mDM-MP3 and Timer

[eabostrom]

Hi All,

 

I'm new to the forum and LOR. When I bought my starter kit, I bought the mDM-MP3 to eliminate having a computer connected. I hope that was the right decision.

 

I do notice that the mDM-MP3 does not have a timer and I have seen many posts about using an external timer but I have a slightly different desired use and I'm not sure how to accomplish it.

 

What I would like to do is have the lights all come on steady on at dusk or a set time. Then have the show start at another time and run for say an hour or so and finally go back to steady off until later in the evening. The idea being that the show is not always running and thus I don't drive the neighbors nuts with the flashing lights. 

 

The desired schedule would be something like...

 

4:00 PM to 6:00 PM steady on

6:00 PM to 8:00 PM show

8:00 PM to 11:00 PM steady on

 

Is there a way to set this up using the mDM-MP3? 

 

I'm thinking I can setup a show to be steady on and loop it. Then I could have a timer connected to one of the inputs of the mDM-MP3 to start the real show at 6:00 PM and then another timer on another input of the mDM-MP3 to start the steady on show again at 8:00 PM. Am I on the right track here?

 

I'm not sure yet if there is a timer that can be used with one of the inputs but it seems like it ought to be possible to arrange such a thing.

 

Any advice you can give is greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

Erik

[Don]

You could do this via triggers if you wanted. The mini-director doesn't have a clock, so there is no way to say "Start this show at 6pm, then change to another show at 8pm."

 

With triggers you could have a show triggered to start via a light sensor, then a 2nd trigger to start the next show. (I *think* you can have a triggered show interupt another one, would need to test that.) You would then need a 3rd trigger to start the last steady on.

 

I don't have experince with it myself, but I'd bet you could use Audrino to create something that would send the triggers at the appropriate times. If your not into that, then you might consider the Showtime Pro director. It can keep track of time.

[Surfing4Dough]

A fairly easy way to accomplish this, though by using a work-around per se, would be to create a 60 minute sequence of all the lights steady-on, and load this in the show schedule once or twice before your animated sequences.  Then repeat your animated sequences as many times as you want (to fill the 2 hr show time, and then add the steady-on sequences again at the end for as long as you want. 

 

So for your desired schedule:

4:00 PM to 6:00 PM steady on

6:00 PM to 8:00 PM show

8:00 PM to 11:00 PM steady on

You would do something like this:

 

Electrical Timer comes on at 4pm

60min steady-on sequence

60min steady-on sequence

2hrs of animated sequences (such as six 5-minute song sequences repeated 4 times each): seq1, seq2, seq3, etc.

60min steady-on sequence

60min steady-on sequence

Electrical Timer turns off at 11pm

 

Now if it were me, I would probably do 30 minute steady-on segments, to allow more flexibility (half hour increment ability rather than hourly).

Also, if it were me, rather than doing all steady-on for those full 2 hrs, I would do very slow fades amongst various channels every 3-5 minutes.  This would still accomplish your desire to not drive the neighbors crazy with blinky lights, but would keep the display "interesting". 

Also, during the 2hr cycle of animation, during each cycle you can insert different sequences.  For example, I have a variety of voiceovers that I play in between songs.  I use different ones each cycle. Also you could throw in a different song each cycle if desired.

Now I should note that the mini-director should have the newer firmware on it (about 3 yrs old now) that allows for sequences to be longer than the 10 minutes as listed in the manual.  http://forums.lightorama.com/index.php?/topic/10103-beta-firmware-released-for-the-mini-show-director/

 

 

So you can do a lot of creative things with the mini-director, in my opinion.

 

I don't think you could easily accomplish what you suggested above using the inputs -- those are mainly used for triggers. I think of those more as "switches" rather than allow the ability to provide different power inputs. 

[Orville]

You would have actually been better off to purchase the DC-MP3 Showtime Director, it would have been very easy to accomplish this task using the one with the built in real-time clock.  It's why when I started I purchased the DC-MP3 Showtime Director so I could set the display to do what I wanted without using a computer or an external timer.  The DC-MP3 Showtime Director has power as long as it's connected via cat5 to any powered LOR Controller.

 

My display runs at specific times, then runs 2 separate overnight sequences, then runs my daytime music only sequences.

 

Using the DC-MP3 Showtime Director my show runs like this:

{Halloween show}

 

Regular LightShow: 6:30pm-10pm Sunday-Thursday / 6:30pm-11pm Friday/Saturday

First Overnight Lighting: 10:00pm-3:00am Sunday-Thursday / 11pm-3:00am Friday/Saturday

Second Overnight Lighting: 3:00am-6:45am Every Day

Daytime Music {no lights}: 7am-6:20pm Every Day

 

If you can afford to upgrade to the DC-MP3 Showtime DIrector, that would be your best bet.  Plus no extra extension or power cord needed for an external timer device, since the DC-MP3 Showtime Director already has it built in.

 

Believe me, it makes it very simple and very easy to do what you're wanting to do.

 

And since the MP3 Showtime Director has battery backup, if I lose power the clock still keeps the correct time, then once power is restored the show starts right up and runs its normal course.   So even though it costs about the same as an CTB16PC Controller, too me, it was well wrth the price I paid for my older DC-MP3 Showtime Director when I started this around 3 years ago.

 

So, again, if you can afford to buy {upgrade to} the new G3 DC-MP3 Showtime Director, it really is your best bet for accomplishing all this very easily and reliably.

Edited August 25, 2013 by Orville

[eabostrom]

Thank you for all the advice. I think I should have gone with the G3 but since this is my first year with the controller I'll probably use the work around suggested by Surfing4Dough this year and consider an upgrade in the future.

 

Thanks again for the help. It's a great response from the community on my first post. Always nice to find good people on the web.

[Surfing4Dough]

Or yes, you could spend another $285 and buy the G3 DC-MP3 that Orville mention (by the way, whenever the mDM-MP3 is discussed, that is his answer), but you can easily accomplish what you specifically asked about for free (since you already have the mDM-MP3) using various work-arounds, one of which I outlined above.

[Orville]

Or yes, you could spend another $285 and buy the G3 DC-MP3 that Orville mention (by the way, whenever the mDM-MP3 is discussed, that is his answer), but you can easily accomplish what you specifically asked about for free (since you already have the mDM-MP3) using various work-arounds, one of which I outlined above.

I only mention it because I actually considered BOTH the mDM and the DC-MP3 Showtime Directors when I was thinking about how I wanted to run my display, and it was so much easier to program the time constraints WITH the Showtime DIrector and NOT use an extra outlet, extension cords, etc. by adding an external timer, which, if accessible by another, could be messed with and disrupted by changing times, etc.  

 

Very unlikely for that to happen with the Showtime Directors {at least not mine since it's either locked inside a box or inside my home or shed.  Now I don't know about the newer mDm G3, but was always led to believe the older Mdm units also required an external power supply and would not get their power from the controller via the cat5 like the Showtime Directors do.  

 

That's the only reason when the mDM's are mentioned I bring up the Showtime Directors as another viable option, all I am trying to allow is the end user {purchaser} to decide which they would rather use, or spend their funds on by giving them information on the Showtime Director option and show them how I do it using one.