HinksPix LR 16 Issue-Please save my Christmas :)

plugcatcher

plugcatcher

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Jul 10, 2024
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LR Cable 1:
Running some singing faces, canes, and arches on LR 4 boards just fine.
LR Cable 2:
Pixel count issues.
LR 16 was going to drive my 30 strand EVO pixels which are set up in 100 up/100 down pairs for each port 1-15.
Port 16 was going to be my 36 inch star (270 pixel). I moved it to a close-by LR 4 board and it works.
The only design check that I can get it to OK is 170 pixels per output. The result in test mode is that it lights up 7 full strands, then every eighth strand it lights up 70.

It appears I may have been too ambitious wanting a 100 strand tall tree. It was an absolute pain getting it up and guy wires set to level. Is there any hope of me keeping it 30 strands of 100, or am I doomed to take it all down and reduce my strands to 85 each (85 up/85 down [170])? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am also not opposed to purchasing a new/used controller so I don't have to take this beast down or paying for advice. I am under great pressure because the 5 year old neighbor boy who sits in his front window watching the show every night will be so upset. I actually bought him a little portable radio so he could hear the show.

The only other controller I have that is unused is a Dig Octa with Octa Power 7. I planned to use it for a small matrix but ran out of time. Any possibility of using the LR 16 and Dig Octa on a single mega tree for my scenario. I'm assuming mixing to controllers for one prop could lead to issues.

Another scenario is I scrap my old 50 x 16 5v tree that is part of my show. It is ran by the HinksPix Pro box. Could scrap that tree and convert my main HinksPix Pro to 12v (is there dipswitch for that)?
 

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I've used HinksPix a lot, please share your xlights_networks.xml and xlights_rgbeffects.xml and I will make sure that you have "universe per string" checked, and "cascade on port" of 4 for the tree, and a few other things.
 
This is based on my reducing my big tree to 30 strands of 85. 85 up/85 down for each port 1-15. I haven't even tackled creating the show as I was going to use purchased sequences. Many things I didn't have last year. All I had was my 16x50 tree and arches. Everything else is new this year. As I'm sure you know, nothing ever goes right the first, second or third time. I'm just happy I got Hinks to light up the new big tree with the missing 30 pixels every 8th strand. I think there's at least hope now. I was getting close to going back to just my arches and old tree yesterday. Wish I had more time to learn more but work keeps me busy.
 

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I actually started in May/June. Crazy how time flies the older you get. I made the under eaves tracks out of 2x4 plastic guttering painted to match my eaves. My only regret was not using normal bullets. The EVO pixels are a bit dim but they do still look nice. Also painted up some boxes to match to hold one of the LR 4s and one of the the Dig Quads. All in all, I accomplished what I set out to do, now it's just a matter of getting the controller situation sorted.
 

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Forgot to mention, the 3000 pixels for the mega tree are EVO pixels as well with 2 inch spacing and 2 meter leads. My plan was 100 up/100 down per port without any power injection. However, I am comfortable injecting power if you think it needs to be set up differently. The test pattern sent to it when I set it to strands of 85 didn't have any flickering or odd behavior.
 
OK, so I think you've hit the important realization. The LR won't do that many (800/port) pixels, only 680, which does divide down to 85. But we will save the tree!

(This is why I have spare HP LR boards on offer... put a 16-port controller in that enclosure and stop worrying about these design constraints. A WB1616 drops in nicely. So would a K16A-B.)

Or, I could send you another 16-port long range, then you could run the tree with that. Basically you'd use ports 1,2 5,6, 9,10, ... on the long ranges and be able to run the whole thing.

The layout does show the tree on the 2nd smart receiver setting of the 16. This is fine as long as the DIP switches match.

Is there only one LR4 board on port 1 or is there more than one? Layout file only showing 1, and right canes not connected to anything.

Changing the HP from 5V-12V involves replacing the power supplies. Let's not go that far right now, we'll just deal with the big tree using one of the two options above.

This is going to look really nice. Don't worry, the sequences won't be hard at all since this layout is straightforward.
 
plugcatcher said:
Forgot to mention, the 3000 pixels for the mega tree are EVO pixels as well with 2 inch spacing and 2 meter leads. My plan was 100 up/100 down per port without any power injection. However, I am comfortable injecting power if you think it needs to be set up differently. The test pattern sent to it when I set it to strands of 85 didn't have any flickering or odd behavior.
Click to expand...
Based on the low power needs for the evos, if anything is needed it would only be to tie the bottom on to the same controller port with a tee. If you are concerned, you can order the tees to have on hand, and put them in if they turn out to be necessary.
 
I used Board ID 4 dipswitch on the LR 16
WLED DigQuad
Big Garage/Big Peak, 1 port used, 200 nodes
WLED DigQuad
Big Garage/Big Peak, 1 port used, 200 nodes
Hinks Pix Pro
Mega Tree 5v, 16x50
LR ID 0 (LR4)
Singing Faces, 3 ports used, 170 nodes each
LR ID 1 (LR4)
Left Canes, 4 ports used, 99 nodes each
LR ID 2 (LR4)
Arches 1-1, 1-2, Port 1, 48 nodes
Arches 2-1, 2-2, Port 2, 48 nodes
Arches 3-1, 3-2, Port 3, 48 nodes
36" star, Port 4, 270 nodes, w/ end power injection
AlphaPix
Arches 4-1, 4-2, Port 1, 48 nodes
Right Canes, 99 nodes each, Ports 2-4
 
I ordered the put together boxes for the three LR4s I'm using, but I ordered a premade LR16. Since I'm just running EVOs, seems I could just add another LR16 in the same box with 1 350w meanwell going to each LR16 board? I have tons of standoffs to probably make it a nice fit or could mount to the door I suppose. But all in all, I think a second LR16 saves my Christmass :)
 

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I use xSchedule running off my PC and FM transmitter connected with Play3 audio USB. Worked great last year. Also got a little FM radio on my front covered porch so neighborhood walkers can hear it too.
 
plugcatcher said:
Since I'm just running EVOs, seems I could just add another LR16 in the same box with 1 350w meanwell going to each LR16 board?
Click to expand...
Actually, yes I think so, all we've done is spread the pixels out across more boards so no difference in power usage, just control boards.

Just be sure you're putting a second CAT cable from the controller to the other board, they won't daisy chain or you'll be back to the original problem.
 
All controllers are hard wired, no wifi, so show ran pretty smooth last year. Hoping all the new elements it will still go smoothly.
 
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