RGB Strips

[TitanBry77]

Thanks for the information! I checked out that 9 channel strip, it looks very cost effective!

I read about what DC power supply a lot of people seem to use. So for the DC LOR controller, do you need to make your own enclosure etc?

[Santas Helper]

TitanBry77 wrote:

Thanks for the information! I checked out that 9 channel strip, it looks very cost effective!

I read about what DC power supply a lot of people seem to use. So for the DC LOR controller, do you need to make your own enclosure etc?

Yes, but it is fairly easy to do as they are smaller than the AC versions. Last year and this year I just hung two of mine from a coat hanger (zip tied) and had it in the garage hanging on the wall. The others outside I put in a plastic enclosure.

[friskybri]

Is there one Dumb strip that has a power supply of its own and way to control it like DMX or a cat 5 cable. Im trying to stay away from getting a dc controller.

Just started to watch the acl videos. wow. I got some videos to watch.

[ShaggySS]

Geoff,
You got my attention with the 9 channel controllable light section but when I go there I keep getting.

"The topic or board you are looking for appears to be either missing or off limits to you."

So I thought no biggie I will just search for 9 channel RGB. Of course you can't search for anything less than two characters which brings me back here asking for more info.

[MtDew4me]

I too am very interested in this 9-channel strip. As stated above, I had originally thought about interlacing modules so I can do chases. This strip sounds like a much better solution for me and much less wire management work.

[TitanBry77]

I wonder where it went, I viewed it the other day, I hope I bookmarked the site that sells them at home. I want to buy a couple, the video/link of them looked very promising.

[Geoff Harvey]

Hi
The original post at ACL forums seems to have disappeared - I will endeavour to find out why.

The product page can be found here. http://www.satisled.com/intelligent-rgb-led-strip-light-smd-5050-30led-per-meter-150led-5mreel_p426.html
Note, I have no personal experience with this product or this supplier, but the product certainly does look to be an interesting variation on RGB strip.

Regards Geoff

[MtDew4me]

Thanks Geoff. I will be looking into this a bit more for sure. It's not immediately apparent to me how to hook this up directly to an LOR DC board for9 channels as it looks like it only has 4 wires but I admittedly only looked at it for only a few minutes. I definitely plan further investigation and perhaps a even a call to Satisled talk with them. At $40 a 5m strip, the price is right for me.

Cheers, Brandon

[ShaggySS]

Geoff Harvey wrote:

Hi
The original post at ACL forums seems to have disappeared - I will endeavour to find out why.

The product page can be found here. http://www.satisled.com/intelligent-rgb-led-strip-light-smd-5050-30led-per-meter-150led-5mreel_p426.html
Note, I have no personal experience with this product or this supplier, but the product certainly does look to be an interesting variation on RGB strip.

Regards Geoff

I am curious how LOR controls it. You said 9 channel and typicaly RGB are 3 channel so that would lead me to believe that this needs 6 more channels off of the DC controller. Am I understanding that correctly?



EDIT: I type too slow

[Geoff Harvey]

For LOR to control this strip, it will take 9 channels on a DC board. - ie 3 RGB channels. The chase effect would be achieved by cycling these 3 RGB channels in whatever colour combinations you like.

The connector pictures show a 10 pin plug - presumably 9 pins for the 3*RGB channels and a common. It would be essential that the common is +ve - I have not found confirmation of this on the product web site. It does say 12V DC which is fine to use with the LOR DC boards.

Regards Geoff

[MtDew4me]

Thanks Geoff. I will soon be buying one of these to try it out. I'll be sure to post a report, if someone else doesn't beat me to it. If this works the way I hope it does, there will be 6 or 7 of them in my display next year.
~Brandon

[TitanBry77]

I thought I had this all figured out, then I started looking at some RGB floods also and now I'm confused again.

I read somewhere that for a lot of the floods, I need the iDMX interface. So reading that, then I thought well, would it be easier to run all RGB stuff off of the iDMX, because it seems like that gives you 512 channels? I was reading the data sheet and user guide for the iDmx and I see how it connects etc but I don't see how you would "wire" in devices like strips, floods etc?

Do you still need a DC board? I'm lost again, just when I thought I was "found" lol.

[Ken Benedict]

To run the dumb RGB strips by themselves, you need some kind of DC controller, either LOR or another manufacturer.

Some RGB strips come with a DMX controller, which you can plug into an iDMX1000.

Some of the RGB floods have these DMX converters built into the package and it should tell you in the documentation somewhere.

Some don't, which means you gotta go get one and wire it in yourself. THEN you can plug it into a DMX unit.

Although you can usually dim LED strings with an AC controller, trying to dim the RGB LED "strips" takes some kind of interface.

This keeps the Secret Smoke inside.

[MtDew4me]

Well, I just ordered one of the Intelligent RGB strips from SatisLED. I also ordered their strip power supply, their controller and a couple connectors (minimal additional cost), just in case LOR can't control it the way I want so I can use it somewhere else in the house as a stand alone light or something.

The strip I bought is: http://www.satisled.com/intelligent-rgb-led-strip-light-smd-5050-30led-per-meter-150led-5mreel_p426.html?number_of_uploads=0

I be sure and post my findings once it arrives and I can play with it a bit. It may be after the New Year before I get it and have time to put it through its paces.

Best,
Brandon

[imawlkr2]

patiently waiting on your review Brandon.

Not sure where in my display I would use these, but I love the possibilities.

[TitanBry77]

Second time ive heard about the secret smoke lol I dunno what that is.

[caniac]

ok, how long is 5 meters? how would this particular device be used/controlled by LOR?

[Guest guest]

TitanBry77 wrote:

Second time ive heard about the secret smoke lol I dunno what that is.

Secret smoke comes about when you OVERLOAD or OVER VOLTAGE an item like an LED. Say the LED voltage is 2.5 volts, if you put say 6 volts to that LED, it will either POP, SMOKE or usually BOTH. That's when the "secret smoke" comes out.

Same thing can happen with any type device, they all have that "secret smoke" that is kept inside unless someone does something foolish like that or, in some instances, it's called "experimentation" or "R&D (Research and Development)" to find out just how much voltage an item can take before it's destroyed and releases that secret smoke from it's interior.

BTW: In the case of LED's, that secret smoke is a horrid smell, and probably even toxic. If you've ever smelled a LED that has smoked/popped, you'll never forget that aroma!


BTW#2: Even your extension cords have that "secret smoke" and you sure don't want that coming out of any of those! When the secret smoke starts coming out of your cords, fire is usually the next order of business! And no one wants that!

[Guest guest]

caniac wrote:

ok, how long is 5 meters? how would this particular device be used/controlled by LOR?

5 meters = 16.4041995 feet (Basically about the same length as LOR's CCR's).

You have to have an LOR DC Card to control it, but you also have to make sure you can get this in common anode (+) to be used with an LOR DC Card. (I'm just going by what I've read here about others discussing these RGB LED strips.)

[rmturner54]

Common + is also known as Common Anode :cool: