Brand new to LOR - Need advice on what to buy.

[mcullen29]

I have been reading about LOR for the last year or so. I am very interested in getting into it, but need some newbie guidance.
I will be using the product for my house.

1) Do I go with the residential or professional light controllers? What are the major differences? I do plan to have a PC running.

2) I would like to start out with RGB LED lighting with SPI. Essentially I would like full control over my LED lights. My goal would be to leave them up year round to use for various holidays and occasions. The cosmic color ribbon seems to be what I want, but are there other alternatives to it? What can be left outside in full sun all year?

3) Let's say I plan on having 6 LED strips that I want to control individually. Is that 18 channels I need? I also want to control traditional lights as well. What would be a decent system to get me started?

I appreciate any guidance.

Thanks
Mike

[shfr26]

1. Go with the ctb16pc The Pro have metal cases and are UL: approved, other than that, I don't remember the differences.

If you can, fill in your location in your profile, it makes a difference on some of the answers you will get.

[mcullen29]

I have updated my profile:
Raleigh, NC

[Richard Hamilton]

Best first advice is to buy a NICE BIG present for the wife! That might help you survive the criticism you will get after spending a small fortune on this hobby

[Bcspy]

Second year now. Agree with the presents and alots of "Anything for you, my love." Go with your budget. I started with 48 channels, waited for spring sale and purchased 32 channels, and waited for summer sale, no sale. Now I really need another 32 channels = 112 total. I have one residential and the rest are will be the professional. Both do the same things but I prefer the professional. No matter what you buy, ask lots of questions, and research. Start early, its pretty fun programming but alots of headache. Everyone have a different reason why they get into this hobby. When I finished, lights on, you will feel like a little kid. I even teared the first year. Good luck with with you first year.

[capt1]

I started LOR in 2008 with the commercial model LOR1602W due to it having an off/on switch on the controller, you are able to set the controller ID number on the controller instead of having to do it through the computer and I liked the heavy duty housing for the weather we have in Ohio. I started with one and now I have six controllers. Go LOR1602W if you can get them. Also they have a two year warranty vs one year warranty on the residential model. That is only my opinion!!!!!!!

[scubado]

Most people here go with the PC kits in one of it's many forms depending how much assembly work you want to do to save money or skill level. I built all my landscaping lights, plus they are shielded from the sun. Buy lots of extension cords, if you have a Menards near you, they are the best source for cords, they should be having sales on them soon.

Welcome to the madness, it's a lot of work, but very rewarding. You will find that the best compliments come from the kids(not your own kids) and they are priceless!

[mcullen29]

Thank you all for the advice and the well wishes and also the hints on buying the wife a nice gift. Does anyone have information on the LED lights? I was looking at the cosmic color ribbon. Is anyone using them? Are there alternatives to the CCR?

Thanks

[Melvin Stoddard]

If you mean you are thinking of buying 6 CCR,you don't need any channels. They come with their own controllers. There are other alternatives,however if you are going to use LOR I would stick with them[CCR]. You will have the software. Very easy to control. There are other RGB strips but to use with other LOR controllers, which will control your other lights, you would still need LOR.

[Melvin Stoddard]

Oh by the way welcome to this "Hobby".

[Melvin Stoddard]

If you are planning on using 6 CCR you might read this tread http://forums.lightorama.com/view_topic.php?id=26501&forum_id=76&highlight=usb+485

[gizmomkr]

Lots of people use the CCR.

Alternatives:

Well there is going to be a CCB one day. CCR is like ropelight, the CCB will have ping pong ball-ish individual lights. But they still dont yet exsist for sale.

LOR now has native support for USB-DMX, so you could control ANY DMX light / strip / LED / ETC.

I would say check out usledsupply.com They have lots of SPI lights and DMX converters. http://www.usledsupply.com/shop/led-rope-lights/rgb-full-color-strips/digital-point.html

http://www.usledsupply.com/shop/rgb-dmx-lpd6803-decoder.html

There are plenty of SPI-DMX interfaces. So you could get most any chip in your LED's, you just need something to convert that to dmx

Check out the DMX section of the forum, there are a couple posts there with links to various LED controlls.