Some things to get straight in my mind:
This question is more to satisfy my curiosity rather than being a problem I need solved/answered: In the "old fashioned" world of USB Dongles and Express controllers, if I was brave/crazy enough to have over 1000 channels, that would require 2 DMX universes, correct? The Express controllers' setup allows to set a start channel up to 512 (well, when I tried it, it goes up to 599... huh?). How does one access the second universe--do you need another USB Dongle for channels 513 to 1024, and therefore need a separate set of cables running around the yard to those controllers (which see channel 513 from the second universe as channel 1)?
Next question(s):
According to this document (You are not allowed to view links.
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Login), 4 PixelNet universes allows up to 16384 channels. If I want more than that, I would need another Etherdongle and a set of data signal wires snaking around the yard? In order to do that, I would hook up a router/switch to the computer's Ethernet port, and hook up the Etherdongles to the router/switch? How much network bandwidth does an Etherdongle with all 16384 channels being used to transmit 30-ish frames per second for a typical 100 megabit network card?
Looking at photos of the Active Hub board, it looks like there are two sets of jumpers to choose between Universes 1 through 4. I suppose the option is there for because 16 strings of 128 pixels equals 6144 which is more channels than one universe of 4096 can accommodate. How do you determine which SmartString output jack is on which universe?
Also, I was wondering how to plan channel numbers based on how data is transmitted over the wires. Here's a hypothecal situation: Let's say that I have a megatree using 16 100-pixel strands that will inevitably have pixels die during the season, but I want to have spare 128-pixel strands that could be used for multiple purposes (i.e. quick swap out of a 100-pixel strand in my megatree, a 50-pixel strand in a mini tree, a 128-pixel strand on my bushes, etc.). Does the Smart String Utility allow you to set up each controller to control only the first x number of pixels and leave the rest dark (i.e. I don't want the next first 28 pixels from the second strand in my megatree to be appearing on the first spare strand I installed)? (Note that I tried running the Smart String Utility to try to answer my own question, but I get an error message indicating that C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\DLA\Smart String utility\1.0.0.0\config.xml is missing)
I was also wondering how Pixelnet transmits its data. Let's say that I have a 100-pixel string of lights starting at channel 1 (channels 1-300), and I have another string starting at channel 1000 (channels 1000-1300) with no other strings in between. Does Pixelnet transmit data for all channels between 1 and 1300 about 30-ish times per second, or only the channels that are in use? Or is this more a matter of the software being used to run the show?
P.S. Yes, I was thinking about what newfangled software to use instead of Vixen 2.1... I was leaning towards Vixen 3...
P.P.S. And about the issue of soldered-in fuses... what workarounds have there been for allowing quick unplug/plug-in swaps of fuses?