rick gurnee Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 Wow, the more answers I get, the more questions I have. Let's not think too much about the small prop. The size of it will be determined by how many spares I decide to buy. And if one of the big display's panels go out, the small prop will be taken apart. Also, I probably will build the small one first, so I can learn from my mistakes before I build the big one. And if I don't connect the small one to the network, I won't be able to display the song name anyway. That said, if I go up to a 6x8 I will probably get 6 spares and the small one becomes either 3x2 or 2x3. Should I be worrying about how long my DMX network is? I plan to get a network switch. My current DMX network has 3 50' cables and one 10' cable and each of the 80 universes has 50 pixels (a couple have 100 pixels). My new large panel will be 75' from the CPU on a separate network and, if I connect the small panel to the network, it will be 100' from the CPU or 30' from one of the controllers on my original network. Jim, I read the conversation you and Matt Brown had about the PocketBeagle dropping packets on your P10 4x3. Now you have me very worried. If you are having issues there, will I have worse issues with a p5 6x8 which, if my math is correct will have 16 times as many pixels! I'm probably going use a Rasberry Pi with a Colorlight 5A-75B but I was thinking of the beaglebone with a octo-plus cape. What are your thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 3 hours ago, rick gurnee said: Should I be worrying about how long my DMX network is? I plan to get a network switch. I'm going to split some hairs here on terminology - to avoid confusion. Yes, E1.31 is DMX traffic but it i being carried over Ethernet. If you refer to it is DMX, it could easily be mis-understood to be DMX over RS-485. Best to refer to it as E1.31. With that said, spec for Ethernet is 100 meters from an active device. So if you really need to go more than 80 meters, put a switch in somewhere convenient. Since it is standard Ethernet, you can use easily available LAN switches (don't get a router, get a switch). If you need to go a lot farther, you can convert it to fiber and then you can get miles (depending on what fiber optic cable you use and what the driver devices are). You can also use point to point microwave quite easily - also can go miles. 3 hours ago, rick gurnee said: Jim, I read the conversation you and Matt Brown had about the PocketBeagle dropping packets on your P10 4x3. Pretty sure that is a limitation of the PocketBeagle. I'll know more later... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehoyt Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 @rick gurnee FYI I ran my matrix: 288 universes 49,152 pixels over 150 foot Cat 6 outdoor ethernet cable just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick gurnee Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 Thanks for the clarification. I'll use e1.31 from now on. So my distances should not be a problem, So I'll run a short cat5 from my PC to the switch and then from the switch individual cat5's to each of my panels and one to my current DMX chain. Just for my understanding, when the PC sends a packet to the switch does the switch know where network to send it to, or does it just send every packet to every network and let the devices pass it on if it is not for them? I'm currently using cat5 (sometimes cheap cat5). With the amount of data I'll be sending should I get a cat6 cable for my panels? Finally, if I had to go 200 meters (which I don't) does that mean I could go 75 meters from the PC to a switch, another 75 meters to another switch, and then 50 meters to my device? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 1 hour ago, rick gurnee said: So I'll run a short cat5 from my PC to the switch and then from the switch individual cat5's to each of my panels and one to my current DMX chain. Now you will see what I am a stickler on terminology at times. You said "my current DMX chain". Do your really mean DMX over RS-485 or is that also E1.31? If it's DMX of RS-485, the it shall never touch Ethernet, but rather come from a USB to RS-485 adapter. 1 hour ago, rick gurnee said: I'm currently using cat5 (sometimes cheap cat5). With the amount of data I'll be sending should I get a cat6 cable for my panels? No need. 1 hour ago, rick gurnee said: Finally, if I had to go 200 meters (which I don't) does that mean I could go 75 meters from the PC to a switch, another 75 meters to another switch, and then 50 meters to my device? Correct. Now I will also tell you that although the Ethernet spec is 100 meters, you can usually go longer - especially if it's 10 or 100 Mb/s. Gigabit is more picky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick gurnee Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 You're right. I'm a slow learner. What I should have said was my current e1.31 network. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick gurnee Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 I'm getting closer to making a decision on the panels. I'm about 90% sure I'm going to go with a 6x8 design. If I do that, I will go with a raspberry pi 3B+ or 4 and a colorlight 5A-75B. So I have gone back and started to watch videos about the colorlight card. According to panelsrus.co.uk I need a 1 gigabit ethernet connection on my laptop to configure the card using LEDVision. is this correct? That shouldn't be a problem because I can buy a usb to 1 gigbit adapter for about $15. My second question is about the raspberry pi. It appears to have only one ethernet port on it. If this plugs into the colorlight card where do I plug in my cat5 cable coming from my PC? The videos I watched used a wireless connection between the pi and the laptop, which I'm pretty sure I don't want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Part 1, yes, you do need Gig-E to talk to the ColorLight card. I gather that your laptop only has a 10/100 LAN port. Yes, get a USB to Gig-E adapter. I will post which one to get here shortly. Part 2, correct the RasPi only one Ethernet port (and if it's a Pi-3B it is only 10/100). So the solution is that same USB to Gig-E adapter that you used to configure the Colorlight, you now plug into one of the USB ports on the Pi. Use that for the data to the ColorLight, and the built in LAN port to communicate with the RasPi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 This is the USB to Gig-E adapter that was universally recommended when people first started using ColorLight cards for Christmas shows. It just plugs into the RasPi and works - no settings or drivers required. As I recall, it's about the same plugging into a Windows PC (don't guarantee that as it's been years). https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FFJ0RKE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick gurnee Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 Great. I'll get one. So that would free up the ethernet port to connect to my e1.31 network. Actually I will get two, one for the pi and one for my laptop. It claims to be compatible with windows 10, so probably window 11, too. Just so that I'm clear. The one for the laptop will only be used when I configure the ColorLight card. It won't be used during the Christmas show. (If I wanted to be cheap, I guess I could buy one and move it back and forth, but I think 2 is better.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Correct, you only need the USB to Gig-E adapter to connect devices (either your laptop or the Ras-Pi) to the ColorLight. The only time the laptop will need to communicate directly to the ColorLight is during initial configuration of the ColorLight. Never hurts to have a spare however (I do). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick gurnee Posted January 19 Author Share Posted January 19 Ok, three more questions, and then I think I am finally ready to place my order. First, assuming I have bought an ethernet switch so I can connect the 6x8 panel directly to my PC and I have bought a usb to 1 gig adapter so I can configure my Color Light card, what is the best way to connect my panel to my PC for my show? I believe I could either use the switch (which is what I originally planned on doing) or use the 1 gig connection. I would think the 1 gig connection would be much faster. During last season, I looked at the network utilization on my ethernet network and, if I remember correctly, it was less than 20%. But that was with less than 50,000 pixels. I am now adding 100,000 more pixels. I suspect the current ethernet network will handle this fine, but wouldn't the 1 gig network be better? Second, I will be running a Pi with a Color Light card. How does the Pi get power? If the Pi had a Pi Hat, I would power the Pi hat and it would provide power to the Pi. Does the Color Light card provide power through the 1 gig ethernet connection or do I need to provide power through the usb-c connection. If the latter, I assume I would get usb-c male to bare wire connection and connect that to my power supply. Finally, should I be thinking about 5 volt fans? It doesn't appear most people are using fans in their enclosures, only vents. However, I live in Florida and it's not unusual for the evening temperature to be in the mid 70's. Also, I watched a video where a fellow had a 4x2 display and he tested with and without a fan. Basically, he ran a 30 minute test where with the back off he ran at 24 degrees Celsius. With the back on it ran at 35. With vents it still ran at 35 and with vents and fans it ran at 26. The Pi itself was running about 10 degrees hotter. So in his test, even without vents, the Pi was not getting overly hot. But I am worried about the Florida heat. The problem is if I put fans in, they would run 24 hours a day, unless I put the whole display on a timer. I'm sure there are 5 volt fans with temperature sensors, but I haven't found any, yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 As far as connections go, The Pi-4 built in Ethernet is Gig, so I would use that one for the connection to the computer and the USB adapter to the ColorLight (the adapter recommended is known to work with the ColorLight). Unless you will have multiple devices on the LAN between the PC and RasPi, you don't need a switch in between. No harm in using one if you have a need. The Pi-4 most likely comes with a AC wall wort to USB-C cable. You can use that, or cut a USB-C cable and wire it to your 5V power supply. If you cut a cable, test the wires with a voltmeter with the cable unmodified to make SURE you know which wire is which - you can NOT count on any color standard. I live in the Los Angeles area, so I understand heat in November / December. All of my controller boxes have fans. I picked up some temperature controlled switches that turn the fan on at something like 90 or 95 degrees F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehoyt Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 (edited) Here is what I used for the setup of my Pi .https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D3S4KBK?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 My Pi came with its own power supply. They are cheap if yours doesn't come with one. Raspberry Pi 5V 3.6A 18W Power Supply Edited January 19 by stevehoyt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick gurnee Posted January 19 Author Share Posted January 19 Thanks. Steve, I am definitely going to get that case. Of course I can just plug the Pi into a 110 outlet! what was I thinking? I've spent all week thinking about 5 volt issues when it can to powering the Pi I missed the obvious. Yes, Jim, on the Pi side that was what I was planning on doing. I will be adding a switch to my network anyway, because I want to separate one of the devices from the others. And I will have a second usb adapter that I can plug into my computer, anyway. So the question is should I plug the cat6 cable from the Pi into the switch and run at 10/100 or into the usb adapter and run at 1 gig. I think the latter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 Use the USB to Gig-E adapter for the connection to the ColorLight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick gurnee Posted January 19 Author Share Posted January 19 I plan on using the usb to Gig-E adapter on the pi to color light side, but I will have a second usb to Gig-E adapter that I could use on the PC side rather than plugging it into the switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 5 minutes ago, rick gurnee said: but I will have a second usb to Gig-E adapter that I could use on the PC side rather than plugging it into the switch. But what's the point? The Pi-4 already has a Gig-E wired Ethernet connection - use that for the connection to the show PC (with or without a switch depending on your needs). You gain nothing by using a second USB adapter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick gurnee Posted January 19 Author Share Posted January 19 Maybe I'm missing the point here. My laptop does not have a Gig-E ethernet connection. It only has a single 10/100 connection which I plan to plug the switch into. So anything plugged into the switch will run at 10/100. If I added a usb to Gig-E adapter to my laptop and ran a cat6 cable from there to the Pi, I could run at 1 Gig from my laptop to the Pi (via the Pi's 1 Gig connection) and 1 Gig from the Pi to the Color Light (via the usb to Gig-E adapter on the Pi). If I plug into the switch, I run at 10/100 from the laptop to the pi (even though the pi ethernet is 1 Gig the laptop would be 10/100) I'm really a novice at this, so if I'm missing something, please let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 I was missing part of it. I thought you were going to use the second USB to Gig-E adapter on the RasPi instead of using the built in Gig-E connector. Yes, you could use a the 2nd USB to Gig-E adapter on the laptop so that it has Gig capability rather than being limited to 100 Mb/s. Likely not an issue, but can't hurt. Each universe will result in about a quarter Mb/s of data. 7 minutes ago, rick gurnee said: It only has a single 10/100 connection which I plan to plug the switch into. So anything plugged into the switch will run at 10/100. Doesn't work that way on a switch - it did back in the old days when we used hubs instead of switches. Each port on a switch will run at whatever speed the two devices can support (the switch and whatever is plugged into that port). One of my switches has active ports at everything from 10Mb/s to 10Gb/s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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