Dumb String Controllers

[Steve Gase]

So basically we can use the dumb string lights as we would regular lights, but we can make them any color we like?

If by "regular lights" you mean a string of 12v RGB nodes or a strip... then you are right.


if you can take your string of lights, connect a power supply to that string and it simply works with 12v applied... you should be good.  Note that the red/positive line from your power supply should connect to the common/12v+ or shared line on your string of lights.  The black/ground would connect to the blue line and you'd get blue, green line and you get green, red... red.  and if you connect ALL 3 lines from the string to the ground you would get the mixture known as white.


The DSC is inserted between the power and the string, and it controls the light levels for each of the 3 lines.

Hopefully, my description did not make things worse...

[t.jo13]

[I guess you have to be kind of smart to understand dumb strings /quote]

 

[rm357]

Just to add to the confusion...

The basic assumption folks have been making is that you would use this with RGB LEDs, but the controller doesn't really care... It's just a 12v three channel controller. It could be three separate strands of mini lights, as long as the total voltage per strand is 12v and you don't exceed the ~4 amps total available from the smart string hub (~1.3 amp per channel). It's powered from the hub and only talks pixelnet.

[dpitts]

12v common anode ( common positive)  4amps or less per dsc.

Ray had the ones that are shaped like the smart.strings.  a lot of people buy off other places like ebay. I usually wait to buy 5m strips that have free shipping. 5m meter strips will have to be cut to 4m or less to meet the 4amp requirement.

The typical 30 LEDS/M strips are 1 amp per channel for 5 meters so no cutting necessary on them. 60 LEDS/M is another story. 

[ghethco]

Now that the coop is open, there will probably be a lot of noobs (like me :-) coming to this thread trying to answer the question, "What do I need these for?"  :-)  So -- I'm going to ask some really *dumb* questions.

I've gathered from reading this thread that these can be used in place of SSC's when you only need one color, right?  But -- why do such a thing?  Are these that much cheaper than the SSCs?  IOW why not just use SSCs and program them to whatever color you want?  The RGB light strings are the same in either case, right?

Also, if these just do one color, why not just use a Lynx Express and normal colored lights?  The only answer I can think of is that these can be programmed to any color you want, whereas with normal strings they are fixed in color.

One final question.  I would also assume that (unlike normal colored lights) these can be programmed to *change* color during a sequence, right?  So the only (functional) difference between these and smart strings is that all of the lights within a string will always be the same color.  Have I got it now?

Thanks in advance for more "illumination" :-)

Gary

[RJ]

The DSC controls a different type of lights. Dumb Strings as I termed them have no brains in them and are just a string of red leds, blue leds, green leds. You apply voltage to them with no data. you can make the string any color you want but the whole string changes to the same color no control over each node as you have in smart stings.

So DSC is for Dumb strings, SSC is for Smart String they are not interchangable.

Dumb strings are a little cheaper.

You can do the same with with SSC by putting it into string mode it will act like a dumb string.

hope this helps.


RJ

[arw01]

So some more *dumb* questions.  I did not find this information in the wiki so asking here.

How many nodes do we select in the SSC utility?  1 or 3 or ?

Alan

[tbone321]

It really doesn't matter what you set that to because the DSC ignores that.  About the only thing that you can set is the start channel and that's all you need to worry about.

[arw01]

Ok maybe got that done, it flashed blue while in programming.  I suppose that is what it is supposed to do.

Next I am trying to find some software that will let me play with the colors and such.  Nutcracker can turn it red, but I cannot find any other settings in there to do something else besides turn it red.

Off to the software forums now!

[tbone321]

X-Lights has a test utility that will let you play with the colors.

[arw01]

I figured out xlights to test 1 string.  I was a bone head and only choose one channel to test!  when I chose 513-515 it works just dandy!

Sent from my Sony Tablet S using Tapatalk 4