CCR Knockoff?

[ChristmasOnTheMountin]

Hi everyone, I was looking at digital RGB strips which I think the cosmic color ribbons are? I came across this website where these digital rgb strips looks pretty nice. Did anyone every hear of them before? Thanks

 

http://www.adafruit.com/products/306

[77doran]

I believe the CCR's are a 5 bit 6803 IC

The closest knockoff, I do believe would be the 8 bit, WS2811.

The strips in your link are WS2801,at $30 per meter.

You can get 5 meters of WS2811 from Ray for $30. Not sure why such a price difference?

[olracs]

This is what I purchased from Ray http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/5m-led-digital-strip-DC12V-input-WS2811IC-256-scale-10pcs-IC-and-30pcs-5050-SMD-RGB/701799_568458133.html

they claim it is one of the same, I also purchased this from SanDevices  http://www.sandevices.com/PixelSystem1.html  and Viola! And a big shout out to jim @ Sandevices, EXCELLENT customer service! And so far the testing has went perfect.

Edited October 22, 2013 by olracs

[ChristmasOnTheMountin]

Thank you for the help! Also what is the difference between the 5 bit vs 8 bit? Also would you please send me a link to what device I would need to control these? I have 2 lor controllers and I know for standard rgb strips you get there rgb controller but being though these are not standard rgb and are like ccr what one would I use? Thanks! 

 

P.S. who is ray that you mentioned? 

[77doran]

8bit chip allows 256 dimming steps per primary colour compared to the 5 bit having 32 dimming steps.

Do your homework with pixel controllers. There are quite a few out there. You could start by figuring out price/channel or universe count. It all depends what your needs are.

When we talk about Ray, were talking about Ray Wu, from aliexpress. Do your homework here too. There is $ that can be saved when ordering.

[olracs]

Ray Wu is aliexpress store in China, I purchased the pixel strips there ( www.aliexpress.com/store/product/5m-led-digital-strip-DC12V-input-WS2811IC-256-scale-10pcs-IC-and-30pcs-5050-SMD-RGB/701799_568458133.html ) The controller was from SanDevices  http://www.sandevice...xelSystem1.html I saved about half the cost and so far pleased with the results. Of course I might add to that, if I purchased the cosmic ribbon it would have been  less headaches. plug and play, simple! Money or time consuming learning curve?

[PMC]

I've been using LOR CCR's (14 of them) since 2009. and that's a purchase I was never disappointed in or had second thoughts

[Ken Benedict]

8bit chip allows 256 dimming steps per primary colour compared to the 5 bit having 32 dimming steps. Do your homework with pixel controllers. There are quite a few out there. You could start by figuring out price/channel or universe count. It all depends what your needs are. When we talk about Ray, were talking about Ray Wu, from aliexpress. Do your homework here too. There is $ that can be saved when ordering.

 

Big difference is that the LOR CCR controller has "software dithering" that makes the color changes much smoother, comparable to 8 bit color.

 

You also get great support from LOR if the CCR has problems.

 

Can't get that support from China. FYI.

[ChristmasOnTheMountin]

Thanks for all of your help!!

[stanward]

The tech support from Jim St. John of SanDevices is superb!  He has stuck by me when I was at a complete loss in regards to RGB devices.  If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have been able to get far.

[keepaofdagr00ve]

Newbie question. Off topic a bit.

 

I bought a 16 channel LOR device, can I just add these knock offs directly to it(WS2811)?  Or would it need another something else to make it work?

[viennaxmas]

Newbie question. Off topic a bit.

I bought a 16 channel LOR device, can I just add these knock offs directly to it(WS2811)? Or would it need another something else to make it work?

At this point LOR has no device being able to drive the type of string you are planning to use. Those are so called "Smart Pixels". They can be used in conjunction with LOR Software if you have a dedicated pixel driver and use DMX. There are a few variations, the most simple one can drive 170 pixels and requires one DMX Universe via an DMX Adapter. If you plan on more than 170 you are looking at E1.31 and boards from J1Sys or Sandevices... There is a lot here on DIY smart strips - everything which is not LOR's CCR or CCP requires a good amount of work and is far from being Plug&Play.

What kind of 16 channel device do you have?

[keepaofdagr00ve]

I just purchased the CTB16PC-ReadyToGO arrives next week.

 

​I might be getting in way over my head this year if I go for the CCR and CCP.  Would you suggest any sort of simple lights, that aren't too expensive for just a basic setup as I learn to tinker with them?  Can you get some nice functions out of regular LED lights? Or do you need CCR, CCP?

 

Thanks for any advice you may have.

[viennaxmas]

This is a great start - pretty much the same way I started with one 16 channel controller. I was able to do a few very nice things with it: I used 6 different color LED strings around the roof line, each hooked to a single channel. The rest of the channel went into a few trees in the yard.

Now four years later I am at 12 of those controllers + several other devices for RGB lights. If all stuff arrives on time I will be over 10,000 channels this year.

So - yes, you can bring some Christmas magic to your neighborhood with 16 channels and a few LED lights :-) take a look at the LOR website, they have a bunch of videos of people with different counts of channels...

[keepaofdagr00ve]

I can see how once you start doing this the bug can bite and you're just making it more pretty each year. Sounds like your setup is pretty amazing.

 

Would you recommend Rope light at all?  Or does it work best with just LED string lights?

[viennaxmas]

I think it depends on what kind of look you are going for. Personally I prefer regular C7 LED's over rope light - however rope light might be easier to handle and in general is more sturdy than the strings.