Hey guys. I have a super noobish question. I was running a string of 100 WS2801’s off of an arduino Uno but have decided to switch over to a Teensy 3.0. Which pins do I hook up my clock and data lines to on the Teensy? I’m embarrassed for asking but havent’ been able to find any clear examples of how to wire these on the Teensy. Thanks!
http://www.pjrc.com/teensy/pinout.html is a great pinout reference. Specifically, the pins you want are 11 (labeled DOUT - for Data Out) and 13 (labeled SCK - for Clock).
You don’t need to specify the pins in the addLeds call, the library will default to using the hardware SPI system and identify the right pins to use. (If you do specify the pins, however, it will also recognize that you asked for the hardware SPI pins and use that system).
What’re you building? 
Thanks Daniel. I saw the SCK for clock, I just wasn’t sure about the data line.
Am I correct in assuming that the LEDs and the teensy still need to share a ground, and that it isn’t a problem that the Teensy 3.0 is 3.3v and the WS2801s take 5v?
Thanks again for all the awesome work!
Right - they need to share a ground. I haven’t run into a lot of problems yet with most of the chipsets out there wanting 5v signals (even when the leds may be 12v) and the teensy 3 putting out 3.3v.
I have gotten some level shifters to play with to pull the voltages from 3.3 up to 5, but in practice, haven’t come across a situation where i need them, yet.
I’m actually running some strips that are, technically, 5V, with a Li+ battery which outputs a nominal 3.7V - they work just fine.
Cool thanks. I was just debating whether to order some level shifters to pull the 3.3 up, so that’s really helpful to hear that it may not be necessary. Cheers!
Nah. In fact, my current test rig has an Arduino running at 5V, and the strips connected to the battery at a nominal 3.7V and the DATA/CLK lines connected directly to the strip. No issues what so ever. Ultimately, the controller I’m planning to use will run at 3.3V and the strips at 3.7V. Since they don’t drive the lines, it won’t matter.
Right on. Thanks for the knowledge, Ashley.
Hey Daniel, sorry, I didn’t see the rest of your first comment yesterday. I’m using a Kinect to make a gesture controller for Ableton Live. The plan is to use the LEDs as the actual interface that lets the user know which tracks are enabled. So, when a user makes a certain gesture, it turns on a loop and some LEDs light up. The audio portion works well, I’m just having a little trouble getting the LED portion to work well.