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EL Wire/Tape/Panels, LEDs, pixels and strips, LCDs and TFTs, etc products from Adafruit

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novasun
 
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beginner

Post by novasun »

Hello,

I work a lot on LED but none is programmable. I want to use neopixels and arduino but I don't know where to start.
I need starter kit for these Arduino and neopixel which one I should buy?

Thanks,
Renato Gonzaga

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: beginner

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

What kind of neopixels are you interested in? We have strips, rings, sticks, matrices and several styles of individual pixels. If you let us know what kinds of projects you are interested in, we can point you to some relevant tutorials

We don't have an Arduino starter kit that includes neopixels. But you could order a starter pack and add some pixels of your choice.
https://www.adafruit.com/products/68
https://www.adafruit.com/search?q=neopixels&b=1

Our Flora starter kits come with a few of the individual pixels:
https://www.adafruit.com/products/1405
https://www.adafruit.com/products/1458

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lucascentric003
 
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Re: beginner

Post by lucascentric003 »

Good afternoon,

So I am interested in buying some neopixel strips. Specifically, this item: Adafruit NeoPixel Digital RGB LED Strip - Black 60 LED - 1m - BLACK: https://www.adafruit.com/products/1461.

I have several questions as to what is included with this item. I already own a raspberry pi, and the starter kit you sell through your website. Here are the questions I have:
1) Does this item above include a power supply with the purchase?
2) JST SM plug and receptacle cables: I dont know what this is but is it required to connect and communicate between the rpi and led strip? is it included with the item?
If I need to order additional things to get this LED strip working, I will be somewhat angry. maybe you oculd recommend a package that has everything I would need pooled together so i dont have to waste time reordering and returning incorrect items
-Thanks LL

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: beginner

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

@BANNED -

This item does not come with a power supply. It may or may not have connectors depending on where it is cut from the reel. Please refer to the product description:
These strips are sold by the meter! If you buy 4 meters at a time, you'll get full reels with two connectors. If you buy less than 4m, you'll get a single strip, but it will be a cut piece from a reel which may or may not have a connector on it.
Connectors are a convenience, but they are not required. This tutorial describes the minimum components required to control Neopixels from a Raspberry Pi: https://learn.adafruit.com/neopixels-on ... -pi/wiring

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lucascentric003
 
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Re: beginner

Post by lucascentric003 »

I saw that little blurb, but I was not able to find a strip on your website that was 4m long. It would be cool if these items were sold as a package, just to prevent confusion in the future.

So the 5V 2000mA charger can only drive one strip of these LED's right? I would be able to control several different strips off one RPi, but I will need multiple power supplies to do this?
-LL
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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: beginner

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

I was not able to find a strip on your website that was 4m long.
Just enter 4 in the quantity field.
So the 5V 2000mA charger can only drive one strip of these LED's right? I would be able to control several different strips off one RPi, but I will need multiple power supplies to do this?
We also have 5v supplies with 4A and 10A capability:
https://www.adafruit.com/products/658
https://www.adafruit.com/products/1466

It is also possible to power with mutiple supplies: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-neo ... uide/power
I need to power LOTS of NeoPixels and don’t have a power supply that large. Can I use several smaller ones?
Maybe. There are benefits to using a single supply, and large power supplies are discussed below. “Non-optimal” doesn’t necessarily mean “pessimal” though, and we wouldn’t discourage anyone from using what resources they have.

If you go this route, the key is to have all of the ground pins among the strips connected in common, but the +5V from each power supply should be connected only to one length of NeoPixels — those should not all be joined. Every power supply is a little different — not precisely 5 Volts — and this keeps some from back-feeding into others.

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lucascentric003
 
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Re: beginner

Post by lucascentric003 »

Hello,

so last time i posted about this LED neopixel project, you gave me a list of things i needed to buy, 1M neopixel, 74ahct125n, power supply, dc adaptor.
well now im reading the beginner document and it says i need a capacitor, and resistors.

"Before connecting NeoPixels to any power source, add a large capacitor (1000 µF, 6.3V or higher) across the + and – terminals as shown above.
Place a 300 to 500 Ohm resistor between the Arduino data output pin and the input to the first NeoPixel. This resistor must be at the NeoPixel end of the wire to be effective! Some products already incorporate this resistor…if you’re not sure, add one…there’s no harm in doubling up!"

The whole reason i posted was to avoid wasting time and get everything in one go so i could start my project right when i got home for the holidays. this page was published in 2013, so now i have to reorder and wait an additional week to get the materials i need. What can you do to make this right?

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: beginner

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

so last time i posted about this LED neopixel project, you gave me a list of things i needed to buy, 1M neopixel, 74ahct125n, power supply, dc adaptor.
Please look again. The list twas posted by you, along with a question about power supplies. I responded with several power supply options. It is not possible to specify a complete list of parts without knowing which powering option you would chose.

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lucascentric003
 
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Re: beginner

Post by lucascentric003 »

Good evening. Hopefully this is one of the last times I have to post about gathering materials prior to starting this LED lighting project. I will include links to every product I have purchased, in order to keep this organized for future reference. I started with a complete raspberry pi starter kit (https://www.adafruit.com/products/2126). The first round of materials I ordered based off this guide: (https://learn.adafruit.com/neopixels-on ... -pi/wiring):

I purchased 1 meter of neopixel strip leds (https://www.adafruit.com/products/1461).
On one end there were 4 wires, two( red and black I am assuming are for supplying electricity 5V and Gnd), and two which have a connector similar to this: . (https://www.adafruit.com/products/319). This does not match the wiring diagram in the guide above, which only shows 1 wire.
I purchase a 5V 2000mA power supply (https://www.adafruit.com/products/276) and female dc power adapter (https://www.adafruit.com/products/368).
I also purchased quad level- shifter to convert 3.3V pins on raspberry pi to 5V 74AHCT125 (https://www.adafruit.com/products/1787)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
After getting these, I found another guide (https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-neo ... -practices):

This guide recommends a 1000uF, 6.3V or higher capacitor (which i bought at radioshack (1000uF 35V)because i did not see one in the adafruit shop. http://www.radioshack.com/1000uf-35v-20 ... KNs6SvF_9s).
I also bought several 330 Ohm 1/4 watt resistors, similarly mentioned in this second guide(http://www.radioshack.com/330-ohm-1-4w- ... KNtXSvF_9s)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
So my first question is am I missing anything else? I believe I will need to buy one of these connectors in order to communicate with the strip to control intensity and color (https://www.adafruit.com/products/318). The issue I am having is that the RPi guide only shows 1 wire for Din (seen in this picture: https://learn.adafruit.com/system/asset ... 1410393346). So this is quite unclear for me.

If this inline power wire connector( female) is not the correct item, what should I buy instead? a female /male jumper wire? (https://www.adafruit.com/products/1954)
Is this the same item that can be seen in the stock photo of the neopixel strip (https://www.adafruit.com/images/970x728/1461-00.jpg)

Lastly, can someone update, or clear up for me, this wiring diagram to include the resistor placement, capacitor placement, and the two wire connector placement (mentioned above https://www.adafruit.com/products/319):
https://learn.adafruit.com/system/asset ... 1410393346

Thanks for putting up with my lack of electrical knowledge, I just dont want to break this on my first try since it took a lot for me to get these materials together.
happy new years.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: beginner

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

I purchased 1 meter of neopixel strip leds (https://www.adafruit.com/products/1461).
On one end there were 4 wires, two( red and black I am assuming are for supplying electricity 5V and Gnd), and two which have a connector similar to this: . (https://www.adafruit.com/products/319).
On which end are the wires attached? The Input end or the output end? You can tell by which way the arrows point on the strip.

It would be helpful if you could explain in more detail what you are making. As you have seen in the tutorials, there are many workable wiring options for neopixel strips.

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lucascentric003
 
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Re: beginner

Post by lucascentric003 »

so i want to learn how to control both light intensity and color hue of the neopixel strip. it would be great to have an updated wiring diagram for Rpi. All i want to do it use the strip as accent lighting and program patterns and such.

Additionally, i have a number of through hole LEDs that i am hoping to design my our LED lighting system.

Read right side up, the three connectors on the physical strip are Ground, Din, and 5V. the arrows run from left to right. the the wires stick out form the right side, downstream with the arrows. (empty connection---> ---> led lights--->---> 4 cables on other side: one for ground, one for 5V and 2 for Din.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: beginner

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

the the wires stick out form the right side, downstream with the arrows.
Those wires are on the output end of the strip. You won't be able to use them there. If you like, you can re-solder them to the input end of the strip. Or you can just use jumper wires.

For basic experimentation wired via a breadboard, you can wire it exactly as in the tutorial. This is easiest with a set of male/male jumpers: https://www.adafruit.com/products/1957 Simply solder one pin to the input end of the strip and plug the other one into the breadboard.

We recommend adding the capacitor between +5v and GND to protect against any power-on spikes from the power supply. This is not usually a problem with a quality power supply, but the capacitor is inexpensive insurance against a damaged strip.

The resistor recommendation applies to installations where there is a significant distance between the controller and the first pixel. If you choose to use one, solder it directly to the DIN pad on the input end of your strip. Then solder your jumper to the other end. A bit of heat-shrink tubing or electrical tape over the exposed wire will help protect against short-circuits.

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novasun
 
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Re: beginner

Post by novasun »

I'm interested on neopixels strips to start.
adafruit_support_bill wrote:What kind of neopixels are you interested in? We have strips, rings, sticks, matrices and several styles of individual pixels. If you let us know what kinds of projects you are interested in, we can point you to some relevant tutorials

We don't have an Arduino starter kit that includes neopixels. But you could order a starter pack and add some pixels of your choice.
https://www.adafruit.com/products/68
https://www.adafruit.com/search?q=neopixels&b=1

Our Flora starter kits come with a few of the individual pixels:
https://www.adafruit.com/products/1405
https://www.adafruit.com/products/1458

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novasun
 
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Re: beginner

Post by novasun »

Hello,

This is what I'm interested learning how to run/programmed. If I buy this can I buy a controller too?
Breadboard-friendly RGB Smart NeoPixel - Sheet of 25

Thanks,
Renato

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: beginner

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

The easiest controller to start with is the Arduino UNO. We have this available separately, or as a starter kit.
https://www.adafruit.com/products/50
https://www.adafruit.com/products/68
https://www.adafruit.com/products/193

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