best controller?

[gemoomaw@gmail.com]

For several years I have been running my small system (2000) pixels using RPI mdl b + falcon picap.  ver 4. I could not see paying $200+ for  a controller
I switched  my  fpp to ver 6 and lost the ability to test  using Bridge mode for testing direct from xlights
Am I asking for trouble trying to use FPP + Picap.
should I bite the bullet and pay the big bucks for a "mainline" (F4, F5) controller. I have no desire to build a bigger system

[tbone321]

You can continue to use FPP and the picap to run your show.  As said in another thread, just enable the inputs in FPP and you can continue to test directly from xlights.  Just go into Input/Output setup in FPP and select channel inputs.  On that screen, check the enable inputs box and then click on the set button.  Once you click that, you will see an input definition appear.  You can give it a description and then change the input type to E1.31 Unicast.  Set the universe size to the same as you defined it in xlights and increase the universe count until the FPP channel end is greater than the last channel in your xlights configuration.  Then just click the save button and restart FPP if necessary and you should be good to go.  Just remember to uncheck the enable inputs box when you are running your show from FPP.  You could also go with a Kulp controller which runs on FPP and a Kulp K8 is less than $200 and offers both direct pixel control as well as remote differential control.