Best way to add pixels to LOR and DMX networks

[dibblejr]

3 minutes ago, rmturner54 said:

The distances from my show computer to the DMX props is longest run of about30ft max

 

that is a piece of cake with any of the aforementioned controllers.

JR

[dibblejr]

2 minutes ago, rmturner54 said:

I am really liking what your telling me about the pixies. The only reason I went DMX to start with was way back when pixels were coming into the decorating scene and felt at that time DMX was easier to get stated.

 

My show is about 98% Pixels. I have 2 non pixel props (banjo and guitar snowmen singers) oops, forgot about my out of retirement Santa Sleigh and Reindeer

Of the 98% About 80% of my pixel controllers ar Pixie controllers.

JR

Edited December 24, 2020 by dibblejr

[rmturner54]

2 minutes ago, dibblejr said:

that is a piece of cake with any of the aforementioned controllers.

JR

Iam using 4c speaker wire to run dmx and power out to the globes with waterproof connectors

[rmturner54]

2 minutes ago, dibblejr said:

My show is about 98% Pixels. I have 2 non pixel props (banjo and guitar snowmen singers)

Of the 98% About 80% of my pixel controllers ar Pixie controllers.

JR

Based on what I have been reading on the pixes, you can do a lot with just a couple of them. That being said I am leaning towards changing my 4 DMX globes over to pixels to just simplify things, if there ever was word like that doing what we do.

I still running 32 AC channels with LED strings and 12 DC dumb RGB channels

[Mr. P]

Keep in mind that you may need several LOR network. You can have 2,400 pixels/ 7,200 channels on one high speed 1,000K enhanced network, hence the need for a Pro license. Or 1,200 pixels/ 3,600 channels on a high speed 500K enhanced network. Your CTB16PC controllers must be a G3 to work on a high speed network and if your RGB dumb controller is a CMB24 it may need a FW update.

[rmturner54]

20 minutes ago, Mr. P said:

Keep in mind that you may need several LOR network. You can have 2,400 pixels/ 7,200 channels on one high speed 1,000K enhanced network, hence the need for a Pro license. Or 1,200 pixels/ 3,600 channels on a high speed 500K enhanced network. Your CTB16PC controllers must be a G3 to work on a high speed network and if your RGB dumb controller is a CMB24 it may need a FW update.

That is a lot to take in.  Thanks for the details.

I was thinking of leaving my LOR network as is on 1 USB port, and the HS adapter on the other USB for the pixels. I know I will need to upgrade my lic.

My dc board is an older 16 channel. I will have to checkthe version # on the AC controllers.

[rmturner54]

Thanks everyone for your valued input. I hope you all have a very merry and safe christmas.

[rmturner54]

So, after more reading and research, my controllers are not G3. Per the LOR help desk I was told that the Pro lic will not affect my exsisting controllers, they just won't run on a high speed network,.

Therefore I will have to use 2 networks as we had already discovered. Not to mention(I forgot to mention), my show laptop is an XP machine, therefore Pro lic will not on it. This just keeps getting better and better. I use a win10 unit for my programming, however its not practical to move it into the garage where I run the show from. 

So, my 2 options are.

1. Buy a cheap laptop or try to upgrade exsiting one.

2. Go with one of the Gen 4 directors

Am I missing anything?

[k6ccc]

51 minutes ago, rmturner54 said:

Not to mention(I forgot to mention), my show laptop is an XP machine, therefore Pro lic will not on it.

I ran my show until a couple years ago on an ancient XP desktop.  It ran 500K Enhanced networking just fine.

 

[k6ccc]

Interesting, I tried to past a link and it posted the message.  Let me try that again.

Funny you should mention buying a new computer as your show computer.  If you are familiar with Woot, in the computer section today (till 10:00 PM Pacific time tonight) they have a refurb HP desktop that would work as a show computer for years to come.  In my opinion, a bit short on RAM to use as a serious sequencing computer, but as a show player, should work just fine.  And if you are going to buy a dedicated show player computer, buy a desktop rather than a laptop.

https://computers.woot.com/offers/hp-elitedesk-800-g1-intel-i7-sff-desktop-3?ref=w_ngh_dd_cp

By comparison, I am running my 66K channel show on a somewhat similar desktop with an i5 instead of this one's i7, that has half as much RAM, and a similar hard drive.  Working just fine.

 

[rmturner54]

That is a really good price for what you get. Thanks for the link....I used to shop woot along time ago. I forgot all about it.Thanks again