racerc20 Posted January 6, 2018 Share Posted January 6, 2018 I just received my Pixie 4. In the manual it talks about a 1st edition and vs a 2nd edition. After matching mine up It is a 1st. Not sure when the 2nds are being made avail but it is a huge difference in data distance between the two units. was just curious if anyone else has received a 2nd edition. before I start messing with his one. Thanks Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted January 6, 2018 Share Posted January 6, 2018 (edited) 5 hours ago, racerc20 said: I just received my Pixie 4. In the manual it talks about a 1st edition and vs a 2nd edition. After matching mine up It is a 1st. Not sure when the 2nds are being made avail but it is a huge difference in data distance between the two units. was just curious if anyone else has received a 2nd edition. before I start messing with his one. Thanks Carl Carl- disregard. Mine are all gen1 JR Edited January 6, 2018 by dibblejr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwilson6192 Posted January 6, 2018 Share Posted January 6, 2018 12 hours ago, racerc20 said: I just received my Pixie 4. In the manual it talks about a 1st edition and vs a 2nd edition. After matching mine up It is a 1st. Not sure when the 2nds are being made avail but it is a huge difference in data distance between the two units. was just curious if anyone else has received a 2nd edition. before I start messing with his one. Thanks Carl Carl, did you order directly from the LOR website? By your post wording, it would seem you ordered recently (as within the last 2 weeks)? I ask because I am about to place an order for a Pixie 4 controller, and I have no interest in receiving a Gen 1 item. Thanks. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted January 6, 2018 Share Posted January 6, 2018 (edited) Gen2 Has not been released yet, Will not release until stock is depleted not sure as to when they will be coming out so I will use my g1's for more circles and await a message from LOR when they release g2. I need 60 feet to reach the eves. Hopefully they will be out for us before the Alabama heat sets in. You can use the G1 for props that do not require as long as a run. The price is not bad and if you wait for G2 and they do not get released until late season or not at all, then you fall behind. If you have a G1 and build it for testing and they release G2 you can just switch them out. No matter what you will have to build the controller. I will be posting a DIY build on the pixie4 just as I did the pixie16 and pixie16/pixie8 combo it takes to run the 24X50 matrix. I already have everything I just have to tear down Christmas, starts tomorrow. Then I will regain my work bench. I used an extra pixie16 for my circles in 2017, so will just use my 4's for 14 circles. I have replaced my arches with circles. The circles are great and can be used for Halloween and other holidays besides Christmas. The circles and all of my 13 singing faces that made the show in 2017 were the hits the crowds loved. JR Edited January 6, 2018 by dibblejr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwilson6192 Posted January 7, 2018 Share Posted January 7, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, dibblejr said: Gen2 Has not been released yet, Will not release until stock is depleted not sure as to when they will be coming out so I will use my g1's for more circles and await a message from LOR when they release g2. JR That is unfortunate. As Carl noted, there is a huge distance capability with the Gen 2 controllers. That is significant and I built that into designing my ribbon outline on the roofline and window frames. Do you happen to know if the Pixie 8 and Pixie 16 Gen 2 controllers are available now, or are they subject to stock depletion as well? On a semi-but-unrelated note, I was reading the Pixie user manual (Generation 2), and I find no mention of any Pixie model controller limitation for WS2811 ribbons of greater than 50 pixels (e.g. 60m/20m 12V ribbons). There seems to be an assumption that WS2811 ribbons will be 30m/10m 12V, but all of the Gen 2 Pixie controllers can support strings of 100 pixels in a CCB or CCP format. But what about ribbons? I ask because I have purchased WS2811 60m/20m 12V ribbons to build the Matt Johnson arch (will cut in half and this will appear as a "normal" LOR CCR-II WS2811 50-pixel ribbon?). I am definitely going to build a 16-string CCR ribbon pixel tree, but while creating my S5 Preview prop, I got to thinking about the WS2811 60m/20m ribbon option as twice the density. This brings me to my questions: 1. Can the LOR Gen 2 Pixie controllers support WS2811 60m/20m 12V ribbons? These would be 100 pixels (300 channels) - the same pixel and channel count as a 100 pixel CCP or CCB - although I realize each pixel has an IC. 2. If yes to Question #1, can SuperStar (v5.0.16) support a CCR equivalent of 100 pixels? I played with it briefly and it would only enable a grid of 50 pixels. But LOR sells 100 pixel CCP or CCB pixels so it must support a grid of this size - but I don't know if SuperStar can "natively" understand a 60m/20m WS2811 ribbon. Thank you. Matt Edited January 7, 2018 by mwilson6192 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted January 7, 2018 Share Posted January 7, 2018 1 minute ago, mwilson6192 said: That is unfortunate. As Carl noted, there is a huge distance capability with the Gen 2 controllers. That is significant and I built that into designing my ribbon outline on the roofline and window frames. Do you happen to know if the Pixie 8 and Pixie 16 Gen 2 controllers are available now, or are they subject to stock depletion as well? On a semi-but-unrelated note, I was reading the Pixie user manual (Generation 2), and I find no mention of any Pixie model controller limitation for WS2811 ribbons of greater than 50 pixels (e.g. 60m/20m 12V ribbons). There seems to be an assumption that WS2811 ribbons will be 30m/10m 12V, but all of the Gen 2 Pixie controllers can support strings of 100 pixels in a CCB or CCP format. But what about ribbons? I ask because I have purchased WS2811 60m/20m 12V ribbons to build the Matt Johnson arch (will cut in half and this will appear as a "normal" LOR CCR-II WS2811 50-pixel ribbon). I am definitely going to build a 16-string CCR ribbon pixel tree, but while creating my S5 Preview prop, I got to thinking about the WS2811 60m/20m ribbon option as twice the density. This brings me to my questions: 1. Can the LOR Gen 2 Pixie controllers support WS2811 60m/20m 12V ribbons? These would be 100 pixels (300 channels) - the same pixel and channel count as a 100 pixel CCP or CCB - although I realize each pixel has an IC. 2. If yes to Question #1, can SuperStar (v5.0.16) support a CCR equivalent of 100 pixels? I played with it briefly and it would only enable a grid of 50 pixels. But LOR sells 100 pixel CCP or CCB pixels so it must support a grid of this size - but I don't know if SuperStar can "natively" understand a 60m/20m WS2811 ribbon. Thank you. Matt The pixie8/16's g2 have been out for a couple months. I discovered that through assisting others setting them up. Funny PM I received. "I got my 2nd pixie16 and it has a deep scratch" can you help set it up"? That was from a guy I helped with his first pixie16. When I called him all attempts to set that pixie16 up as base unit ID2 failed. Each time reverting to unit ID #1 when closing HU. I then asked him about that "deep scratch". Turned out that auto correct didn't like the words "dip switch" and turned it to "deep scratch". After that all went well. Only had to turn the only dip switch that was on to off and HU set the unit ID to #2. SO the new pixies with dip switches are the key. Both of my new 8's have them. None of my 16's have them 2016 and 2017 units. I or you could ask Brian your other questions concerning SS. After tear down I will start the build of my new controllers and will take a look at your question #1. I would not expect there to be any dif between 100 count CCR ribbons or nodes. Brian would be the man to ask about the SS support since I have not played with 100 count strings. JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerc20 Posted January 7, 2018 Author Share Posted January 7, 2018 I ordered it last tues and received it thur. I would much rather have received a gen 2 but this more for testing and learning. Plus my yard is so small 40 ft is good for one side 80 wouldhave been good to run to the other. Remember that this is only for the data. You may be better off with a seperate weatherproof power supply at the light/pixel starting location. Gonna play with runs and lengths long before putting a single pixel on a prop. Gonna by a roll of 3 wire 16 ga and test from the main board out 20 30 40 50 feet runs. To see. The data is supposed to go 40 on a gen 1. But we shall see. Was hoping DevMike might pop in here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerc20 Posted January 7, 2018 Author Share Posted January 7, 2018 Fyi got an answer back from the help desk. Pixie 4 2nd gen has not been produced yet. Pixie 8 is 2nd gen and is shipping now. Guess the 4 will not be bad to play with and i can keep it close to the windows or the props ill associate with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwilson6192 Posted January 8, 2018 Share Posted January 8, 2018 1 hour ago, racerc20 said: Fyi got an answer back from the help desk. Pixie 4 2nd gen has not been produced yet. Pixie 8 is 2nd gen and is shipping now. Guess the 4 will not be bad to play with and i can keep it close to the windows or the props ill associate with it. Thank you for the feedback. I just ordered a Pixie 8 and will build an enclosure with power supply to experiment with the various props I am beginning to build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerc20 Posted January 8, 2018 Author Share Posted January 8, 2018 For 20 dollars more the 8 seems a better deal. As this is my first batch of pixels and dabbling small is better for me to work with. I bought 500 pixels. The pixie 4 can control 400 thats plenty for me to start with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwilson6192 Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 FYI ... I just received my Pixie 8 controller this evening, and it is a V4 (Version 4). The LOR Website picture for the Pixie 8 shows a V1, and the feedback racerc20 received from the LOR Help Desk (above in this thread) indicated that the Generation 2 controller was shipping. I have no idea of the significance of the V4 designation (I would have thought it would be V2 for Version 2 or Generation 2). Thought I would just communicate this information. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 (edited) 8 minutes ago, mwilson6192 said: FYI ... I just received my Pixie 8 controller this evening, and it is a V4 (Version 4). The LOR Website picture for the Pixie 8 shows a V1, and the feedback racerc20 received from the LOR Help Desk (above in this thread) indicated that the Generation 2 controller was shipping. I have no idea of the significance of the V4 designation (I would have thought it would be V2 for Version 2 or Generation 2). Thought I would just communicate this information. Matt Gen 2 V4 is the current one. Has dip switches. Remember to successfully change the Unit ID to something other than 1 just flip the oddball dip switch to the same position as the others "off". While setting the Unit ID in HU it will let you change it without changing the dip switch however as soon as you close HU the unit ID will go back to #1. SO if you change unit ID and get no lights outside of HU re check that dip switch. That and or your configs, both nw and channel. If you need help just ask. JR Edited January 12, 2018 by dibblejr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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