Obejohnknobe Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 Greetings everyone!! I am having a hard time trying to understand the relationship between assigning networks to the props versus assigning universes to the props. Have 91 RGB pixel props with 7200 pixel bulbs and 21,594 channels. This is spread over 4 networks on my director. Looking at tying my laptop computer in with a pixielink to my pixie cards instead of using the director. Do have 1 residential AC controller Looked at the Aurora Core E1.31 and watched a few videos on YouTube on universes. Still do not understand it. Just need a simple explanation/s to where I understand (key word is understand) the universes and how it relates to switching props/networks over to universes. Would like some pros and cons on them if possible. Any help is appreciated. Thank you! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimehc Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 (edited) a single LOR Pixie Port (Unit ID) is the same as 1 Universe.... Stick with what you already know and have hardware wise... Light-O-Rama Networks make Networking real Easy... Else you will need to understand E1.31 IP Address Based Networking Edited April 11 by Jimehc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obejohnknobe Posted April 11 Author Share Posted April 11 Thank you Jim, it makes sense now after your explanation on universes. Agreed, LOR does make it easy for you to do basic Network. I do understand some basic facts of IP addressing but very limited. Just trying to broaden my knowledge for better understanding in the LOR world. Lastly, when you say IP addressing, each card has x amount of universes and the IP address identifies where the data is sent to that specific card? For example, Pixie 8, each port is a universe for 8 different universes? The Pixie 8 is identified by an IP static address? John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. P Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 Basics, a Universe is 512 channels or 170 pixels (510 channels) with two channels left over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obejohnknobe Posted April 11 Author Share Posted April 11 (edited) Thank you Mr. P So if you had a Pixie 8 it would contain 8 universes with the capability of 512 channels or 170 pixels max (170 x 3 +510 channels) on each port. Where does the IP address come into play? John Edited April 11 by Obejohnknobe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. P Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 A Pixie controller is different as they are used on a LOR RS485 network and do not use universes or IP addresses. Universes and IP addresses are used on a E1.31 network when using the Pixcon controller, the new Aurora controller or any of the aftermarket controllers such as Falcon or AlphaPix controllers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obejohnknobe Posted April 11 Author Share Posted April 11 So if I get this correct, no universes on any pixie 4, 8, or 16s but use Pixiecon or Aurora for universes and IP addresses? John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. P Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 LOR uses two types of networks: RS485 which is a low speed, long range networks which uses a usb adapter plugged in to a usb port, all LOR directors use this network. Controllers are daisy chained together together such as Pixie controllers, CMB24 and CTB16 controllers and are identified with LOR ID numbers. E1.31 is a high speed, short range network which is used on a computers ethernet port. You generally cannot daisy chain controllers (few exceptions) and must use a switch if running more then one. Controllers such as Pixcon, Aurora, Falcon and Alphapix run on this network and use universes and IP addresses for identification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obejohnknobe Posted April 11 Author Share Posted April 11 WOW, good explanation!! Guess I am sticking with the simple stuff and no need to change!! Thank you! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. P Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 (edited) Keep in mind that controllers are network specific and cannot be interchanged without specific cabling, in simple terms, or you will burn them up. The only exception is the Pixcon as it can be programmed to run on both networks. Edited April 11 by Mr. P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDucks Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 Look at The Pixielink adapter. that has e1.31 in and 6 LOR ports out Bandwidth to the adapter on a single CAT5/6, then LOR. Great for high density areas. Note: the age of some of your controllers may limit (mostly AC) what the adapter supports Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obejohnknobe Posted April 12 Author Share Posted April 12 So come out of the computer with cat 5 to the input of the Pixielink? My laptop does not have a cat 5 I/O on it so is it possible to use the USB-RS485 adapter and use cat 5 to the input of the pixielink? The 6 outputs of the pixielink go to the cards on each network? John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 9 minutes ago, Obejohnknobe said: My laptop does not have a cat 5 I/O on it so is it possible to use the USB-RS485 adapter and use cat 5 to the input of the pixielink? No. The input to the PixieLink is Ethernet. A USB-RS485 adapter output is RS-485 serial data. Different animal. If the laptop does not have a LAN, then you would need a USB to Ethernet adapter. And Yes, the six outputs of the PixieLink are standard LOR RS-485 network and connect to your LOR cards - such as Pixie, etc. BTW, one of my standard recommendations if using E1.31 and LOR networking is to use different color Cat-5 cables for each. In my case, E1.31 networking is on green cable and LOR RS-485 networking is on purple cable. Makes it harder to accidentally plug the wrong one in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yffej151963 Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 (edited) IP addresses are per ethernet controller. A controller can receive data that spans universes. Data for those universes are sent to the set ip address for the controller. It is slightly more complex, but not terrible. A pixielink is a bridge from an IP network that receives E.131 data to LOR. A user can map the incoming E.131 universes to LOR IDS. This is beneficial if you have large numbers of pixels and pixie controllers. For and example, I have two 32x50 trees(2xPixie16), a 16x25(1xPixie8) tree and singing faces(2xPixie2). Using a pixielink allows all of this to run one network and supports the pixielink protocol which is a high speed protocol. It can also handle my AC controller. The cat5 comes from my network to the pixielink, then each LOR controller uses recieves a cat5 from the pixielink. The network is where things become complicated. When I added my first pixielink I added a USB ethernet controller to my laptop as my show network and ran a single cat5 to the pixielink. Edited April 12 by yffej151963 Fixing typos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yffej151963 Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 Good tip on the color coding!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDucks Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 You can get a USB Ethernet adapter for wired Ethernet use Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obejohnknobe Posted April 12 Author Share Posted April 12 Purchased 3.0 USB to Ethernet off of Amazon as my laptop has the 3.0 USB. Good idea to color code the cable to the Pixielink. Will be running that cable from inside the house to outside about 50' to the Pixielink. Max cable run to the 1st card is about 70' on network 1 but the other 3 networks maybe 30' max cable run from the Pixielink. Should I get a repeater for network 1 or wait and test it out first? Thank you everyone for the inputs as this is great information to help better my display! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilMassey Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 Ethernet is good to 300ft. RS 485 is good to 4000ft. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDucks Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 4000' if you terminate in 120 ohms. your short runs probably don't need (but it never hurts) If you have a second generation Pixie, put that last on the network and install the Jumper (usually JP4) to terminate properly. If you can't place or none have the option, simply make some with a CAT5 stub with the resistor (size not power sensitive) between the Blu and the White-blue wires. (great use for a CAT5 cable with the OTHER end damaged. eg missing tang) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obejohnknobe Posted April 12 Author Share Posted April 12 Had the issue of lights freaking out when I first started with LOR and did not understand why. I think Phil M. suggested putting a 120 ohm terminating resistor at the end of each network. Problem solved after installing them at the end of a run in the network that year. Now, it is common practice with each network and have had no issues since then. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now