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RGB Strips


ShaggySS

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Let me start out with I am a visual person so if it doesn’t make sense in my head I have a hard time understanding something so forgive them questions below. I have read all the posts in regards to RGB strips and I have a few questions.

1. Are all RGB strips equal? Are they all similar in brightness and quality or is this something to be careful of. As far as connecting it to and controlling it from LOR are they the same or do I need to look for something specific? Which ones have people had the best luck with?
I have seen this one - http://www.aliexpress.com/fm-store/701799/209843764-329544925/5m-one-roll-5050-SMD-30LEDs-m-led-strip-waterproof-by-silicon-tubing-and-coating-RGB.html
And this one http://www.amazon.com/Waterproof-Changing-LED-Lighting-Strip/dp/B0054U46Y2/ref=pd_cp_e_3 are they the same thing?

2. I have only seen them online in 5m strips, can you buy them by the roll?

3. So I need one of these CMB-16D QC Deluxe DC Card. http://store.lightorama.com/cmdedcca2.html. To control the RGB strip right? 3 channels per strip so a total of 5 strips per controller. Correct?

4. Connecting it. This part doesn’t make sense in my head. It seems that many of these RGB strips are made for various functions and many include remotes to change the color. Great idea for accent lighting. How does this work for LOR. Do they just have a control box that you remove to hook them up to LOR? Do all RGB strips have the 4 wires coming from them R, G, B and a +. How do those 4 wires hook up to the CMB16 since it has a + and – for each channel so a total of 6 wires but only 4 off the strip. I am far from an electrician so forgive me.

5. Power. It appears everyone is in agreement on these http://www.aliexpress.com/fm-store/701799/209855560-289599951/350W-Dual-Output-Switching-Power-Supply-88-264VAC-input-12V-350W-output-CE-and-ROHS-approved.html. Do you use these to power the CMB-16D card and it distributes the power or do you need one of these for every RGB strip you have?

6. Since each RGB strip has to connect back to the controller is it correct that I would need to run 4 wires to every 5 meter section back to the controller? Can they be daisy chained? If so does this limit its functionality?

7. What is the functional difference between a RGB Strip and a CCR. The only limitation that I have read so far are arches. What else. Please go easy on the lingo as I am clearly a newbie.

8. How do people attach them to the house. Standard clips obviously wouldn’t work?

9. I understand the newer software makes it easier to program RGB strips. I went poking through the menu of the sequence editor but I didn’t find any reference to RGB. Not too much of a concern while I am in the learning phase of this but still curious.


Now I am sure with the answers to all these questions I will have many more. With that I hope to do a write up on RGB strips for future newbies. It will include pictures for those visual people.

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ShaggySS wrote:

Let me start out with I am a visual person so if it doesn’t make sense in my head I have a hard time understanding something so forgive them questions below. I have read all the posts in regards to RGB strips and I have a few questions.

1. Are all RGB strips equal? Are they all similar in brightness and quality or is this something to be careful of. As far as connecting it to and controlling it from LOR are they the same or do I need to look for something specific? Which ones have people had the best luck with?
I have seen this one - http://www.aliexpress.com/fm-store/701799/209843764-329544925/5m-one-roll-5050-SMD-30LEDs-m-led-strip-waterproof-by-silicon-tubing-and-coating-RGB.html
And this one http://www.amazon.com/Waterproof-Changing-LED-Lighting-Strip/dp/B0054U46Y2/ref=pd_cp_e_3 are they the same thing?
No not all RGB strips are equal there are different types of coatings used, voltages used and some have chips in them so each section can be controlled. This RGB lighting presentation may help you understand some of the differences


2. I have only seen them online in 5m strips, can you buy them by the roll?
5 metres is generally the max length the strips come in due to issues with voltage drop, if you connect these strips then you will need to inject power in between the strips


3. So I need one of these CMB-16D QC Deluxe DC Card. http://store.lightorama.com/cmdedcca2.html. To control the RGB strip right? 3 channels per strip so a total of 5 strips per controller. Correct?
Correct, this will run any standard DC voltage RGB strip. Look as the strip as being a rope light but with 3 colours in the one led, so instead of just using 1 channel it will use 3 channels


4. Connecting it. This part doesn’t make sense in my head. It seems that many of these RGB strips are made for various functions and many include remotes to change the color. Great idea for accent lighting. How does this work for LOR. Do they just have a control box that you remove to hook them up to LOR? Do all RGB strips have the 4 wires coming from them R, G, B and a +. How do those 4 wires hook up to the CMB16 since it has a + and – for each channel so a total of 6 wires but only 4 off the strip. I am far from an electrician so forgive me.
Look as the strip as being a rope light but with 3 colours in the one led, so instead of just using 1 channel it will use 3 channels, the 4th wire is just the shared common so it can connect to any of the + terminals on the board

5. Power. It appears everyone is in agreement on these http://www.aliexpress.com/fm-store/701799/209855560-289599951/350W-Dual-Output-Switching-Power-Supply-88-264VAC-input-12V-350W-output-CE-and-ROHS-approved.html. Do you use these to power the CMB-16D card and it distributes the power or do you need one of these for every RGB strip you have?
One of these per LOR board will be sufficient, you can use 2 or more controllers per power supply if the load is not too high between the boards


6. Since each RGB strip has to connect back to the controller is it correct that I would need to run 4 wires to every 5 meter section back to the controller? Can they be daisy chained? If so does this limit its functionality?
You will see the lights dim on the second strip if you just daisy chain them. So yes you will need to run a 4 core cable back to every strip from the controller. I use 4 core security cable


7. What is the functional difference between a RGB Strip and a CCR. The only limitation that I have read so far are arches. What else. Please go easy on the lingo as I am clearly a newbie.
Please refer to the RGB presentation
But basically a CCR can be controlled in 100mm sections so the 5 metre strip is actually controlled by 150 channels so the strip can be controlled into 50 sections. The standard strip you linked to above is just 3 channel strip so the whole strip is controlled as one


8. How do people attach them to the house. Standard clips obviously wouldn’t work?
I use 25mm electrical conduit and mount to my gutters with some tie wire and hooks


9. I understand the newer software makes it easier to program RGB strips. I went poking through the menu of the sequence editor but I didn’t find any reference to RGB. Not too much of a concern while I am in the learning phase of this but still curious.
LOR S3 has RGB support


Now I am sure with the answers to all these questions I will have many more. With that I hope to do a write up on RGB strips for future newbies. It will include pictures for those visual people.


Hope the info and the link above helps you
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ShaggySS wrote:

1. Are all RGB strips equal? Are they all similar in brightness and quality or is this something to be careful of. As far as connecting it to and controlling it from LOR are they the same or do I need to look for something specific? Which ones have people had the best luck with?
I have seen this one - http://www.aliexpress.com/fm-store/701799/209843764-329544925/5m-one-roll-5050-SMD-30LEDs-m-led-strip-waterproof-by-silicon-tubing-and-coating-RGB.html
And this one http://www.amazon.com/Waterproof-Changing-LED-Lighting-Strip/dp/B0054U46Y2/ref=pd_cp_e_3 are they the same thing?

This year I purchased several of the AliExpress strips to outline my eaves. While there may be differences from supplier to supplier, one major difference is the degree of waterproofing. I found the AliRxpress strip with tubing+silicone/epoxy infil to be far more robust than the strips with just a silicone tube. Note there are also strips for use indoors which have NO waterproofing.


2. I have only seen them online in 5m strips, can you buy them by the roll?

I've only seen them by the 5m roll (or in shorter lengths.


3. So I need one of these CMB-16D QC Deluxe DC Card. http://store.lightorama.com/cmdedcca2.html. To control the RGB strip right? 3 channels per strip so a total of 5 strips per controller. Correct?

YES

4. Connecting it. This part doesn’t make sense in my head. It seems that many of these RGB strips are made for various functions and many include remotes to change the color. Great idea for accent lighting. How does this work for LOR. Do they just have a control box that you remove to hook them up to LOR? Do all RGB strips have the 4 wires coming from them R, G, B and a +. How do those 4 wires hook up to the CMB16 since it has a + and – for each channel so a total of 6 wires but only 4 off the strip. I am far from an electrician so forgive me.

I do not use any of the control boxes with LOR, just direct connect each of the RGB wires to the required -ve LOR channel and the +ve to any +ve. (On the LOR DC board, all the +ves on a bank are common so you only need the 1 +ve connection)

5. Power. It appears everyone is in agreement on these http://www.aliexpress.com/fm-store/701799/209855560-289599951/350W-Dual-Output-Switching-Power-Supply-88-264VAC-input-12V-350W-output-CE-and-ROHS-approved.html. Do you use these to power the CMB-16D card and it distributes the power or do you need one of these for every RGB strip you have?

I use one 12v 350W power supply to power 1 or more LOR DC boards, The 5m (30 led/m) strip draws about 0.6 - 0.7A/colour, ie about 24W /strip all on, so the 350W supply would be capable of supplying more than 10 strips at 5m.

6. Since each RGB strip has to connect back to the controller is it correct that I would need to run 4 wires to every 5 meter section back to the controller? Can they be daisy chained? If so does this limit its functionality?

I run each strip with separate wiring otherwise the voltage drop along the strip will start to dim the second and subsequent strips.

7. What is the functional difference between a RGB Strip and a CCR. The only limitation that I have read so far are arches. What else. Please go easy on the lingo as I am clearly a newbie.

The strips have all the LEDs connected (in groups of 3)between the supply voltage for each colour. The digital (or pixel) strips such as the CCR have a control chip for each pixel (group of 3 LEDs) and require a separate controller (LOR CCR or a DMX controller) to communicate to each pixel whether it should turn on and if so at what colour and intensity. So instead of having 3 channels (RGB) to control a strip, you end up with 150 channels (50 RGB channels) to control a pixel strip. The non=pixel strip is the same colour along its whole length.

8. How do people attach them to the house. Standard clips obviously wouldn’t work?

What ever is appropriate. I have battens exposed under my corrugated iron roof and just zip tie the strip to the battens. This is a protected location and I plan on leaving these in place throughout the year.

9. I understand the newer software makes it easier to program RGB strips. I went poking through the menu of the sequence editor but I didn’t find any reference to RGB. Not too much of a concern while I am in the learning phase of this but still curious.


Now I am sure with the answers to all these questions I will have many more. With that I hope to do a write up on RGB strips for future newbies. It will include pictures for those visual people.


    Eddy - You beat me to the reply
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ShaggySS wrote:

Let me start out with I am a visual person so if it doesn’t make sense in my head I have a hard time understanding something so forgive them questions below. I have read all the posts in regards to RGB strips and I have a few questions.

1. Are all RGB strips equal?
No Some are 5 volt, some are 12 volt, some are dumb strips, some are smart strips. Some are RGB some are RBG Some are common anode and some are common cathode.
Are they all similar in brightness and quality or is this something to be careful of.
No, they are not all the same. Depends on the color temp of the LEDs
As far as connecting it to and controlling it from LOR are they the same or do I need to look for something specific? Which ones have people had the best luck with?
I have seen this one - http://www.aliexpress.com/fm-store/701799/209843764-329544925/5m-one-roll-5050-SMD-30LEDs-m-led-strip-waterproof-by-silicon-tubing-and-coating-RGB.html
This is a "dumb" RGB strip that can be controlled from the LOR DC card.
Personnally I would stay away from the one from Amazon.

2. I have only seen them online in 5m strips, can you buy them by the roll?
5 meters (approx 16 feet) is standard. Beyond that you get into cutting the ribbons open and injecting power and data.

3. So I need one of these CMB-16D QC Deluxe DC Card. http://store.lightorama.com/cmdedcca2.html. To control the RGB strip right? 3 channels per strip so a total of 5 strips per controller. Correct?
Yes

4. Connecting it. This part doesn’t make sense in my head. It seems that many of these RGB strips are made for various functions and many include remotes to change the color. Great idea for accent lighting. How does this work for LOR. Do they just have a control box that you remove to hook them up to LOR?
Forget about the ones that come with remotes
Do all RGB strips have the 4 wires coming from them R, G, B and a +. How do those 4 wires hook up to the CMB16 since it has a + and – for each channel so a total of 6 wires but only 4 off the strip. I am far from an electrician so forgive me.
On the LOR DC cards, all the + lugs are wired together, on each side. Just pick one and run 4 wires to the strip
It appears everyone is in agreement on these http://www.aliexpress.com/fm-store/701799/209855560-289599951/350W-Dual-Output-Switching-Power-Supply-88-264VAC-input-12V-350W-output-CE-and-ROHS-approved.html. Do you use these to power the CMB-16D card and it distributes the power or do you need one of these for every RGB strip you have?
That is a good power supply, I have several of them. As for how many, calculate your current draw for the strips you ar using and do not exceed the power supply rating. Just be sure you use it with 12 volt strips and not on 5 volt ones.


6. Since each RGB strip has to connect back to the controller is it correct that I would need to run 4 wires to every 5 meter section back to the controller? Can they be daisy chained? If so does this limit its functionality?
Four wires per strip to the controller. Do Not daisy chain. You will experience data and power problems


7. What is the functional difference between a RGB Strip and a CCR. The only limitation that I have read so far are arches. What else. Please go easy on the lingo as I am clearly a newbie.
A CCR is a smart strip. There are ICs through out the strip that allow each pixel to be addressed individually. It requires the CCR controller that knows how to talk to the pixels. Smart strips may be based on 18xx, 2801, 6803, etc. Each requires a controller that knows how to output the correct protocol that the IC chip understands. These can be chased in mutiple colors.
A dumb RGB strip - the whole strip has to be a single color. Not suitable for leaping arches

8. How do people attach them to the house. Standard clips obviously wouldn’t work?
Very carefully. The flexible RGB strips can be delicate, and just like when flexing ordinary rope light, you can loose sections


9. I understand the newer software makes it easier to program RGB strips. I went poking through the menu of the sequence editor but I didn’t find any reference to RGB. Not too much of a concern while I am in the learning phase of this but still curious.
RGB channels have been on the LOR software since at least ver 2.8.6. Released Aug 3, 2010. Maybe before that, I don't remember.
With the sequence editor open, click on Help, click on Index, scroll down to RGB

Now I am sure with the answers to all these questions I will have many more. With that I hope to do a write up on RGB strips for future newbies. It will include pictures for those visual people.



    1. These were only answers to your questions. Reqarding dumb strips. Hardly sufficient for a write up as a guide to future newbies.

      Just a tip, when ordering the strips from China, be sure to specify the wire colors you want on the strips (the Chineese like to just use whatever color of wire is handy at the moment), Specify voltage, specify common anode or common cathode, and specify you want RGB (in that order, or they might ship RBG. Always request a proforma invoice that outlines your specifications. Be prepared to the possibility that you may need extra to replace bad or dead pixels - quality control may be lacking.
      .
      EDIT: I see the our friends from "Down Under" posted while I was typing.
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lol Whew!

Shaggy, if you see any conflict between what our Aussie friends posted and my answers, go with the Aussies !

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edvas69 wrote:

good to see all 3 of us had very similar answers


LOL thats what I was thinking. Everyone I appreciate the quick reply's I am smarter already. I am going to check out that power point tonight looks like some very good info.

What RGB strips do you recommend? I have seen some RGB strips do a fade from one end to the other and I love that effect but mainly I am looking for solid color changes so it sound like dumb RGB strips are for me. Though I would be curious to compare prices.

Thanks again, great info!
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JBullard wrote:

lol Whew!

Shaggy, if you see any conflict between what our Aussie friends posted and my answers, go with the Aussies !


My next step was to check out the displays of those who posted answers and go with the person who had the best use of RGB strips in their display :D
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The RGB strips can be ordered with a common '+' or a common '-'. Lor DC cards control the negative side, so be sure to order common '+'. Also, any computer power supply will supply 3.3v, 5v and 12v DC, which gives you some flexibility on lighting options. Such as, single leds run on 3.3v, you can rewire mini flashlights to your controller for lighting tombstones. You can get free power supplies from old computers. Find someone who builds computers, they may have some lying around to get rid of, try to get one that's at least 350W. To get the power supply to power on, the green wire on the large motherboard connector, cut it and connect it to any black wire. This does not work on every supply, there are other tricks if needed. Google it if you need help on that.

The RGB strips can be cut at every third led, look for the cut marks. Also, I'm seeing more 10M strips being available now.

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ShaggySS wrote:

edvas69 wrote:
good to see all 3 of us had very similar answers


LOL thats what I was thinking. Everyone I appreciate the quick reply's I am smarter already. I am going to check out that power point tonight looks like some very good info.

What RGB strips do you recommend? I have seen some RGB strips do a fade from one end to the other and I love that effect but mainly I am looking for solid color changes so it sound like dumb RGB strips are for me. Though I would be curious to compare prices.

Thanks again, great info!
Just remember, the strips that do a fade from one end to the other are the "smart" strips. The LOR DC card will not control them, so you will need a controller that will.
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JBullard wrote:

ShaggySS wrote:
edvas69 wrote:
good to see all 3 of us had very similar answers


LOL thats what I was thinking. Everyone I appreciate the quick reply's I am smarter already. I am going to check out that power point tonight looks like some very good info.

What RGB strips do you recommend? I have seen some RGB strips do a fade from one end to the other and I love that effect but mainly I am looking for solid color changes so it sound like dumb RGB strips are for me. Though I would be curious to compare prices.

Thanks again, great info!
Just remember, the strips that do a fade from one end to the other are the "smart" strips.  The LOR DC card will not control them, so you will need a controller that will.


Really! I was feeling so confident in what I had learned and set to go then you had to tell me that. Actually I am glad you said that. So these smart strips is that something that is controlled by DMX. I really have no idea what DMX is except that it was mentioned several times in my RGB research. The main reason I stick to the Newbies area!
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JBullard wrote:

No, SOME can be controlled by DMX, most are controlled by SPI controllers.

:shock:Oh wow this is getting fun! So if I currently use LOR and want to continue to use it with Smart RGB strips what are my options?

Thanks,
scott
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ShaggySS wrote:

JBullard wrote:
lol Whew!

Shaggy, if you see any conflict between what our Aussie friends posted and my answers, go with the Aussies !


My next step was to check out the displays of those who posted answers and go with the person who had the best use of RGB strips in their display :D


I used a large amount of strip last year, i used a combination of both smart and non smart strip as well as CCRs all running in DMX.

If your planning on using digital (smart) strip then for you i would use the CCR as you really havent left enough time to understand all the differences of some of the DIY options before the season starts.

Dont jump in too fast there can be many pitfalls using non standard LOR gear if you dont have a good understanding.
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ShaggySS wrote:

JBullard wrote:
lol Whew!

Shaggy, if you see any conflict between what our Aussie friends posted and my answers, go with the Aussies !


My next step was to check out the displays of those who posted answers and go with the person who had the best use of RGB strips in their display :D


Not a good idea. Eddy and Geoff both use lots of RGB (strips, pixel bulbs, modules) in their display. Each type has a use, depending on where used and the application. For RGB, don't think only strips, you might discover that the modules or pixel bulbs (or a combination of all three) might be better suited for your display in your climate.

I have some strips, but almost all the RGB stuff I'm building this year uses 5050 modules. I've purchased over 200 so far, getting ready to order some more.
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edvas69 wrote:

ShaggySS wrote:
JBullard wrote:
lol Whew!

Shaggy, if you see any conflict between what our Aussie friends posted and my answers, go with the Aussies !


My next step was to check out the displays of those who posted answers and go with the person who had the best use of RGB strips in their display :P


I used a large amount of strip last year, i used a combination of both smart and non smart strip as well as CCRs all running in DMX.

If your planning on using digital (smart) strip then for you i would use the CCR as you really havent left enough time to understand all the differences of some of the DIY options before the season starts.

Dont jump in too fast there can be many pitfalls using non standard LOR gear if you dont have a good understanding.


I am planning for next year. I am not ready to rush into another holiday. Halloween was hard enough.
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If you really want to learn about the RGB options (probably enough to make your head swim) then you probably would want to join the Aussie forum. That's where I get my RGB information, and reason that Eddy, Geoff and I had similar answers.

http://auschristmaslighting.com/forums/index.php

I've been a member for over a year, and while I don't post hardly at all, I read the posts everyday and really soaked up only a small fraction of the info posted there.

Our "Down Under" friends are really pioneers in using RGB. There are also a few other US based DIY type forums that I read daily also as they are really into the RGB products also.

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Planning for next year? Then as fast as the RGB world is moving, dumb RGB strips may be totally "out of fashion" by then. Almost everything is quickly moving to SPI control. So many more options.

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ShaggySS wrote:

JBullard wrote:
lol Whew!

Shaggy, if you see any conflict between what our Aussie friends posted and my answers, go with the Aussies !


My next step was to check out the displays of those who posted answers and go with the person who had the best use of RGB strips in their display :P


Last year my only use of RGB strips was CCRs outlining my eaves. This year I am adding dumb strip to outline more of my eaves, + some to run as wall washers. I am also adding several hundred dumb RGB modules in several locations and a number of 0.5m RGB rigid strips to use as spinners.
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JBullard wrote:

If you really want to learn about the RGB options (probably enough to make your head swim) then you probably would want to join the Aussie forum. That's where I get my RGB information, and reason that Eddy, Geoff and I had similar answers.

http://auschristmaslighting.com/forums/index.php

I've been a member for over a year, and while I don't post hardly at all, I read the posts everyday and really soaked up only a small fraction of the info posted there.

Our "Down Under" friends are really pioneers in using RGB. There are also a few other US based DIY type forums that I read daily also as they are really into the RGB products also.


This is an excelent resource. I just finished my first of 4 video lessons. Great info on this site for anyone who is RGB clueless like me.
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