Christmas light show

R

rjt65

New elf
Joined
Mar 27, 2015
Messages
11
Hi
I have just bought a 240v LOR 16 channel controller and would really appreciate any help , or suggestions in setting up a Christmas light show. I would like to include a couple of leaping arches, which I plan on building, but unsure of the best way to go about it. I was thinking of using pixel strips inside a opaque tube, but have not looked into how to set the strips to leap in all directions. Do I need to separate it into sections, or can they be programmed through the controller? Also, most of my lights have those silly little control boxes on them, can they be used with these, or do I need to disable the little controllers. I have looked into how this is done.
I want to set this up for my disabled granddaughter, who gets a real kick out of the Christmas lights.
All or any help greatly appreciated.
Thank You
Robert, NSW
 
Firstly welcome to ACL secondly have you had a look at the 101 manual. It will explain 240v 12v 5v standard lights, dumb RGB and pixels. It will also go thru what controllers can control what lights.

As far as arches go the leap is controlled inside which software you choose.

If you can try and get to the Sydney mini at the end of May their will be plenty of things to see and asks questions about.
 
Hello Robert. Unfortunatly the LOR 240v controller will not control a digital strip as this requires a totally different controller. The best place to start learning is to start with the ACL 101 lighting manual as there is a wealth of info in there. You may suffer from information overload at first but it needs to re-read a few times and then referred back to. This will get you started to understanding your options

http://auschristmaslighting.com/forums/index.php?topic=1889.0
 
welcome48.gif
 
Welcome Robert, im sure you will get something up and running for your granddaughter. The best thing is you have sarted early in the year..
 
Welcome.gif

to ACL Robert

First the disclaimer
Joining these forums and entering the chat room can give you CLAP!!! :D
Christmas Lighting Addiction Problem

Second, as already suggested, the new revised 2nd addition AusChristmasLighting 101 manual is a great resource for all things RGB and more. :)

Third, as to part of your answer, it is correct, a 16 channel controller will not control a RGB strip, it will turn things like light strings on and off (blinky).
So you have not wasted $$
I just purchased 4 more 16 channel controllers, total is now 6. I also have 6 RGB strip controllers. They can all work together to make a nice show.
 
Thank You every one for the welcome. I did download the 101 manual, think I need to read it a few more times to get the gist of everything. Thank you for clearing up the led pixel strip requirements. I have a few led light strings, and a few 240v rope lights, and a couple of rope light figures. The majority of my lights have a AC to DC power supply on them. Can the dumb rgb led string be used with the LOR controller for the arches. Also thinking of building a few mini trees.
I have the LOR software, and Vixen 2 software, and I am buggered if I can work out how to put a sequence together on either of them. My granddaughter loves do you wanna build a snowman, from frozen, and I wanted to do a sequence to that. Any help working out either of these software packages would be very much appreciated. Any advice on which one is better to use and easier as well.
Have already started looking at getting another controller. Does it have to be a LOR, or can you run a different one. Was thinking of one of those 512 DMX light controllers, any thoughts?
Thank you in advance
Robert
 
Welcome

The short answer to your question about whether the AC controller can run the dumb RGB strips is no. They are low voltage DC and you have an AC controller. The LOR controller will, however, work fine with your ropelights.

To the best of my knowledge, it is possible to get the LOR controller working on a DMX-512 line alongside a DC controller for the dumb RGB strips. A DC controller can also control your LED strings as they are low voltage. This can be a bit of work to set up for the first time but it is worth it. This is because the LED sets often want to run with slightly different voltages which will need correcting. Have a look at this page for your controller options http://auschristmaslighting.com/wiki/Controllers Another option is to check if the LED strings are currently running on 24V AC (not DC) as the LOR controller can run 24V AC on 8 (possibly all, I'm not sure) of its outputs.

You will need to run an E1.31 network and E1.31 controllers alongside the DMX-512 if you ever decide to get pixels and still want to keep the LOR controller. The pixels are our cheaper DIY equivalent to LOR's cosmic colour products. A dumb strip is not a type of pixel. It does not offer individual control along its length. A dumb strip is simply a red, green and blue channel that span the entire length of the strip.

I am a Vixen 2 user and happy to answer any questions about it. It should work for your purposes at this stage but it is superseded by Vixen 3. Vixen 2 is a very basic sequencer once you're familiar with it and you'll want something else if you later decide you want pixels or anything that offers good RGB effects.
 
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