The control boards

[Denise Brunner]

Can anybody tell me if the control board on the "plug and play" version of the 16 channel LOR controlers are the same control board on the you wire the cord version???? Looking to get a lot more channels and of course want to spend as little as poss.

[Salts]

The Deluxe board (id number is chosen with an on board turnpot as opposed to having to hook it up to your computer to set the id) is the same as the show time controllers. The Standard would be the one you have to hook up to the computer for each controller and set the unit id using the hardware utility.

[Denise Brunner]

I totally understand that, but which board comes with the "kit" that you just have to put the cords on ????

[Don]

Which "kit" are you going to get?

The PC Kits are the same as the PC boards. (The ones in the smaller, plastic enclosures.)

The CTB16K is the kit form of the card used in the high powered, LOR1602 ShowTime Controller.

Since you say "just put the cords on" I think you are talking about this product:
http://store.lightorama.com/ctascpa.html

This has the same controller as this unit:
http://store.lightorama.com/ctretogonoas.html

But it is NOT the same as this unit:
http://store.lightorama.com/locolico.html

[Denise Brunner]

Thanks Don,

I am looking for the board the the metal enclosure. Is that available as just the board????

[-klb-]

The 1602W uses the CTB16D card, which is here: http://store.lightorama.com/ctcotrbowihe.html

If you want the factor cord sets, they are here:

http://store.lightorama.com/shpocorewigr.html

and here:

http://store.lightorama.com/6ftpoco15am.html

But LOR does not appear to sell the cases separately, nor a kit with the assembled card, cords and case ready to go. They only do that on the PC series controllers.

They also sell hte CTB16D as a solder together kit here:

http://store.lightorama.com/16chkitstwih1.html

[Denise Brunner]

is it at PIA to program id by PC instead of the wheels??? I think I would rather the wheels, eaiser to see where each unit is at. So much for saving money

[Don]

Denise Brunner wrote:

is it at PIA to program id by PC instead of the wheels??? I think I would rather the wheels, eaiser to see where each unit is at. So much for saving money

It's pretty much set it and forget it. Most people are going to set the address once, and never touch it again. Doubt most people bother to change the address during the season; and very few probably change an address season to season.

In the overall grand scheme of things ... it really isn't a deal breaker (in my book.)

[Denise Brunner]

Thanks Don, is that the only difference on the two boards

[Don]

Take a look at this controller matrix, which is linked on the LOR Support page:

http://lightorama.com/Documents/AC_ControllerMatrix.pdf

[JBullard]

Don wrote:

Denise Brunner wrote:

is it at PIA to program id by PC instead of the wheels??? I think I would rather the wheels, eaiser to see where each unit is at. So much for saving money

It's pretty much set it and forget it. Most people are going to set the address once, and never touch it again. Doubt most people bother to change the address during the season; and very few probably change an address season to season.

In the overall grand scheme of things ... it really isn't a deal breaker (in my book.)

I'm sure that Don is correct when he says "most people"

I have 20 controllers, and each time I'm setting up the display, (4th July, Halloween, Christmas) I hook each controller up to the laptop, before taking it outside, make sure it's communicating with the computer, run a test sequence, verify I have the most up to date firmware loaded, and verify or change the controller ID number to what I need at that moment. Most of mine get the ID numbers changed each year, as I change my layout and controller placements for the different holidays

I have both styles, rotary wheels turnpots and "comptuer set" . I think the "computer set" ones are easiest.

[Denise Brunner]

Thanks, that helped alot!!!

[Denise Brunner]

Wow, I would think the rotary wheels would be the easyest

[JBullard]

Not for my OLD eyes.

Having the "comptuer set" boards hooked to the computer anyway, the current setting after making a change is right there on the screen.

With the rotary dials, you have to power the board down, before rotating the switches.

It's easy for me to over shoot or under shoot the settings. With those, when changing the controller ID, I set it to 00, then count the clicks on each rotary switch as I turn the screwdriver. Then I still have to hook it up to the computer, power the board back up, to verify that I did it correctly.

If I missed, then power the board down, redo the turns, power back up, and verify on the computer screen.

Dealing with 20 boards at a time, I like things to be fast and easy! Just my opinion, and what works best for me. YMMV

[-klb-]

I tend to think that the dials are one more thing that might be negatively impacted by weather, dust, grime, condensation, etc.

I tend to think that I would be likely to hook up to the PC, and confirm that a unit came up on the intended ID every time I changed the dials, either to change the ID, or to reset the controller. And I do tend to do that on my DC cards, and the 2 showtime boxes at the city show.

On the 44 PC series boxes at the city show, I mark the configured ID in hex and decimal on the outside of the enclosure, and this year, I repeated it on the inside cover, including the installed firmware release.

One of the key differentiators between the CTB16 and the CTB16PC is that the PC series is a little smaller, and has spade lugs for all the connections. The CTB16 gets its address set like the CTB16PC, but has screw terminals along the bottom edge of the card, like the CTB16D. I think, that if I were not buying the LOR dongles with the factory crimped connectors for the CTB16PC, I would strongly consider the CTB16 for the screw terminals...

[Max-Paul]

Hey klb,

How many times would you say we saw someone come on here and say that they are having problems with their addessing of the controllers this past year?

I think that the first responce is to turn the dials back and forth several times and then try to se it to the number they want. I think there was one case where they could only program even or was it odd numbered address.

Ya, I agree, just one more thing to fail on the controller or the over all system. No thanks, you all can keep your fancy dial switcheds for the addressing of the controller.

[Denise Brunner]

Still confused on which is the way I should go. I have 2 ready build LOR's controlers and looking to add 4-6 more now. I have extensive electronic background and just don't to make that much of an investment and have problems with the software. I totally understand the problem with the moisture and the rotary switches, and with the other boards cheaper they make it very attractive. If that being the only difference and there are no other problems I might just go that way.

[-klb-]

To date, I have no complaints about the 44 PC series controllers in the city park show, and 13 of those date from the 2007 show. About as many more have 2 full seasons on them.

The city park ones are all the card assembled versions, with volunteer help installing the cord sets. My personal dozen or so AC controllers are all CTB16PC, and all but one I soldered together myself. I think I had a couple of assembly issues just from being distracted part way through a step. One of them, I had to go back, and the RJ-45 jacks. They had been clipped to the board, but I missed soldering them. Not a big deal at all, and easy to fix.

Max-Paul is correct, there have been a few threads on deluxe addressing dials. Most(if not all) of them have been resolved by spinning the dials several times. At least one of them was misinterpreting where the pointer was on the dial. I don't currently remember any threads about PC series controllers not retaining their ID. I do remember a couple times where an address configured by the hardware utility was not retained, but as far as I know, all of those turned out to be deluxe controllers with dials, where an ID set by HWU will be retained until the next power cycle, at which time it will go to the ID set by the dials.

For basic 110V AC lighting control, you really can not go wrong with any of the LOR AC controllers. The rate of issues appears to be extremely low across the board. As for concern about risk of future lack of software support, remember that now, any of the controllers can be used as DMX dimmer packs with any DMX sequencing package, so the investment in the controllers is protected.

[Denise Brunner]

You helped make my mind up.... I will get the PC versions at the Feb sale. Thanks all for the help on making an informed decision.

:D:D