No Fuses and No Expansion Port

[munu]

I am looking at the F16v4 and F16v5. The v5 doesn't seem to have fuses and doesn't have the expansion ports anymore. To me that seems like a step backwards but I am probably missing something. How does the F16v5 improve over the F16v4?

[MikeKrebs]

The F16V5 has efuses - electronic fuses that can be checked and reset via software. Remote receivers (especially smart ones) are replacing expansion ports. I don't know what went into the design decision on the F16V5 but I think all the "smarts" basically took a bit of the pins that could have been used for more receivers. 

The F16V4 is a very capable controller with legacy ( for all those that have had their favorite device called legacy) fuses and more absolute more number of ports available.

[algerdes]

The F16V5 seems to be getting away from 32 local outputs in favor of 16 local and the rest available through receivers.  I can see this being a good thing.  I have several expansion boards for earlier versions of the F16 and to be honest we only used one for a mega matrix with 32 outputs.  Even that has been dismantled.  We replaced it with the remote sender and put receivers at locations that a direct connect would have been pushing the limits.  That sender cards functionality is now built into the F16V5.

With some remote receivers now sporting 4, 8, and 16 outputs, you can still get your connections without the ribbon cable.

[k6ccc]

The only place I am using a expansion board is for my 26 x 100 pixel tree.  That is using a F16v3 and I am using all 32 ports - 26 for the tree, 3 for the star and 3 for PI for the star.  For 2025, I am planning on a major rebuild of the tree and expecting to use a second expansion board that will allow shortening the pixel strings (it's gonna be a strange arrangement).  That is so I can run higher than 30% on the tree.

Everything else for Christmas is a dedicated F16v3 per prop or small group of props.  The year round landscape lighting uses a F4v3 and one smart receiver.

[JonD]

I completely understand why a lot of people like the smart receivers, but I don't really understand why people would want to mix/match them if they did not have to.  Seems like the F48vx versions have the SRs covered.  During the covid controller shortage, adding SRs was the only way to add more ports.  I had a couple dozen SR only boxes at the time.  It was challenging to configure the 32 strand megatree to span the first 16 strands on normal ports, and the next 16 on smart receivers.  Also, you would label the ports on the controller box, but if you wanted to move the box over to another controller the next year, all your labels were wrong.  Not to mention, there was a ton of dip switches you had to reconfigure that were easy to set in the wrong position, that had to be tested after.

I much prefer only using normal ports.  No need to re-label ports, no need to adjust dip switches all the time.  32+ controllers are a little big for average use, and I too only use them for larger props such as the megatree, but I did like that I just needed to keep one spare controller on hand that could be installed in either box.  Stick a gun to my head and force me use SRs, I would buy the F48 and not mess with the mixed configuration.  Normal ports at that point just complicate things.

[Roman25]

Hi! The F16v5 is the new model, and it cuts out fuses and expansion ports. This might look like it's missing things, but it's probably made to work better with new tech. This can lead to improved working speed and less power use.