Quote:
Originally Posted by matt99199
battery operated can be done, robot batteries also, but i always used a 120v-12v transformer that could control power changes.
any type of font is possible, i use auto cad for most of it, so that is why it looks so good when it is done.
all pictures that i had of other signs where deleted when my system got trashed thanks to ubuntu linux. i only had those others because they where on fb.
as for the resistor stuff, it works fine and would cost way too much with that many of them. i have had these signs running for half a year continuous and nothing went wrong or shorted out. it might be beacuse of the choice of transformer i used. so unless something cateoustrophic happens, i'm not worried about the current flow. another reason they couldn't have a problem is because i undervoltage them. i use 12v but the outcome is 12.6, so if there was a problem with current then the extra LED or 2 would level it out.
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With parallel wiring, one resistor could regulate the current for many LEDs arranged in groups of 4 or 5 in series. It might even be possible to get away with one resistor per color, although higher wattage resistors might be necessary (but I don't know this for sure). Additionally, resistors are probably the cheapest electronic devices in existence ranging from $0.30 each for ten watt resistors down to $0.004 each for a reel of 5000 1/8 watt SMD resistors. 1/4 watt resistors can be found for $0.10 for a package of 10 (not SMD). The LEDs will cost far more than the resistors do by far, so I wouldn't worry too much about the cost of resistors especially when you consider the alternative of having to buy a new set of relatively expensive LEDs.