Pixcon 16 questions

[ebrown1972]

I am back and forth on what I want to do next year. I do know I will add more rgb stuff such as pixels. I ran 800 pixels this year and plan to double or triple that next year. I do not know much about the Pixcon other than a few things I have read. I know nothing about E1.31 nor do I know much about networking. Here are a few of the questions I have.

 

If I run the Pixcon in E1.31 will I lose any speed on my internet service while everything is running? I assume I would not since really I am just using the ethernet port on my computer.

 

Will I need a power supply for ports 1-8 and another for ports 9-16? I once again assume this will depend on how many pixels I end up using. If I do purchase the Pixcon more than likely I will go with 12 volt pixels. Or will a 30 amp 350 watt power supply suffice in most situations?

 

I would greatly appreciate any info.

 

Thanks

[LOR Staff]

The PixCon16 smart pixel controller is a very sophisticated board that can control thousands of channels so configuration can be tricky.   This document is worth reading: http://www1.lightorama.com/PDF/IntroductionToDMXandE131.pdf

 

How you power the board, how many power supplies you need, etc are all dependent on the qty and type of pixel strings/ribbons you purchase, voltage, etc.  

 

The above document talks about how to network your PixCon16 in an easy (but probably not BEST) way.  I'm actually working on another document (since the one above was so well received) that discusses more of the PixCon16 configuration side of things, how to select pixels, etc.  That probably won't be ready for another month or two.

[wbaker4]

That document says... "A PixCon16 running at our new 1000K speed on an Enhanced LOR network"

 

The G3MP3 documentation states max speed of 500K.  Is the 1000K speed available via a firmware update to the G3-MP3?

 

Thanks in advance - Merry Christmas!

 

Walt

 

Edit ---  the firmware for CCB and CCP will have to be upgraded as well?

Edited December 24, 2015 by wbaker4

[LOR Staff]

1000 is not available on the G3MP3, however 500 is and it will work (with a modest pixel display).

 

Anything attached to an Enhanced LOR network may need a firmware update.  

[ebrown1972]

Thanks for the response DevMike. I have no problems possibly running the Pixcon on the Lor enhanced network. I am looking at running about 1600 pixels on the Pixcon and another 1300 from my ccp controllers. Do you think this would be possible without running into too many issues with lag and such? Most of my sequences are not too radical but I do have a few that have smooth effects and some morphs.

 

I will look at the document that you posted when I have time to study it. Thanks again.

[wbaker4]

Planning on 1000 pixels - 20 strings of 50 - using 2 PixCon16's - each controller driving 10 strings of 50 - driven off the G3MP3.  I currently have 2 CCB controllers on the high speed network.

[JHolmes]

1000 is not available on the G3MP3, however 500 is and it will work (with a modest pixel display).

 

Anything attached to an Enhanced LOR network may need a firmware update.  

 

Can you please define modest? My work-around solution has been to use a G3MP3 to two ELORs from San Devices (which would allow a max of 1,365 pixels).

Also, what is the max wattage per port? The information states you can swap the fuse out for a 7.5A fuse but with .65w pixels, 170 pixels at 12v would equal 9.2 amps.