Node Types ?

[MazdaFan]

I am always puzzled by why we seem to continually look at unsupported devices.  What is wrong with using the ones in the wiki?  Saving a dollar or two or three does not make sense to me when I look at the total cost of my display investment and I don't need the hassles of trying to make the non supported stuff work.  I am not talking about totally new stuff, but I just don't see the rationale for using WS2811 vs using the 180x stuff.  Can someone explain this to me.

I would say that it is a mixture of two things. 

First, we do it for the same reason that we stop at a gas station that has fuel for $3.58 other than the one across the street that has fuel for $3.59.  In a 15 gal tank, we save $0.15 if the tank is completely empty.  Not much if you consider the entire price of our fuel bill for the year, but the phrase "A penny saved is a penny earned" has been drilled into our heads since we could walk to the point that, if presented with a choice, we will almost always go with the cheaper product. 

Second is the hacker spirit.  We are "Do-It-Yourself"ers.  We are constantly pushing the boundaries with new ideas and new projects.  Without that spirit, RJ would have never created the Lynx line as there was already light controllers out there, Vixen would have never come into being because we already have working sequencing software, and none of us would be here chatting on this board because we'd be using something else that had previously been proven to work. 

Personally, I cheer the hacker spirit and hope we continue to constantly push the boundaries of what is already present and accepted. 

Jamie

[rrowan]

Actually the reason I was interested was the design of the node itself. Looks to be more waterproof and easier to mount without worrying about possibly spreading the wires too much and easier mounting of covers over the led and mounting the node to various materials. The ws2811 seems to be a more popular chip type now and has more variety of shaped nodes. And the cost was a little cheaper. However after discovering here that even the TM1804 chips have more than 1 speed as well, I wouldn't place an order for those strands either until someone has verified they work with our SSC's v3 or v4.

I came across this post. So if anybody is asking Ray for a sample of the ws2811 chip I would see about this speed 800 Kbps as per Robert.

If you ordered from the wiki, you are safe...

If not...
There are 4 flavors, three speeds, and three voltages...

1803 - no
1804, 1809, 1812 - if speed and voltage are right

Slow, fast, ?? (400, 800, & 1600 Kbps)
The sscs do the 800 Kbps. Some strings don't seem to care about the speed, but the strips are less tolerant

5v, 12v, 24v.
All smartstring hardware is 12v. There is no easy way to convert it to 5v. I thought about putting a 5 volt regulator after the ssc, but then realized that I would need a really big heat sink to dissipate 28 watts... (7 volt drop x ~4 amps)

If you bought the cheapest 18xx strings, there is a good chance that they are the 5v version.

If all else fails, the San devices e681 will do almost any type of node, but it is different...
If you go that route, be sure to dry run the assembly process. When I bought mine there were some things that were not clear and correcting the omissions was more difficult after everything else was already soldered to the board.

RM

« Last Edit: June 30, 2012, 08:22:34 AM by rm357 »
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Robert
Warner Robins, Georgia, USA

Rick R.

[lboucher]

I personally am very happy to have found the recent posts.
I was about to order a fair amount of lights for this year.
Had my hopes set high for the newer clear flat node types.
Just watched a video showing them coming apart at the ends and letting water in, easily.

To me, its all about waterproofing.
I want this investment to last a long time.
I have 5 strands of, lets call it Gen 1 Smart Strings.
Did the dipping, still had issues, cut open and repaired multiple units.
Then liquid electrical taped all the ends, that wasn't fun and lost some brain cells there.
Now the second coat of liquid electrical tape is splitting off.
Happy, they have lasted fairly long all things considered, but man it takes work.

I see the video of the Technicolor node, and it looks much much better.
So i have decided to hold off, until I can get that node, don't care what chip as long as it works.
Also the rumor of a second supplier gives me hope of a price break next year.

Couple questions.
1. Will the Technicolor node also come in the 4 wire dumb string variety?
2. What is this Firepix? (Same as Technicolor?)

[keitha43]

Firepix is the same as the technicolor. However that vendor is only selling the WS2811 version that did not work with the current v3 or v4 ssc. As far as I know only Ray is saying he will produce some with the TM1804 chip which is the same chip the current supported smartstrings use. However it "could" be running at the wrong communication speed. I believe Steve is ordering some to try to confirm compatibility with ssc's. I don't want to name the other vendor so as to not break any forum rules. However that vendor was at "The Academy". So was the creator of this new node design which I think is much better for waterproofing and won't have issues with wires separating from the circuit boards.

[Steve Gase]

Firepix is the same as the technicolor. However that vendor is only selling the WS2811 version that did not work with the current v3 or v4 ssc. As far as I know only Ray is saying he will produce some with the TM1804 chip which is the same chip the current supported smartstrings use. However it "could" be running at the wrong communication speed. I believe Steve is ordering some to try to confirm compatibility with ssc's. I don't want to name the other vendor so as to not break any forum rules. However that vendor was at "The Academy". So was the creator of this new node design which I think is much better for waterproofing and won't have issues with wires separating from the circuit boards.

hopefully in the next 1-2 weeks I will receive TM1804, and some WS2811 "Technicolor" strings from Ray.  I should also have my V4s in that time to go along with existing V1, V2, and V3 SSCs.  I will test each of these combinations.
 
HolidayCoro markets similar strings as "FirePix".  They come from another manufacturer.  I'm not sure why we can't mention David's company...  but I would hold off buying them until someone tests them.  David does not list Lynx as a compatible controller -- so maybe he's already done some testing. 
 
I agree that it would be good to have multiple trusted vendors for this community, not only for price, but for variety and availability options.

[keitha43]

The creator released his design to more than one manufacturer and struck a deal to get a discount in manufacturing so that US vendor could be competitive pricewise with Ray. So far they are the only 2 sources that I am aware of for this node. But so far the US vendor is not offering a TM1804 version. I heard David was saying at The Academy that they wouldn't work with SSC's. I figured he was just going by old information about compatability with WS2811. After the failure in my testing I am thinking he may have tried it himself. Perhaps I am overly cautious about naming the vendor but better safe than sorry.

[Steve Gase]

Still waiting on my TM1809 and WS2811 Technicolor strings to arrive... but today I visited with the San Antonio workgroup and they showed off Ray Wu's WS2811 strings working with SSC v2 (maybe patched to v3... unsure) and working with the SSCv4 too!

[Steve Gase]

I received my strings and provided my observations under this thread:
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