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Pixie16 with CCR-II


joe3502

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Hello! I just got into the RGB world recently and I just figured out everything. I ran into a problem and have heavily researched the subject for days without any luck. I have a Pixie16 with 3 sets of LORs 50 square smart pixels. Along with those, I have LORs CCR-II ribbon. They all work, except for the colors. The colors between each are different. All of the smart square pixels light up as they should (i.e. I set them to red and they turn red). All is good, right? Well, here is where I run into a problem. When I set all the strings to red, or blue, or green, the square smart pixels turn the color they should, but the CCR-II ribbons don't. The colors dont match and like I said I'm new to RGB so it could be something simple. Thank you for your time!

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26 minutes ago, joe3502 said:

Hello! I just got into the RGB world recently and I just figured out everything. I ran into a problem and have heavily researched the subject for days without any luck. I have a Pixie16 with 3 sets of LORs 50 square smart pixels. Along with those, I have LORs CCR-II ribbon. They all work, except for the colors. The colors between each are different. All of the smart square pixels light up as they should (i.e. I set them to red and they turn red). All is good, right? Well, here is where I run into a problem. When I set all the strings to red, or blue, or green, the square smart pixels turn the color they should, but the CCR-II ribbons don't. The colors dont match and like I said I'm new to RGB so it could be something simple. Thank you for your time!

Did you set the colors up in HU under the pixie config tab?

Normally the pixie16's I have came preset as BRG, you have to set them as RGB. This may work or it may not be possible to mix the dif types. I run all CCR's on my tree and everything else is pixel nodes.

My guess is you will have to select one or the other but you will still have to set the color seq up in HU.

JR

Edited by dibblejr
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It sounds like your square pixels are RGB order and your strips are BRG order. The problem with the Pixcon is all your pixels must be the same IC type and you can only set the RGB order for the entire board and not per port so all of your pixels on the Pixcon have to be the same type and have the same color order.

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They are both 2811ic's though. And JR I did set them to RGB and that makes no difference. The only thing that works is white, which is all three colors. I was wondering if there was a way to switch the order for just one port. Also, when I pull up the pixie configuration on the HU, the option to choose # of end-to-end CCR ribbons is greyed out.

Edited by joe3502
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8 minutes ago, joe3502 said:

They are both 2811ic's though. And JR I did set them to RGB and that makes no difference. The only thing that works is white, which is all three colors. I was wondering if there was a way to switch the order for just one port. Also, when I pull up the pixie configuration on the HU, the option to choose # of end-to-end CCR ribbons is greyed out.

Yes they may both be 2811's but they may have a different RGB order. Your square pixels may be wired RGB but the strips may be wired BRG. The Pixie16 controller doesn't have some of the functions that the Pixcon16 does such as zig-zag and RGB order per port. You need to verify the color order in the HU.

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25 minutes ago, joe3502 said:

They are both 2811ic's though. And JR I did set them to RGB and that makes no difference. The only thing that works is white, which is all three colors. I was wondering if there was a way to switch the order for just one port. Also, when I pull up the pixie configuration on the HU, the option to choose # of end-to-end CCR ribbons is greyed out.

Pixie16’s are just one color order per unit. So you will have to replace the strings or the board.

JR

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So there is absolutely nothing I can do about it? I can't make or buy a converter that will allow me to change the color order? Or should I just change the color when im sequencing to match the pixels.

 

 

Edited by joe3502
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Yes, you CAN change the sequencing, but HIGHLY recommended NOT to do that.  Especially if you get shared sequences from someone else or purchase sequences, you will have to modify every sequence.  Depending on how you sequence (Sequence Editor vs SuperStar vs Pixel Editor) will vary how you change the channel assignments, and how much of a pain it is to do it.

In the long run you would be better off to go buy a Pixie4 for your three strings of square nodes and leave the the CCR-IIs on the Pixie16 that you already have (or the other way around).  Trust me, you WILL find another use for unused ports on controllers!  From a logistics standpoint, I am a big fan of smaller controllers for each prop or group of props that can be placed close to where they are needed rather than long cables.  As an example, I have a SanDevices E6804 E1.31 controller that only has 17 pixels on it split between two strings.  However that controller is clear across the yard from anything else and is used year round so having cables laying on the ground would not be practical.

 

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1 hour ago, k6ccc said:

Yes, you CAN change the sequencing, but HIGHLY recommended NOT to do that.  Especially if you get shared sequences from someone else or purchase sequences, you will have to modify every sequence.  Depending on how you sequence (Sequence Editor vs SuperStar vs Pixel Editor) will vary how you change the channel assignments, and how much of a pain it is to do it.

In the long run you would be better off to go buy a Pixie4 for your three strings of square nodes and leave the the CCR-IIs on the Pixie16 that you already have (or the other way around).  Trust me, you WILL find another use for unused ports on controllers!  From a logistics standpoint, I am a big fan of smaller controllers for each prop or group of props that can be placed close to where they are needed rather than long cables.  As an example, I have a SanDevices E6804 E1.31 controller that only has 17 pixels on it split between two strings.  However that controller is clear across the yard from anything else and is used year round so having cables laying on the ground would not be practical.

 

All of my pixies are mounted to their prop. I just order what I need as you stated. With that said for Christmas I will have 2 pixie16's that power other items as well as the prop they will be mounted too. My logic was, if I have to use a power supply I may as well just use 16's and branch off where needed. Now LOR sells the P&P units that they didn't have when I purchased my 5 16's and 1-8. They are actually reasonably priced when I compare them to all the materials, time that I have vested in my builds. So my next ones will be P&P.

To the OP, not worth the effort. I wouldn't even know where to begin with restructuring the color scheme for pre made sequences. That would be a nightmare.

As I mentioned earlier, change on or the other or do as Jim stated. Get a Pixie4 and use it and buy some more CCR's for your pixie16. Just ensure everything is for the correct voltage 12 or 5 depending on your PS.

Best of luck, if you have any questions feel free to PM me.

JR

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Ok thank you all for the help. I will just leave the CCR ribbon for next year and I will buy a controller for them next time there is a sale. I just kinda bought one ribbon to see what they look like. I liked them so I just hooked them up. They look great but I'll just buy another pixie4 or pixie8 for the CCRs.

 

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Just keep in mind that pixels don't like distance, the closer the pixels are to the controller the better. The Pixie16 and other larger controllers are great for if you need a bunch of pixels in a small area like a tree or a matrix. The smaller controllers are better when things are spread out so you don't have long runs.

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Well I have a 40 amp 12-16 volt DC power supply and 14 awg RGB wire to run to all the lights so it should be able to handle it fine. I am not running them any further than 10 feet from the controller

 

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6 minutes ago, joe3502 said:

Well I have a 40 amp 12-16 volt DC power supply and 14 awg RGB wire to run to all the lights so it should be able to handle it fine. I am not running them any further than 10 feet from the controller

 

If that is the only power supply you have then it won't be enough if you use all 16 ports on the controller.

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52 minutes ago, joe3502 said:

Well I have a 40 amp 12-16 volt DC power supply and 14 awg RGB wire to run to all the lights so it should be able to handle it fine. I am not running them any further than 10 feet from the controller

Power is only the smaller issue.  The data between the controller and first pixel is length limited.  Depending on the technology, will dictate the distance, but it can be less than 10 feet (some pixel types can go quite a bit farther), and there are extended that allow a much longer distance, but that adds quite a bit to the cost.

 

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Do you know why when I am programming my pixels in the sequence editor that the pixels are controlled by the regular channels?

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7 minutes ago, joe3502 said:

Do you know why when I am programming my pixels in the sequence editor that the pixels are controlled by the regular channels?

Sounds like a channel conflict issue.  Check to make sure you have them correct for the pixels.

Or, run the Verifier on that sequence and check that way.

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First of all, the Pixie16 will use 16 consecutive ID's so when you setup the controller you will assign a base ID but the next 15 will also be assigned. If you have other controllers with the same ID as any of those 16 for the Pixie then you will have a conflict.

When you installed the Pixie if you assigned it a base ID of 1 it will use the ID's 1-10 (01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 0A, 0B, 0C, 0D, 0E, 0F, 10) that is 16 consecutive ID's. If you have any other controllers with any of those ID's then there will be a conflict.

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So all I have to do is change the unit IDs?

I set the base ID as 3 when I installed it.

Edited by joe3502
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