New to sequencing so be gentle (or not, i can take it ;-) )

battle79

battle79

Full time elf
Joined
Dec 8, 2012
Messages
465
Location
Chirnside Park, Victoria, AU
Hi All,
I'm based in melbourne and am an electrician (not a electronic engineer ;-) ).
I have 30 or so Big W strands of standard and icicle xmas lights and am looking to get into some sequencing. Not thinking of RGB or sync to music just yet but might for 2014 xmas.
Main aim for 2013 is to get all the sets of 10 LEDs in my current strands all on individual channels so i can chase and fade.
Thinking I want a ECG-P12R (splurge item) for covering all future possibilities. (IE RGB)
Next a board to hang off the first output to run all my existing DC LED lights (64 channels and counting), Thinking maybe a TigerDMX120LC, but sugestions welcome.
And finally some sort of control/SSR's to run all my rope lights (240V), (No transformer, so they seem to actually run on 240VAC).

Cheers,
Rowan
 
welcome32.gif
 
The P12R is for pixels, bot standard lights, so you will need some sort of DMX dongle (I personally use the J1Sys DR4, which has 4 universes, so overkill for you in the short term), and then DMX boards.

David_AVD has some DC Boards which may be suitable for you, and add to that a Power Supply suited to your lights and you are laughing as far as DC items. The 240V is an issue as there are only a few 240V controllers around, but you may be able to pick up a 240V LOR Controller cheap after Christmas as people go away from 240V to more LV items
 
Hi Rowan,
The ECG-P12R is for driving intelligent pixel strings or strips that use the 6803, 2801, 2811, etc chip inside.

The Tiger series is no longer available, but there are alternatives with smaller channel counts. I sell the DC24 and DC48 DC controllers and AAH (Alan) sells the AAHmega60 DC controller.

As for 240V stuff, there's usually people selling off their surplus LOR CTB16 series controllers during the year.
 
where is people reading the information on the Tiger series of boards??
the Tiger120 is a waste of money, esp @ 100ma per output
go David_Avd post
 
Welcome to ACL Rowan
2014 is a long way away. If you really wanted to you could be going in a day or 2 for 2012.
The ECG-P12R is exclusively for pixels unless my memory of terminology is wrong. To drive dc dimmer boards which are what you need for flashing dumb (static type) lights you need something like the ECG-D4 or alternatively a usb-dmx dongle. David_AVD sells isolated usb-dmx dongles or I have a few non isolated ones if you were desperate to get going this year.
The tiger 120 is now an obsolete item and is limited to about 100mA per channel as well so it's not suitable for most loads. On the wiki there's a list of controllers available and their specs.

I see that while i was typing there were a few replies :)

If you're not looking at lighting up with flashing lights for a year or so then make sure that you try to get to the Melbourne lighting mini which is usually around mid year. It's well worth the trip/time as hands on exposure to the sequencers and lights gives you a running start.
 
Thanks for quick responses,
So if i get 2x AAHmega60, plug them into my USB to serial dongle, link to vixen, & change start address on second unit i'm good to go? (except for wiring and power supplies obviously)
Also, with the LOR CTB16, does it work with a DMX input and can it be set to start at the next DMX channel ?(thinking ropelights for next year)
What power supplies can you recommend? (get good trade discount from radio parts)
Thinking I will run each 10 LED section as a channel, should I link the overlaping LED section or keep it seperate so i can twinkle?
Cheers,
Rowan
P.S. Sorry lots of questions
 
Questions are about the only way to learn.
If you're after 2 of the Mega60/M60 then you might as well have separate strings for each channel as it allows for greater programming flexibility. Changing the start address is dead easy and that's about all you need to do. The latter releases of the CTB16 allow you to run either LOR mode or DMX mode with no need to tell the controller as it auto detects what it is being fed. The start channel that they used is based on the controller number that is programmed into it using the LOR hardware utility. Controller 1 uses dmx channels 1-16, 2 uses 17-32 etc. i haven't used RPG for many years now so i don't know what power supplies they offer these days. Most of us are using open frame type power supplies like this http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/350W-Dual-Output-Switching-Power-Supply-88-264VAC-input-24V-350W-output-CE-and-ROHS-approved/701799_348592454.html from Ray Wu or alternatively the same sort of thing made by Meanwell.
 
So when I said ever group of ten LEDs I actually was thinking in my head every 2mtr section (which you probably all realised anyway).
So that gives 32 channels of icicles across the front of the house (blue and white overlaid), should give good ability for effects. Thinking of maybe 8x 2ft trees on lawn with 2 colors each (based off lights i already have)
If i don't get carried away I can get away with one board to start with.
Now to order board, power suppy, wire, and anything else you happen to notice i'm forgetting
 
1 thing that is easily forgotten is cat5 cable to get from dongle (or ecg) to controller and from there to other controllers. i ended up making a bunch of the cables this year as i needed heaps more and as the deadline approached i couldn't be sneaking into Jaycar to get more.
 
Cat5 cables are no problem at all. Have 3 drums of the stuff and pack after pack of connectors. Plus lots of premade leads.
Power supply and a pack of 50 4pin connectors are ordered. Now to bug AAH for a mega60 board.
Do I just ask for one here or is there a web store I'm not seeing?

Cheers,
Rowan
 
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