The Wired Watts Pixel Tester comes standard with a 2.1mm / 5.5mm barrel connection for power. However, this may not be the easiest way to use the tester when you have a large / dense prop. The video below covers three different ways to power the Pixel Tester.
The first and easiest way to power the pixels and the Pixel Tester would be using a power-brick / wall-wart with the proper barrel connection already attached. When choosing a power supply, be sure that it will have enough power to handle the load of pixels being attached to the pixel tester at full white. As an aside, a strand of 100 pixels will consume around 60 watts of power on full white. We always recommend a power supply that will provide at least 120 watts for this type of application. Be sure when you choose this supply, the polarity matches that of the Pixel Tester. This means the center pin must be Voltage Positive and the surrounding barrel would be Voltage Negative.
The second way to power the Pixel Tester would be to back-feed the power using a power injecting tee, a pigtail, and a modular power supply. To attempt this, you would connect your pigtail to the positive and negative terminals of your power supply. The data line is not necessary in this setup and should not be connected to anything. With the pigtail providing power, connect the tee to the pigtail. Now both of the other two ports on the tee have power. Connect your pixels to one of the female ports, and the pixel tester to one of the male ports on the tee. This will provide power to both the pixels and the tester, and the tester will provide data down the data line of the tee.
The last way to power the pixel tester is directly. In this scenario, you would cut the barrel connection off the Pixel Tester, strip the power wire, and directly connect it to a power supply. This method is not preferred because the length of wire is very short, and this will void your warranty.
