So let’s allow this plot to thin….
So far in this rabbit-hole I purchased and returned Fantasma Owl (unable to install SW) units. Next up were the FH801PRO 416 leds. I bought Lixada labeled units through WallyWorld and got them in less than 2 weeks. Product was clearly opened and the battery was removed. But I have a rather large pile of 1.1Ah 18650 cells that will work (bought new wrappers for them). The device wants button tops but I spot welded some tops and they work nicely. This unit allows charging via USB port so the batteries never need to be removed….
As mentioned before, this unit is limited to hub size (50-65mm?). But if you are handy, the cables to each wing/leg are capable to be spliced.
The SW comes installed on a 4G microSD card and comes with a USB reader. Do not think a bigger card will hold more stuff (2G are big enough!). The PRO system is capable of less than 2048 frames. If you get cryptic errors when downloading, this is more than likely your issue. Reduce to less than 2048 frames and try again (number of frames is not known until download). The tool is not very smart, but does come with a CODEC to deal with most formats. HOWEVER, either use the SW on a blank Virtual Machine or an old computer you don’t care about and remove all connections to the outside world and SneakerNet your files in. The reason for this caution is I installed the tool on my company computer and got a call from our IT department to schedule a removal…. (Set off our corporate IT alarms!)
You can only save files to SD cards. So use a thumb drive to SneakerNet the files and save your work. You can’t really edit your work other than delete and rearrange them….
The tool is very caveman like and could use an update, but it does work! I found bright colors are the most fun. Video is not what I wanted but meh….
Since we are in a fireworks restricted area, I loaded it up with fireworks and trippy GIFs, MPG4 and other things I thought would be fun. July 4th evening, I rode up and down our streets. The cheers from my wife and daughters brought out other neighborhoods into a fun impromptu party. Was good to see them after more than a year…
-BB
Will try to add video later….