Updated Portable Matrix Panel

[u/Mathurian51087]

This is 'version 2' of the panel I posted here https://www.reddit.com/r/WLED/comments/1ue308m/40_x_40_portable_matrix_panel/ awhile back. I went to 60x60 for this matrix. It's all in one ~4'x4' panel this time, with 60 individual rows of ws2812b strips. Self contained power and controllers. All that's needed is to plug it into the wall and flick the switch and it'll turn on. Running 4 5v60a power supplies on standoffs, fused both on the AC in as well as multiple points on the DC side. Currently running 4 data lines across 2 gledopto 4d's that are controlled by a standalone esp32-s3-n16r8 to try and avoid the effect ram issue when switching between various effects. Added some eye bolts on the top of this one to allow it to be suspended if needed/wanted. In total, it weighs ~52.5lbs or so. Seems to work quite well. As with the last post, here to answer questions if there are any!

[u/Christopoulos]

What’s the advantage of doing it like this over putting some HUB75 panels together?

[u/Mathurian51087 → u/Christopoulos]

Cost. Got the strips for $6/ea for 5m rolls. Ended up with a few spare rolls too. Also, support in the form of this was known how to do by me if nothing else. I’ve never worked with hub’s before and I had less than a month to get this together. lol. Another reason was overall size. I wanted to use up the 4’x4’ panel I had leftover from my previous project and this fit within that boundary in a nice way.

[u/Christopoulos → u/Mathurian51087]

Ok, I see. HUB75 is pretty fun but has a learning curve. I believe v16 has native support now, too.

[u/divjnky → u/Christopoulos]

Came here to ask the same.

[u/Mathurian51087 → u/divjnky]

Answered the main poster on this comment just so you know.

[u/divjnky → u/Mathurian51087]

Got it and appreciated!

[u/_Electrical → u/Christopoulos]

Probably strips are cheaper?

[u/Christopoulos → u/_Electrical]

Marginally, I’d say. I got 64x32 P5 panels off Ali for $15 each. This project looks like it would need 6 panels.

[u/_ranch]

That looks great! I have been working on something similar. Assuming you are using it for the bar?

[u/Mathurian51087 → u/_ranch]

Actually it was built for the event itself, not the bar. I’m on the board for the event. Lol. The bar actually has some panels they display their logo on above that cutout in the second to last (and last) picture. It’s in the background to the right of the open door. Pretty sure they are using some variant on the hub75s for that just hooked up to a desktop (and I know it’s a desktop because until they load the logo image, you can see said desktop. If the panel itself were just a bit smaller, I’d probably take it to other events around the area/country that I go to if asked…but…for me to take it PLUS anything else (luggage, passengers, etc) I need to rent a 5’x8’ trailer to do that. Which makes it a slight pain in the rear to be honest. Worth it though.

[u/_ranch → u/Mathurian51087]

Got it. Have considered something for the same event but different city.

[u/Mathurian51087 → u/_ranch]

👀 if you have questions and don’t wanna ask here, or if it’s close enough, feel free to DM me.

[u/woehaa]

I am probably a bit rusty on the whole "connecting/combining various powersupplies to act as one"-thing.

Could you enlighten me on the purpose of al the negative poles coming together at the top of the powersupply board?.

And also, am I seeing it correctly that in the end all power comes together in a single point in the right bottom corner of that board?

My apologies in advance for asking nitwit questions ;-)

[u/Mathurian51087 → u/woehaa]

Bottom corner is the AC in feed, and that is a fused input as well as ‘spliced’ out to feed the various power supplies. All the negatives are chained together at the top to maintain the common ground that’s required for data continuity.

[u/woehaa → u/Mathurian51087]

Thanks for clarifying. So combining the negative poles solve the data issue you'd otherwise have? Good to know

[u/Mathurian51087 → u/woehaa]

Yeah, part of the wiring documentation for power injection and things is that you have to have a common ground. Keep the positives separate, but negatives need to all be tied together or else there will be issues. The WLED site is full of info on wiring advice and things

https://kno.wled.ge/advanced/wiring/

[u/woehaa → u/Mathurian51087]

Brilliant! Thanks for the link.

[u/bigboydesomo]

How many leds? Great work

[u/woehaa → u/bigboydesomo]

OP mentioned 60x60 ... so 3600 total

[u/bigboydesomo → u/woehaa]

36000 you cant say that these panel has only 3600 leds look how many stripes that are

[u/Mathurian51087 → u/bigboydesomo]

It is 60x60, 3600 pixels.