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Naming two controllers the same controller


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Posted

Can I take Controller 5, let’s say, and rename it Controller 1 and have two Controller 1s and have the system just play the sequencing for controller 1 on both of these controllers??

Posted

Yes, you can have multiple controllers with the same Unit ID.  They will all respond to the same commands.

 

Posted

Ok that might just be what I have to do to make it through this year.  Oh and I was able to call Brian about the pixel tree issue and he said that when they updated to the 5 it created some bugs in 4 but we got everything figured out there. Thanks for everything 

Posted (edited)
39 minutes ago, k6ccc said:

Yes, you can have multiple controllers with the same Unit ID.  They will all respond to the same commands.

 

Jim, on multiple controllers sharing the same ID, if you have 2 controllers with the same ID on 2 different networks, would these be identified and work as a single controller unit, or by being on different networks would they respond differently?

A few examples: 

#1.] What happens if you have an RGB Controller as 01 and a CTB16PC as 01 on the same network?

#2.} Can you have an RGB Controller on AUX A Network as 01, and a CTB16PC  as 01 on a Regular LOR Network, and would them being on 2 separate Networks allow both to use the same Unit ID and still be separated and not interfere with each other?

#3.] What if you have a CTB16PC on a Regular Network and a 2nd CTB16PC on AUX A and both are identified as Unit 01, would they be linked as a single unit?  Or would the Network treat these as 2 different controllers with the same Unit #?

I'm still learning this Networking stuff with Controllers, so was just wondering if it's even possible to have 2 different types of controllers with the same Unit #'s on each Network.  Like I have 4 CTB16PC Controllers labeled currently as Unit 06,07,08 and 09.  My RGB Controllers on Aux A are labeled as Unit 01,02,03,04, and 05.   So was wondering the the CTB16PC's were labeled 01,02,03, and 04 with having the RGB Controllers with the same Unit #'s on 2 different Networks would work or if that would cause any issues {aside from confusing oneself to make sure which controllers are which perhaps! LOL}

Just asking so if I ever make this mistake and it drives me crazy trying to figure out what i did to make a mess of something.  it'll give me a starting spot.  

I try to have all my Controllers have their own unique ID, but on occasion, seems having 2 controllers with he same Unit # may be beneficial. 

But pretty sure 2 different types of controllers might cause havoc if sequenced in such a way.   just making sure I don't do something like that which could cause some head banging later trying to figure it out. LOL

 

Edited by Orville
Posted

It is assumed that duplicate network  ID's will be the same model.  Putting 2 different models with the same ID leads to madness.

IMHO duplicating ID's  across networks, while allowed, leads to confusion. You have plenty of ##'s to draw from, so WHY?

I'm guessing on #3, but NO, those are separate devices since #2 is true, number 3 has to be false

 

Posted
58 minutes ago, TheDucks said:

It is assumed that duplicate network  ID's will be the same model.  Putting 2 different models with the same ID leads to madness.

IMHO duplicating ID's  across networks, while allowed, leads to confusion. You have plenty of ##'s to draw from, so WHY?

I'm guessing on #3, but NO, those are separate devices since #2 is true, number 3 has to be false

 

Like stated, just asking.  Just in case I would ever make that mistake.  I'd have more knowledge to go on what to look for that cause my screw up in the first place.

I also use different ID's for all my Controllers, just makes more sense.   But seems some folks do make this mistake, so I just had to ask and get the experts opinions on this.

Not enough information can be just as bad as too much at times. ROFL

Posted

In the event of a partial failure of a controller (traic, left side, etc.) and if I have a spare on site, I'll often just duplicate the ID so that I can get the client up and going quickly, without much reprogramming. That's the biggest reason I do it, and after the season it's cleaned up and put back to 'normal.'

And FYI -

Controller 01 and AuxA and Controller 01 on REG network are TWO different controllers.

You could have 16 networks, and 16 Unit ID 01's and they would all so something different (obviously assuming you programmed them to do something different.) Commands programmed for REG or AUXA network only go to that network. Thus a command for Unit 01 on REG won't go to the Unit 01 on AUXA network.

Posted
12 hours ago, Don said:

In the event of a partial failure of a controller (traic, left side, etc.) and if I have a spare on site, I'll often just duplicate the ID so that I can get the client up and going quickly, without much reprogramming. That's the biggest reason I do it, and after the season it's cleaned up and put back to 'normal.'

And FYI -

Controller 01 and AuxA and Controller 01 on REG network are TWO different controllers.

You could have 16 networks, and 16 Unit ID 01's and they would all so something different (obviously assuming you programmed them to do something different.) Commands programmed for REG or AUXA network only go to that network. Thus a command for Unit 01 on REG won't go to the Unit 01 on AUXA network.

Thanks Don, that's what I thought, but wanted to be sure what I was thinking was correct.   Sometimes things don't always work they way WE think they should. :D

 

Posted
22 hours ago, Orville said:

Jim, on multiple controllers sharing the same ID, if you have 2 controllers with the same ID on 2 different networks, would these be identified and work as a single controller unit, or by being on different networks would they respond differently?

Each LOR channel is three parts to it's identification:  Network, Controller ID, and Channel.  If any of those three are different, it's a different channel.

So although you COULD have controller ID 01 on your Regular network and another controller with Unit ID 01 on an Aux A network, and it will work just fine.  I don't recommend doing that as it could be more confusing for us poor humans.  Personally all controllers on my regular network have IDs between Unit ID 02 - 0F, all controllers on my Aux A network have Unit IDs between Unit 11 - 1F, and all controllers on my Aux B network have Unit IDs between Unit 21 - 2F.  None of those ranges are filled (by a long shot).  Note that I do not use controller ID 01 because that is the default for most new controllers and I want to be able to plug in a controller and not have it conflict with an existing controller.

 

Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, k6ccc said:

Each LOR channel is three parts to it's identification:  Network, Controller ID, and Channel.  If any of those three are different, it's a different channel.

So although you COULD have controller ID 01 on your Regular network and another controller with Unit ID 01 on an Aux A network, and it will work just fine.  I don't recommend doing that as it could be more confusing for us poor humans.  Personally all controllers on my regular network have IDs between Unit ID 02 - 0F, all controllers on my Aux A network have Unit IDs between Unit 11 - 1F, and all controllers on my Aux B network have Unit IDs between Unit 21 - 2F.  None of those ranges are filled (by a long shot).  Note that I do not use controller ID 01 because that is the default for most new controllers and I want to be able to plug in a controller and not have it conflict with an existing controller.

 

I NEVER gave that part much thought Jim.  About the new controllers having ID defaulted to 01.  That's a good strategy and one I'm going to adopt.  A little late this year to reconfigure my current controllers, but after the season will renumber mine starting with Unit 02.  Thanks for the info and the GREAT TIP when a new controller comes into the mix!

Edited by Orville
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