DiyLightAnimation
Fun => The Porch => Topic started by: jem5136 on May 02, 2015,
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Hello everyone,
I'm wanting to add 4 SanDevice E682 controllers to my display but I'm not sure how to go about setting them up in LOR. I haven't yet purchased the controllers but I want to start sequencing. Is there a tutorial video or another thread I couldn't find explaining how to set everything up? What I've done on my own is set up my regular controllers on the "Regular" network and then for each SanDevice I put in their own network (Aux A, Aux B, Aux C, Aux D), and for each different different string I set it's own controller ID. Is this how it should be done or am I doing it all wrong?
I'll also need help when it comes to physically connect the devices to my show computer. I know they're plugged into a wireless router but I'm wondering if I can use the spare router I have so I won't have to interfere with our internet router. Does the router have to be connected to an internet source in order to work like it should?
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I think asking on the san devices site might be a better way to get assistance with this.
RJ
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I've posted this on a few different threads, I thought someone here might have some insight. I can delete the thread if need be.
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I don't think that there is any reason to delete anything. I believe that RJ was just pointing iut that this forum may not be the best place to find an answer to this question.
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tbone is correct, I did not mean you can not post it. It just better chance posting there. I have no way to know where you have posted other than here.
RJ
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I'll also need help when it comes to physically connect the devices to my show computer. I know they're plugged into a wireless router but I'm wondering if I can use the spare router I have so I won't have to interfere with our internet router. Does the router have to be connected to an internet source in order to work like it should?
Is your show computer connected via wired or wireless to your main router?
You will need a wired connection from your show computer to the 682's. This connection can go through your existing router, an Ethernet switch, or even another router (since you have a spare).
Can you give an idea of where all your 682's will be located in relationship to your existing router, show pc, and the distances involved? You may need a switch in addition to the router you have now to simplify wiring.
If you plan to use the 682's in multicast, many people create a separate network in order to keep show traffic off of their home network. Using unicast might not be a big deal, but it will depend on how much unicast traffic you have.
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I have it done in my channel set up and run it through lor. Let me look tomorrow at it, I forget how I do off the top of my head. I am using lor s3
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gadgetsmith, right now my computer is connected via WiFi but I'm considering getting a laptop to run the show because I use the desktop so much and I've had issues with the ether net port on the computer before. The e682 will run no more that 50ft from the router. I might just put the router in its own enclosure and set it outside with the controllers to make the distance between the router and the show controller even shorter,and the router would be 30ish feet from the show computer.
Another thing I did when setting up the channels was include about 90 channels of lynx express on the first universe. Would I be able to daisy chain those to the router or do I need to give them their own network and run them separately from the San device network?
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Right now I assume you have a dmx dongle attached to your pc. This connects to your lynx express which controls your lights. The RJ-45 connectors used on those two devices are transmitting dmx data. They are not compatible with the RJ-45 connectors you find on the 682, your router, or an Ethernet switch. They are two separate things.
Control for your lynx will stay the same, but you will need to hardwire your show pc to the 682 using Cat cable from the RJ45 on your 682 to the RJ45 on you Ethernet port or card on the back of your show pc. You do not want to send this information wirelessly as it will be unreliable.
How many pixels will you be controlling with your 682's?
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Please lets get the terms correct. The jacks on the USB dongle and the LE's are RJ45's, not Ethernet. Ethernet is a protocol as is RS485 and they are not compatible with each other. The LE's are DMX devices running on a RS485 system and if you plug one of these connections into your hub or switch, you could wind up damaging the hub. When you say router, do you mean a switch? If so, something seems wrong if you are only getting 50 feet. Ethernet on cat5 should be good for 100 yards (300 feet). I would take a look at the cable there.
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Please lets get the terms correct. The jacks on the USB dongle and the LE's are RJ45's, not Ethernet.
Very true. I've made corrections to my post. Thanks.
It sounds like you want to place you router outside, and it will be about 30ft from your Show PC to the router. The controllers will all be 50ft or less to the router. With 4 682 controllers and one cat cable coming from your show PC, you will need at least 5 open RJ45 LAN jacks on the back of your old router to connect everything together, otherwise you'll need an ethernet switch, which come in 5-port, 8-port and higher.
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Ok, just to clear up what I was trying to say, I was wanting to see if I could run my Lynx express equipment on Universe 1 channels 1-87 AND be able to run my first e682 starting on universe 1 channel 88; but it sounds like that won't be possible even with a hardwire? So to keep things simple I'll keep my Lynx equipment on their own network with the DMX dongle that I've been using for the past few years and I'll let the SanDevice equipment have their own network to run from.
I've attached a picture explaining how I would set up the controllers, does it look accurate to what I would do?
How many pixels will you be controlling with your 682's?
Right now it looks like it's going to be somewhere around the 3,500 mark between the 4 e682, but I need to go take measurements of the house to get exact numbers.
When you say router, do you mean a switch? If so, something seems wrong if you are only getting 50 feet. Ethernet on cat5 should be good for 100 yards (300 feet). I would take a look at the cable there.
Yes, I mean switch, which would be the extra wifi router I have which would make it a switch right? When I said 50 feet I mean that is all I'll need, I don't see myself needing 100 ft running between the switch and the controllers.
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That setup should work just fine. A wifi router is in fact a router that probably has a built in switch. You could use the built in switch portion of the router but routers do have some configuration issues that a plain switch does not have. A 5 port 10/100 switch is much more compact and they are around $20.
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Ok, just to clear up what I was trying to say, I was wanting to see if I could run my Lynx express equipment on Universe 1 channels 1-87 AND be able to run my first e682 starting on universe 1 channel 88; but it sounds like that won't be possible even with a hardwire? So to keep things simple I'll keep my Lynx equipment on their own network with the DMX dongle that I've been using for the past few years and I'll let the SanDevice equipment have their own network to run from.
I've attached a picture explaining how I would set up the controllers, does it look accurate to what I would do?
Right now it looks like it's going to be somewhere around the 3,500 mark between the 4 e682, but I need to go take measurements of the house to get exact numbers.
That picture is exactly what you want to do.
From the hardware side you can certainly setup the first 682 to start at Universe 1 channel 88. From the software side I'm no expert as I don't use LOR, but in taking a quick glance it looks like you'll need to start the first 682 controller at Universe 2 channel 1. Maybe someone else can chime in about that. There is certainly nothing wrong with starting at Univ 2, channel 1, and leaves channels open on Univ 1 for expansion.
3500 pixels! Wow, no fooling around there, that's just shy of 21 universes.
Yes, I mean switch, which would be the extra wifi router I have which would make it a switch right? When I said 50 feet I mean that is all I'll need, I don't see myself needing 100 ft running between the switch and the controllers.
If you use your router and only use the LAN ports, you are effectively using it as a switch. You want to check yours though as you need 5 LAN ports, and most routers (that I know of anyway) only have 4. If this is the case, you can by just a switch with 5 ports fairly inexpensively.
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I don't want to have any issues with the router so I'll probably end up getting a switch just to make things easier (I'd rather take the easy road instead of using the router which could cause problems). I have been considering using different software other than LOR but I'm not sure which software I'd use. I'm thinking about possibly switching to xLights/Nutcracker but I'm not sure yet. I've always used LOR and I'm so tuned into it that it'd be difficult for me to switch to any other software.
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LOR is a solid product so I can see why you would want to stick with it. The advantage is that for many things you can. Xlights/Nutcracker can convert your LOR sequences and can output to your LOR equipment. This gives you the ability to create some of your sequence in LOR and then import it into XLights. The advantage of using XLights/Nutcracker is that Nutcrackers effects can do what the high dollar add-ons for LOR can do for free. This will allow you to create the single channel (LE) portion of your sequences in LOR and then import the sequence into XLights/Nutcracker where you can use Nutcrackers effects and ability's to add in the pixel part of the sequence. XLights scheduler is also superior to many of the others out there.
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Another nice feature with the upcoming XLights 4 release is that you can import and tie your LOR sequence to the sequence in XLights. That means if you update your LOR file, all you need to do is open the XLights file and re-save it and it will automatically update with the most current LOR changes you made.
XLights scheduler works well, but I believe Sean said he doesn't plan to add features to it any longer. With XLights 4, it now saves as an .fseq file, which can be used directly by the FPP software to run shows. (if that holds any interest for you)
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I have used xLights to run my show since it was first released, so I plan on using it to run the show anyway it's just sequencing that's got me wanting to change things up
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Just finished my first sequence (at least the mega tree) in XL4 beta. Letting go of the grid is hard but dropping in effects was easy. Layers are a bit challenging but I got stuff to work and I am happy with it. I may still use LOR for the on/off stuff but I won't pay for super star or use the pixel editor, it seems very clunky and tacked on. I do have a Pi and may make her jump to the FFP and free up my laptop.