I am trying to test some of my pixelnet equipment all together before setting up my christmas show, and I think I am getting things confused. I've gone thru the videos and documentation, but wanted to clarify where the channel numbers are "stored" for these before I start setting up.
Hubs
From what I can tell, the active and passive hubs do not have a starting address, so these are fully interchangeable and can be placed anywhere. Also, the output from all the jacks are the same, so it doesn't matter what one you connect to. So I don't need to pay any attention as to where I place these when setting up my show.
Dumb Strings
The dumb strings themselves are dumb (no chips on them) and don't store any information. So they get all of their information from the dumb string controller. The dumb string controllers (DSC) need to be programmed with a starting address. So when testing or running a show, the starting address moves with the dumb string controller, so these are NOT readily interchangeable (they would need to be reprogrammed with a new starting address to function as intended). So I don't need to pay attention to where I place the dumb strings for the show, but I need to pay attention to where I place the DSCs.
Smart Strings
I think that each node of a smart string knows its start address once programmed, and that the Smart String controller (SSC) doesn't store this information so they are fully interchangeable. So you need to make sure that your smart strings are placed correctly, but you don't need to worry about which SSC you are connecting them to.
Does this seem right? My testing seems to indicate this is the case, but this is my 3rd or 4th theory on this so I am not positive. I want to make sure I get this right before I start moving stuff outside.