next Coop

[devoidelk]

I was wondering when the next coop might get started for the dongle and the Lynx Express?  Im not doing anything this year obviously but want to get a good jump on the hardware as soon as possible for next year.. Thank you


Todd

[rimist]

I'm fairly sure you'll have to wait until next year.

- Rimist

Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk

[rrowan]

Normally Coops restart in Jan or Feb depending on demand and coop manager(s)

There is no coop for the dongle. You just PM RJ for a board and then order the parts from mouser.com. Which is in the wiki equipment page

Rick R.

[devoidelk]

Alright ty guess ill order the dongle now and wait for a coop to get the express.. But until then ill play with the sequences in vixen

Ty,
     Todd

[shaunkad]

If you order a dongle you might wannt to order a ssr4 so you can see what itthe vixen effect does. 

[Danbe]

If you order a dongle you might wannt to order a ssr4 so you can see what itthe vixen effect does.

What is ssr4???

[caretaker]

You can see if RJ has any express board while your ordering your dongle, it's a bit more expensive outside of a coop but you would at least have 16 channels to play with.

Alright ty guess ill order the dongle now and wait for a coop to get the express.. But until then ill play with the sequences in vixen

Ty,
     Todd

[trekster]

If you order a dongle you might wannt to order a ssr4 so you can see what itthe vixen effect does.

What is ssr4???

The SSR4 is basically a 4 channel version of the Express.  If you buy 4 SSR4 PCB's and order the parts from Mouser you would have 16 channels to drive with your dongle and vixen.  The SSR4's do not have a heat sink and are limitet to about 2 amps per channel.  That is still 6 strands of 100 mini per channel or a bunch of LED's per channel.  The SSR4 has two BOM part lists.  DMX and non DMX.  You would need the DMX parts list.  The non DMX needs to be used with the Freestyle controller.  These are all in the wiki.

Ron

[typoagain]

Quick question. I have never used the SSR4. I have been thinking that they might be a nice little piece of equipment to have on for odd things.

I expect that one LE would be cheaper than 4 SSR4s, sometimes an SSR4 might just be a better choice.

But waht is a ballpark price range these days for aa SSR4 with the case and all?

$30-$35?

[jeffcoast]

You might just want to wait for an Etherdongle coop. Unless you plan on staying small, 1 Etherdongle is cheaper than 2 USB Dongles, and equals 4 of them. If you don't plan on using Smart Strings anytime soon, then one of the USB Dongles will suffice for 512 channels though.

[trekster]

Quick question. I have never used the SSR4. I have been thinking that they might be a nice little piece of equipment to have on for odd things.

I expect that one LE would be cheaper than 4 SSR4s, sometimes an SSR4 might just be a better choice.

But waht is a ballpark price range these days for aa SSR4 with the case and all?

$30-$35?

Real close on the cost.  Parts about $25 and the PCB is around $5 plus about another $3-$5 for a case.  So $35 would be a good guess.

The ssr4's are good for small jobs in odd areas of my show.  I use them but mostly the expresses.

Ron

[rm357]

The express also supports light curves so that if you have strands of different types (different venders, mini-lights, C9, LED, etc.) they can be "tuned" to dim together.

The SSR4 does not have that capability.


RM

[shaunkad]

At least you can get a glimps of what it is you are doing in vixen though. That is a problem for me ramp from 20 to 255 in so many seconds what does it look like untill I had channels I had no idea if I liked what I was doing or not. you may program a hole song by the time you get your first LE and find out you do not like any of the work you did. At least with ssr4 you can see what you are playing with. 

[devoidelk]

i decided i'm going to stick with 5mm mini leds. I love there brightness and there small amperage.

[typoagain]

i decided I'm going to stick with 5mm mini leds. I love there brightness and there small amperage.

I have used a lot of 5mm LEDs in my display. I perfer the look of a small, bright pinpoint of light over a C9 bulb. But I have found that for many projects a M6 works better. For example, the M5 just dose not look right in a wireframe. One of my projects for next halloween is a pumpkin face from Holiday Coro (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login). You simply can't get the 5mm bulbs to fit in the holes worth a flip and if just does not look as good.

What I have been doing the last couple of years is just buying whatever LEDs I could get on clearance at the end of the year and then adjust the display to use what I have on hand.

I also Have started taking lights to the Academy and traded what I have for what I need. Last year i unloaded a bunch of LEDs and bought mini incandescents that I needed for a wedding. Then I sold the wedding lights on Craig's List for a small profit.

My point is that you will find that you end up using a lot of different lights as time goes on.

I think that the biggest advantage that incandescents have for a new guy is that you can get your feet wet with fairly low cost. Then as you learn more and get more knowledge and experience you will have a better idea as to what you want. Who knows, you may end up getting into pixel lights in a BIG way