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lightingnewb

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Is there a way for me to have a computer in the house be the main source of files without connecting to the controllers by ethernet?

I have my files on my personal laptop, and instead of transferring by thumb drive to the "controller" computer, I'd like to remove the secondary computer altogether and work from my room, wirelessly connected to my controllers (who can be connected via ethernet). Is this achievable with any of the current controllers offered?

Thanks,

Ryan/LN

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Ryan

 

Yes, LOR Easy Light Linkers (ELL) are real good, They can do just what you want. The spring sale usually has a good price on them.

 

Keith

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Just now, Kapkirk said:

Ryan

 

Yes, LOR Easy Light Linkers (ELL) are real good, They can do just what you want. The spring sale usually has a good price on them.

 

Keith

 

PERFECT! Thanks Keith!

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I believe you have to have one Cat5 cable from the show computer to the first controller. However from there you can use Easy Light Linkers LOR store to comm wirelessly to other controllers.

Perhaps yoy can keep the show computer inside along with the first controller and the first transmitter. Im not sure it will go through a wall.

 

JR

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http://www1.lightorama.com/wireless-data/

1.  The Light-O-Rama ShowTime Sequencing Suite works on your personal computer running Microsoft Windows and allows you to design your own shows.  The ShowTime Sequencing Suite e then runs your shows and sends the right commands at the right time to the various control channels.  The ShowTime Sequencing Suite can even keep music synchronized to the controller commands.

2.  Speakers to play the music accompanying your show are attached to the computer sound card.

3.  Your personal computer communicates to the controllers using a device plugged into your computer’s serial or USB communications port.  The blue line shows the standard serial output of your computer (RS-232 or USB) out of your PC where it enters our converter that transforms the signal to the native Light-O-Rama network protocol (the green line) that connects to our various types of controllers over standard computer network wire.  We recommend Cat 5 LAN cables available from us and off-the-shelf from your local big box store in the computer section.

4.  The Easy Light Linker is powered from the nearby controller and sends/receives data.  This ability to connect wirelessly is valuable when it’s not practical to run a data cable across lanes of traffic, bodies of water or anywhere people might trip over wire.

5.  The Easy Light Linker is powered from the nearby controller and sends/receives data.  This ability to connect wirelessly is valuable when it’s not practical to run a data cable across lanes of traffic, bodies of water or anywhere people might trip over wire.

6.  The Light-O-Rama professional or residential high voltage AC light controllers include special effects such as simple on/off, intensities, smooth fading, twinkling, shimmering.  Controllers can be daisy chained, mixed and matched on one LOR network giving you the ability to command thousands of channels.

7.  Electrical power is supplied to the controller placed close to your lights so you don’t need to run long extension cords.  Commands from the ShowTime Sequencing Suite are performed on each controller.  Power to each of the attached lighting circuits is controlled independently.  Think of having many dimmer switches that the computer can change very quickly and independently.

Edited by dibblejr
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The ELL's can be powered by a USB485B adapter. The "B" means Booster, and provides the power needed to run the ELL.

And just a point of clarification - If you are using 16 channel LOR controllers, or CCR/CCB/CCP in LOR mode, then you are NOT using ethernet. You are running the RS485 protocol, which just happens to use the same cable as "ethernet" technologies.

 

 

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2 hours ago, Don said:

The ELL's can be powered by a USB485B adapter. The "B" means Booster, and provides the power needed to run the ELL.

And just a point of clarification - If you are using 16 channel LOR controllers, or CCR/CCB/CCP in LOR mode, then you are NOT using ethernet. You are running the RS485 protocol, which just happens to use the same cable as "ethernet" technologies.

 

 

This may have made my life a lil easier and sounds like the solution the OP was asking for.

Thanks you Don

JR

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If that had been on the above link when I purchased my setup I would have purchased it instead of the mini director. This will def make life much much easier for me.

I like pictures and that schematic is great and not inclusive of ELL

Edited by dibblejr
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2 hours ago, Mr. P said:

Just keep in mind that ELLs can't do high speed so 115k is as fast as they can go.

My office windows (spare bedroom on first floor would be perfect if this works out for me. I put everything outside because I really didn't want to drill even more holes through me brick/ sheetrock ect. Seems as though 50% of the time I find a wire. If I can get this to work I can take away the showtime central and run off my computer saving me scars from rose bushes.

I wonder if the HS and B can be used together thus creating the ultimate booster.

JR

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11 minutes ago, dibblejr said:

My office windows (spare bedroom on first floor would be perfect if this works out for me. I put everything outside because I really didn't want to drill even more holes through me brick/ sheetrock ect. Seems as though 50% of the time I find a wire. If I can get this to work I can take away the showtime central and run off my computer saving me scars from rose bushes.

I wonder if the HS and B can be used together thus creating the ultimate booster.

JR

You mean like use them in line? Even if you could you still can't pass them over ELLs.

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2 hours ago, Mr. P said:

You mean like use them in line? Even if you could you still can't pass them over ELLs.

Yes, it was wishful thinking but still I think your above comment has made my 2017 life a lil easier. I could have saved a lot of SP cable.

I thought about the ELLs and running the controllers super close to my elements but wasn't sure how it all went together and the got side tracked

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1 hour ago, Don said:

The ELL's can be powered by a USB485B adapter. The "B" means Booster, and provides the power needed to run the ELL.

And just a point of clarification - If you are using 16 channel LOR controllers, or CCR/CCB/CCP in LOR mode, then you are NOT using ethernet. You are running the RS485 protocol, which just happens to use the same cable as "ethernet" technologies.

 

 

1

Don (and all else who answered),

Thank you for the responses... an ELL would be something I'd look into. I'm not as tech-savvy as I wish I could say I am, which is why I said "ethernet"... because that's the style cord I use. You're right - I'm not actually using the ethernet as a wifi/internet configuration... just to send data. I think, unfortunately, our best option would be to stick with the current configuration we have. The attached image is from 2014, we still use this mount, though. We have a third ethernet cable running to the boxes out on our roof.

Slide1.JPG

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Cat5 is ethernet (?).... Again, not as tech-savvy I as I like to say. IMHO, people who are super picky over these tiny details kind of ... rub me the wrong way? No offense, it's just sometimes a bit...unnecessary. Thank you though for pointing it out. I appreciate the help nonetheless.

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3 hours ago, lightingnewb said:

Cat5 is ethernet (?).... Again, not as tech-savvy I as I like to say. IMHO, people who are super picky over these tiny details kind of ... rub me the wrong way? No offense, it's just sometimes a bit...unnecessary. Thank you though for pointing it out. I appreciate the help nonetheless.

I am pretty sure the smiley face at the end of his sentence meant he was joking.

JR

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1 hour ago, lightingnewb said:

Cat5 is ethernet (?).... Again, not as tech-savvy I as I like to say. IMHO, people who are super picky over these tiny details kind of ... rub me the wrong way? No offense, it's just sometimes a bit...unnecessary. Thank you though for pointing it out. I appreciate the help nonetheless.

I've heard many stories from people who thought because it was using a CAT5 cable, they could plug it into their router and then connect to the controllers.

It wasn't meant to be picky, it was meant as a reminder to anyone who might read this thread tomorrow, next week, or 6 months from now, that they are not dealing with regular 'internet' stuff.

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2 hours ago, Don said:

I've heard many stories from people who thought because it was using a CAT5 cable, they could plug it into their router and then connect to the controllers.

It wasn't meant to be picky, it was meant as a reminder to anyone who might read this thread tomorrow, next week, or 6 months from now, that they are not dealing with regular 'internet' stuff.

Thanks Don. Much appreciated.

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If your main PC is playing the show, you could not have any sound come out of that computer, or it would come out of your outdoor speakers and FM transmitter.

 

Last year I used Google Drive on my show PC. I could edit files, and they would update on the show computer.

You could even just create a shared folder on your main PC, and map it as a drive on the show PC. 

All files would be synchronized across instantly.

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On 1/1/2017 at 9:51 PM, Don said:

I've heard many stories from people who thought because it was using a CAT5 cable, they could plug it into their router and then connect to the controllers.

It wasn't meant to be picky, it was meant as a reminder to anyone who might read this thread tomorrow, next week, or 6 months from now, that they are not dealing with regular 'internet' stuff.

 

It is an important distinction when dealing with LOR and other controllers, because two different and non-compatible protocols use the same type of cable. 

Category 5 (or category 6) twisted-pair cable (often called "cat5" or "cat6") is the cable in question.  It is usually terminated with RJ-45 connectors on each end. 

That cable is used to carry:

RS-485 signals from a computer through an adapter (generally USB to RS-485 adapter) to an LOR controller

Ethernet from a computer to a router via the computer's ethernet (network) port

DMX over Ethernet ("E1.31") - generally from a computer's ethernet port to a DMX controller. 

 

...So if you try to plug an LOR controller into your computer's Ethernet port, the cable will physically connect, but you will likely damage one or the other - or at best, not have it work.    Same if you connect an RS-485 adapter to an ethernet device like an AlphaPix DMX controller.   That's why it's important to know these details - if you are working with RGB lights, anyway.  If all you have is LOR controllers, then really all you need to know is that your cables are not carrying ethernet and should never be plugged into your computer's ethernet port.

 

Ethernet itself is simply a network protocol that is commonly carried over cat5/cat6 cable - hence why the cable is sometimes (erroneously) called "ethernet cable".   In fact, Ethernet can be carried over coaxial cable (although no one does this anymore) or via radio (you call that "wifi").  

 

 

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