Ahoy!  - I have a neopixel 300 led strand - I intend to pimp out my Wife's Honda Odyssey as a practical joke..  So this is for a "good cause" ...

I got it working on an Uno, but on the Esp8226 I got "no love" ..

I'm using the Adafruit library, and strandtest sketch "works" on an Uno.

One interesting thing I noticed is when "strandtest" is running - pixels change 3 at a time..

Now if you look at the circuit board of my strand its composed of 100 segments soldered together (16' total) each with 3 LEDs.  
 

EACH LED IS MULTI-COLORED meaning each appears to be equivalent in capability of producing full RGB.

The working Uno test currently changes 3 LEDs at a time ...

I do this to intialized the strandtest sketch with the Adafruit library

Adafruit_NeoPixel strip = Adafruit_NeoPixel(100, PIN, NEO_RGB + NEO_KHZ400);

I think perhaps since I see a "chip" for 3 LEDs in each segement, that the hardware manufacturer gives me only enough control to "control" 100 LEDs (in sets of 3) even though there are 300 LEDs .. 
So they can advertise as 300 LEDS !!!! - but you can only control 100 ... BASTARDS !

Regardless - the 3 to 1 problem will still work to pimp the mini-van .. so the next real hurdle is to get this working on an esp8266 ..

Carp suggested FastLed library which I'll probably try next.

 

Carp

6 years 10 months ago

i didn't buy brand name leds, so i went with community libraries. hopefully they have it working.  

AutonomicPerfe…

6 years 10 months ago

Hi GroG

Well, the manufacturers of your strand certainly are a bunch of scammers... As for the ESP problem, the ESP series microcontrollers use 3.3V logic levels instead of 5V, so powering the strand with 5V and using an ESP would cause erratic behavior. Powering the strand with 3.3V would correct the problem, or using a logic level shifter on the ESP pins.

Hope it helps!

P.S. I bet we'd all like to see the finished product ;)

GroG

6 years 10 months ago

Thanks for the info AP...  if that's the case I believe I'll need a voltage level logic shifter .. because the strand is 12 volts

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J7EHAZW

And when I look at the description they DO say 100 ICs  .. I didn't know what that meant .. now I do :)

Honestly, I can't complain really about the strand, it works with an Uno, and maybe with your suggestion I'll get it working with the esp8266.  Single pixel control doesn't really matter in this case either since they will be pointing down illuminating the street below and making the van totally dope.  Hmmm giant subwoofers suddenly come to mind :D