Hello from Alberta Canada

I

Ilovelights

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Dec 29, 2020
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I've been buying strings of remote controlled lights for years. My old band stage controller was ghosting horribly so I decide to go looking for something new.
OH OH, so here I am to learn and change. Hmm wonder if I'll ever be able to make some of those old strings work with a new system. Guess i'll find out.
 
Welcome to ACL

It is quite possible that the old strings could work with a new system. Could you please describe them? Are they RGB strings or do they look like traditional store-bought LED strings?
If they're RGB, is each light individually controlled or can the entire string only be one colour at a time?
If they're traditional LED strings, are they low voltage?
 
LOL Yeah hmm So everything is 120 volt (Canadian power) most have there own built in adapter with a remote. I have to do a lot more learning to really explain. I assume RGB because they change color fade flash an so on.
 
If they have a plugpack that converts it to low voltage then I consider that to be a low voltage set of lights. Do you have a link to a site that sells them? That would show me what they are.
 
i13 said:
If they have a plugpack that converts it to low voltage then I consider that to be a low voltage set of lights. Do you have a link to a site that sells them? That would show me what they are.
Click to expand...
I actually got quite a few different styles. I have the long strings of only one colour that plug straight in. I also have quite a few different sets with a plugpack.
As I have been looking around I see that you are quite helpful with a lot of this stuff. I will go back and look at some of your older posts to get some guidance and if then I still have problems may I ask assistance. Would there be a good thread already done with this that you could refer me to. Thanks
 
I'm trying to figure out what type(s) of lights you have so that I can provide further info on how to hook them up with computer control. RGB lights are usually able to mix the red, green and blue to create more colours. A multicolour traditional LED string doesn't count as RGB.

What do you mean by "remote"? Is it a blinker unit with a button wired into the light set or is it a remote that can be pointed at the light set from a distance to change the colour or flashing pattern?

We could get onto a Zoom video call so that I can see these lights if that would help.

I haven't been very active here over the last couple of years but hopefully someone else can answer the question about whether there is a thread with this already done. I have listed the details that I need in order to explain how to get low voltage traditional LED strings working with computer control in this thread: https://auschristmaslighting.com/threads/13251/
I suspect that there might be some that aren't low voltage in Canada.
For RGB lights, I'd need to know whether they are pixels (individual control along the light set) or dumb RGB (the whole light set can only be one colour at a time) in order to point you to other information sources. If they are pixels then there's information everywhere on this forum.
 
Thank you for your help. They are a remote that can be pointed at the light set from a distance to change the colour or flashing pattern. And right now the lights are still ,on the house LOL. I am assuming that they might be classed as pixels seeing as they do quite a few colours and sequences such as chase, flash, dim and multicolour change.
 
If they're able to chase up and down the string of lights AND each light can change colour then they're likely to be pixels. You might be able to replace the original controller on them with something that's computer controlled instead. A few popular options include:
At this stage, I wouldn't commit to buying a controller. We don't yet know what type of pixels these are. Some controllers only support certain types of pixels. The safest (but not guaranteed until we know the pixel type) option is probably a Falcon F16v3 or F4v3 because these can simultaneously have a different type of pixel on every output. Note that I'm referring to the signal type that the pixel uses. You can still mix nodes and strip if they use a signal type that the controller supports. It is also possible to mix 5V and 12V pixels on the same controller output if you power inject (connecting the lights directly to a power supply instead of powering them through the controller).

How many wires run between the existing controller and the string of pixels?
 
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Most of the sets look to have 3 wires running down the lights. I have about 25 sets of 3 different versions of these. My first thought was to buy a http://www1.lightorama.com/wp-content/uploads/CTB16PC-in-New-Enclosure-2015.png to run all the 2 wire one color sets that I have that I made small xmas trees from and expand from there. I have about 50 sets of these. I thought that I would grow from that. Does this make any sense?
 
That does make sense. If you choose to get the Light-O-Rama controller or a DMX controller alongside pixels, I recommend choosing a pixel controller that has a DMX output. This will allow you to connect the Light-O-Rama or DMX controller to the pixel controller which is the source of DMX signal. Light-O-Rama uses a slightly different wiring standard for DMX in a Cat5 cable but it is easy to make or buy an adaptor. Some pixel controllers support both standards without an adaptor but you'll still need at least one if you want to daisy chain both a Light-O-Rama and another brand of DMX controller on the same DMX line.

If the light sets have no plugpack and the mains voltage runs along the entire length then that Light-O-Rama controller would probably be compatible but it isn't my area of expertise. You might be able to pick up one of those much cheaper second hand from forum members here. Just make sure it can support the correct voltage. From memory, I thought there was a problem with Light-O-Rama AC controllers' channels getting stuck on when their load was too small. This was a long time ago and I don't know whether Light-O-Rama has fixed it. I generally wouldn't bother with an AC controller for light sets with a plugpack.

If the pixel lights have 3 wires then that rules out dumb RGB and any 4-wire pixel types. Hopefully they're WS2811 compatible because that's a very common pixel type. A way to check would be to try a source of WS2811 data and see whether the pixels work with it. This is an example: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/DC5V-12...028799?hash=item2d1a50c33f:g:EcUAAOSwZo5fh9kV
There is a small chance that this check could fail if there's something slightly different in the WS2811 signal that's present compared to what the pixels were designed for.
 
i13 said:
That does make sense. If you choose to get the Light-O-Rama controller or a DMX controller alongside pixels, I recommend choosing a pixel controller that has a DMX output. This will allow you to connect the Light-O-Rama or DMX controller to the pixel controller which is the source of DMX signal. Light-O-Rama uses a slightly different wiring standard for DMX in a Cat5 cable but it is easy to make or buy an adaptor. Some pixel controllers support both standards without an adaptor but you'll still need at least one if you want to daisy chain both a Light-O-Rama and another brand of DMX controller on the same DMX line.

OK Thanks and I was leaning toward a falcon pixel controller to run the pixel side of things.

If the light sets have no plugpack and the mains voltage runs along the entire length then that Light-O-Rama controller would probably be compatible but it isn't my area of expertise. You might be able to pick up one of those much cheaper second hand from forum members here. Just make sure it can support the correct voltage. From memory, I thought there was a problem with Light-O-Rama AC controllers' channels getting stuck on when their load was too small. This was a long time ago and I don't know whether Light-O-Rama has fixed it. I generally wouldn't bother with an AC controller for light sets with a plugpack.

Thanks good to know. I usually run multiple sets of these in something like 1 tree. So I think there would be enough draw. At least I hope so.

If the pixel lights have 3 wires then that rules out dumb RGB and any 4-wire pixel types. Hopefully they're WS2811 compatible because that's a very common pixel type. A way to check would be to try a source of WS2811 data and see whether the pixels work with it. This is an example: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/DC5V-12...028799?hash=item2d1a50c33f:g:EcUAAOSwZo5fh9kV
There is a small chance that this check could fail if there's something slightly different in the WS2811 signal that's present compared to what the pixels were designed for.
Click to expand...

Perfect. Now I just need to find the info on how to test drive this. So much reading out there a person can get lost LOL.
 
Just noticed that 7 sets of the colour changing have 5 wires running between the controller and through the bulbs as well
 
They're unlikely to be pixels if there are that many wires. My guess is that they're 4-channel dumb strings but those are becoming very uncommon. What voltage is the output of the plugpacks for these and the others that we think might be pixels? Pixels are pretty much always 5V or 12V DC.
 
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