Double sided rgb strips?

[Steven]

l0chte wrote:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/180766428555?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
- Purchased one of these.. This is a best offer one so I got 1 for 23$ (free ship) and its from a US seller.. The seller said he would go lower if I ordered more. I know what I will be doing this weekend..

That seller is in the next city, probably less than 5 miles away from me. I could probably pick them up will-call and get them the same day. :)

[Steven]

Steven wrote:

l0chte wrote:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/180766428555?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

That seller is in the next city, probably less than 5 miles away from me.

I got mixed results. I also bought one of these on eBay, and asked to pick it up will-call. It took them several days to get back to me with the address, which turns out to be 4 miles away. The problem is that this is a warehouse without a retail storefront, and they have no way of accepting orders or payments at the location. Furthermore, neither of their web stores, http://sunvalleytek.com/ or http://www.hootoo.com/ have that item listed.

As you can see from Google Maps, it's a large warehouse, filled to the ceiling with monitors, printers, and other computer and electronics, all imported from Asia.

The guy I talked to when I picked up my order was very friendly and, probably because he was in the business, knew some of what we know about LEDs and LED strips. He uses LED bicycle lights, and was interested in mounting RGB strips under his skateboard(!) He was surprised I was buying just the strip, saying he thought they required a controller as well, so I explained that I'm using them for Christmas lights with larger controllers, and showed him that the strip I was buying used 12v.

However, I still couldn't get him to sell me stuff directly from the warehouse. He looked for the strips on HooToo.com, but they aren't there, so he said it had to go through their rep, who in this case uses eBay. He said eBay would be the best price anyway. If I order next, I'll explain that I'll save them the shipping cost by picking it up will-call, and hopefully that will get me a better discount.

But first, I have to test the strips. They are much more flexible than the ones from Ray Wu, and have 3M sticky backing, suitable for adhering to a frame (although I doubt they would hold well to a PVC pipe in the weather). The didn't come with a pigtail, but instead a 3-pin connector, that looks like 0.1" spacing. When I get a chance, I'll roll them out and see how different they look.

[Rafter Bar R]

Far as waterproof strips go, if the strip is bent too sharp, the waterproofing can break off and expose the strip and LED's.

[beeiilll]

beeiilll wrote:

Joe Rayburn wrote:

scubado wrote:

I'm interested in these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/RGB-5M-5050-150leds-Waterproof-LED-Strips-Lights-30leds-m-500CM-Flexible-Carauto-/220888921557?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item336e0175d5

I am trying to understand this rgb stuff. Will the above referenced lights work hooked directly to an lor dc board without any of the other cheap dmx controllers such as the ones from Holiday Coro or Alli  Express? Right now I am interested in the RGB , (whole string rather than each pixel control). Sorry for the interuption of the thread . Would appreciate and help on this. Thanks.

Hi Joe

Yes those will work with the LOR CMB16D DC controller (well at least they better since I have some of them on order and am awaiting their arrival )!
But these are some of the so called "dumb" RGB strings that are out there. A couple of other people here on the forum have gotten these strings and are currently testing them as well.

Of course you have to wait till after the 1st of February to order any of these as it is Chinese New Year and they are all off right now.

Well I received my strips today and have set up a quick power supply with the remote control that I picked up to play with them.
They are nice and bright as well as everything that everyone has said about them. I'm impressed with the solid silicone coating on the strip as it looks like it will hold up fairly well in the weather, but of course only a good time test outdoors will tell.
I am going to make up a frame and attach the strip to a window and run it through the summer to see how these hold up.
But so far it looks good to me!

[harrison0550]

Well I got bored tonight so I figured why not post another test. This is the same strip I let take a bath in my earlier post but still wasnt convinced it would hold up to the elements or maybe I just wanted to see what it would look like in the yard:P either way I stuck it outside last week and have let it run from 5PM to 11PM every night. Its rained a few nights but as you can see in the video around the 6:00 min mark the controller, power supply, and area they are sitting in is soaked and nothing has failed yet......................

Now I do have a question for those that have upgraded to the advanced license and are running the same little $7 dmx controller with LOR show scheduler. Ive seen others mention that once your show completes with LOR the $7 controller reverts back to its factory sequence as long as its still receiving power. (yes i realize I'm telling on myself for being cheap and not upgrading my license yet, oh well) I just dont see a reason to upgrade yet. Anyway Ive noticed that scheduling my LOR show through xlights that the controllers shut off when the show stops. Does this happen when you schedule your shows through LOR?

[beeiilll]

Well Andy, I see you are at it again !!

Boy if I posted every time I was bored, LOR would have to get another forum and ISP just for my posts - LOL.

I got my strips but still have to pick up some of the little DMX modules to interface it to the computer. I did pick up one of the little IR controllers that were available to be able to test the strips and see what they look like at least. I think that I will have the buttons on it worn out in another month or so!

I am hoping to find some bigger jobs and have the extra funds to pick up a sample package from Dave over on Holiday Coro as well as several of the little DMX modules at the same time. Tough this time of year though as all the trades people around here are in the same boat as me and we swap our irritations and troubles every few days at the post office or the local quick stop gas station so just have to hang in there and wait and see.

I am curious as well about the modules and if they do actually run a random output with LOR when the sequence has stopped.
I have not upgraded either as 2.9.4 runs everything I need for right now and I will wait till I have the funds to do it later on this summer.

I take it that the modules don't run when the sequence has stopped and power stays on for you right now? Or are you just questioning LOR in general about how they will work under S3?

Yes,inquiring minds (and bored ones) want to know!!

[harrison0550]

That would be correct Bill. I sequenced the strip with LOR then saved it and closed LOR. Opened xlights and choose the LMS file I want xlights to run as a schedule daily or even just play once and it runs everything perfectly. No upgrade, it just works and must continue to send some type of lights off command over dmx because when the show stops everything turns off. I'm pretty happy with it as a solution for now until we see what all hits the market between now and this summer and it gives me a jump start on sequencing my songs and testing. I wasn't even aware of what all it could do until after reading a post from David over at holiday coro talking about him using it to run all of his show last year.

dmoore wrote:

Those wishing to sequence in LOR but output to E131 might wish to check out xLights which reads your LOR sequences and outputs to all the interfaces (LOR, d-light, E131, Open/Pro, Lynx, etc). It's free and includes a very strong schedule program. Also it has a scripting language so you can do just about anything. You can have your cake and eat it too!

I would download it if I were you Bill and just order one of those $7 dmx controllers. I'm sure you already have a usb485 sitting around so just plug a cat5 cable up to it and cut the rj45 connector off the other end. Take the solid blue wire from the cat5 and hook it up to the red input wire on the $7 controller and take the blue/white wire from the cat5 and hook it up to the blue input wire on the controller and BAM! That's all there is to it, start sequencing. Pretty cheap solution to get LOR control of rgb if you ask me.

[beeiilll]

Wow, that does sound almost too good to be true!

Guess I better go grab a copy of xLights and drop Dave an order for a couple of the DMX adapters and his programmer for them (have to get more than just one silly old adapter, don't you know!). Then I can play with the stip without the IR controller and actually "see" my sequencing through LOR to work on some songs for next seasons display.

I also got in touch with the vendor for the strips that I got and he will give me a great deal on a few of them. So once I can scrap together the cash for those, I will have enough to do all my windows and door on the front of the house as well as my roof line for 2012.
I just have to come up with a mounting system for the roof line that I like and will afford some extra protection for the strips but I am working on that some this afternoon.
Actually I am "on break" right now waitng for some epoxy to set so I can continue with some test fittings and a couple of projects that I am working on today.

Thanks for the info on this. I am off to get xLights now!

[Steven]

beeiilll wrote:

I am curious as well about the modules and if they do actually run a random output with LOR when the sequence has stopped.

I take it that the modules don't run when the sequence has stopped and power stays on for you right now?

I just tested this. First, the output isn't random when no DMX signal is present. It starts with white, then fade to red, yellow, green, cyan, blue, violet, black, then back to white and repeat.

If you have configured a DMX universe from the sequence editor, then as soon as the LOR control panel is launched, a DMX signal will be sent, which stops the cycling colors. You can launch and exit the sequence editor and the DMX signal will still be there, keeping the modules from running their test sequence.

If you exit (unload) the LOR control panel, the DMX sequence will stop unless you are using the Enttec DMX Pro. When using the Enttec DMX Pro, the DMX signal will continue until the Pro is configured to stop (I didn't actually do this), or until the power is lost.

When power to the Enttec DMX Pro is restored, it does not start transmitting a DMX signal until it is told to by launching the LOR control panel (which does so by launching LORCommListener.exe, behind the scenes.)

[harrison0550]

Thanks for checking on that Steven. So it sounds like the little 3 channels controllers running their factory sequence won't be a problem either way your show is ran. That's good news and hopefully the guys who were talking about it in that other thread will see this. I've got 20 more of those little guys on their way from Ray right now so I will hook all 20 up next month and see if there are any issues with lag, bandwidth, cpu usage or anything using the LOR usb485 instead of the enttec. I've read post about having to offset the channels with the LOR usb485 and multiple cheap controllers but until they come in I can't comment on it. Things are starting to come together!

[Steven]

harrison0550 wrote:

I've read post about having to offset the channels with the LOR usb485...

That's correct. At least in version 3.1.4, I set the channels in my sequence to 1,2,3 if using the Enttec Pro, but I have to set them to 2,3,4 when using the RS485. I assume that's an LOR bug that will be fixed in the next release.

[flogger7]

I have to offset the channels when I have more than 3 DMX devices on a universe driven by the usb485.

I am now using a DMX fusion pro without similar issues.

[harrison0550]

I wonder if there is currently or even in the near future a way to send the little 3 channel dmx controllers signal over e1.31?

[harrison0550]

Got a little disappointing/bad news tonight on the eBay strips I've been testing. They have now been outside since the first week of Feb so I moved them to the deck and mounted them under the hand rail. I've left them running 24/7 but after church we had a cookout and once the sun went down I noticed 4 LEDs bright red when the rest were purple and several other color mismatches. A closer look and I realized the blue led in each of the 4 rgb LEDs had failed. Not certain how common this is or when they failed exactly but oh well. Just a heads up. I will try to grab some pics in a few mins.

[JonB256]

flogger7 wrote:

I have to offset the channels when I have more than 3 DMX devices on a universe driven by the usb485.

I am now using a DMX fusion pro without similar issues.

This is not actually an LOR software bug, more of a hardware problem with RS485 adapters being used to send DMX. This is true with the LOR RS485 and with the RS485 sold by D-Light. They do not output a very good Open DMX waveform when compared to the industry standard (ENTTEC). The difference can make some (but not all) DMX devices be off by one channel.

Thankfully, they are dependably off by one channel.

So you can compensate in your programming setup
or
you can bite the bullet and get a "real" DMX dongle instead of the RS485.

[harrison0550]

Jeff Millard wrote:

harrison0550 wrote:

I wonder if there is currently or even in the near future a way to send the little 3 channel dmx controllers signal over e1.31?

Well, that's pretty much what E1.31 is... DMX over Ethernet... So yes, there is a way to control them. I'll be using Robert Martin's E1.31 to DMX board, which is based on the Sandevices E681 firmware. It has outputs for four 512 channel DMX universes. Each one can be directly connected to devices like the 3 channel DMX controllers.

Right now I have a $55 box full of parts from Mouser for this device. The $8 PCB should be available from RPM within the next week or so.

How's the Dark Side sounding people?

Jeff

Good deal Jeff, I hadn't seen that board prior to now. Is there a holiday lighting forum your not on lol? Looks perfect to me. I went ahead and ordered the parts from Mouser as well and signed up for notification when the board is back in stock. Also ordered some new led dumb strips from yet another manufacturer to see if I can find a set that will last more than 2 months.

On a slightly different subject have you Jeff, or anyone for that matter done a side by side video comparison of the 2801 or 6803 led strips with one ic every 3 LEDs VS one ic for each led? I'm still trying to decide how much control I want over my pixel strips. Curious to see side by side comparison of chases, alternating colors, etc.

[dougd]

Do you have a link to the strips that have one ic for every 3 leds? Is there much savings?

[harrison0550]

dougd wrote:

Do you have a link to the strips that have one ic for every 3 leds? Is there much savings?

Here ya go Doug.....http://www.aliexpress.com/fm-store/701799/209843764-519162566/5m-led-digital-strip-DC12V-input-WS2801IC-256-scale-12pcs-IC-and-36pcs-5050-SMD-RGB.html

And just for reference here is the strip with one ic per led...http://www.aliexpress.com/fm-store/701799/209843764-465132154/5m-led-digital-strip-DC5V-input-WS2801IC-256-scale-32pcs-IC-and-32pcs-5050-SMD-RGB.html

We need to get together soon and play with some of this stuff.

[dougd]

harrison0550 wrote:

We need to get together soon and play with some of this stuff.

Sounds good. I have my 2 E681's built and tested. Have an ELOR. I tested a little bit to get an understanding on how it worked and then I have been re-doing my bathroom ever since. I will have it finished by tommorow night so my plan is to do some more testing this weekend.

You seem to have your head around normal DMX, I need some help understanding that stuff, so I need to pick your brain on that. Maybe we can put our parts together for some good testing.

[DocBrown86]

Anyone know where to get these $6 or $7 DMX decoders? This will be my first year using the RGB strips, haven't even purchased them yet. I want to convert my spiral trees over to them, Cracker did this and it looks awesome! I'm just wondering if to do it, I'd have to double up the amount by sticking them back-to-back... I hope not, as that would be twice as expensive.
Also, can multiple 5m reels be attached to one DMX decoder? I am wondering this because if not, ie. one of my spiral trees, which is 1 channel, soon to be 3 when it is RGB, would then have to be 6 channels in LOR, due to the extra decoder or 2 used due to the length/multiple reels. This would be a pain in the programming aspect.
Any thoughts on all this?