Tim Benson Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 I have been reading everything I can about DMX and using it with LOR. To start I am going to play with some dumb RGB stuff.From reading up on dongles It seems that I can use a LOR USB 485 and create a cross over cableand send native DMX from Version 3.x software. I get that. My question is will this drive the Holiday Coro 3 channel DMX modules with no issues ?I have read old posts about flicker and such when using the LOR Dongle.The project I have in mind really lends itself to these small cheap 3 channel controllers. If I have to buy a Dongle, then I will probably go the Ethernet route and use an ethercon gateway. I really like the SanDevices E682 or E6804 because reading the data sheets, it seems I can run them as a pixelcontroller OR a bridge to RS485 DMX. anybody using one of these as a gateway ? I also am considering the Joshua systems 4 port ethercon gateway, but it is twice the price of the E6804 and doesn't drive pixels. Thanks in advance for any input or actual experiences from this year. Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viennaxmas Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Since you looked into J1Sys - depending on your future plans, consider the ECG-P12S. It can drive up to 12 independent pixel strings and provides two DMX outputs... The current firmware can do one universe per pixel output however there is talk about a new firmware allowing up to 4 universes per pixel output... If this become reality, the board can handle up to 50 DMX universes.... It might be a bit overkill for an early start... (I use 3 of them with plans to add a few more next year) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Benedict Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 I have been reading everything I can about DMX and using it with LOR. To start I am going to play with some dumb RGB stuff.From reading up on dongles It seems that I can use a LOR USB 485 and create a cross over cableand send native DMX from Version 3.x software. I get that. My question is will this drive the Holiday Coro 3 channel DMX modules with no issues ?I have read old posts about flicker and such when using the LOR Dongle.The project I have in mind really lends itself to these small cheap 3 channel controllers. . . . Tim I've tested each one of the LOR USB adapters (dongles) and they work just fine with no "flicker".You should realize they rely on your computer for generating the DMX signal and your computer may "stutter" during fast sequences. There's also the Actidongle that works great with small controllers you want. It does outboard processing, so no stutter.And there's others that do a wonderful job with DMX. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry72 Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 I've tested each one of the LOR USB adapters (dongles) and they work just fine with no "flicker".You should realize they rely on your computer for generating the DMX signal and your computer may "stutter" during fast sequences. There's also the Actidongle that works great with small controllers you want. It does outboard processing, so no stutter.And there's others that do a wonderful job with DMX.After talking with Coro and LOR about this they said that the ActiDongle is the way to go. No need to cross over or do anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Benedict Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 After talking with Coro and LOR about this they said that the ActiDongle is the way to go. No need to cross over or do anything else. You might need the Advanced version of the LOR software. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiplorenzo Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 There is also the option with DMX to use other lighting... I bought the DMX King DMX USB Dongle (www.dmxking) as I use some of the newer stage equipment that has come out. Kip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry72 Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 You might need the Advanced version of the LOR software.Yeah i will be getting the Advanced. Gonna kinda wait and see if it goes on sale a little later in the year. I am getting it because i have 2 Renards boards that i got for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jldavis1969 Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 The software usually does not go on sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 (edited) Since you looked into J1Sys - depending on your future plans, consider the ECG-P12S. It can drive up to 12 independent pixel strings and provides two DMX outputs... The current firmware can do one universe per pixel output however there is talk about a new firmware allowing up to 4 universes per pixel output... If this become reality, the board can handle up to 50 DMX universes.... It might be a bit overkill for an early start... (I use 3 of them with plans to add a few more next year)I'm also totally new to RGB. Strings on order now but did receive the Coro Star with 3-channel mini controller and their led rgb lights which are dumb strips. What wasn't covered in their videos or documents was how to connect it to a computer. Nice that the controller has a Cat5 but its not TCPIP and power injection can be accomplished on the opposite end but I keep seeing references to power via the Cat5. I've assumed that I need a "dongle" in order to adapt to either TCPIP or LOR or whatever...wish they had stated this upfront when I placed the order. Nothing in their video documentation states where or how to connect this mini controller to the computer. Obviously it has to be either TCPIP or USB. Anyway, now waiting on the order of a dongle and possible programmer cable thing. All this for a simple 3-channel star. Costs are adding up a bit too much for something that should be simple. The money I've spent for this star, I could have bought a CCR. I've ordered smart strips from RayWu and also ordered/received the ECG-P12S/X for controlling the smart strips/pixels. The two DMX ports on them though, no clue so far, how to talk to them. Unless I missed something in the video links I got, the documentation didn't appear to cover these. I bought a DC card from LOR which talks to the dumb leds without issue. Ordered dumb strips from someone else and are on their way already. Still nothing from Ray Wu and its been two weeks already but I know he's a busy person. Edited January 14, 2014 by dgrant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Benedict Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 The three channel mini controller runs from DMX on pins 1 and 2.Power is supplied using pins 3-8. It can be driven with the ECG-P12.It can be powered over the CAT5 wire also; ask David at Holidaycoro what adapters to use. The LOR DC controller will run dumb RGB strips just fine and plug directly into the LOR network. If you purchased the RGB LED modules with the Corostar, they can run from the LOR DC controller also.You don't have to run the star LEDs through the little white DMX box. You have entered the world of DIY (do it yourself) and is no longer a simple plug-and-play situation.You'll have to do more research and might have to build and solder some of the parts together yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 (edited) I'm sure finding that out! Yes, the coro led modules, work just fine using the LOR DC card. I wanted to use Coro's 3-channel controller as this item will be mounted on top of a pixel tree run by the ECG-P12S, but configuring that card to run the DMX, will be another challenge, so I thought I would just run it on its own. BUT, doing that is turning into a financial challenge with the cost of the dongle and just now another cost for their programmer cable. Yes, I just figured out that power to this setup is via their controller and this special little cable. I'm learning abit slowly, but will figure it all out eventually. Edited January 14, 2014 by dgrant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Benedict Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 If it's any consolation, you have invested in items that you'll be using much more frequently and now you have grown from one network to three networks (LOR, DMX, and E1.31) You'll be able to run most anything in your display this year. The smart strips will be hours of fun to program them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KStatefan Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 I'm also totally new to RGB. Strings on order now but did receive the Coro Star with 3-channel mini controller and their led rgb lights which are dumb strips. What wasn't covered in their videos or documents was how to connect it to a computer. Nice that the controller has a Cat5 but its not TCPIP and power injection can be accomplished on the opposite end but I keep seeing references to power via the Cat5. I've assumed that I need a "dongle" in order to adapt to either TCPIP or LOR or whatever...wish they had stated this upfront when I placed the order. Nothing in their video documentation states where or how to connect this mini controller to the computer. Obviously it has to be either TCPIP or USB. Anyway, now waiting on the order of a dongle and possible programmer cable thing. All this for a simple 3-channel star. Costs are adding up a bit too much for something that should be simple. The money I've spent for this star, I could have bought a CCR. I've ordered smart strips from RayWu and also ordered/received the ECG-P12S/X for controlling the smart strips/pixels. The two DMX ports on them though, no clue so far, how to talk to them. Unless I missed something in the video links I got, the documentation didn't appear to cover these. I bought a DC card from LOR which talks to the dumb leds without issue. Ordered dumb strips from someone else and are on their way already. Still nothing from Ray Wu and its been two weeks already but I know he's a busy person. I also ordered a coro star but am going with smart modules. I started to get the dumb modules but it seemed like that was just going to complicate my set up. When you eliminate the need to purchase two dumb controllers it does not make it cost any more to have smart modules. I think I will group the modules in groups of ten to make programming easier or one group of 30. I was going to use one output on my E6804 no mater what type I purchased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amtrak115 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I've used Holidaycoro's Dumb rgb strips and pixels in my display for the last two years. I first built arches using coro's dumb pixels. This year I expanded and used coro's strips to light the star on top of the mega tree. I've attached a link to my videos from this year... The star uses 3 of holidaycoro's 3 channel controllers, the arches are controled by two 27 channel boards. The stars on the ground in front of the arches are also wired into the 27 channel boards. I run two networks...an lor one and a dmx one and then use the Advance version of the software. Then sequence away..... if you got any questions don't hesitate to contact me off the board at amtrak115@gmail.com later Barry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry72 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 The software usually does not go on sale.AH, ok. Well i wasnt sure, but thats ok. I just saved some money on some cables and Telecom boxes today so that helps with my budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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