zvacman Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 Let me start by saying I have unravelled, the cheese has slid off my cracker. This hobby has taken over. I started this past Christmas with 32 AC channels and ended up with 80. While I was sequencing and putting up led's my wheels were turning thinking about 2016. So I have dove in headfirst into RGB's and pixels. I bought two E682, and two CMB24D controllers and a crapload of RGB's and pixels. Here's my dilemma, I have no idea how to hook all this stuff together. Currently I have a cat5 outlet in the ceiling of my garage that goes to an outlet in the soffit on the corner of the garage. I sent data out USB to RG485 to the controllers this year, they were all the same so a simple daisy chain. Now with the 12v stuff I have to keep the controllers much closer to the elements (props). Can I continue running the AC controllers off of the USB/RG485 and then connect the 12v controllers using E1.31 over Ethernet on a seperate CAT5 and make everyone play nice? It would work better for me if I could, because most of my 12v usage is on the other side of the property from where the RG485 comes out. A nudge or a swift kick in the butt in the right direction would be appreciated. And by the way I might be adding a few more E682's if that matters.Thanks, Z Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Laff Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 I think you got it figured out you run your lor ac controllers on one network. And run your E682's on E1-31 off the computer lan line. Now the CMB24. You run on either network In lor with the ac controllers or in DMX mode off your E682 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saxon Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 you will need a network switch to run more than one sandevice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmienLightFan Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 The CMB24D can be connected to your AC controllers. You can use the E682s to control them if you are planning on putting the CMB24D far from the other controllers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpageler Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 For the cmb24d controllers, they can be daisy chanined to your AC controllers. But to reduce cat5 wire runs, you can add a cat5 connector/splitter where you can run 2 separate cat5 cable to 2 groupings of controlelrs...AC and cmpb24d. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerrymac Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 For the cmb24d controllers, they can be daisy chanined to your AC controllers. But to reduce cat5 wire runs, you can add a cat5 connector/splitter where you can run 2 separate cat5 cable to 2 groupings of controlelrs...AC and cmpb24d.No. LOR does have a USB 485 booster that has two outlets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zvacman Posted January 16, 2016 Author Share Posted January 16, 2016 Thanks for all of the responses. Any recommendations for a network switch, preferably with room for growth?Z Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zvacman Posted January 16, 2016 Author Share Posted January 16, 2016 Is it possible that the E682 has been upgraded? Their website claims they can be daisy chained and makes no mention of needing a network switch. I don't want to come up short but I also don't want to purchase something that I don't need. Any gurus know the answer for sure?Thanks, Z Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KStatefan Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 (edited) • Dedicated +5VDC power output connector to power a small ethernet switch; simplifies network cabling by allowing network cables to be "daisy-chained" from one controller to the nextYou need a switch Edited January 16, 2016 by KStatefan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zvacman Posted January 16, 2016 Author Share Posted January 16, 2016 So the cat5 goes from the PC to the switch, then the E682. Then what? Should I get an 8 port switch and take cat5 to each of the E682's from it? I'm sorry that I don't know this stuff yet but once I do I'll be off and running.Thanks, Z Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmienLightFan Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 (edited) So the cat5 goes from the PC to the switch, then the E682. Then what? Should I get an 8 port switch and take cat5 to each of the E682's from it? I'm sorry that I don't know this stuff yet but once I do I'll be off and running.Thanks, ZYes, this is correct. I don't want to confuse you but I will try to explain why the 5v power means they can be "daisy chained", which they can't be.The 5v power allows you to power a network switch which goes inside the same enclosure as the controller. You can run one cat5 to the enclosure and into the switch, and one out of the switch. Inside the enclosure a small third piece of cat5 connects the switch to the E1.31 controller.I have already confused some people saying this so here is a diagram.Blue is cat5 Ethernet, green is 5v or 12vdc DC. The two blue lines coming out are cat5 to other switches, other controllers or the show PC. The green line is to the power supply or 5v/12v distribution. It is not "daisy chaining" the controller, as this is impossible with ethernet.I'm not sure if the E682's 5v output works if you use 12v. Edited January 16, 2016 by EmmienLightFan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zvacman Posted January 16, 2016 Author Share Posted January 16, 2016 You were right, you confused me more, nice diagram by the way. Which line was the Ethernet coming from the PC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmienLightFan Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 You were right, you confused me more, nice diagram by the way. Which line was the Ethernet coming from the PC?The blue line going into the second port of the network switch, would go to the show PC. It is best to have a router somewhere in the network. The blue line could go to another switch which has both the router and the show PC, or it could go to a router with an internal switch, which has the show PC on as well.Infact, the blue wires coming out can go anywhere in the display. The controller is not being daisy chained, but if you treat the whole enclosure as one unit, it is wired as if it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grinch Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 Hope this helps clarifyFrom your PC ---Cat5 Ethernet to anyone of the first 4 ports starting on the left shown on the switch From the Switch use anyone of the first 4 ports starting on the left that are open to the E682If you have more than one E682 boards then ------From the Switch use anyone of the first 4 ports starting on the left that are open to the next E682the switch is just a central location to connect more than one board to your PC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zvacman Posted January 17, 2016 Author Share Posted January 17, 2016 Thanks for all of the help everyone. Before I buy a network switch a) does anyone have any recommendations and how many pixels can an E682 run? I don't want to under buy on the switch, I'm thinking future expansion.Z Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grinch Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 Depends on which way you setup the software, and how many pixels are per prop. Most people choose one of the first two setting below.This would be the maximum you can connect. But that doesn't always work out to what you can connect based on your location of the props from the controller.From the E682 manual1) E1.31, streaming DMX over Ethernet, multicast mode, up to 7 universes, or a total of 3570 DMX channels. 2) E1.31, streaming DMX over Ethernet (SACN), unicast mode, up to 12 universes or 6,120 channels.3) Art-Net, unicast mode, up to 12 universes or 6,120 channels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zvacman Posted January 17, 2016 Author Share Posted January 17, 2016 I'm building a window matrix that will have 700 pixels 2100 channels right? Then I'm outlining the entire house with another 600 pixels, two wreaths with 100 each. I'm kicking around a pixel mega tree, if funds permit that will have another 1200 pixels. Im trying to layout everything to be very close to the controllers.Z Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmienLightFan Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 If you want to expand, instead of thinking about how many ports then I would think about speeds. Gigabit (1 GB per second either way) is what you want. You can get really complicated with network switches for professional lighting and video use, like the ones used by huge venues with huge intelligent lighting systems and video screens, but even they use small 8 port switches sometimes. Avoid Ebay ones, also if they Fast, then they often mean 100 megabytes per second. Look for good brands, like TP-Link and D-Link and Netgear and Cisco. There is a brand on Ebay called LB-Link, which looks as if they are trying to confuse people with such a similar name to other companies. Also, if the switch uses a common voltage like 5 or 12v, you can connect it to your pixel power supply. The power supplies on the devices are very unreliable. When a network switch stops working, 90% of the time it is the power supply. Some power supplies don't even last a year; they are so cheaply made. You could even look at second hand rack mount switches on Ebay. You can get a 16 port switch that will be more reliable and better quality for the same price as a new desktop 8 port switch. Here is the switch I used for testing pixel controllers:http://www.ebuyer.com/632813-trendnet-8-port-gigabit-greennet-network-switch-with-metal-case-teg-s82g?gclid=Cj0KEQiAlO20BRCcieCSncPlqqMBEiQAOZGMnG9LUlILNMukHyxl-97Iia9TL3r8A3zQEGQDOOch_UkaAp4A8P8HAQ#fo_c=951&fo_k=74e0ac815ad8664e3edab988be279cac&fo_s=gplauk?mkwid=sCUizYPiH_dc&pcrid=51482425979&pkw=&pmt=I had no problems with it at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zvacman Posted January 17, 2016 Author Share Posted January 17, 2016 EmmienThe specs on that switch you have show it as 5v. Did you just cut the transformer off and wire it into the 5v on the E682? That would be convenient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grinch Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 Thanks for all of the help everyone. Before I buy a network switch a) does anyone have any recommendations and how many pixels can an E682 run? I don't want to under buy on the switch, I'm thinking future expansion.Z You can get a little more distance to the prop by using heavier wire , Null Pixels, 12 volt pixels vs 5 volt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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