesh) and frequencies (868, 915 or 2450 MHz) using the ZigBee transmission protocol.<br />
<br />
== Y ==<br />
<br />
'''YMMV.''' - An acronymn for "your mileage may vary," a term often used by DIY'ers when suggesting that a measurement or experience of some kind may not be consistent with what one person is describing.<br />
<br />
== Z ==<br />
'''Zero cross.''' A technique for dimming AC lights which determines the point at which an AC line oscillates at zero volts. Employing the technique is necessary to allow AC lights to dim accurately. Other terms are zero cross detection, zero cross signal, ZC signal...<br />
<br />
'''ZigBee.''' See [[Terminology/Definitions#X|XBee]].</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Where_to_get_more_info&diff=3265Where to get more info2026-04-16T17:17:44Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div>This is what the forums at diychristmas.org and other Christmas-lighting sites are all about. You'll want to join one or more of them so that you can interact with other DIYers, post questions, read solutions and hopefully, help others along the way as your own skills increase.<br />
<br />
As you visit other sites, look for links or topics that are related to "Getting Started", "For Beginners" or "How do I get started?" And resist the urge to go out and just buy something "because it looks good." Learn about the hobby first, do some planning, and leave the spending of money for later. You'll be much happier (and so will your credit card balance!)<br />
<br />
* [http://diychristmas.org '''diychristmas.org'''] hosts this Wiki, registration is free, and there are no fees attached to using the forum in any way. The site does accept voluntary contributions to help defray operating expenses. Contact jon@chuchla.com for more support info!<br />
<br />
* [http://doityourselfchristmas.com '''DoItYourselfChristmas.com'''] is another very popular and broad source of information for the animated lighting hobby.<br />
<br />
* [http://www.auschristmaslighting.com '''AusChristmasLighting'''] is another terrific forum for some really creative users from "down under" and a great place to learn how others around the world practice this craft.<br />
<br />
* [http://www.planetchristmas.com '''Planet Christmas'''] is a wonderful forum that also publishes a substantial magazine. It has many, many thousands of visitors every day.</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Making/Wiring_Mono-Pixels&diff=3264Making/Wiring Mono-Pixels2024-05-28T16:49:19Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[File:Candy_cane.png | 200px |right]]<br />
This is a tutorial on how to make a pixel string manually with regular, single-color LEDs instead of 3-color RGB LEDs. It's a rather labor-intensive project but once finished, the result is quite rewarding and along the way, you'll acquire worthwhile knowledge on how pixels work. You'll also acquire much-improved soldering skills!<br />
<br />
For this project, the author wanted to replace the incandescent mini-lights in some commercial candy canes with white leds, but also gain the ability to animate each cane individually. The diameter of each cane tube was too small for a normal RGB pixel to fit, and as the tubes were clear, red plastic, showing a green or blue from within wouldn't have worked very well anyway. So instead, the author chose to make his own. Click this link to view the working prototype: '''http://vimeo.com/214309360'''<br />
<br />
== Materials ==<br />
::* Commercial plastic candy canes, about 27" tall. Purchase from Home Depot, Lowe's, Target, etc.<br />
::* Common, clear lens white LEDs (12 per candy cane)<br />
::* WS2811 driver boards (purchased off eBay) (4 per candy cane)<br />
::* LED carrier boards (DIGWDF Store sells these, but you can also use common prototyping boards, 8 per candy cane)<br />
::* 5-conductor ribbon cable (about 28" used per candy cane)<br />
::* 4-pin male and female plugs (any kind will do)<br />
::* ESPixelStick controller (to power and control them, but most any pixel controller will suffice)<br />
<br />
== Understanding ==<br />
<br />
To get started, let's understand how the pixel driver board works and how to wire it. At 5/16" wide and 1/2" tall, the driver board is quite tiny and consequently can be a bit testy to work with. This is the same driver board that's in most RGB bullet pixels and uses a single WS2811 chip. The top and bottom sides of the board are shown below along with the assignment of connections. This tutorial will use the 5vdc version of the driver board; pixels that use 12vdc use a variant of the same board but the differences are only to accommodate the larger voltage -- the same concepts presented here apply to the 12vdc version. The WS2811 chip has internal circuitry to serve as a constant-current driver that delivers 18.5ma of current to the three outputs; each chip requires three different channels to control its three outputs.<br />
<br />
[[File:1-understanding.png | 400px | center]]<br />
::* The four holes along the top of the board are for the four pins of a common-anode RGB led; the RGB LED is soldered directly into these holes.<br />
::* Because the board uses RGB leds of the a common-anode type, switching is done by taking the output control pins to ground, thereby completing the circuit and allowing each respective color to light up. <br />
::* Except for the data in and data out pads, the top and bottom sides of the driver board share the same connections.<br />
::* The bottom side is clearly marked with an arrow to show the direction of data flow into the chip on the center pad. <br />
::* Data is passed through the chip and on to the next chip via the data out pad on the top side of the board.<br />
::* On a normal RGB pixel, three wires connect to the bottom side as "incoming power and data" and another three wires are connected to the top side of the board as "outgoing power and data" so that the wires can continue to the next pixel. These wires are often colored to help identify the wires but they may all be one color. In such cases, you must study the pixel carefully to try to read which wire is for which connection because the power and ground must be correct and the data must flow according to the arrow on the first pixel of a string; any other order won't work and may damage one or more pixels in the string.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[File:2-understanding.png| 300px | center]]<br />
::* To create a mono-pixel string that has only one color (white in this example) yet use all 3 channels of each WS2811 chip, one solders a white LED in place of the red, and then carries the green and blue outputs to two more blank "carrier boards" where the 2nd and 3rd leds will be mounted. Further, the power, ground and data lines must also be brought forward so that the LED in the carrier boards can light as well as feed the ''next'' WS2811 chip in the string.<br />
::* A five-conductor cable is required; suggested types are colored ribbon cable or cat5 cable to help keep the connections consistent.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[File:3-understanding.png| 500px | center]]<br />
::* At the first led carrier board, all five incoming connections come in on one side and go out the other to the second led carrier. However, only the GND, Data and +V lines are used by the next WS2811 driver to connect to the 2nd carrier board.<br />
::* For consistency, black was used as ground and red the +V line. (While the colors you use really don't matter, it's a good idea to adhere to as many normal colors for DC current as you can or at least be consistent with your choices.) Because the cabling was manufactured with green between the black and red, I chose green to carry the data line out of convenience.<br />
::* In this example, the blue wire was connected to the "G" channel output of the WS2811 driver board; the white wire was connected to the "B" channel output. (Again, the cable manufacturer provided the cable colors -- I just kept them consistent throughout the project.)<br />
::* At carrier board #1, the LED is soldered across the +V and "green" channel (blue wire, shown with purple lines in the picture).<br />
::* All 5 lines should continue on to the 2nd carrier board although only 4 are required. It's just easier to stay consistent.<br />
::* At carrier board #2, the LED is soldered across the +V and "blue" channel (white wire, shown with orange lines in the picture).<br />
<br />
<br />
[[File:9-prep.jpg| 800px |center]]<br />
::* This becomes one completed, 3-led, 3-channel section of the mono-pixel string.<br />
::* Notice that only three wires are connected to the WS2811 driver board (far right in the picture); these are the feed wires bringing power and data into the first chip of the mono-pixel string.<br />
::* Notice that from the WS2811 driver board to the led carriers, the 5-line wire is used per the instructions above.<br />
::* Building the string to the desired length is then as simple as connecting these 3-channel sections together. The order of the boards is DRIVER-carrier-carrier-DRIVER-carrier-carrier-DRIVER-carrier-carrier- etc. Connecting a driver board onto the 2nd carrier board of a section is easy: solder ground, data and +V to keep those three lines going to all boards in the string.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[File:4-understanding.png| 500px |center]]<br />
::* In this example, the strings comprised four WS2811 driver boards and eight led carriers for a total of 12 boards, 12 lights. The total length of the string was 34" and was intended to be inserted into a candy cane. But it was desirable to daisy chain several candy canes together so that they could be sequenced and animated. Therefore, it was necessary to carry the data line through to the next candy cane so that connections could be made at the base of the candy cane.<br />
::* The very LAST carrier board of the string included a single wire for the data line that was brought down the candy cane to the base so that a connector could be fashioned to connect to the next candy cane. A thin cat5 wire was used to make the connection.<br />
::* The result was a candy cane that required only 12 channels to control (one channel for each led). It's certainly possible to use normal RGB pixels instead, but to produce white, it requires that all 3 channels of each pixel be on, and that's also three times the number of channels required for each candy cane. The mono-pixel string is more efficient in its use of channels.<br />
<br />
== Construction Tips ==<br />
<br />
:* Preparing for assembly is an important part of this project. A small dollop of solder on each of the solder pads helps a lot. Make sure you do both sides of the driver board. Soldering a tinned wire to a dollop of solder is quicker and lessens the potential of heat damage to the WS2811 chip.<br />
::::[[File:1-prep.jpg |300px]] [[File:2-prep.jpg |290px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* If you're planning to use ribbon cable, this kind of cable stripping tool is a real lifesaver and strips all the wires simultaneously. Cost is anywhere from $10-$25 on Amazon or eBay.<br />
::::[[FIle:3-prep.jpg | 400px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* You'll want to tin the wires so they fit neatly through holes. Twisting the ends rarely works very well, especially with multi-conductor cable. Notice the blip of solder on the black cable: a simple swipe of the soldering iron from the insulation to the tip will smooth that out so it fits through a hole. Tinned wires also take to the dollops of solder faster which lessens heat to the WS2811 chip (which can damage the chip).<br />
::::[[FIle:4-prep.jpg | 400px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* When soldering the cables to the led carriers, keep the same wire order throughout so you don't get confused. This carrier is ready for installing the LED. (Grelllbbb, DIGWDF's head engineer made these LED carriers capable of 6 lines on both the top and bottom of the 2-sided PCB. We've found them convenient for interconnecting many different types of cables in addition to their original use as a carrier for RGB or other LEDs. Actually, Grelllbbb is more of a head-case than a head engineer, but that's a story for another time... )<br />
::::[[File:5-prep.jpg |310px]] [[File:6-prep.jpg |260px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* Here are a couple views of the WS2811 driver. Note that the inbound cable is soldered to the bottom and the outbound to the top keeping the colors the same to minimize confusion. A typical bullet pixel is soldered so both wires come out the bottom; since I wanted a linear string, I soldered the outbound wires upward so I wouldn't have to bend them upward, thus making for a smaller package. This is why normal pixels wouldn't fit inside these narrow candy canes.<br />
::::[[File:7a-prep.jpg |300px]] [[File:7b-prep.jpg |300px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* This WS2811 driver board is waiting for the LED to be soldered. It's a personal preference if you solder the led on either the top or bottom of the board. Instead of installing it flush onto the board, it's a good idea to leave enough of the led's solder legs so you can bend it to face in a different direction if you need to later.<br />
::::[[File:8-prep.jpg |300px]] [[File:Lights.jpg |300px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* When you connect the second led carrier to the next WS2811 driver board, only 3 wires are required. This carrier is waiting for its led, too.<br />
::::[[File:10-prep.jpg |300px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* Here's a wiring layout of how the mono-pixel string is built.<br />
::::[[File:Monopixel_wiring.png |800px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* In panels of WS2811 driver boards, the cost gets down to about $.15 per board -- and a benefit is they're already assembled. It's cheaper and easier to buy these than to design and fabricate your own. Purchase from eBay, or you might find them at aliexpress.com or even Amazon.<br />
::::[[File:Pixelpcbs.JPG |500px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* If the LEDs you choose are too directional and you need more diffusion, rub the LED casings with some sandpaper to rough them up. This will disperse the light a little better. Clear on the left; sanded on the right.<br />
::::[[File:Clear-sanded.jpg |500px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* To make inbound and outbound pluggable connections for the candy canes, I used an LED carrier as the "interface" and placed it inside and at the base of each candy cane. Note that the +V and GND cables are common and actually form a sort of power injection at each cane for better efficiency; the outgoing green data wire connects to the small cat5 cable that comes from the top LED in the cane to daisy chain to the next cane. (The blue wire is unused; it's just a pass-thru connection.) This is an example of another use for the LED carriers that was mentioned above.<br />
::::[[File:Cable-2.jpg |420px]] [[File:Cable-1.jpg |390px]]<br />
<br />
== Candy Cane Base Mount ==<br />
A handy base mount can be fashioned out of PVC, a couple zip ties and some stiff wire. If you look closely, you'll see that the connection wires exit the sides through slots cut on either side of a short tube of PVC. The stiff wires were bent to fit into small holes that were drilled into the side along with small grooves to keep the wires in place. Then they were simply zip-tied to the tube. This base was preferred over the traditionally weak plastic spike that was originally provided with the plastic canes and allows the bases to be inserted into the ground separately, followed later by inserting the canes into the bases.<br />
<br />
[[File:IMG_0616.JPG | 400px]] [[File:IMG_0680.JPG | 350px]]<br />
<br />
== MonoPixel PCB ==<br />
<br />
::DIGWDF created a flexible PCB which eliminates the hassle of manually wiring monopixels as shown above. The PCBs are 1/2" wide x 11" long and three or more can be daisy chained together and slid into a plastic cane in place of the manual wiring method. If the store link doesn't work (the store closed in 2018), the Gerbers are available from Dirknerkle via the forum. DIGWDF Store link: ''' http://digwdf.org/store/product.php?id_product=254 '''<br />
<br />
[[File:Monopixels.JPG | center | 800px]]</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Making/Wiring_Mono-Pixels&diff=3263Making/Wiring Mono-Pixels2024-05-28T16:42:56Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[File:Candy_cane.png | 200px |right]]<br />
This is a tutorial on how to make a pixel string manually with regular, single-color LEDs instead of 3-color RGB LEDs. It's a rather labor-intensive project but once finished, the result is quite rewarding and along the way, you'll acquire worthwhile knowledge on how pixels work. You'll also acquire much-improved soldering skills!<br />
<br />
For this project, the author wanted to replace the incandescent mini-lights in some commercial candy canes with white leds, but also gain the ability to animate each cane individually. The diameter of each cane tube was too small for a normal RGB pixel to fit, and as the tubes were clear, red plastic, showing a green or blue from within wouldn't have worked very well anyway. So instead, the author chose to make his own. Click this link to view the working prototype: '''http://vimeo.com/214309360'''<br />
<br />
== Materials ==<br />
::* Commercial plastic candy canes, about 27" tall. Purchase from Home Depot, Lowe's, Target, etc.<br />
::* Common, clear lens white LEDs (12 per candy cane)<br />
::* WS2811 driver boards (purchased off eBay) (4 per candy cane)<br />
::* LED carrier boards (DIGWDF Store sells these, but you can also use common prototyping boards, 8 per candy cane)<br />
::* 5-conductor ribbon cable (about 28" used per candy cane)<br />
::* 4-pin male and female plugs (any kind will do)<br />
::* ESPixelStick controller (to power and control them, but most any pixel controller will suffice)<br />
<br />
== Understanding ==<br />
<br />
To get started, let's understand how the pixel driver board works and how to wire it. At 5/16" wide and 1/2" tall, the driver board is quite tiny and consequently can be a bit testy to work with. This is the same driver board that's in most RGB bullet pixels and uses a single WS2811 chip. The top and bottom sides of the board are shown below along with the assignment of connections. This tutorial will use the 5vdc version of the driver board; pixels that use 12vdc use a variant of the same board but the differences are only to accommodate the larger voltage -- the same concepts presented here apply to the 12vdc version. The WS2811 chip has internal circuitry to serve as a constant-current driver that delivers 18.5ma of current to the three outputs; each chip requires three different channels to control its three outputs.<br />
<br />
[[File:1-understanding.png | 400px | center]]<br />
::* The four holes along the top of the board are for the four pins of a common-anode RGB led; the RGB LED is soldered directly into these holes.<br />
::* Because the board uses RGB leds of the a common-anode type, switching is done by taking the output control pins to ground, thereby completing the circuit and allowing each respective color to light up. <br />
::* Except for the data in and data out pads, the top and bottom sides of the driver board share the same connections.<br />
::* The bottom side is clearly marked with an arrow to show the direction of data flow into the chip on the center pad. <br />
::* Data is passed through the chip and on to the next chip via the data out pad on the top side of the board.<br />
::* On a normal RGB pixel, three wires connect to the bottom side as "incoming power and data" and another three wires are connected to the top side of the board as "outgoing power and data" so that the wires can continue to the next pixel. These wires are often colored to help identify the wires but they may all be one color. In such cases, you must study the pixel carefully to try to read which wire is for which connection because the power and ground must be correct and the data must flow according to the arrow on the first pixel of a string; any other order won't work and may damage one or more pixels in the string.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[File:2-understanding.png| 300px | center]]<br />
::* To create a mono-pixel string that has only one color (white in this example) yet use all 3 channels of each WS2811 chip, one solders a white LED in place of the red, and then carries the green and blue outputs to two more blank "carrier boards" where the 2nd and 3rd leds will be mounted. Further, the power, ground and data lines must also be brought forward so that the LED in the carrier boards can light as well as feed the ''next'' WS2811 chip in the string.<br />
::* A five-conductor cable is required; suggested types are colored ribbon cable or cat5 cable to help keep the connections consistent.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[File:3-understanding.png| 500px | center]]<br />
::* At the first led carrier board, all five incoming connections come in on one side and go out the other to the second led carrier. However, only the GND, Data and +V lines are used by the next WS2811 driver to connect to the 2nd carrier board.<br />
::* For consistency, black was used as ground and red the +V line. (While the colors you use really don't matter, it's a good idea to adhere to as many normal colors for DC current as you can or at least be consistent with your choices.) Because the cabling was manufactured with green between the black and red, I chose green to carry the data line out of convenience.<br />
::* In this example, the blue wire was connected to the "G" channel output of the WS2811 driver board; the white wire was connected to the "B" channel output. (Again, the cable manufacturer provided the cable colors -- I just kept them consistent throughout the project.)<br />
::* At carrier board #1, the LED is soldered across the +V and "green" channel (blue wire, shown with purple lines in the picture).<br />
::* All 5 lines should continue on to the 2nd carrier board although only 4 are required. It's just easier to stay consistent.<br />
::* At carrier board #2, the LED is soldered across the +V and "blue" channel (white wire, shown with orange lines in the picture).<br />
<br />
<br />
[[File:9-prep.jpg| 800px |center]]<br />
::* This becomes one completed, 3-led, 3-channel section of the mono-pixel string.<br />
::* Notice that only three wires are connected to the WS2811 driver board (far right in the picture); these are the feed wires bringing power and data into the first chip of the mono-pixel string.<br />
::* Notice that from the WS2811 driver board to the led carriers, the 5-line wire is used per the instructions above.<br />
::* Building the string to the desired length is then as simple as connecting these 3-channel sections together. The order of the boards is DRIVER-carrier-carrier-DRIVER-carrier-carrier-DRIVER-carrier-carrier- etc. Connecting a driver board onto the 2nd carrier board of a section is easy: solder ground, data and +V to keep those three lines going to all boards in the string.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[File:4-understanding.png| 500px |center]]<br />
::* In this example, the strings comprised four WS2811 driver boards and eight led carriers for a total of 12 boards, 12 lights. The total length of the string was 34" and was intended to be inserted into a candy cane. But it was desirable to daisy chain several candy canes together so that they could be sequenced and animated. Therefore, it was necessary to carry the data line through to the next candy cane so that connections could be made at the base of the candy cane.<br />
::* The very LAST carrier board of the string included a single wire for the data line that was brought down the candy cane to the base so that a connector could be fashioned to connect to the next candy cane. A thin cat5 wire was used to make the connection.<br />
::* The result was a candy cane that required only 12 channels to control (one channel for each led). It's certainly possible to use normal RGB pixels instead, but to produce white, it requires that all 3 channels of each pixel be on, and that's also three times the number of channels required for each candy cane. The mono-pixel string is more efficient in its use of channels.<br />
<br />
== Construction Tips ==<br />
<br />
:* Preparing for assembly is an important part of this project. A small dollop of solder on each of the solder pads helps a lot. Make sure you do both sides of the driver board. Soldering a tinned wire to a dollop of solder is quicker and lessens the potential of heat damage to the WS2811 chip.<br />
::::[[File:1-prep.jpg |300px]] [[File:2-prep.jpg |290px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* If you're planning to use ribbon cable, this kind of cable stripping tool is a real lifesaver and strips all the wires simultaneously. Cost is anywhere from $10-$25 on Amazon or eBay.<br />
::::[[FIle:3-prep.jpg | 400px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* You'll want to tin the wires so they fit neatly through holes. Twisting the ends rarely works very well, especially with multi-conductor cable. Notice the blip of solder on the black cable: a simple swipe of the soldering iron from the insulation to the tip will smooth that out so it fits through a hole. Tinned wires also take to the dollops of solder faster which lessens heat to the WS2811 chip (which can damage the chip).<br />
::::[[FIle:4-prep.jpg | 400px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* When soldering the cables to the led carriers, keep the same wire order throughout so you don't get confused. This carrier is ready for installing the LED. (Grelllbbb, DIGWDF's head engineer made these LED carriers capable of 6 lines on both the top and bottom of the 2-sided PCB. We've found them convenient for interconnecting many different types of cables in addition to their original use as a carrier for RGB or other LEDs. Actually, Grelllbbb is more of a head-case than a head engineer, but that's a story for another time... )<br />
::::[[File:5-prep.jpg |310px]] [[File:6-prep.jpg |260px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* Here are a couple views of the WS2811 driver. Note that the inbound cable is soldered to the bottom and the outbound to the top keeping the colors the same to minimize confusion. A typical bullet pixel is soldered so both wires come out the bottom; since I wanted a linear string, I soldered the outbound wires upward so I wouldn't have to bend them upward, thus making for a smaller package. This is why normal pixels wouldn't fit inside these narrow candy canes.<br />
::::[[File:7a-prep.jpg |300px]] [[File:7b-prep.jpg |300px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* This WS2811 driver board is waiting for the LED to be soldered. It's a personal preference if you solder the led on either the top or bottom of the board. Instead of installing it flush onto the board, it's a good idea to leave enough of the led's solder legs so you can bend it to face in a different direction if you need to later.<br />
::::[[File:8-prep.jpg |300px]] [[File:Lights.jpg |300px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* When you connect the second led carrier to the next WS2811 driver board, only 3 wires are required. This carrier is waiting for its led, too.<br />
::::[[File:10-prep.jpg |300px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* Here's a wiring layout of how the mono-pixel string is built.<br />
::::[[File:Monopixel_wiring.png |800px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* In panels of WS2811 driver boards, the cost gets down to about $.15 per board -- and a benefit is they're already assembled. It's cheaper and easier to buy these than to design and fabricate your own. Purchase from eBay, or you might find them at aliexpress.com or even Amazon.<br />
::::[[File:Pixelpcbs.JPG |500px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* If the LEDs you choose are too directional and you need more diffusion, rub the LED casings with some sandpaper to rough them up. This will disperse the light a little better. Clear on the left; sanded on the right.<br />
::::[[File:Clear-sanded.jpg |500px]]<br />
<br />
<br />
:* To make inbound and outbound pluggable connections for the candy canes, I used an LED carrier as the "interface" and placed it inside and at the base of each candy cane. Note that the +V and GND cables are common and actually form a sort of power injection at each cane for better efficiency; the outgoing green data wire connects to the small cat5 cable that comes from the top LED in the cane to daisy chain to the next cane. (The blue wire is unused; it's just a pass-thru connection.) This is an example of another use for the LED carriers that was mentioned above.<br />
::::[[File:Cable-2.jpg |420px]] [[File:Cable-1.jpg |390px]]<br />
<br />
== Candy Cane Base Mount ==<br />
A handy base mount can be fashioned out of PVC, a couple zip ties and some stiff wire. If you look closely, you'll see that the connection wires exit the sides through slots cut on either side of a short tube of PVC. The stiff wires were bent to fit into small holes that were drilled into the side along with small grooves to keep the wires in place. Then they were simply zip-tied to the tube. This base was preferred over the traditionally weak plastic spike that was originally provided with the plastic canes and allows the bases to be inserted into the ground separately, followed later by inserting the canes into the bases.<br />
<br />
[[File:IMG_0616.JPG | 400px]] [[File:IMG_0680.JPG | 350px]]<br />
<br />
== MonoPixel PCB ==<br />
<br />
::DIGWDF created a flexible PCB which eliminates the hassle of manually wiring monopixels as shown above. The PCBs are 1/2" wide x 11" long and three or more can be daisy chained together and slid into a plastic cane in place of the manual wiring method. DIGWDF Store link: ''' http://digwdf.org/store/product.php?id_product=254 '''<br />
<br />
[[File:Monopixels.JPG | center | 800px]]</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Editing_Audio_Files&diff=3262Editing Audio Files2024-05-28T16:03:34Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div>:Sometimes it's necessary to edit the audio files to remove noise, clicks and pops, or even amplify it if it's very soft or reduce its volume if it's too loud to begin with. One of the most popular software editing tools is Audacity, a free download: '''https://audacityteam.org'''<br />
<br />
<br />
::For example, suppose you need an extra second of no sound before a song starts. With Audacity, simply import the audio file, put the cursor at the beginning of the display and "generate silence" for one second. The top pair of L/R channels shows the original; the bottom pair shows how the silence has been added, shifting the start of the song by one second:<br />
<br />
[[File:Edit-add_time.png | 600px | center]]<br />
<br />
<br />
::Another example, suppose you've recorded a song from a vinyl record and you have noise at the start of the recording when the needle was placed on the record. First, highlight the section you want to edit and hit the delete key to remove it; or instead of deleting it, perhaps you'd just want to generate silence into that same area instead. Audacity gives you plenty of options and effects you can apply to a whole audio file or just a portion of it.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[File:Edit-select_delete.png | 600px | center]]<br />
<br />
<br />
::These brief examples are just to whet your appetite as entire books have been written on audio editing. Audacity is just one tool you can use -- there are many, many more that are available at little or no cost. You can effect fade-ins and fade-outs for smoother transitions between your audio selections, amplify them both up or down, and if you practice a bit, you can make a selection shorter by deleting a verse or even extending it by copying/pasting a bridge section between a couple verses -- and your listeners likely won't even notice!</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Editing_Audio_Files&diff=3261Editing Audio Files2024-05-28T16:01:44Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div>:Sometimes it's necessary to edit the audio files to remove noise, clicks and pops, or even amplify it if it's very soft or reduce its volume if it's too loud to begin with. One of the most popular software editing tools is Audacity, a free download: '''https://audacityteam.org'''<br />
<br />
<br />
::For example, suppose you need an extra second of no sound before a song starts. With Audacity, simply import the audio file, put the cursor at the beginning of the display and "generate silence" for one second. The top pair of L/R channels shows the original; the bottom pair shows how the silence has been added, shifting the start of the song by one second:<br />
<br />
[[File:Edit-add_time.png | 600px | center]]<br />
<br />
<br />
::Another example, suppose you've recorded a song from a vinyl record and you have noise at the start of the recording when the needle was placed on the record. First, highlight the section you want to edit and hit the delete key to remove it; or instead of deleting it, perhaps you'd just want to generate silence into that same area instead. Audacity gives you plenty of options and effects you can apply to a whole audio file or just a portion of it.<br />
<br />
[[File:Edit-select_delete.png | 600px | center]]<br />
<br />
<br />
::These brief examples are just to whet your appetite as entire books have been written on audio editing. Audacity is just one tool you can use -- there are many, many more that are available at little or no cost. You can effect fade-ins and fade-outs for smoother transitions between your audio selections, amplify them both up or down, and if you practice a bit, you can make a selection shorter by deleting a verse or even extending it by copying/pasting a bridge section between a couple verses -- and your listeners likely won't even notice!</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Editing_Audio_Files&diff=3260Editing Audio Files2024-05-28T16:00:10Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div>:Sometimes it's necessary to edit the audio files to remove noise, clicks and pops, or even amplify it if it's very soft or reduce its volume if it's too loud to begin with. One of the most popular software editing tools is Audacity, a free download: '''https://audacityteam.org'''<br />
<br />
<br />
::For example, suppose you need an extra second of no sound before a song starts. With Audacity, simply import the audio file, put the cursor at the beginning of the display and "generate silence" for one second. The top pair of L/R channels shows the original; the bottom pair shows how the silence has been added, shifting the start of the song by one second:<br />
<br />
[[File:Edit-add_time.png | 600px | center]]<br />
<br />
<br />
::Another example, suppose you've recorded a song from a vinyl record and you have noise at the start of the recording when the needle was placed on the record. First, highlight the section you want to edit and hit the delete key to remove it; or instead of deleting it, perhaps you'd just want to generate silence into that same area instead. Audacity gives you plenty of options and effects you can apply to a whole audio file or just a portion of it.<br />
<br />
[[File:Edit-select_delete.png | 600px | center]]<br />
<br />
<br />
::These brief examples are just to whet your appetite and whole books have been written on audio editing. Audacity is just one tool you can use -- there are many, many more that are available at little or no cost. You can effect fade-ins and fade-outs for smoother transitions between your audio selections, amplify them both up or down, and if you practice a bit, you can make a selection shorter by deleting a verse or even extending it by copying/pasting a bridge section between a couple verses -- and your listeners likely won't even notice!</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Editing_Audio_Files&diff=3259Editing Audio Files2024-05-28T15:58:57Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div>:Sometimes it's necessary to edit the audio files to remove noise, clicks and pops, or even amplify it if it's very soft or reduce its volume if it's too loud to begin with. One of the most popular software editing tools is Audacity, a free download: '''https://audacityteam.org'''<br />
<br />
<br />
::For example, suppose you need an extra second of no sound before a song starts. With Audacity, simply import the audio file, put the cursor at the beginning of the display and "generate silence" for one second. The top pair of L/R channels shows the original; the bottom pair shows how the silence has been added, shifting the start of the song by one second:<br />
<br />
[[File:Edit-add_time.png | 600px | center]]<br />
<br />
<br />
::Another example, suppose you've recorded a song from a vinyl record and you have noise at the start of the recording when the needle was placed on the record. First, highlight the section you want to edit and hit the delete key to remove it; or instead of deleting it, perhaps you'd just want to generate silence into that same area instead. Audacity give you plenty of options and effects you can apply to a whole audio file or just a portion of it.<br />
<br />
[[File:Edit-select_delete.png | 600px | center]]<br />
<br />
<br />
::These brief examples are just to whet your appetite and whole books have been written on audio editing. Audacity is just one tool you can use -- there are many, many more that are available at little or no cost. You can effect fade-ins and fade-outs for smoother transitions between your audio selections, amplify them both up or down, and if you practice a bit, you can make a selection shorter by deleting a verse or even extending it by copying/pasting a bridge section between a couple verses -- and your listeners likely won't even notice!</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Editing_Audio_Files&diff=3258Editing Audio Files2024-05-28T15:58:40Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div>:Sometimes it's necessary to edit the audio files to remove noise, clicks and pops, or even amplify it if it's very soft or reduce its volume if it's too loud to begin with. One of the most popular software editing tools is Audacity, a free download: '''https://audacityteam.org'''<br />
<br />
::For example, suppose you need an extra second of no sound before a song starts. With Audacity, simply import the audio file, put the cursor at the beginning of the display and "generate silence" for one second. The top pair of L/R channels shows the original; the bottom pair shows how the silence has been added, shifting the start of the song by one second:<br />
<br />
[[File:Edit-add_time.png | 600px | center]]<br />
<br />
<br />
::Another example, suppose you've recorded a song from a vinyl record and you have noise at the start of the recording when the needle was placed on the record. First, highlight the section you want to edit and hit the delete key to remove it; or instead of deleting it, perhaps you'd just want to generate silence into that same area instead. Audacity give you plenty of options and effects you can apply to a whole audio file or just a portion of it.<br />
<br />
[[File:Edit-select_delete.png | 600px | center]]<br />
<br />
<br />
::These brief examples are just to whet your appetite and whole books have been written on audio editing. Audacity is just one tool you can use -- there are many, many more that are available at little or no cost. You can effect fade-ins and fade-outs for smoother transitions between your audio selections, amplify them both up or down, and if you practice a bit, you can make a selection shorter by deleting a verse or even extending it by copying/pasting a bridge section between a couple verses -- and your listeners likely won't even notice!</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Editing_Audio_Files&diff=3257Editing Audio Files2024-05-28T15:47:01Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div>:Sometimes it's necessary to edit the audio files to remove noise, clicks and pops, or even amplify it if it's very soft or reduce its volume if it's too loud to begin with. One of the most popular software editing tools is Audacity, a free download: '''https://audacityteam.org'''<br />
<br />
::For example, suppose you need an extra second of no sound before a song starts. With Audacity, simply import the audio file, put the cursor at the beginning of the display and "generate silence" for one second. The top pair of L/R channels shows the original; the bottom pair shows how the silence has been added, shifting the start of the song by one second:<br />
<br />
[[File:Edit-add_time.png | 600px | center]]<br />
<br />
<br />
::Another example, suppose you've recorded a song from a vinyl record and you have noise at the start of the recording when the needle was placed on the record. First, highlight the section you want to edit and hit the delete key to remove it; or instead of deleting it, perhaps you'd just want to generate silence into that same area instead. Audacity give you plenty of options...<br />
<br />
[[File:Edit-select_delete.png | 600px | center]]</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Editing_Audio_Files&diff=3256Editing Audio Files2024-05-28T15:41:14Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div>:Sometimes it's necessary to edit the audio files to remove noise, clicks and pops, or even amplify it if it's very soft or reduce its volume if it's too loud to begin with. One of the most popular software editing tools is Audacity, a free download: '''https://audacityteam.org'''<br />
<br />
::For example, suppose you need an extra second of no sound before a song starts. With Audacity, simply import the audio file, put the cursor at the beginning of the display and "generate silence" for one second. The top pair of L/R channels shows the original; the bottom pair shows how the silence has been added, shifting the start of the song by one second:<br />
<br />
[[File:Edit-add_time.png | 600px | center]]<br />
<br />
::Another example might be completely replacing the beginning of the song with silence, such as you might encounter if taking a song off a record where the first second is noise from setting the needle in the groove, or instead selecting the section of the song and simply deleting it. First, select the section you want to edit and then...<br />
<br />
[[File:Edit-select_delete.png | 600px | center]]</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Editing_Audio_Files&diff=3255Editing Audio Files2024-05-28T15:29:30Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div>::Sometimes it's necessary to edit the audio files to remove noise, clicks and pops, or even amplify it if it's very soft or reduce its volume if it's too loud to begin with. One of the most popular software editing tools is Audacity, a free download: '''https://audacityteam.org'''<br />
<br />
- in progress -<br />
[[File:Edit-add_time.png]]<br />
<br />
[[File:Edit-select_delete.png]]</div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=File:Edit-select_delete.png&diff=3254File:Edit-select delete.png2024-05-28T15:25:18Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div></div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=File:Edit-add_time.png&diff=3253File:Edit-add time.png2024-05-28T15:24:43Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div></div>Dirknerklehttps://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Editing_Audio_Files&diff=3252Editing Audio Files2024-05-28T14:33:01Z<p>Dirknerkle: </p>
<hr />
<div>::Sometimes it's necessary to edit the audio files to remove noise, clicks and pops, or even amplify it if it's very soft or reduce its volume if it's too loud to begin with. One of the most popular software editing tools is Audacity, a free download: '''https://audacityteam.org'''<br />
<br />
- in progress -</div>Dirknerkle