Pixie controler question

[marty h]

S6 pro license. I have 2 16’ pixie rgb trees. Everything has worked great for 2 years. Both tree are close enough to plug into my n4 director 

this year im adding rgbs and pixie controllers to other trees and arches i have had on ac lights in past running from cat5 cable aNd rf antennas 

I thought i understood that pixie controllers had to be close to director. 
 

thats is my question. How do I control the 4 new pixie controllers im adding?  Will they work on cat 5 if not what should i do. 
 

i should add that my n4 director high speed ports are both currently used for my big trees. 
 

Thanks in advance for any help or advice. 
 

Marty
 

 

[Mr. P]

Your new pixie controllers can be daisy chained with the other controllers or even better would be to chain the new pixies together and start a new network. Keep in mind that a LOR network has a limit on how many pixels can run on each network.

[TheDucks]

The director CAN get power from the nearest controller. That is why the under 25' rule.  optional wall wort power is another choice, then the cable TOTAL for that network must be under 4000' 😮 .

💡 Put the terminate jumper in (JP4, on a gen2 Pixie4)  on the LAST controller only. (Gen 1 did not have this, suggest shuffle controllers to get the Gen2 last, if you have both vintages

[marty h]

Im a little confused. I have my director in my garage using wall power with radio antenna running out side. Both 16 ‘ trees are plugged directly into director 

if i come out of pixie tree controller and into the new pixie controllers will they work? 
 

thanks 

[marty h]

1 pixie 16 controller was new last year. The other is 2 years old 

[Mr. P]

Yes, controllers on a LOR network get daisy chained one to the other with cat 5/6. However, as I stated earlier there is a limit on how many pixels can be on a network.

 

Director----------->Pixie16------------>Pixie4------------->Pixie4

Edited October 11, 2023 by Mr. P

[TheDucks]

1 hour ago, marty h said:

1 pixie 16 controller was new last year. The other is 2 years old 

A second gen Pixie4 will have screw POWER terminals. Make that last (with JP4)

(1st gen uses Faston blades for power)

[marty h]

Since we are talking chain let me run this past you. My fist 16 pixie tree was in 2020. 
in 2022 i added another 16 pixie as a big screen. 
i came from director to first tree then from tree to new pixie and the second would not work. I had to run a separate cat5 cable directly to second pixie. 
 

guess thats why im asking about chain connections. 
 

Thanks so much for your input and advice. 
 

Marty

[Orville]

Is your N4 Director an N4-G2 or N4-G4?  If a G2, you may/may not have enough ports to handle all the new additions.

I have an N4-G4 Director, it is set up in the following manner.

Regular/115.4k/non-enhanced on Net1(Regular network for an older Gen1 CTB16PC controller, also supplies power to my N4-G4 Director).

Net2: Aux A/1,000k/Enhanced, this is my Pixie16D, Gen3 controller.

Net3: Aux B/1,000k/Enhanced, this is for my 2 new Pixie4D controllers added for 2023.  The Pixie4D's are daisy chained directly from Director to 1st P4, then 1st P4 to 2nd P4, no issues with them working properly.

Net4: Aux C/500k/Enhanced, this is for the Cosmic Color Bulb (CCB100D) 5V Gen3 controller.

I could have combined all my Pixies on a single network.  I did it this way for a more simplified display and controller placement set up for the elements they would be controlling.

Edited October 12, 2023 by Orville

[marty h]

10 minutes ago, Orville said:

Is your N4 Director an N4-G2 or N4-G4?  If a G2, you may/may not have enough ports to handle all the new additions.

I have an N4-G4 Director, it is set up in the following manner.

Regular/115.4k/non-enhanced on Net1(Regular network for an older Gen1 CTB16PC controller, also supplies power to my N4-G4 Director).

Net2: Aux A/1,000k/Enhanced, this is my Pixie16D, Gen3 controller.

Net3: Aux B/1,000k/Enhanced, this is for my 2 new Pixie4D controllers added for 2023.  The Pixie4D's are daisy chained directly from Director to 1st P4, then 1st P4 to 2nd P4, no issues with them working properly.

Net4: Aux C/500k/Enhanced, this is for the Cosmic Color Bulb (CCB100D) 5V Gen3 controller.

I could have combined all my Pixies on a single network.  I did it this way for a more simplified display and controller placement set up for the elements they would be controlling.

Ill have to look. Im thinking it only has 2 high speed ports 

 

thank u

[Orville]

9 minutes ago, marty h said:

Ill have to look. Im thinking it only has 2 high speed ports 

 

thank u

May want to consider investing in an N4-G4, it gives you a lot more wiggle room, as well as 2 additional ports, so as your show grows you have an extra port or 2 to utilize when, or if needed.  Especially with Pixels.

[marty h]

My director is the n4-g4 with 4 high speed ports. My pixie 16 controllers are both newer and have the screw terminals.

Last year when I rand from one pixie 16 controller the next, the second controller would not work.  I had to set up a seperate network for it. 

Shouldn't you be able to daisy chain from one pixie 16 to the next?

 

Thanks again for all the input. 

 

Marty

41 Days to turn on display!!

4

 

[Jimehc]

Put a jumper on the JP2 header... Just below the Network jacks on the board...

Edited October 13, 2023 by Jimehc

[TheDucks]

On 10/11/2023 at 6:33 PM, marty h said:

Since we are talking chain let me run this past you. My fist 16 pixie tree was in 2020. 
in 2022 i added another 16 pixie as a big screen. 
i came from director to first tree then from tree to new pixie and the second would not work. I had to run a separate cat5 cable directly to second pixie. 
 

guess thats why im asking about chain connections. 
 

Thanks so much for your input and advice. 
 

Marty

What was the address of the second Pixie16? Remember a Pixie uses up the same number of addresses as its number. if your first was set to 01, then it uses 01-10,  (it is Hex)

By switching ports (net), you are allowed to reuse a ID (but not recommended for sanity )

OTOH 32 ports of Pixels is a bit much for a network (It will probably run, but LOTS of errors)

[TheDucks]

50 minutes ago, marty h said:

My director is the n4-g4 with 4 high speed ports. My pixie 16 controllers are both newer and have the screw terminals.

Last year when I rand from one pixie 16 controller the next, the second controller would not work.  I had to set up a seperate network for it. 

Shouldn't you be able to daisy chain from one pixie 16 to the next?

 

Thanks again for all the input. 

 

Marty

41 Days to turn on display!!

4

 

Pixie16  only have screw terminals. My comment was for a Pixie 4 ONLY.

@Jimehc JP2 is aux power. IMHO it should only be on the controller closest to a Director or ELL

[Jimehc]

He'll see... And if it solve his problem with daisy chaining Pixie16's > then no harm, no foul.

Edited October 13, 2023 by Jimehc

[TheDucks]

I was checking AT my controllers for passthru of the other pins in the CAT5, 1 model flipped some lines 😮 (I used my Klein VDV scout) , which is why I suggest avoiding a daisy chain with mJP2 in on more than 1.

The results are in a post this year. I only have Pixie4 (Gen1,2) and a Pixie8 and a flock of CMB24 and a couple of AC (G2,3)

[Orville]

32 minutes ago, marty h said:

My director is the n4-g4 with 4 high speed ports. My pixie 16 controllers are both newer and have the screw terminals.

Last year when I rand from one pixie 16 controller the next, the second controller would not work.  I had to set up a seperate network for it. 

Shouldn't you be able to daisy chain from one pixie 16 to the next?

 

Thanks again for all the input. 

 

Marty

41 Days to turn on display!!

4

 

Only things I can think of here is that the 2nd controller ID didn't match the sequence ID, as daisy chaining them should have worked, UNLESS the cat cable had an issue(sometimes even brand new cat cables are bad or the wrong type might have been sent).

I make sure ALL dip swutches are set to off in all my Pixies, and then set their ID with the HU.  Otherwise, the Pixie will default back to its original ID set by the dip switches.  This is what seems to be what could be creating the issue.  Double check and make sure all dip switches are completely off, sometimes they can look to be off, but the switch may not be in the fully off position.   So, put all switches in off position, reset ID in HU, then test your sequence with both controllers daisy chained together, as long as they are using seperate ID's you should be good to go.

Obe makor note here, Remember, the controllers are set by HEXADECIMAL, not Decimal. And Pixie16's use 16 DIFFERENT IS's.

So let's say your first Pixie16D controller is set to ID 02, then your first Pixie16D is using these ID numbers: 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 0A, 0B, 0C, 0D, 0E, 0F, 11, 12. 

So your 2nd Pixie16D would start with ID 13(decimal 18), and also these use ID's: 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, 20, 21, 22.

These are just examples, but one that some folks, especially newbies overlook, as they may think in decimal and think the 1st Pixie ended at decimal 17, then set up the next Pixie starting with decimal ID 18, instead of hexadecimal 13.  And if you have it set as decimal in your sequences, and NOT hexadecimal in your sequences, this could be another reasin your 2nd controller isn't functioning, or is incorrectly functioning in your sequences.

So you need to be sure you're not overlapping ID's between Pixies, that should cause both to not work correctly, or it can create some strange effects with your lights, with both controllers vying to control the same port on both, due to improperly setting up their ID's.  Abd be sure your sequence ID's match the controllers ID's EXACTLY in your sequences.  Remember controllers are all set with Hexadecimal, and the sequence MUST match the controllers "Hexadecimal" ID settings for all to function properly.

Good luck, hope this may be of sone help, it's the only other things I could think of that could create your issues.

[marty h]

Im sure the ids where the problems.  To make the second Pixie 16 work I just copied the ids from the first on and put it on a new network . 

I can get my brain wrapped around the hexadecimal id numbering.   Im adding  2 sets of 4 bigger arches controlled by 2 pixie4 controllers and 8 smaller trees controlled by 2 pixie 4 controllers. 

 

Thank again for all the input from all

 

Marty

[TheDucks]

Hex is 16: 0-F

 

My KISS method is to assign Pixies on logical HEX/Binary BIT boundaries.   Look at the ID chart in the back of all controller manuals . (each switch by it self is a natural boundary:000001000)

F 8 4 2 (pixie 16, 8, 4, 2 😛) 

I use 8 as my (reserved) boundary, so 20 and 27, even tho I mostly have Pixie4's. When I ran out of ports on my 4, I simply put an 8 in its place (same ID, so no existing sequences need changes.  I just added 4 Smart channels after the last (port ID) in the sequence.