A little help with my ECG-P12R and Ray Wu 2811 strings

[snyder.cms]

Hi all,

I am running into some issues with my setup and looking for advice. I currently have the ECG-P12R setup and pushing out TM180X protocol to my 2811 strings via e1.31.

-----The Setup----------
My ECG is mounted inside and above my garage door with one cable running to the eves above my garage and the another to the rest of the roof.

To get to the garage eves, the power/signal has to travel from the controller->3 feet of wire->null pixel (I currently have it turned on)->6 feet of wire->null pixel (it is on too)-> goes outside with 20 feet of wire to take it the rest of the way to the pixel string. The pixel string is 2 Ray Wu 2811 50 pixel strips end-to-end to make a single 100 pixel strip.

The "null" pixels are just sections of 2811 smart strip that were left over from another project. I cut them to single pixel and soldered wires to the solder pads...and then wired them in line (in the proper orientation of power/data in/out).

To get to the rest of the house the power/signal travels from the controller through about 20 feet of wire to the strip. No in-line pixels on the wire getting there. The pixel string is 2 Ray Wu 50 pixel strips end-to-end to make a single 100 pixel strip

-----The problem--------
The pixel strip above my garage is not working correctly. When I run the ECG on-board test with e1.31 disconnected, the in-line (null) pixels do exactly what I expect...start white and then flash through RGB. The pixel strip on the roof of the garage however just displays erratic behavior sometimes giving me 2 pixels of white...with nothing for the rest of the strip...sometimes I get a rainbow of color mixed with sections that are off, but most often I just get a flickering first pixel.

The reason I added the in-line pixels is that when I test the strip above the garage on a really short wire (with the controller mounted in a location that it can NEVER be mounted or it will be destroyed), the strip works just fine. This made me think that I am seeing an issue with the distance to first pixel. Also strange...every once in a while (maybe twice) it has actually gone through the test sequence properly with the full length of wire..but it is more often messed up or just off all together when I run the test.

The other pixel strip, above the rest of the house tests just fine.

Thoughts? Advice? Also, I have heard that the 2811 strips can handle more distance to the first pixel...but does the fact that I have to run them with TM180X negate that additional distance that I should get? I am not even getting 20 feet to the first pixel as of now...at least not for one of my runs.

Thanks!

 

[fasteddy]

I would tend to think your assumptions are correct regarding the 1804 code and the 2811 pixel. One of the differences between the 2811 and 1804 code is the timing reset length which is longer for the 2811, this allows for the 2811 signal to be less affected by interferance and thus allow longer distances.

But the specs talk about distance between pixels and not from the controller to first pixel as different controllers will have different abilaties as to how far they can drive a pixel from the controller.

So you may need a dummy pixel still even with the 2811 code, you may not, Hopefully Ed will have the 2811 code out soon so we can test and see if further distances can be achieved from the controller.

 

[kane]

I would tend to think your assumptions are correct regarding the 1804 code and the 2811 pixel. One of the differences between the 2811 and 1804 code is the timing reset length which is longer for the 2811, this allows for the 2811 signal to be less affected by interferance and thus allow longer distances.

But the specs talk about distance between pixels and not from the controller to first pixel as different controllers will have different abilaties as to how far they can drive a pixel from the controller.

So you may need a dummy pixel still even with the 2811 code, you may not, Hopefully Ed will have the 2811 code out soon so we can test and see if further distances can be achieved from the controller.

I would also test out different speeds from your P12R - I've had wierd issues like that which were fixed by adjusting the speed up or down..

 

[snyder.cms]

Great advice! After I got of work today I added one more null pixel and increased my speed. One or both solved my issue.

Thanks!

 

[burner]

What speed have you settled on?

 

[snyder.cms]

I will double check when I get back to my house on Monday (work trip) but I believe 2700 did the trick. I may be off there, but feeling pretty sure that number is standing out to me.

 

[fasteddy]

I will double check when I get back to my house on Monday (work trip) but I believe 2700 did the trick. I may be off there, but feeling pretty sure that number is standing out to me.

I reakon by Monday we may see the updated code for the 2811, if not it wont be too much after that