Receiving Unit Options for P10 Panels

[k6ccc]

17 minutes ago, MGoBlue102 said:

How are you connecting the pi directly to the receiver?

LOR E1.31 network connects to the built in Pi Ethernet connection and the ColorLight connects to a Trendnet USB to gigabit Ethernet adapter.  Btw, if you go that route, make sure to ask Ed or me which one to get.

 

[MGoBlue102]

1 hour ago, MGoBlue102 said:

Wow, looking them over now.  Incredible.  Looks like you have got some time invested.

Wow, just wow, where are you going to put that huge one.  It appears to be 9-10 feet wide.  Amazing though.  You have got some serious amounts of p10's in your arsenal.  Man so many questions.  What is the black material between panels, steel?  aluminum, coro?  what is the white outer layer?  I can tell it is aluminum but what did it start as?  fascia material from a hardware store, pre cut straight sheet or a roll?  Any issues with glare off the plexi?  How close to the panel is the plexi?

[MGoBlue102]

5 minutes ago, k6ccc said:

LOR E1.31 network connects to the built in Pi Ethernet connection and the ColorLight connects to a Trendnet USB to gigabit Ethernet adapter.  Btw, if you go that route, make sure to ask Ed or me which one to get.

 

Oh ok, did not think about using converters too.  Man, that seems like you add in the possibility of headache when something is not working right, trying to figure out which component is the issue.  Would be nice to keep straight runs where possible.  I guess there is always that small possibility that everything will always work exactly as expected for as long as you need it to....

[Ebuechner]

4 minutes ago, MGoBlue102 said:

Wow, just wow, where are you going to put that huge one.  It appears to be 9-10 feet wide.  Amazing though.  You have got some serious amounts of p10's in your arsenal.  Man so many questions.  What is the black material between panels, steel?  aluminum, coro?  what is the white outer layer?  I can tell it is aluminum but what did it start as?  fascia material from a hardware store, pre cut straight sheet or a roll?  Any issues with glare off the plexi?  How close to the panel is the plexi?

It really sounds like we need to do a zoom session to answer some of your questions.

This is how I've helped k6ccc Chet and a few others.

Do you have a microphone or a webcam that you can use on your computer?

[MGoBlue102]

36 minutes ago, Ebuechner said:

It really sounds like we need to do a zoom session to answer some of your questions.

This is how I've helped k6ccc Chet and a few others.

Do you have a microphone or a webcam that you can use on your computer?

Cool, I will check that out and see what is necessary.  I doubt I have a camera or mic so will have to figure that part out.  I just have a laptop.  It may have both.  I know at the top, there is a small hole that I believe is a camera.  Today was the first time I heard of that interface.  Glad you happened to be on today.  

[k6ccc]

If you don't have mic and camera on your computer, you can call in via phone for the audio and just watch Ed demonstrate stuff.  I don't have that capability so I was talking and listening on the phone.  that worked fine.

 

[k6ccc]

1 hour ago, MGoBlue102 said:

Oh ok, did not think about using converters too.  Man, that seems like you add in the possibility of headache when something is not working right, trying to figure out which component is the issue.  Would be nice to keep straight runs where possible.  I guess there is always that small possibility that everything will always work exactly as expected for as long as you need it to....

It adds one more piece, but it's simple plug and play.  No added configuration or drivers required.  And it's only $14

This is the one that Ed recommended and I now have two of:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FFJ0RKE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Since you have the Pi 3b+ which does have a gigibit Ethernet interface, you have some other options of using that one interface for both the E1.31 data from the show player AND the ColorLight data using a switch.  You could also use the WiFi for the E1.31 connection and the Ethernet for ColorLight connection - but I don't recommend that as it puts A LOT of traffic onto your WiFi.

 

[MGoBlue102]

3 minutes ago, k6ccc said:

It adds one more piece, but it's simple plug and play.  No added configuration or drivers required.  And it's only $14

This is the one that Ed recommended and I now have two of:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FFJ0RKE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Since you have the Pi 3b+ which does have a gigibit Ethernet interface, you have some other options of using that one interface for both the E1.31 data from the show player AND the ColorLight data using a switch.  You could also use the WiFi for the E1.31 connection and the Ethernet for ColorLight connection - but I don't recommend that as it puts A LOT of traffic onto your WiFi.

 

At the immediate hour, I would test that thought out as well as I am only testing the 100 panels I just got in one at a time.  I need to make sure they all at least work before I confirm payment with Ray.  I just need to see a test pattern ran on each and every individual panel.  I may test the wifi capabilities of the pi using that process.

[Ebuechner]

5 minutes ago, k6ccc said:

It adds one more piece, but it's simple plug and play.  No added configuration or drivers required.  And it's only $14

This is the one that Ed recommended and I now have two of:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FFJ0RKE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Since you have the Pi 3b+ which does have a gigibit Ethernet interface, you have some other options of using that one interface for both the E1.31 data from the show player AND the ColorLight data using a switch.  You could also use the WiFi for the E1.31 connection and the Ethernet for ColorLight connection - but I don't recommend that as it puts A LOT of traffic onto your WiFi.

 

No I would never recommend trying to use a switch even if that Pi has a gigabit connection. 

First off the switch is going to cost more than a USB 3.0 to gigabit adapter.

Second the traffic coming out trying to talk to the color light is going to go everywhere and load down the network. 

Wi-Fi is an option if the fpp is going to be running as a standalone or as a slave.

[MGoBlue102]

7 minutes ago, Ebuechner said:

No I would never recommend trying to use a switch even if that Pi has a gigabit connection. 

First off the switch is going to cost more than a USB 3.0 to gigabit adapter.

Second the traffic coming out trying to talk to the color light is going to go everywhere and load down the network. 

Wi-Fi is an option if the fpp is going to be running as a standalone or as a slave.

Yea, I am going to test the wi fi side of that tonight when just running a test sequence to each panel.  Nothing further at the moment.

[k6ccc]

13 minutes ago, Ebuechner said:

No I would never recommend trying to use a switch even if that Pi has a gigabit connection. 

First off the switch is going to cost more than a USB 3.0 to gigabit adapter.

Second the traffic coming out trying to talk to the color light is going to go everywhere and load down the network. 

Wi-Fi is an option if the fpp is going to be running as a standalone or as a slave.

I 100% agree with everything Ed said.  I only mentioned it as an option - not necessarily an option I would recommend.  I already told you how I'm doing it.

 

[caniac]

3 hours ago, Ebuechner said:

It really sounds like we need to do a zoom session to answer some of your questions.

This is how I've helped k6ccc Chet and a few others.

Do you have a microphone or a webcam that you can use on your computer?

Ed's been a great help to me and the zoom sessions allow him to see what I am doing or not doing.

[jerry72]

9 P5 panels running off a matrix Pi cap, not a single issue.

[PKingRoch]

Jumping into this thread here because I'm trying to understand my options.  I want to do this:

LOR Show Computer -> E1.31 -> X -> P10

I'm looking to solve for X and I need help.

I'm getting dizzy reading so many different sites and many of them are not up to date.

The reason I'm doing this is because I'm looking to create a scrolling text/tune to sign.  I was going to do this with Boscoyo matrix panels, but I received a bad run of the panels and it ruined my pixels.  Now I'm entertaining the idea of P10s instead.  The original matrix was going to be approx. 8' wide by 3' tall - I don't need anything that large going with P10s.  I will probably look to drive 3 or 4 wide by 2 high.

Thoughts?

TIA

Paul

[k6ccc]

Paul, for the most part, at this point, X will either a Raspberry Pi or a BegleBone running Falcon Player (FPP).  The Pi or BB will either directly drive the P10 panels with a daughterboard (name depends on which board you are using), or by having FPP send ethernet data to a ColorLight receiver card which in turn drives the P10 panels.  Both methods work.  Personally for both my 4W x 3H P10 panel and my 3W x 2H P5 panel I am using Raspberry Pi 3B computers running FPP that is driving ColorLight receivers boards.  I don't know about the BB computers, but the Pi 3B ethernet connection is 10/100 Mbps only and the ColorLight REQUIRES gigabit.  The solution is a USB to gigabit adapter on one of the extra USB ports on the Pi.  Some such adapters don't work, so ask which one to get if you go that route (it may be listed earlier in this tread as well).  Also note that the Pi 3B+ does support gigabit ethernet, but you don't really want to have the Pi to ColorLight network traffic on the same LAN that your E1.31 traffic is on, so you likely will still want to add a second ethernet adapter.

BTW, like your plan, I also primarily will use my P5 and P10 matrix panels as my Tune To signs.

One last thing.  The other way to drive the P10 matrix is to take video out of the computer and deliver that to a ColorLight Sender card.  That then sends ethernet to a receiver card which drives the panels.  In LOR you use a video media file instead of an audio file.  If you are going to run real video, that may be a better option.

 

[PKingRoch]

Thank Jim.  So the FPP software is working in bridge mode across the wired ports?  I don't want to use the wireless.  ColorLight receiver card - that's different than the octoscroller I was reading about earlier with the BBB. This is the 5A-75 card?   Do you have links of how to interface with that?  I assume it isn't E1.31, and the Pi/FPP is the interpreter for that protocol.

 

The driver will be sequences from my showtime computer - no video.  What's a good USB gigabit port to get for the Pi?

[PKingRoch]

Oh, wait, you said daughterboard.  So I could use an BBB/octoscroller for this and skip the ColorLight and USB gigabit connection?

[PKingRoch]

Or perhaps the P10 scroller kit.  So, I could do this:

ShowTime Computer -> e1.31 -> BBB -> P10 Scroller kit -> P10s

I just want to be able to control the matrix from my sequences with the ShowTime Computer.  It wasn't clear to me that the FPP actually would do this; act as a E1.31 receiver.

[k6ccc]

Yes, the FPP is operating in bridge mode.  I am using the built in ethernet for my E1.31 network and a USB to gigabit adapter to drive the 5A-75 ColorLight.  Correct on FPP translating the E1.31 data into the raw ethernet data (it's not TCP/IP) for the ColorLight.  That part of the hookup is brain dead simple.  The hardest part is configuring the ColorLight.

The BeagleBone uses the Octascroller while the Pi uses a PiHat (of one variety or another).  If you are using a ColorLight, you don't need either one - although I am powering my Pi by way of a PiHat from Crockett Fantasy of Light.

BTW, as I am learning how all this works, I have both my P5 and P10 panels hanging from the ceiling of my family room so I can test stuff on the actual panels.  Very handy!

 

[caniac]

6 minutes ago, PKingRoch said:

Or perhaps the P10 scroller kit.  So, I could do this:

ShowTime Computer -> e1.31 -> BBB -> P10 Scroller kit -> P10s

I just want to be able to control the matrix from my sequences with the ShowTime Computer.  It wasn't clear to me that the FPP actually would do this; act as a E1.31 receiver.

FPP can control that and run your show, it's all in how you set it up.  I have one FPP in Master mode and two P10's (in slave/remote) mode that connect to my RGB/LOR controllers.  LOR is running in DMX mode and everything else is E1.31.