Port configuration in Falcon Controller

[Mattslights]

Hi,

My display has two sections of icicles, each section has 5 sets of icicles in each set (with power injection). I'm using an F48, I'm getting an "invalid" message in these lines.

Any suggestions or tips on setting this up would be appreciated.

 

[BAZMick]

Sorry Matt, lots of the settings there appear to be incorrect.
To start with let's use the KISS principle. 1x Universe is 170 pixels with RGB LED. On port 2 of your setup you're at 198 pixels so port 3 cannot start on universe 1 unless these are "clone" props ??
For me my first year I looked upon each of the smart receivers ports as 1x universe and knew that I couldn't connect more than 170 pixels on each port. So my setup from xLights to the F48 was really simple, each string was no more than 170x pixels and was on its own universe. On the F48 port 1 was universe 1, port 2 was universe 2 and so on and so on.
Don't worry about Daisy chaining receivers just yet, you've got heaps of capacity to grow into. With that in mind check that the receivers dip switches are all as the end receiver (check the manual on this)
Where you've got 300 and 336x pixels break that in half so it's less than 170 pixels.
Hope this helps you and let us know how you're going?
Cheers Bazzy

 

[Mattslights]

Thanks Bazzy, this is very helpful! Its my first year so all new technology and planning but I know the end result will be worthwhile.

Just to clarify on my first receiver I’m using 4 candy canes that have 99 pixels on each receiver port, that controller is daisy chained to the second controller which has another 4 candy canes with 99 pixels each…4 left and 4 right

Then on the wreath is a similar arrangement or 4 x 100 pixels on each receiver port.

When I use Test Mode in Falcon Player every pixel works, but when I Test in xlights only the first 170 pixels on the icicle strings work string work which makes sense. But why would the Test Mode work in Falcon Player?

Attached is a photo of my set up that might help to show what I’m aiming to achieve. From what I understand I’ll need to set up some more receivers to go to the candy canes, wreath and between the two long runs of icicles or would I be able to clone these?

Thanks again.
Matt

 

[BAZMick]

Trust me, it will be worth it! Make sure you get a nice comfy camping chair to sit out the front of your house when you get it going.

Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, I haven't delved into the depths of the manual but I think the FPP doesn't have string config so it just pumps out maximum data across all universes. But if you did a test mode on the F48 only the pixels configured on the ports page would light up and you would see all sorts of strange things happening because every port is listening to universe 1.

For your setup there I would recommend starting from the LH Candy Cane and say call it CC01, I see you've named one as CC1 but next year you might have more than 10.
CC01 - F48 Port1-4; Smart Receiver 01 Port 1 Uni#1 Ch#1 (99Pixels)
CC02 - F48 Port1-4; SR01 Port 2 Uni#2 Ch#1 (99Pixels)
CC03 - F48 Port1-4; SR01 Port 3 Uni#3 Ch#1 (99Pixels)
CC04 - F48 Port1-4; SR01 Port 4 Uni#4 Ch#1 (99Pixels)

CC05 - F48 Port5-8; SR02 Port 1 Uni#5 Ch#1 (99Pixels)
CC06 - F48 Port5-8; SR02 Port 2 Uni#6 Ch#1 (99Pixels)
CC07 - F48 Port5-8; SR02 Port 3 Uni#7 Ch#1 (99Pixels)
CC08 - F48 Port5-8; SR02 Port 4 Uni#8 Ch#1 (99Pixels)

Wreath1 - F48 Port9-12; SR03 Port 1 Uni#9 Ch#1 (100Pixels)
Wreath2 - F48 Port9-12; SR03 Port 2 Uni#10 Ch#1 (100Pixels)
Wreath3 - F48 Port9-12; SR03 Port 3 Uni#11 Ch#1 (100Pixels)
Wreath4 - F48 Port9-12; SR03 Port 4 Uni#12 Ch#1 (100Pixels)

ICE01 - F48 Port 13-16; SR04 Port 1 Uni#13 Ch#1 (150Pixels)
ICE02 - F48 Port 13-16; SR04 Port 2 Uni#14 Ch#1 (150Pixels)
ICE03 - F48 Port 13-16; SR04 Port 3 Uni#15 Ch#1 (168Pixels)
ICE04 - F48 Port 13-16; SR04 Port 4 Uni#16 Ch#1 (168Pixels)

From what I see in your pic, only 5x smart receivers should be needed maybe 6x depending on distance between props and receivers. Try not to clone unless that's specifically what you want, it's better for whole house effects without cloning.

Do you follow what I'm doing here? Forget about the Daisy chaining, you've got heaps of capacity without it and all year next year to learn how to do it.
Don't forget to tick the "blank" check box for ports that are blank or not used.

Let us know how you go with that?

Cheers Bazzy

 

[Mattslights]

Thanks Bazzy, this is great. I’ll work with this.

What would you suggest the longest distance between the receiver and the first pixel could be? This is the wire I’m using https://www.bunnings.com.au/click-20m-white-extension-lead_p0189127

I’m trying to avoid putting a receiver and power supply on the roof line it would be better if I could attach these at a lower level on the side of the house.

Cheers
Matt

 

[BAZMick]

I think I ran one prop last year on a 10m extension cable 0.75m2 with 12V LED's. If you throw in a null pixel from Hanson Electronics you could probably go out to 20-25m. Not to sure about the distances using 5V pixels though

 

[Mattslights]

Hi Bazzy,

I’ve separated the icicle strings to a maximum of 120 pixels per string. I thought I would try and keep the smart receivers and their settings, it seems to be working ok. But if that changes I’ll run the necessary cat5 cables to each receiver and change the dip switches.

When I tick the blank box’s for ports not in use, click save, go to another tab, then come back to the port configuration page the blank box’s are not selected. Is this what should happen?

If you let me know your thoughts on this new port configuration layout it would be much appreciated?

Cheers
Matt

 

[BAZMick]

Ahh ok, if the blank check box doesn't appear to work then you can try to set the pixel count to 0 on the unused ports and/or the universe start number to something that's not in use... As yet

 

[Mattslights]

Sorry Bazzy, I'm still struggling with this port set up, when I make those changes, click save, go to another page then come back to the port configuration the ports I have changed are highlighted in red?

 

[BAZMick]

Ok, try changing only the channel start number on the ports with universe 9 to 4591 (9x Universes with 510x Channels = 4590)

 

[andrewa]

This is how I would do it.

Admittedly a lot of unused space in universes

 

[Dreamin]

You would be much better off using Visualiser. Try the Zoom room, it's linked on the xlights page, someone should be able to help you correct that in real time and help you though it. First year and getting your head around ports, universes and channels is quite tasking, visualiser removes all the worry and just specifies what ports each prop is on and does the rest for you.

 

[JohnsRdChristmas]

+1 for visualiser, let xlights worry about all the settings, just give it full control and setup whats connected to each port, and xlights will do the rest,

 

[Mattslights]

Thank you everyone for helping me with this.

Colin (cscool36) came out to my house and spent a number of hours figuring it out and now the lights are working!!

Being my first year there were a number of rookie errors made but now that it’s up and running and my family friends are enjoying the display it has all been worthwhile

Hopefully there is a Mini in 2021 I can attend.

Cheers

Matt

 

[BAZMick]

Well done mate, looks great! A very happy family by the looks too