Hello. I have a V3 Pixelblaze with the pre-soldered connection and bought the GS8208 lights. They don’t come on when I power it up, which after reading more into the docs appears to be because it needs 5V power in. I have the Mini Buck 5v DC converter but there were no instructions. I assume I need to solder it but not sure where the connections go. Thanks for any guidance, I am a beginner. 
PS I also have the Pro Expander if that makes a difference.
Hey! I’m not in a spot where I can easily draw a diagram, but if a written description would help, look for the section of the Getting Started page titled “Connecting WS2815 or GS8208 Type LEDs”
https://electromage.com/docs/hardware-getting-started
Remember that all grounds can/should be connected together.
Then, +12V will go to your strip and the minibuck, and that will produce +5V which will go to VIN on your Pixelblaze.
I think there’s a clever spot to solder a minibuck right on top of a pro expander, but again I’m sorry I’m not at home. A fast mediocre answer to get you started!
Thanks! I realized after posting that I think the Pro Expander already has a 5v DC converter on the board. So I guess I need to loop that into the configuration.
Ok, I’ve got myself sorted with the lights working now through the Pro Expander and the built-in 12v->5v converter.
Next question I had about these particular lights - the product description has the following:
These use the common, unclocked WS281x “neopixel” protocol for data transmission. For redundancy, there’s a backup data line that will leapfrog a pixel that goes bad or a broken data. The first pixel’s backup data line, labeled D2 or BI, should be connected to GND.
The first expander LED port has GND, D0, D1, V+ pins. I have Data (yellow wire) going to D0 and that works. D1 currently unused. Should I be connecting the other wire (green) on the GS8208 to GND also for this backup data feature to work? Thanks!
Yes - this will result in the best overall stability instead of letting it “float”.
Hi @larana
Just curious - where did you get your GS8208 strips? I’ve been looking at these for a project for next Christmas, where I need 12V with minimal voltage drops, and the GS8208 seems to fit that requirement particularly well.
Many thanks,
Les.
ElectroMage sells them directly! This is where I got them.
OK, that’s cool. Thanks for the quick reply. I was unaware that Electromage were selling them - I previously only saw them on AliExpress from various relatively unknown sellers. Now I need to think about how long a length to get.
