avionics12 Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Hi everyone,I'm just reentering the hobby after a short break, still a noob for sure. I have read that LOR has released 3.9.0 which, among other improvements, involves Comm Speed changes.In my work world comm speed has tremendous positive impacts and enables functionality that we used to dream of. Is this the case with a comm speed change with SS?Thanks for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianBruderer Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Yes, you are correct. The comm speed increase is a big deal. In 3.9.0.0 if you launch the sequence editor and click on the Edit menu and then select Preferences, and then Network Preferences you will see that the speed options are now:19.2K (slowest)57.6K (recommended)115.4K500K (fastest)In previous releases, the fastest option was "Short Range (faster)" which was really just a different name for 115.4K. So the new 500K speed is more than 4 times faster! This means if you are using the 500K speed, a 12 CCR display no longer needs 2 networks to run the SuperStar sequences.Note, my understanding is that to use the 500K speed you will also need to update to the latest firmware on all of your controllers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Benedict Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 My thinking is the speed will be limited to the fastest device on the loop; if you have an older controller that does not go that fast, it might need a seperate (slower) network, just so it doesn't slow down everything else.Brian, am I off base here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianBruderer Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Light-O-Rama had me test the 500K speed on CCRs. I had to download new firmware for the CCR controllers, otherwise they would not work with the 500K speed. At the time they had new test firmware for the CCR controllers but not the 16 channel controllers, so while I was running the 500K speed the 16 channel controllers for my display was not working. But as you say, each network can have a different speed setting, so I could put the 16 channel controllers on their own network and run them at a slower speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
friskybri Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 (edited) WOW they need to fix that. This could be a total nightmare for LOR. I have CCR's all over the Yard. 8 on two networks on the roof and 3 more in other networks with 16 channel controllers. They should have never released this during the Christmas Season without updating all the firmware. I can see many shows going down the tubes this week because of this. Besides few years ago they said they would update the gen 2 controllers. Edited December 13, 2012 by friskybri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avionics12 Posted December 13, 2012 Author Share Posted December 13, 2012 If I understand the update contents correctly the firmware update for the controllers is resident in the update.See this post: http://forums.lightorama.com/index.php?/topic/22727-what-ever-happened-to-superspeed/Beginning with post #9. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Rise Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I have 7 CTB16's and 4 CCR's on the same network. I've never had any lag issues in the show. I have noticed the memory leak on my show computer. I noticed that my computer will start to lag after 3 or 4 days if I don't reboot it. Not the show mind you, just the computer. Just to be safe, I was rebooting every night after the show shuts down.I updated to 3.9 yesterday. The show ran fine. I'll leave the computer alone for a bit and see if it starts to lag again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Boyd Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 In previous releases, the fastest option was "Short Range (faster)" which was really just a different name for 115.4K. So the new 500K speed is more than 4 times faster! This means if you are using the 500K speed, a 12 CCR display no longer needs 2 networks to run the SuperStar sequences.Note, my understanding is that to use the 500K speed you will also need to update to the latest firmware on all of your controllers.Let me get this straight, If I have 6 sets of CCPs, (12 strings) I will be able to run them all on one network. If all of my regular CTB16pc controllers are G3, and all of them have the firmware update, I can run those controllers along with 2 more sets of CCPs on a seperate network,(both set at 500K), then I should not have any problems, correct? If this is the case, Sweet!! That means just 2 networks and a DMX dongle next year. That sure cuts down on dongles hanging from the show PC. Thank you LOR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wbaker4 Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I wonder if LOR is going to have an upgrade plan for some of my non-G3 CTB16PC controllers.I didn't see anything specific to being able to order a CTB16PCG3 controller so I assume anything that is ordered now is G3? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgtlpro Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 They do offer a kit with the board built that is G3. Saw that last night on the PC kit page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilrock Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 What I'm curious about is what effect the higher baud rate will have on the distance you can run the network. There is a reason they called it "short range faster". Higher baud rates don't perform well over longer ranges and the higher switching clock rates will induce more noise into other parts of the controller.Also when you chain a bunch of controllers in series is it the total distance that needs to be considered or just the distance between each controller? I never knew whether the output ports on the controller re-boost the signal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
friskybri Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I see that people say they cant be updated. So far we have not got a why they cant. Gen 3 has snubbers built in for LED lights. Most don't care because they have snubbers for the LED's already. Can't it be a chip upgrade to the comm chip and or processor. I did read somewhere the power is not enough. The transformer I am sure has enough power but I could be wrong. I have no issue with modifying the boards or buying the replacement parts from LOR. I wish LOR would come on here and finally after years of waiting for an update to explain it to us. Maybe they did but I sure cant find it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
friskybri Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Guess no one knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianBruderer Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I do not know the reason why the older 16 channel controllers can't do 500k speed. I simply know that Dan Baldwin told me only the gen3 16 channel controllers could use the 500K speed if they have the most recent firmware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Boyd Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Well bugger it, 6 out of 7 of my controllers accepted the update and work fine on the 500 K. My # 1 controller, which was bought early last year is a LOR1602W Controller and it won't work with the 500 K, even with the latest firmware update for it. Looks like I'll have to replace it next year if I want to use Superspeed for that one. It wouldn't be a big deal, but I want to put 2 CCP sets on that network next year and only need 2 networks. I guess I could put 3 networks to use. That would be a lot less expensive, Oh well, I have a year to think it over. Maybe there will be an upgrade kit for the older controllers coming soon, Hint, Hint, Wink, Wink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Maybe the brains of the old G2 controllers simply aren't quick enough to process information coming at super speed, no matter the firmware. I say if your older controllers work fine the way they are, then forget about them and lets all look to the future. Seems to me like LOR has already solved the LED resistive load issue. If your older controllers need snubbers get them and shut up.They've just improved performance of their CCD's by eliminating the dreaded lag problem and other barriers to acheiving maximum performance from their CCDs. (Notice I said THEIR CCDs. People who expect them to worry about other companies' products just aren't living in the real world.) So what if we have to connect the CCDs separately from older controllers? Isn't that what a lot of us are doing already? Do you want the improved performance or don't you? Choose YES or choose NO - but either way, quit whining. It's Christmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wbaker4 Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Well bugger it, 6 out of 7 of my controllers accepted the update and work fine on the 500 K. My # 1 controller, which was bought early last year is a LOR1602W Controller and it won't work with the 500 K, even with the latest firmware update for it. Looks like I'll have to replace it next year if I want to use Superspeed for that one. It wouldn't be a big deal, but I want to put 2 CCP sets on that network next year and only need 2 networks. I guess I could put 3 networks to use. That would be a lot less expensive, Oh well, I have a year to think it over. Maybe there will be an upgrade kit for the older controllers coming soon, Hint, Hint, Wink, Wink. Ron,Are the 6 controllers that accepted the update g3s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Boyd Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 That is affirmative. They accepted the update and ran on the 500K speed. I only ran part of a sequence so I don't really know if it made a difference. I just really wanted to see if they would. I was pretty sure they were Gen3s, the 1602 is not though. It's not a big deal to me, my show is running just fine right now except for my CC Pixel tree. I found out the CCP controllers are not very water resistant and I have 2 of 4 not working right now. Still trouble shooting them. The other 2 CCPs accepted the update too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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