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Moving off of LOR hardware (slowly)

Started by joet, January 03, 2025, 04:05:24 PM

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joet

Hello all,

I'm starting to think about my setup for next year and need some advice.  I currently have all Light-o-Rama hardware including a director, 2 flood controllers, 5 pixie controllers and 3 AC controllers.  Next year I would like to start moving off of LOR hardware (and their sequencer) but need some advice on the ideal setup for where I am currently at.  I'd like to keep the LOR hardware I have but flip them into DMX mode and pickup some falcon hardware as needed going forward.

I just ordered a raspberry pi to setup as a falcon player, and I think I can connect my LOR controllers as USB RS485 devices off of it.  I'm not sure if that's the best way though?  From some of the research I have done, I can probably simply my network setup and go down to one network (instead of the two I have now).  I have about 2500 pixels currently and 30 AC channels (but the AC channels are on the decline). 

Below is my setup.  Let me know if you have any recommendations. �

JonD

Do you plan on staying with LOR, or is the plan to move to xLights in the process?  Also, how much area are you covering...as in how long do the extension cables to need to be? 

The Pixie4 are not very good controllers.  At least the ones I had, when you converted them from LOR to DMX they only supported one universe (170 pixels) which translated they were now 3 port controllers (Qty3 pixel 50 ports instead of 4 ports).  I made them work one year, but they were a pain to configure, and I was happy to see them in the trash bin the next year.  If you are determined to keep them, they will work, but will have limited abilities and be hard to configure.

I would buy two Falcon F16v4 controllers.  The 5 series is newer, but with no manual, you will have a lot more LOR support with the v4 series.  I would avoid the LOR USB adapter and use the Falcon E1.31 dmx port.  Just move the jumper pins on the Falcon board to LOR mode, and plug it in.   That many LOR controllers on a single cable and you could run into RS485 reflection issues (ghosting).  You will likely have less issues with them broken into two segments versus a longer cable, but might work okay on one.

Another option would be to convert your Pixie4 boxes into Smart Receiver boxes.  Pull the pixie 4 board and replace with an SR to trade 4 ports for 4 ports.  If that is the case you might consider the F48v4 as well, but still think you would be better off keep the LOR into two cable segments.


 

k6ccc

JonD is correct that the Pixie controllers are VERY limited in DMX (if at all). One other option if you want to continue to use the Pixie controllers is to get a LOR PixieLink which takes E1.31 as an input and then outputs LOR networking to drive the Pixie controllers.
Using LOR (mostly SuperStar) for all sequencing - using FPP only to drive P5 and P10 panels.
My show website:  http://newburghlights.org

Jim

joet

Quote from: JonD on January 04, 2025, 07:05:40 AMDo you plan on staying with LOR, or is the plan to move to xLights in the process?  Also, how much area are you covering...as in how long do the extension cables to need to be? 

The Pixie4 are not very good controllers.  At least the ones I had, when you converted them from LOR to DMX they only supported one universe (170 pixels) which translated they were now 3 port controllers (Qty3 pixel 50 ports instead of 4 ports).  I made them work one year, but they were a pain to configure, and I was happy to see them in the trash bin the next year.  If you are determined to keep them, they will work, but will have limited abilities and be hard to configure.

I would buy two Falcon F16v4 controllers.  The 5 series is newer, but with no manual, you will have a lot more LOR support with the v4 series.  I would avoid the LOR USB adapter and use the Falcon E1.31 dmx port.  Just move the jumper pins on the Falcon board to LOR mode, and plug it in.  That many LOR controllers on a single cable and you could run into RS485 reflection issues (ghosting).  You will likely have less issues with them broken into two segments versus a longer cable, but might work okay on one.

Another option would be to convert your Pixie4 boxes into Smart Receiver boxes.  Pull the pixie 4 board and replace with an SR to trade 4 ports for 4 ports.  If that is the case you might consider the F48v4 as well, but still think you would be better off keep the LOR into two cable segments.


 
I plan on moving to xLights.  I currently use xLights for my singing faces but then have a very convoluted process to get it into S6, but I plan to only use xLights this coming Christmas.

All of my props are currently based off of the 170 pixel limit, so that doesn't bother me, but its 170 pixels per port, so if you are saying the whole 4 port controller would only support 170 pixels, that would be bad.

I really like your smart receiver conversion option.  I didnt want to dump a ton of money into 5 new controllers next year, but if all need to do is swap the controller board with an SRx1 or SRx2 and get more capabilities, that seems like the path to take.  In that case, the f48v4 would be my preferred route as well since my props are spread across the house and yard (but within about a 75'x75' area) and that could be center of the topology.

Thanks again for these great ideas!

joet

Quote from: k6ccc on January 04, 2025, 07:40:13 AMJonD is correct that the Pixie controllers are VERY limited in DMX (if at all). One other option if you want to continue to use the Pixie controllers is to get a LOR PixieLink which takes E1.31 as an input and then outputs LOR networking to drive the Pixie controllers.

Thanks for this idea too, Jim!  I'm going to try the SRx route first because I'd rather not invest more in LOR at this point.  But if I hit some unexpected issues going down the SRx route, I'll keep this in my back pocket.

k6ccc

Quote from: joet on January 04, 2025, 12:12:55 PMAll of my props are currently based off of the 170 pixel limit, so that doesn't bother me, but its 170 pixels per port, so if you are saying the whole 4 port controller would only support 170 pixels, that would be bad.

Yes, it would be one universe since there is only one network connection (OK, there are two for pass-through, but it's the same wires).

Quote from: joet on January 04, 2025, 12:18:37 PMThanks for this idea too, Jim!  I'm going to try the SRx route first because I'd rather not invest more in LOR at this point.  But if I hit some unexpected issues going down the SRx route, I'll keep this in my back pocket.

With smart receivers, you still have to buy a controller to drive them.
Using LOR (mostly SuperStar) for all sequencing - using FPP only to drive P5 and P10 panels.
My show website:  http://newburghlights.org

Jim

JonD

Quote from: joet on January 04, 2025, 12:12:55 PMso if you are saying the whole 4 port controller would only support 170 pixels, that would be bad.
Unfortunately I am... one universe spread over the entire controller for 170 pixels in total.

Quote from: joet on January 04, 2025, 12:12:55 PMI really like your smart receiver conversion option.
Keep in mind they are still crappy controllers (at least in my case).  The power supplies are small and don't carry the Meanwell logo.  The SR board dimensions are different and you will need to drill your own holes in the mounting plate.  If that is the ideal solution...perfect, but I would avoid trying to get by and do it right the first time if you can.  I have a large box full of "get by" stuff replaced a few years later that I never use anymore.

joet

Thank you Jim and Jon.  I think my best bet to start off with is to buy a F48 and then convert my pixel controllers to SRx receivers.  

I haven't had any power issues so far with my pixel controllers, as I run everything at 30% and I dont run them at max pixel capacity.  So the only issue I see is having to come up with a mounting plate.  I intend to order some stuff soon and start playing with it.

I noticed pixelcontroller is out of F48v4's but they have F48v5's.  They also have SRx1 v5's.  I understand there is no manual for the v5's, but maybe I will start there and tinker with it.  If all of my pixel controllers become SRx receivers, then I will only need to support my AC controllers and dumb flood controllers over DMX.

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