Newbie With Vixen - Switch To LOR

[jcommisso]

Hello,

This is my first year doing a Christmas light show! I’m using a simple controller with 16 mechanical relays powered by Arduino and Vixen. Pretty basic, but good for this year, although if I bought a LOR during the mad grab sale it would have been cheaper! I have almost all my sequencing done (very time consuming :P) and the controller built. I have some questions for pros and LOR users. Next year, I would like to switch to LOR (32 channel with 1 CCR Tree). Do you think LOR is worth it? Is there a easy way to convert my Vixen sequences to LOR, and add on to them? Is LOR easier than Vixen? Also, do you think the Whole House FM Transmitter is good? I hear a lot of great things about it and I’m almost about to purchase it. Thank you so much!!!

 

[Al Saunders]

Hi Jcommisso,

Welcome to the addiction!

I've never used Vixen or Arduino but you might want to look into x-lights to convert your Vixen sequences to LOR. You might be able to do it that way. I have been using LOR equipment and software for about 7 years and highly recommend them. Yes, they are well worth it! Adding controllers and changing sequences is pretty easy in LOR Sequence Editor (SE) and I would recommend Superstar add on to sequence the CCR tree you are planning. Learning to sequence with LOR is really pretty easy, just watch the tutorials on their website and if anything stumps you search for it here and/or post a question. There is a ton of wealthy information on this forum and lot's of people very willing to help. Just please note as it gets closer to set up for Halloween and especially Christmas the reply times may be longer as many are busy working on their own display. As for the Whole House FM Transmitter, I have one. It works, just doesn't work great nor as well as other ones on the market. I use an EDM transmitter now and it works great. Do a search for FM transmitter on the forum and you'll find many posts about different brands and can read others opinions on them. The problem with the Whole House one is it doesn't have much of a range and is susceptible to interference.

I hope this helps and good luck with your first year of doing your show!

Later,

Al

[canadianchristmas]

Hello, First of welcome!

I would recommend you stay with vixen or move on to Xlights, as these programs will give you more ease of programming for RGB elements in the future of your display. You can use LOR controllers with vixen and Xlights. You can send LOR protocol to the controllers with Xlights using a LOR usb dongle, with vixen you have to run the controllers in DMX mode I think...

LOR SE is a good simple starting point and it is easy to sequence with it, but once you really begin to grow your show it will catch up with you and you may have issues.

Also I would recommend you switch those mechanical relay boards on the Arduino over to solid state relay boards, because they will not wear out because they have no moving parts like mechanical relays do.

--- I should also mention that you cant use the arduino controller with LOR software directly however it can be done by using a FPP as a E131 bridge.

sorry if this goes over anyones heads if you have any questions just ask!

[jcommisso]

@Al Saunders @canadianchristmas Thank you for the welcome! From what I'm hearing I think that I'm going to use LOR controllers with either LOR SE or xLights for 2017. I'm also going to order some SSRs for this year when I get home (thanks for the tip!). I'm still deciding what to do with the FM transmitter, but I'll let you know once I choose! I'm very excited because I've been wanting to do this for years, and I'm finally doing it! Thank you guys so much for the help, and for taking time to reply (I'm sure you're very busy as the season is approaching)!

 

[canadianchristmas]

1 hour ago, jcommisso said:

@Al Saunders @canadianchristmas Thank you for the welcome! From what I'm hearing I think that I'm going to use LOR controllers with either LOR SE or xLights for 2017. I'm also going to order some SSRs for this year when I get home (thanks for the tip!). I'm still deciding what to do with the FM transmitter, but I'll let you know once I choose! I'm very excited because I've been wanting to do this for years, and I'm finally doing it! Thank you guys so much for the help, and for taking time to reply (I'm sure you're very busy as the season is approaching)!

 

For the relays Im guessing you are using 5v relay boards? If you are I would recommend these: https://www.amazon.com/Expansion-High-level-Duemilanove-MEGA2560-MEGA1280/dp/B016W4AW6O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475169855&sr=8-1&keywords=8+channel+solid+state+relay+board

One thing to note with small solid state relays (like the ones on these boards) is that they often can't handle the same amount of current mechanical ones can. This board I have linked is rated 2A per relay, your average mechanical relay is rated 10A per relay. This should not be a problem for you just as long as you don't try and plug lots of incandescent lights into a single relay. There are calculations you can do, I can't do them for you because I don't know what lights you are using but with a quick google search you should be able to find a formula.

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For a FM transmitter I would recommend a EDM transmitter: http://www.edmdesign.com/ they are expensive but well worth it and they will last forever. Not to mention their sound quality is some of the best for any consumer grade Low power transmitter.

If you want a cheap but decent transmitter get one of these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/new-DSP-PLL-Digital-Wireless-Microphone-Stereo-FM-Transmitter-Module-87-108MHz-/131678496420?hash=item1ea8a666a4:g:DZUAAOSwrklVEn8w these little transmitters are great! and far better then the whole house transmitters. I have a few of these and the work very well! I would recommend one of these as a backup transmitter.

 

THINGS TO AVOIDE:

Another transmitter people use but I WOULD NOT recommend is this. I don't like these transmitters as they produce interference on other bands then just FM, this could interfere with emergency or air traffic communications. I came to this conclusion by testing this transmitter and others like it with a scope.

 

Hope this info helps!

[jcommisso]

@canadianchristmas I just ordered the relays! They're also a lot smaller than my current one! I used this calculator, and figured that 2A would be more than enough. I've had a couple more people tell me about EDM here, so I may look into that. I'm not looking for the best FM transmitter right now, so I might just buy a cheaper one for this year. Thanks so much for your help, suggestions, and time!