LED Rear Tigé Emblem

[Hydrotunes]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u598V...e_gdata_player

[Timmy!]

That's cool! Got any pics of how you built it?

[skippabcool]

Looks cool.

[Hydrotunes]

here's a few

and a link to another one we did a while back:

http://www.hydrotunes.com/gallery/#/09tigerz4/09tigerz4

[Timmy!]

Holy cow! You have some time and patience invested in that sucker!

[Hydrotunes]

Here's some shots of the rest of the system. Later in the year we are going to be tearing her back down for some serious upgrades!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...type=1&theater

[4bw]

That is awesome, what type of controller is used to produce the light show?

[zad0030]

That's a lot of holes

[strohlde]

Thought you young guys liked lots of holes?

[tnvolgrad]

Wow - there is no way I could have put that many holes in my boat. Pretty cool!

[Nobody]

You guys amaze me. I plan to do the same on Tim Whites old RZ4 using 336 LED custom machined into the SS rub rail. The process is the same as what you just did. Long drawn out wire by wire ordeal.

[Wickedcummins]

Im doing something like this but Im doing it more like a circuit board so there is ONE hole =)

[Hydrotunes]

Nobody- that sounds pretty sweet! I'd like to see that when it's all said and done. Have you looked into LED strip for that? You possibly COULD save some holes and time with that. We have done a couple different things there I can share some pictures of if you'd like. How's the "old" boat holding up? Still running the same setup with the Hertz amps? I should still have a TON of build pics I could send you if your interested.

A circuit board isn't a bad idea aside from the rear not being flat and needing to flex, and waterproofing it and designing it not to be thicker than 1/4" etc. we messed around with double layers of acrylic with channels, EL strip, EL Tape & sheets. Nothing we tried produced the same effect. I'd love to see what you come up with though. I'm always looking for ways to improve ideas.

[Nobody]

Same here, I've thought long and hard and did a lot of research both in LED's, Controllers, and Implementation. I don't like the strip light idea because it leaves me limited, sorta like an ugly aftermarket strip light glued on. Having the proper LED is also critical so the light show can be seen during the day. We went with Nichia NSPB546DS, which is an oval LED used for high output display signs we commonly see at stadiums. The luminescence is rated about 950-1000. Qnty 1000. I went with a 128 channel DMX controller by SIRS-3 (Lumadesk). I plan to incorporate 6 LED's per channel (3 port and 3 starboard). Using just BLUE of course meant 3 LED's per boat side/ per channel. I would have approx. 10 LED's per lineal ft. of boat, thus I wrap around the transom. This would give us full programming capabilities including MIDI (light output based on base output/intensity). The DMX controller software would allow us to program our sequence patterns, which would be about 15 patterns before we ran out of internal memory. Not bad because you typically have about 5 chase patterns, 5 dance patterns, and about 5 other misc patterns light fade in and fade out. To embed the LED's into the SS rub rail would require programmed CNC machining since the LED's are oval and fit is critical, then set into an epoxy resin made by Masterbond, or similar to any two part epoxy that hardens like metal. The LED's cannot stick out, so the rub rail is beveled on the left and right sides of the hole because we're aiming for 110 degree light pattern (110 degrees horizontal X 45 degrees vertical). Just like your pictures depict, each LED requires painstaking wire stitching back to the circuit board. We bought water tight connectors that provide 32 pins per connector to make things snap in/out removable. Then the project got put on hold due to a big job at work. I'd really like it to be done by December so I can show it off in the annual Christmas parade down here in Maderia Beach and Clearwater Beach Florida. As for the Wetsounds equipment....the Hertz Amps needed to go in for repair a couple of times and the HP1 died completely. The adjustment knobs tend to be the biggest issue. The subs all have their own SYN1's now (3) and the in-boat speakers have all been replaced. I really want to install Wetsounds new 8" speakers in the bow but nobody will tell me when they're available. I hear soon???? Back to LED project.....I wanted to make the project super clean with little visual notice. Clean, smooth and flush would be the best outcome. By the looks of your work, it seems you’re looking for the same high end appearance as I am. So in time, we shall collaborate because two minds are better than one. I will take pictures every step of the way. Since I’m an amateur videographer, there will be video on this project too. Oh yea, had to replace all the batteries this year too. 3+ years and that’s about it I guess. Good chatting with you.

[Nobody]

Update to Nobody's LED light show. I was mistaken about the DMX controller we bought.


We ended up with the SLESA-U7 by Nicolaudie.
http://www.nicolaudie.com/slesa-u7.htm
http://www.nicolaudie.com/downloads/...eb_esa2011.pdf

The ouput controller card we chose was the DMX75 by WTechnology. This one: http://www.megaled.com/dmx-75-led-systems.html
75 total available channels. One color = Blue, 6 LED's per channel, 3 port and 3 starboard. 225 LED's per boat side (75X3=225), or 8 LED's per lineal foot based on a 24' boat (RZ4) with 4' wrap around the transom.

Another way to do this would be to to equally mount 3 led's in-between each rub rail screw. Based on screw count, there are 54 sections of rub rail on our RZ4 from the bow all the way back to the middle of the transom. Mounting 3 led's per section gives us 162 LED's, each side. Or, another way to go would be.....every two led's can be a channel, thus 81 channels. Since we top off at 75 channels, this wouldn't work unless we choose to not go around the transom. If you have a RZ2, your good, the two less feet of boat makes things ideal. 2 led's per channel would work out perfectly.

We just might choose to leave out transom lighting for now and keep our led integrity close, this essentially means keeping the LED/channels close. Based on 2 led's per channel, no transom lights, we would have a led/channel every two inches, each led spaced 1" apart. Did everyone get this?

If you had 2 color LED's, you will utilize two DMX75 controll cards, and if you had 3 colors you would use three DMX75 control cards. The extremely high output LED's are typically one color (for now, technology changes FAST with LED's).

The DMX75 is perfect based on the ruggedness of the output board. Each channel having it's own fuse. 150ma output current per channel and 250ma peak. If you want, you can stack up to three, giving you 225 individual outputs. This is massive!!!!! The down side is that the board is serial based. Not a biggie since USB to serial is a no brainier these days.

Just to be clear, the DMX75 must come with the Vdriver board and the decoder board. It should come as one, sandwiched together. I'll snap a picture of ours when I get a moment.

Electronics enclosure: Sealcon hinged polycarbonate enclosure with transparent cover. Big enough to mount everything including a cooling fan. Part number: 3.140.0745.68 (7.87" x 15.75" X 7.36")

Electrical disconnect: You'll want a way to easily service the 900 wires going to the DMX75 control card. The best solution are the Deutsch connectors distributed by LADD. We bought the DRC series. http://www.laddinc.com/our-products/...%20series.html Specifically: DRC12-48 male and female. An LED show of any kind quickly becomes a spaghetti nightmare, so wire color and ID is extremely important. Example: P1A = port side, Channel 1, bulb A. P1B = port side, channel 1, bulb 2 S1A = Starboard side, Channel 1, bulb A S1B = Starboard side, Channel 1, Bulb B ---and on and on, these four wires go to one pin because there all channel #1. Having the means to unplug 48 LED's at a time is necessary, or in this case 37 leds X 4. (4 sets of DRC-12-48 / male - female) The pins are stainless steel and the whole connector is water tight. With LED's, connections are critical. Always use tin coated wire too!!!

Power supply: LED's need good clean power just like high end amps. It's always best to supply something of this magnitude with a 12 volts input / 3.2 volts output power conditioner that will ensure consistent, clean output regardless of input variations.

The prior info was based old notes from our original design. Sorry if I put anybody on a wild goose chase.
This set up is what we currently have on our shelf but waiting for implementation.

Like I said, embedding 225 led's into the stainless rub rail without extrusions is NOT easy and has been my biggest hangup.

For those that believe in the big bang theory when it comes to LED intensity, Nichia will soon have a green oval LED that puts out Luminous Intensity of 2700 with directivity 110/60 (degrees). This amount of light intensity is powerful and clearly visible at long range during the day. For now, blue is stuck in the 1000-1200 luminous intensity.


If anybody else want to embark on this journey, I have enough LED's for two boats.