I’m making a hexagon light. And I made 6 total connectors on the pannel, one on each side of the hexagon so I can easily change the pattern. Like this (before using levelshifter on 40 brightness).
I’ve connected the data out from levelshifter directly to the led(without the thin wire) but the led is still flickering. I also tried with only 1 parallel strip and it was still flickering. I guess I’ll just try another levelshifter brand (still the same chip) another 100nf capacitor and the stepdown 5v. Still waiting for them to arrive.
You could try some different resistors in line on the data output to the first strip to see if the flickering goes away. I would maybe try something like 249Ω if it gets worse, maybe a smaller value.
Most common are 249Ω or 33Ω, but generally with short wiring they tend to be unneeded.
Is there flicker if you only have 1 strip connected and none parallel?
is that a 74HCT245? did you check the datasheet? wiring looks wrong to me
Thank you so much @divsys just added the 5v stepdown and the flickering is now gone. Maybe the power from microusb is not in the 4.5-5.5v range for the levelshifter to work properly.
Thank you @Jinx I will add the resistor if the flickering comes back.
@dedehai yes it is an SN74HCT245N I followed the wiring like the picture above this. Where is the mistake in my wiring? In case it will cause any problem in the future.
Glad you got it working. Some of those cheap USB chargers can have a very noisy supply (as well as cheap chassis ones). I have a cctv setup that connects to a pc capture card vie a powered digital converter dongle and I can visually see a mess of wavy lines depending on what adapter I power it with.
1 Like
Coincidentally, earlier this year I made up a bunch of what I call ‘Pixel Tiles’, hexagonal PCBs with a 5050 WS2812B on the front and 3 pin-headers (1-in and 5-out) on the back that just plug together, but they are languishing in my project backlog. May I ask, what did you do for the cases/diffusers?
Glad you’re up and running.
The '245 wiring looks like it may be OK, but you’ll get better results in the long run if you solder the chip/capacitor to a piece of perfboard rather than “free air”.
Easier to debug problems/measure voltages as well.
Thanks all for the solutions.
I’m using 2mm white acrylic for the diffuser. And for the case I used wood for the prototype. But I will be using HDPE (High Density Polyetlhyne) plastic. It is the safest and easiest plastic to work with (120º C softening point). The HDPE will be heated with an oven. I’m still working on the moulding case (with metal sheets). Here is the model with cardboard. the 2 seperate molding cast will be pressed with a hydrolic press.
Chek this youtube for further information about molding HDPE https://www.youtube.com/@BrothersMake.
1 Like
Adding a resistor may help aswell. I never use lever shifter but maybe it because i use ws2812b. Each led turns it to 5v so you only need the first led to get the signal ok.
1 Like
@Benn You inspired me to assemble my pixel tiles. Do you mind if I post my pixel tile project in the Hardware forum?
Sure, you can!