Getting a late start.

[doublea]

Hello, many of you may or may not remember me from last holiday season. I have the money now in hand ready to buy my lor 16 channel set up. I was here on the old pc forms almost every day for about 3 months reading up and learning what I could.

My main question is, should I get the serial adapter or the usb adapter. I am leaning toward the usb adapter only because it is only $2 more, I know it only works up to 100 ft. I want to know if the USB adapter will Work on win 98 se with LOR and LOR2

I have 3 computers which I hope I will be able to use lor on. All have usb and all have serial ports. (2 computers I have never used the serial ports on and I'm not even sure if they work or not.)

First off my old windows 98 SE, recently cleared and had windows reinstalled, and updated. 400 MHz Intel, 128 MB ram, 20 GB hard drive, This is the computer I want to run my lor with During the holidays. Its not in use, and its very quiet, and energy efficient. I would be happier leaving this computer on for the holiday season than my XP, I do not need to sequencing on this computer, and hope to avoid sequencing on this pc.

XP computer, 2 ghz amd 2400+ xp, 1024 ram, 80 gb hard drive, Nvida 5600 OC, This computer is rarely in use, but its loud, and produces allot of heat, I am uncomfortable with leaving this pc on all the time, but if needed, I will Use this to run LOR, I can sequence on this pc if necessary.

Vista, 2ghz amd X2 4800+, 2048 mb ram, 500 gb hard drive, 2 nvidia 7600gt's Waiting for LOR 2 one of the reasons I have not ordered yet. When LOR2 comes, I want this to be my sequencing pc, I use it the most, but it will not be available for running the show.

SO.... I can I sequence on my vista, then run it on my 98se with a usb adapter? That is my ideal situation.



Thanks for your time, If you feel I should read some stickied post please point me there, I skimmed the forum looking for my question but didn't find it.

[doublea]

Jeff Millard wrote:

Yes the USB adapters will work with Win98SE.

Here is the Adapter Users Guide. Pages 14 - 18 deal with the installation of the drivers.

Enjoy, and good luck with your upcoming purchases,

Jeff

Edit I forgot to add the "SE" (If I recall correctly, I think SE was the first use of USB...)

thank you.

Yea my plans has changed and lor in geneal has gotten a nice change in the last year. I was going to purchase 5 months back, but I had no $$ and my cellphone was stolen so I went and bought an iphone on top of that. I finaly have the left over cash. Also I was waiting for lor2.

But I have over 300 ft of extension cords, and touns of lights. I have a general idia of what I want to do, Its a late start but with help from people here, I think I can have a decent display.

[Chuck Redding]

Believe me, it's never too late to get a great display up. Last year was my first year and I didn't get my boxes until late September. Knowing what I know now the best thing is to get the equipment and start building your sequences. I had three sequences last year. I finished the third one a week before C-day. Now that I'm familiar with what I can do and know what the lay out of my display is going to be (with new boxes) I'm getting all my sequence done NOW. Also for my first year I ran into several issues from programming to electrical. Every question I had was found in the forums.

There's nothing more fun than being in the month of August and planning your Christmas display. My wife is set to deliver our first child (a boy) next Wednesday morning, so I'm desperately trying to get as much done as I can now.

[doublea]

so.... IM gona ask my quesion again, making sure...

Am i better off with the serial adapter or the usb?

whish one do you suggest... theroticaly all my pc's will take both, but which one is less problem prone. Im leaning twards usb myself, seems like a much newer up to date interface to use for something like this.

I am avoiding serial because my newest pc I built myself (vista), and im really hesitant on even thinking my serial port would work. I am avoiding usb, because my windows 98se has had usb issues in the past.

[doublea]

very well then, I will order it with the usb adapter, thanks for the fast reply...



btw, any clue if there is a backup currently on planet christmas board kit packages? PC-CTB16PC-COMPLETE



I guess ill get the software and i can start sequencing, Dont need the LOR to do that i guess.... I have 2 sequences that i made, but my tryal software quit working on the computer I was using (windows xp, I no longer own that computer, it had other issues) I saved my lor files onto my external har drive...

Now my next project is to find high quality mp3 files for the songs I want to do.

(I have low quality ones, mp3's, ripped form youtube now, I wouldn't dare use them in my show)

[doublea]

Jeff Millard wrote:

doublea wrote:

btw, any clue if there is a backup currently on planet christmas board kit packages? PC-CTB16PC-COMPLETE

By this do you mean a slow down in shipping or production? If so, I have no idea. They recently moved some of their business to Upstate New York in an attempt to have more room for the business. When Dan and family visited for the mini+ last May he said he was very happy with the location and staff. Then there was the spring sale and all those wonderful orders! Whether they have shipped everything and caught up with the rush is beyond me. I ordered the kit version of the PC series in the pre-sale and had them in about three days. I have seen discussions about delivery dates but didn't really pay attention. I'm sure an e-mail to the "Pre-Sales Info" address Info@lightorama.com would get you a quick answer.

Jeff

will do, Yea I noticed they moved, its cool to see the christmass spirit is really booming!

[Bob VandenBoom]

A little late chiming in, but I'm giong to go with Jeff's suggestion. I would go a bit further and suggest the USB485B with the two output ports and voltage booster that Jeff mentioned. This allows you to put the first controller more than 100 feet from the host PC as well as allowing for future upgrades like the wireless linker. A few extra bucks now gives you the flexibility in the future.

Good Luck.

[rockyct]

Bob VandenBoom wrote:

A little late chiming in, but I'm giong to go with Jeff's suggestion. I would go a bit further and suggest the USB485B with the two output ports and voltage booster that Jeff mentioned. This allows you to put the first controller more than 100 feet from the host PC as well as allowing for future upgrades like the wireless linker. A few extra bucks now gives you the flexibility in the future.

Good Luck.

I would say definitely get at least one of the USB adapters. The serial port is a "legacy" port, meaning most new computers, especially laptops, do not come with it. You may not need it now, but you could need it later.

I did end up getting the USB485B as well. It is more expensive, but you can have the Cat 5 cable go out to two directions and not have to daisy chain all of your boards. Also, LOR II will bring a lot more "interactive" type displays that require it over the one port USB adapter.

[doublea]

rockyct wrote:

Bob VandenBoom wrote:

A little late chiming in, but I'm giong to go with Jeff's suggestion. I would go a bit further and suggest the USB485B with the two output ports and voltage booster that Jeff mentioned. This allows you to put the first controller more than 100 feet from the host PC as well as allowing for future upgrades like the wireless linker. A few extra bucks now gives you the flexibility in the future.

Good Luck.

I would say definitely get at least one of the USB adapters. The serial port is a "legacy" port, meaning most new computers, especially laptops, do not come with it. You may not need it now, but you could need it later.

I did end up getting the USB485B as well. It is more expensive, but you can have the Cat 5 cable go out to two directions and not have to daisy chain all of your boards. Also, LOR II will bring a lot more "interactive" type displays that require it over the one port USB adapter.

well my show is planned to be small, and my house is small, I would have no use for the voltage increse or need for the wireless linker. (in the future of expanding would be like 5 years from now, probibly a better product will be around then.

[rockyct]

Yeah, if you know you're going to stay small and simple, you don't need the more expensive USB adapter. In this type of hobby though, it takes a lot of self discipline to stay small.