Controller Question - Making a Move

I began my Christmas light journey using Holidaycoro controllers, specifically the Hinkspix pro v1, several years ago. I have expanded to multiple long range expansion boards to accomodate the roughly 16k pixels I run. This year I have added a few props and gone over the limit for the Hinkspix pro v1 and have to upgrade. I am weary of going down the path of continuing to use the Hinkspix any longer and want to switch things over the Falcon or Kulp.

Theoretically, I should be able to buy the boards and swap them out in the boxes using the existing pig tails and power supplies. Am I safe to assume that is true? And with this hobby I know nothing is ever as easy as it seems but for the most part is seems that the boxes, pig tails, and power supplies are universal in nature and the controllers are the piece that makes the difference.

Thanks for the assist!

There are a lot of right answers here, depending on the details...

I use the HinksPix among many other things (Falcon, Kulp, Wally, Experience, Alphapix, Baldrick, Pi) and wouldn't toss them out... they work just fine. (You can use more than one controller, and more than one brand, you know.) So a lot easier to add a second controller... this may shorten your extensions too. A Falcon or Kulp won't handle an unlimited number of pixels either... 32-48 pixel ports is the most for these, though with diff ports you can get some really big Kulps.

I did get tired of dealing with HinksPix 16-port smart receivers and swapped in 16-port controllers into those enclosures. That gives me a lot more flexibility on how the show is put together, while offloading the Hinks to do things near by.

The HinksPix is generally placed in an enclosure in a way that makes reconfiguration a bit tougher, you would be able to reuse the the enclosure, power supplies, pigtails, etc., but the layout would be all different. I'm not sure you'd end up driving that many more pixels out of the same box, though... the HinksPix as assembled by HolidayCoro is pretty space-efficient...

As far as converting to another brand... be aware that the HinksPix smart receivers don't play nice. HolidayCoro "dumb" receivers do, but you need to swap two of the wires on the long range jacks to make the Hinks compatible with everyone else. Detailed instructions: https://merryoncherry.org/2022/06/1...ility-with-other-dumb-differential-receivers/

If you have more details about how your HinksPix is configured, what receivers you are using, and how your show is set up (how spread out, where you want the boxes, etc.) I may be able to give more specific suggestions...

merryoncherry said:

There are a lot of right answers here, depending on the details...

I use the HinksPix among many other things (Falcon, Kulp, Wally, Experience, Alphapix, Baldrick, Pi) and wouldn't toss them out... they work just fine. (You can use more than one controller, and more than one brand, you know.) So a lot easier to add a second controller... this may shorten your extensions too. A Falcon or Kulp won't handle an unlimited number of pixels either... 32-48 pixel ports is the most for these, though with diff ports you can get some really big Kulps.

I did get tired of dealing with HinksPix 16-port smart receivers and swapped in 16-port controllers into those enclosures. That gives me a lot more flexibility on how the show is put together, while offloading the Hinks to do things near by.

The HinksPix is generally placed in an enclosure in a way that makes reconfiguration a bit tougher, you would be able to reuse the the enclosure, power supplies, pigtails, etc., but the layout would be all different. I'm not sure you'd end up driving that many more pixels out of the same box, though... the HinksPix as assembled by HolidayCoro is pretty space-efficient...

As far as converting to another brand... be aware that the HinksPix smart receivers don't play nice. HolidayCoro "dumb" receivers do, but you need to swap two of the wires on the long range jacks to make the Hinks compatible with everyone else. Detailed instructions: https://merryoncherry.org/2022/06/1...ility-with-other-dumb-differential-receivers/

If you have more details about how your HinksPix is configured, what receivers you are using, and how your show is set up (how spread out, where you want the boxes, etc.) I may be able to give more specific suggestions.

Click to expand...

Thank you for the fast reply.

To be more specific, I have one main Hinkspix pro v1 controller that pushes my mega tree (original purchase). I expanded with 4 SMART Long Range 16 port boards and 1 SMART 8 port (two 4s in one box) all of which are dispersed throughout my front yard to control different sections of my house outline and other props.

I'm assuming you're in a hurry since Christmas is coming. Here's what I'd do... again based on not really knowing your layout's geography, and with an eye toward expansion in the future.
Option 1 - repurposing the stuff you have quite a bit:
1. Put 16-port controller boards in the 16-port smart receiver enclosures. For that I'd say use the K16A-B or the WB1616, your preference.
2. Put a Baldrick controller in the Smart 8 box. That should drop in nicely and use the 8 ports.
3. Leave the Hinkspix Pro to control the megatree, or optionally replace the Hinks with a different board, this won't do much for how your show looks, but you'd be rid of hinks.
But all that effort just reconfigures what you have without expanding. At that point, the HinksPix Pro could be used for more dumb receivers, you could add a few more small controllers, the 16-port controllers also support receivers, etc., so you can really disperse around the yard much more easily.

Option 2 - A second option for you, not what you want to hear, but far less work... Add a second hinks so you can keep all the smart receivers you have, move them where you need, but still expand your show. If you are just using receivers, I probably have a spare board for this, and a few more smarts too, as I have been displacing them with controllers... But if you're trying to gradually move away from Hinks, make sure any new receivers are dumb receivers so they'd work with current Hinks or future new controllers of another brand. Dumbs are best IMO, after 3 years of using smarts I am happy to be done with them this year.

Option 3 - A third option, also low effort, just add new, small controllers to your show this year and leave the Hinks stuff alone...

Or something in between. The big leap is to start using more than one controller, but it isn't that big of a leap.

Not in a terrible hurry because I can just eliminate the new props this year since I ran into this issue with them but if I can accomplish it to incorporate them this year that would be fantastic.

That said, if I were to go with option 1 and use the K16A-B, I imagine I could use that as the show player since it has FPP on it. Given the increased pixel capability I could probably eliminate the need for the 8. I could also use any additional K16s I install similarly. Do you know if the Hinkspix is compatible with FPP? If so, does it require a wired connection (ethernet) and a proxy or does it integrate with the FPP ecosystem? (hopefully I am understanding how FPP works)

FPP is a lot of different things. In the case of the K16A-B, it is driving the pixel strings on the cape, but FPP can also be the show player, to send data to other controllers. That includes the HinksPix. I am not sure how you are playing your sequences now... are you doing that from the Hinks (which has a built-in player), from a FPP device, or from your computer (with xLights or xSchedule)?

A few people here would not suggest using the BBB version of FPP as a show player (vs the Raspberry Pi), but I know several who have gotten away with it for small shows, so I don't know where the size limit is really.

merryoncherry said:

A few people here would not suggest using the BBB version of FPP as a show player (vs the Raspberry Pi), but I know several who have gotten away with it for small shows, so I don't know where the size limit is really.

Click to expand...

I ran just over 14k pixels on BBB last year just fine. This year i ran 18.5k pixels just fine for halloween at 40fps.

I grabbed a couple of the K16A-B controllers to replace two of my long range smart boards. Will probably do the others next year. As far as the BBB pushing the show, I can always pivot if I have issues (I have several Pi's lying around I could use if needed), but I will give it a whirl to see how it does.

I am going to run the Hinks on E131 from the main K16A-B board and keep it on my mega tree with a couple of other props tied to that controller box to utilize ports efficiently.

I appreciate the input. Should be interesting to see how smoothly things go.

That said, the newest version of the K16A-B doesn't have a voltage selector like the old version from what I can tell. I don't want to fry the board so waiting to power up until I know using 12v will be ok. Also want to make sure the BBB doesn't get fried from the 12v power supply to the board but didn't see a jumper on that board either.

Anyone have any knowledge of the newest version v3 of the K16A-B?

It will certainly do 12V. https://kulplights.com/manuals/K16A...XmEsqerIAFr4JrnDYlzizm5Xc6nG77O51xLRinZjM8o2h

Ah you said V3, you can see at the bottom of the board it says "All Ports 5-24V" and also there's a jumper to power the BBB near where the ethernet port is (when BBB is installed).

I saw that manual, unfortunately the newest version on kulp's site is slightly different and doesn't seem to have a jumper to select 5v or 12v. I know it can run 12v just unsure how to make sure I don't fry it due to having the wrong voltage selected somewhere.

I must have replied right before you posted your follow up. So I guess that means I am good to go and the e-fuses handle it. Thank you.