RGB Nodes

[edvas69]

Umm. Am I missing something? $36 for 1 strip?

that is for smart digital strip

Dumb strip is about 1/2 the price and I added the links above

[Ken Benedict]

Umm. Am I missing something? $36 for 1 strip?

I'm about 45 minutes away from you; I have the 2811 strips and controller. Let me know if you'd like a demo defore you invest.

Also have the LOR CCRs too, another excellent product.

And the 6803 smart strips (although not as popular).

[steve synek]

that is for smart digital strip

Dumb strip is about 1/2 the price and I added the links above

I wonder if he was including the shipping price?

Steve

[gtoyeah]

I'm about 45 minutes away from you; I have the 2811 strips and controller. Let me know if you'd like a demo defore you invest.

Also have the LOR CCRs too, another excellent product.

And the 6803 smart strips (although not as popular).

Pm sent!

[coralfishg]

i hate to bring this post back from the dead.. but i have questions so i have to..lol..  these are probably dumb questions but bare with me,  this year is my first year computerizing the display so all this is still new to me..  these dumb strips and smart digital strips are able to be controlled with lor software just like lor ccr's are?  and edvas69 you said that if your not good with diy to go with ccr's.. what diy is needed to make these work like ccr's?  I have two ccr strips in my show this year, and whould love more but the cost is obviously not allowing that to happen.  

 

thanks for any help..

jason

[ryebred]

i hate to bring this post back from the dead.. but i have questions so i have to..lol..  these are probably dumb questions but bare with me,  this year is my first year computerizing the display so all this is still new to me..  these dumb strips and smart digital strips are able to be controlled with lor software just like lor ccr's are?  and edvas69 you said that if your not good with diy to go with ccr's.. what diy is needed to make these work like ccr's?  I have two ccr strips in my show this year, and whould love more but the cost is obviously not allowing that to happen.  

 

thanks for any help..

jason

 

I have had CCR's in my display for a couple years and this is the first year with 26 strings of Ray Wu WS2811 pixels. I have also had other dumb RGB elements in my display for a couple years. For dumb RGB you can control them with the LOR DC controller and they are pretty simple. For smart strings it can get a little more complicated. Some things you need to do which are DIY...

 

1.) You need a pixel controller. Most go with Joshua Systems ECG-P12R(X) or the San Devices E682.

2.) You need to decide on 5V or 12V and get the appropriate power supplies and wire those into the controller.

3.) You need to set the proper jumpers on the controller based on the voltage of the power supply.

4.) The strings come with bare wire ends usually so you need to either build or buy 4 or 3 wire extensions depending on what type of pixels you choose and then you need to solder those extensions to all of your strings.

5.) You need to figure out how many strings you want to connect together because that will determine if you need power injection. The voltage of the strings you use will also determine how many pixels you can power before you need to start injecting power.

6.) You need to make the whole thing water proof.

7.) I can almost guaruntee you will get some dead pixels throughout the year, especially if you buy from Ray Wu. You should be able to cut out your dead pixels and be able to solder in a spare pixel and heat shrink your joins. Either that or stock up on a lot of spare strings and replace the whole thing.

8.) Getting the LOR visualizer to work with E1.31 pixel strings can sometimes be tricky, especially if you dont have 50 pixel CCR clones running in straight lines or as a tree or arch. I have 50 pixels in a string as a mega tree so I just created a CCR mega tree and then created a new configuration on the show computer for DMX which I used when I was done sequencing.

 

Ryan

[coralfishg]

thanks for your response.. as much as Im happy with your response.. I think i hate it, because this means this hobby is about to get allot crazier for me lol..  i think i would want to get my feet wet with just the dumb rgb's first.. if i understand you right all i would need to control them would be this http://store.lightorama.com/cmdedcca3.html . now it says it's 24 channels, so does that mean i can only hook up 24 of the rgb strips to one controller, or can you daisy chain the rgb strips so you could hook 48 or 72 strings or more to one controller.  basically like plugging one normal light strand into another.  also.. when sequencing, if i went with the dumb rgb's i will be able to synchronize the lights like normal right from the sequence editor.  and do you have any issues with the visualizer with dumb rgb's .  thanks again for any help you can give me..  

 

by the way, i love your new pixel tree.. I would love to make one, but probably not gonna happen next year..

[coralfishg]

hmm.. there was more to my post..

 

the controller that i posted above says that it's 24 channels. does that mean that's all the more rgb's you can plug into the controller.. or can you daisy chain the rgb's and plug 48 or 72 light strings in it like you can with normal light strings

when sequencing will i be able to sequence the dumb rgb's right through the sequence editor.  and do you have any problem with the dumb rgb's in the visualizer.

[ryebred]

hmm.. there was more to my post..

 

the controller that i posted above says that it's 24 channels. does that mean that's all the more rgb's you can plug into the controller.. or can you daisy chain the rgb's and plug 48 or 72 light strings in it like you can with normal light strings

when sequencing will i be able to sequence the dumb rgb's right through the sequence editor.  and do you have any problem with the dumb rgb's in the visualizer.

 

For the DC controllers like the 24 channel one you listed above, each dumb RGB string uses 3 channels. One for red, one for green, and one for blue so you can join 8 different RGB strings to this controller.

 

The number of strings you can daisy chain together is dependent on several factors. The two main factors are the gauge of wire that you use and the RGB element uses, and the distance from the controller to the element. The smaller the wire and the further the electricity travels the more voltage drop you get and your lights towards the end start to dim.

 

Sequencing for dumb RGB strings is simple in the editor. You simply right click on a channel and convert it to an RGB channel and then when you click on that channel bar it will expand into a Red, Green, and Blue sub channel which you use to tune the color. Other than being able to tune the color, the channel works like any other LOR channel.

[coralfishg]

thank you very much again for your help..  on average how many light strings can i expect to be able to daisy chain before i start seeing the voltage drop..  I understand that it's very much situation dependent, but am i going to start seeing this drop after putting two strands together or are we talking 5 or more..  Im just trying to figure out how many controllers im going to need to purchase in order to do what i want to do..

[ryebred]

The only situation I can give you an exact answer on is with my current 5 volt RGB setup. I have 50 pixels per string and 3 strings connected together with power injection. I have a distance of 5 feet from my power to the start of my pixel string and the wire is 20 gauge. If I remove my power injectors I can power roughly 65 pixels before I start noticing a drop off. My 100th pixel is lit but it is very dim without power injection.

 

There is a formula for calculating voltage drop and it has been posted on these forums before. That would be the best place to start when figuring out what you want to do. You need to know your starting voltage, the distance from the controller to the end of your light strings and the gauge of wire used. Even then it gives you an estimate because some lights may tolerate a 4 volt drop in power whereas others may not. Also 12 volt strings will typically allow longer runs than 5 volt. A 4 volt drop on a 12 volt string still yields 8 volts whereas the same 4 volt drop on a 5 volt string yields only 1 volt and your lights will be dark by that point.

[Ken Benedict]

They also make RGB amplifiers for the 12 volt strings. Not so much for the 5 volt versions tho.

Makes power injection a little easier.

[aussiephil]

thank you very much again for your help..  on average how many light strings can i expect to be able to daisy chain before i start seeing the voltage drop..  I understand that it's very much situation dependent, but am i going to start seeing this drop after putting two strands together or are we talking 5 or more..  Im just trying to figure out how many controllers im going to need to purchase in order to do what i want to do..

 

For intelligent strings with 5V nodes and 12V strip the very easy rule is every 5M (15 feet) requires power injection for solid operation and colour.

12V nodes will get longer.

 

The above easy rule assumes no more than 8 feet of 18G power feed from the source with 16G preferred.

 

Peoples individual experiences will vary but the above is a easy starting point.

 

For dumb strings and fixtures i'll let more experiences people comment.

[Vince4xmas]

Just wired and tested my LOR dumb RGB strips. Easy, look great. Can't wait to roll them out this Christmas. Could email you some pictures if you like.

[David Rise]

I am using similiar nodes for my window frames, using the LOR DC24 controller. They work great.

The ones I bought are 12v and resin filled where the wires go in.

Edited April 23, 2014 by David Rise