Which RGB System?

[Guest Don Gillespie]

I guess it just a matter of preference, go with what works for you.

[harrison0550]

Price per universe was my initial reasoning for using the J1sys controllers. However with the latest updates from sandevices it really makes the j1sys ECG-P12R and the sandevices e682 on the same playing field. Within $4 of each other including shipping.

 

Then there is the other controllers j1sys makes such as the ECG-P2 that really made that choice easy as well with the smaller cheaper controllers for house lines, arches, etc. However Jim at sandevices is going to be releasing a mini 683 controller in hopefully that same sub $100 range. So I imagine it will be in the same playing field soon as well.

 

So both are great controllers at almost the same exact price point and both were used by many this past year with great success.

 

My reasoning for still recommending the j1sys boards is more than just a "team Jacob" or "team Edward" type mentality.

 

The j1sys boards still have 2 winning features in my book:

1: The user interface on the j1sys controllers is beautiful! No commands to remember and can change any settings right over the network, including updating the controllers.

2: Ability to change data speed for increasing distances between controller to pixels.

 

 

Here is the j1sys User Interface......

 

 

 

 

 

And here is the sandevices User Interface..........

[edvas69]

And you forgot to mention the easy setup using the Universal Boot Loader program which makes initial connection, IP setting and Firmware updates easy by allowing you to set up via the network or using a USB cable.

 

Videos on how to use the UBL configuration app and the UBL app file can be found here

 

One other thing i do like is that every individual ouput is completey seperatly configurable from eachother which means there is no cluster load balancing issues to deal with, which is currently the case with the Sandevices. But this is planned to be improved with future updates.

 

Either way they all make lights flash and decisions need to be made on what your requirments are, both J1SYS and Sandvices have their differences but in reality they both have different features, configuration options and processors types and both controllers have their strenghts and weaknesses.

Edited February 9, 2013 by edvas69

[dqhall]

Hey Jesse. I've been doing LOR for 8 years now and this will be my first year at using RGB lights. After several days of reading, I've learned that most of my RGB information came from the guys over at the ACL forum (http://auschristmaslighting.com). Most of the information came from FastEddy (edvas69 here at LOR), kudos to him. All the hardware I bought was based on his recommendations and all were bought from Ray Wu. Now I am no expert at RGB but I believe I've got the hardware side of it figured out. I would like to share with you what I have accomplished and maybe it will help you too. The attached photo shows my completed RGB controller. I have chosen the J1SYS ECG-P12R controller. The board is assembled and wired in a Orbits box. I have successfully tested all 12 channels with 12 of Ray Wu's RGB strips and using LOR which works nicely with it.

 

1. Two 350 Watt power supplies. Each power supply provides power to 6 channels each. 6 on the left and 6 on the right.
2. The J1Sys ECG-P12 controller.
3. Six waterproof cords on left and 6 cords on the right. These attach to the ECG-P12R.
4. Single AC power cord providing power to each of the power supplies.
5. 12V DC line coming from the power supply units providing power to both side of the ECG-P12R.
6. Network cable coming from computer.
7. 6 cords for channels 1-6 connected to the left side of the ECG-P12R.
8. 6 cords for channels 7-12 connected to the right side of the ECG-P12R.

 

I hope this helps you.

 

Edited February 9, 2013 by dqhall

[dougd]

Here is a picture of my Sandevices setup. Each one had a E681 controller and 2 5 volt power supplies. I had 2 of these out in the yard. One for my mega tree and the second one for my arches, poles, fans.

 

 

As you can see it has 16 connectors just like a PC16 controller from LOR. Arch 1 goes to connector 1, arch 2 goes to connector 2 and so on.

 

The Sandevices is possibly more of a do it your self type of board. When you bought your LOR controller, you could buy it pre-built or soldier it yourself, I always got my controller in a bag and soldiered it my self. You follow a few pages of instructions and 1 hour or so later you were done. The Sandevices is the same way, buy it pre-built or soldier it yourself. It took about 1 hour to put it together start to finish. You learn a lot when you do it this way.

 

As far as setup was concerned. It was very well documented and you did have to type a few words like Pixels, Chip, and Strings. This is something you typically just do once anyways, set it and forget it. I had in configured in a minute or so and it has a few test patterns to test your setup.

 

If you bought your LOR controllers pre-built, ready to go, J1SYS might be for you, if you like the smell of fresh soldier in the morning, then Sandevices is possibly your solution. Either way they both make a nice addition to your display. The decision was pretty easy for me, Sandevices is the only controller that supports the GECE pixels.

 

Here is my video.

 

http://vimeo.com/55209445

 

If video doesn't work then here is the vimeo channel. "vimeo.com/search?q=douglas+delong"

Edited February 9, 2013 by dougd

[Dave H1]

Doug,

 

Nice pixel tree, what are the specs on it

height

pixel type

voltage

spacing

 

Thanks

[WilliamS]

Here is a picture of my Sandevices setup. Each one had a E681 controller and 2 5 volt power supplies. I had 2 of these out in the yard. One for my mega tree and the second one for my arches, poles, fans.

 

e681new.jpg

 

As you can see it has 16 connectors just like a PC16 controller from LOR. Arch 1 goes to connector 1, arch 2 goes to connector 2 and so on.

 

The Sandevices is possibly more of a do it your self type of board. When you bought your LOR controller, you could buy it pre-built or soldier it yourself, I always got my controller in a bag and soldiered it my self. You follow a few pages of instructions and 1 hour or so later you were done. The Sandevices is the same way, buy it pre-built or soldier it yourself. It took about 1 hour to put it together start to finish. You learn a lot when you do it this way.

 

As far as setup was concerned. It was very well documented and you did have to type a few words like Pixels, Chip, and Strings. This is something you typically just do once anyways, set it and forget it. I had in configured in a minute or so and it has a few test patterns to test your setup.

 

If you bought your LOR controllers pre-built, ready to go, J1SYS might be for you, if you like the smell of fresh soldier in the morning, then Sandevices is possibly your solution. Either way they both make a nice addition to your display. The decision was pretty easy for me, Sandevices is the only controller that supports the GECE pixels.

 

 

If video doesn't work then here is the vimeo channel. "vimeo.com/search?q=douglas+delong"

 

Best post yet.

[dougd]

Doug,

 

Nice pixel tree, what are the specs on it

height

pixel type

voltage

spacing

 

Thanks

 

Height was 12 feet, if I cant reach it from a 10 foot step ladder it aint happening anymore.

 

Pixels were GECE pixels

 

Voltage 5 volts

 

Spacing was 3.25 inches

 

I had 16 strings with 40 pixels on each string.

 

I built it as a Ray tree doing something similar as Brians super star tree. I had hoped to use super star with it more but never could master it very well.

[Ron Boyd]

dqhall,

Did you have any problems with overheating on the power supplies. The ones I have on order are almost like yours and I've been trying to figure a way to mount them in the same box. Yours looks like a viable solution.

[TonyD]

1. Two 350 Watt power supplies. Each power supply provides power to 6 channels each. 6 on the left and 6 on the right.

 

What model of power supply did you use? How do you connect both to a single 120v input line? Are you able to run a jumper from one to the other?

[WilliamS]

In florida that would over heat in a hurry.  Looks tidy in there, plenty of power. 

[Dave H1]

DG

Do those power supplies have the internal fans or are they just convection?

[dougd]

I tried to use power supplies without fans. Didn't want to have to worry about ventilation.

[jem5136]

Here is a picture of my Sandevices setup. Each one had a E681 controller and 2 5 volt power supplies. I had 2 of these out in the yard. One for my mega tree and the second one for my arches, poles, fans.

 

e681new.jpg

 

As you can see it has 16 connectors just like a PC16 controller from LOR. Arch 1 goes to connector 1, arch 2 goes to connector 2 and so on.

 

The Sandevices is possibly more of a do it your self type of board. When you bought your LOR controller, you could buy it pre-built or soldier it yourself, I always got my controller in a bag and soldiered it my self. You follow a few pages of instructions and 1 hour or so later you were done. The Sandevices is the same way, buy it pre-built or soldier it yourself. It took about 1 hour to put it together start to finish. You learn a lot when you do it this way.

 

As far as setup was concerned. It was very well documented and you did have to type a few words like Pixels, Chip, and Strings. This is something you typically just do once anyways, set it and forget it. I had in configured in a minute or so and it has a few test patterns to test your setup.

 

If you bought your LOR controllers pre-built, ready to go, J1SYS might be for you, if you like the smell of fresh soldier in the morning, then Sandevices is possibly your solution. Either way they both make a nice addition to your display. The decision was pretty easy for me, Sandevices is the only controller that supports the GECE pixels.

 

Here is my video.

 

http://vimeo.com/55209445

 

If video doesn't work then here is the vimeo channel. "vimeo.com/search?q=douglas+delong"

 

This is a very helpful post. I really like the idea of basically making my own controllers, but I'm also concerned about the cost as well. I have to think about how much everything costs all together. If you wouldn't mind me asking, about how much did your Mega Tree cost after the cost of pixels and controllers?

 

Also, how was the wiring? Did you have to wire each string or did you just add power to the controller? Also, did you have to use any "extra" wiring for the strings?

 

I feel like I'm asking a bunch of questions, but I need to have answers for my show lol

 

Also, for dqhall, how did your display end up using the RGB? I am trying to choose which system that I want, and if the J1SYS is simpler and easier to use along with being in the price range, then I'd choose that. So roughly, how much would it cost to run a J1SYS with all 12 ports full? (You don't have to give numbers if you don't want to) And was it easy to wire? From the looks of it, it looked pretty simple.

 

I also wanted to know about wiring these systems up to LOR. I have an E1.31 controller, but I don't know if that will be enough to run either system. So what all did you guys do to get them working with LOR? Also did you ever have any problems running the systems with LOR?

 

My last question is about the GECE pixels. Basically, what are they? I've heard of different types of pixels, and I'm assuming these are just another type of pixel that can be used with the SanDevices, but I just haven't heard about them yet.

[hdracer]

Here is a picture of my Sandevices setup. Each one had a E681 controller and 2 5 volt power supplies. I had 2 of these out in the yard. One for my mega tree and the second one for my arches, poles, fans.

 

e681new.jpg

 

As you can see it has 16 connectors just like a PC16 controller from LOR. Arch 1 goes to connector 1, arch 2 goes to connector 2 and so on.

 

The Sandevices is possibly more of a do it your self type of board. When you bought your LOR controller, you could buy it pre-built or soldier it yourself, I always got my controller in a bag and soldiered it my self. You follow a few pages of instructions and 1 hour or so later you were done. The Sandevices is the same way, buy it pre-built or soldier it yourself. It took about 1 hour to put it together start to finish. You learn a lot when you do it this way.

 

As far as setup was concerned. It was very well documented and you did have to type a few words like Pixels, Chip, and Strings. This is something you typically just do once anyways, set it and forget it. I had in configured in a minute or so and it has a few test patterns to test your setup.

 

If you bought your LOR controllers pre-built, ready to go, J1SYS might be for you, if you like the smell of fresh soldier in the morning, then Sandevices is possibly your solution. Either way they both make a nice addition to your display. The decision was pretty easy for me, Sandevices is the only controller that supports the GECE pixels.

 

Here is my video.

 

http://vimeo.com/55209445

 

If video doesn't work then here is the vimeo channel. "vimeo.com/search?q=douglas+delong"

+1

 

Price per universe was my initial reasoning for using the J1sys controllers. However with the latest updates from sandevices it really makes the j1sys ECG-P12R and the sandevices e682 on the same playing field. Within $4 of each other including shipping.

 

Then there is the other controllers j1sys makes such as the ECG-P2 that really made that choice easy as well with the smaller cheaper controllers for house lines, arches, etc. However Jim at sandevices is going to be releasing a mini 683 controller in hopefully that same sub $100 range. So I imagine it will be in the same playing field soon as well.

 

So both are great controllers at almost the same exact price point and both were used by many this past year with great success.

 

My reasoning for still recommending the j1sys boards is more than just a "team Jacob" or "team Edward" type mentality.

 

The j1sys boards still have 2 winning features in my book:

1: The user interface on the j1sys controllers is beautiful! No commands to remember and can change any settings right over the network, including updating the controllers.

2: Ability to change data speed for increasing distances between controller to pixels.

 

 

Here is the j1sys User Interface......

 

 

 

 

 

And here is the sandevices User Interface..........

+1

[dougd]

I bought my E681's as a kit in a group buy for $90. Current normal kit price is $120. Power supplies run between $20 - $30. If I were doing this today, I would go with 2811 pixels which run about $20 a string.

 

The way I did my mega tree was I had 1 string of 40 pixels plugged into each connector on the E681. The pixels I used were 3 wire pixels, some are 3 wire some are 4 wire. Since mine were 3 wire I used some old SPT2 wire to hook up to the controller. That was no power injection was necessary. The pixels received the power from the board.

 

GECE pixels are those pixels that look like C9's that are sold by Lowes, Home Depot, Costco and other retail chains. Regular price of the lights are sort of expensive. $80 for 50 pixels. Last year I was able to get quite a few for 75% off. I was also able to fine some used ones on EBAY for a pretty good deal.

[jem5136]

I bought my E681's as a kit in a group buy for $90. Current normal kit price is $120. Power supplies run between $20 - $30. If I were doing this today, I would go with 2811 pixels which run about $20 a string.

 

The way I did my mega tree was I had 1 string of 40 pixels plugged into each connector on the E681. The pixels I used were 3 wire pixels, some are 3 wire some are 4 wire. Since mine were 3 wire I used some old SPT2 wire to hook up to the controller. That was no power injection was necessary. The pixels received the power from the board.

 

GECE pixels are those pixels that look like C9's that are sold by Lowes, Home Depot, Costco and other retail chains. Regular price of the lights are sort of expensive. $80 for 50 pixels. Last year I was able to get quite a few for 75% off. I was also able to fine some used ones on EBAY for a pretty good deal.

This is some good info for me!! LOL It seems like the price for controllers isn't as much as I assumed they would be (though I haven't been paying much attention to prices when I search). I would say that this is a simple combo for the shows. And I now understand what the GECE pixels are.

 

How did you throw everything into LOR? I know I've been working on starting to set things up for LOR, but I'm not exactly sure what I have to do for them. I've been setting them up on their own network, and then another network for my DMX controllers. I have no clue if this is what I'm supposed to be doing.

[dougd]

Hooking this all up to S3 is relatively easy. Each 1.31 controller assuming you have more than 1 would go to a network switch. Your computer is also on that switch. Setting up a separate network for this is a good idea. One network for the E1.31 and another network for your home internet. You don't have to do this but its not a bad idea.

 

As long as you have the newest version of S3 and the advanced license, you should be set to go. At that point its just a matter of going into the network settings of S3 and turning on and configuring E1.31.

[harrison0550]

[dougd]

Thanks Andy, that explains it much better.