Looking for information

[jnealand]

I finally received some smart strings and I know there is a lot of information in all the threads, but finding it is getting to be a big chore.  Here is the kind of stuff I am looking for and wish it was in some kind of document that consolidates info in one place preferably in the wiki.  It is needed for all products even though I am posting this in the SS area.  There are specification issues and then there are assembly / installation issues and tips that are very useful, but buried in threads.  We need an addendum page for products that have had changes made to them so that folks see that information when they go to the wiki and have never seen the old threads.  i.e.  Resistor mixup on the first co-op for the hub,  Change of resistor for the SSC.  Change of regulator for the V4 LE due to temperature sensitivity.  Troubleshooting of the DLP module on the dongle.

Information I am looking for right now is:

How far from the SSC can the first node be?

How far apart (maximum) can the nodes be and is there a best / optimum distance that should be considered, assuming one will be splicing strings?

Is there a maximum length of cat5 that should be used?  I want to put my hub (in a battery box) on my front porch or in my garage out of the weather and run cat5 to top of my roof.  It is only a one story ranch for me, but I will have to run along the ridge top also to reach multiple controllers.

When putting on the 3 pin connectors is it better to have the male or female end on the SSC?  I know either could work and the important part is to be consistent so an SSC could be swapped in and out, but I know I saw something said about this a while back.

Where are the instructions for using the test hex for the SSC?  What does it do?

Is there a best procedure to test new strings with?  with a tester?  with an SSC?  With an SSC do I need to create a test sequence and have it loop for some period like 12 hours / overnight, etc.

How long should a test burn-in be.  I recall 12 hours recommended.  Is this static or dynamic or does the test hex take care of this?

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Things I can put in here that I already know.  Thanks to recent threads or threads I was able to find.

An SSC "case" can be made from 1" round PVC 5" long with two 1" caps for ends.  Drill holes in the caps for cables to go thru and do not glue the caps on.  Be sure to leave enough leader length on the cables going thru the caps so that the ssc board can be pulled all the way out of the pipe to program or modify it.  When drilling holes in the PVC caps for the SSC "case" I used a 7/32 drill for the ethernet end and a 15/64 for the 3 wire connector.  Both give a nice snug fit.

A marine battery box makes a good case for a hub and power supply.

Do not hang Smart strings without having support or you will likely loosen the electrical connections and end up with a failed node / string.

Use the 3 wire connectors in case you need to swap out a controller or string in the future.  Or even bring a controller in to your workbench for reprogramming without having to take the string down.

[mykroft]

How far from the SSC can the first node be?

I memory serves me correctly, I remember reading 6 feet....

How far apart (maximum) can the nodes be and is there a best / optimum distance that should be considered, assuming one will be splicing strings?

This comes back again to 1st node from controller - the farther away from each other the more voltage/signal drop there is gonna be.  As far as how far is correct - that is gonna depend on location/temp/sequence etc.  On others sample videos - I dont think I have seen them extend between nodes normally unless fitting into something like I am planning on doing.  Between some nodes I will have aprox 2 - 3 feet until the next node when i am done splicing...

Is there a maximum length of cat5 that should be used?  I want to put my hub (in a battery box) on my front porch or in my garage out of the weather and run cat5 to top of my roof.  It is only a one story ranch for me, but I will have to run along the ridge top also to reach multiple controllers.

Dont think so - RJ ran a demo and he used a 100' cat 5 cable with no problems.  Just use good quality premade cat5 cables....

When putting on the 3 pin connectors is it better to have the male or female end on the SSC?  I know either could work and the important part is to be consistent so an SSC could be swapped in and out, but I know I saw something said about this a while back.

If the SSC is going to be hanging or in the direct weather and on the bottom where water will run down to it, I put the female end on the light string, that way the outside screw connecter is convering the male end letting water go down outside of it instead of letting it go in the male connector.

Where are the instructions for using the test hex for the SSC?  What does it do?

All it does is cycle between Red, Green, Blue, White with just power hookup.

Is there a best procedure to test new strings with?  with a tester?  with an SSC?  With an SSC do I need to create a test sequence and have it loop for some period like 12 hours / overnight, etc.

Some have purchased Ray's tester some have not.  I did not and just ran the test firmware for burnin.

How long should a test burn-in be.  I recall 12 hours recommended.  Is this static or dynamic or does the test hex take care of this?

2 - 3 hrs should be plenty to see if a node is going to fail.


Myk

[blaha]

When putting on the 3 pin connectors is it better to have the male or female end on the SSC?  I know either could work and the important part is to be consistent so an SSC could be swapped in and out, but I know I saw something said about this a while back.

I remember reading that it is recommended to put the female on the SSC to help prevent shorts. If you ever plan on ordering rigid strips in the future, they come with the male connector on the input side so you will need the female connector on the SSC as well.

[rm357]

Uh, no.

Recommended female on ssc, but if you have rigid strips, you will have to put the male on the ssc because the input to the rigid strips is on the FEMALE connector - unless the new ones are wired differently from the ones i have.

RM

[blaha]

I got my order in last week and it was wired with the male on the input side. I guess the rigid strips aren't consistent, not too surprising.

[MrChristmas2000]

Is there a maximum length of cat5 that should be used?  I want to put my hub (in a battery box) on my front porch or in my garage out of the weather and run cat5 to top of my roof.  It is only a one story ranch for me, but I will have to run along the ridge top also to reach multiple controllers.

I have tested pixelnet from the dongle to hub with a cable that was over 100ft in length and it appears to work ok.

I think that I saw a in a post that you can possibly go up to 1000ft. Don't have a spool to try that with anymore.

Female end on the SSC eliminates any potential shorting of the two power pins.

As far as testing I believe that the more options you have to test something with the better. I bought the Ray tester and used the SSC test method. I burned my strings in for 24hrs before deciding on failing nodes using the SSC test code. You will need a PIC programmer. You just program an SSC with the test code. Plug it into a hub, plug/connect a string and it wil sit there and flash through a series of colors including white. White is important because it can identify a bad node real fast.

Welcome to the Pixelnet crowd.

[jnealand]

Got my lights in, installed a 150 ohm resistor, put the test hex on one controller, and used alligator clips to test the lights.  7 of 8 strings seem to be just fine, but the 8th one has several bulbs of a different color than should be showing.  Now I need to count the nodes to make sure they are correct and then stretch the strings out and check them   The 128 node strings seem to be made up of other shorter strings.  Also the 128 node strings came with a leader wire on them that the 50 node strings did not.  Also found a short string of about 6 nodes loose in the box.  Maybe these are spares, but won't know until I do my counts.  Been gone all day and now I am to tired to do anything today.  Lots to check out tomorrow.