What strands to buy

[lboucher]

Hi All

Been a year or so since I have actively done anything big in the hobby.
Now I am trying to ramp back up for this year.
I have my plans and need to buy some smart strings.

Gesshhh those shipping charges kill it.
I read on here that you can message Ray and get a combined shipping discount.
Will definitely try that and if anyone has any suggestions on how to get price down, that is much appreciated.

That said, I have some questions, as I cannot seem to find what I am looking for on Rays site.
1. Do dumb strings come in a count of 128?? (Why not?)
2. Do dumb strings come in the new flat arrangement, instead of the wires coming out the one end. The new arrangement looks so much better and i have zero interest in messing with waterproofing.
3. Any real difference between the black and color wire?
4. How in the world do you tell if a string will work with Lynx hardware? Smart string or dumb? The wiki says to make sure the dumb string says Common Anode, but i cannot find that on Rays site anywhere. All i see is the 4 wire variety. For smart strings, should i just look for TM1804IC or do others work also?
5. It appears I am at least 1 Dumb String Controller and 1 Active/Passive (4 or 16 port) hub short, is there equivalent hardware that will work just the same that can be bought from Ray?

Analogize if this is covered elsewhere.
I saw the other post looking to confirm which lights work, and update the links on the wiki.
That will be awesome, and I will glady wait, but thought I would get my questions out there for consideration, should the answers warrent inclusion on the wiki.

Thanks in advance.

[Steve Gase]

you can request dumb strings, even smart strings in any length.  you can ask ray for custom spacing, and custom lead wire lengths.  Just make sure you don't get yourself in trouble with overloading the wires with too much power draw.  Also, RJ's SSCs (smart strings) have a hard limit of 128 nodes as a precaution.
 
dumb strings, and different chip types are available in various formats.  Look through the catalog, or ask Ray for your needs.
The black wire has UV protection and can last longer in the sun.  But it also comes at a price -- it makes it hard to determine what wires are what!  Mixing up wires can damage pixels and/or damage your controller.
Ray has lots of options for DMX controllers -- supporting dumb and smart pixels.  Ray has NOTHING for pixelnet.  There is a 27-channel controller that is similar to the MR16.  Ray has options for 3-channel controllers as well.
The best way to determine smart string support is if the chip is an TM180x  (TM1804, TM1809, etc.)
Dumb RGB strings need 4-wire, common anode.  This means 12V+, R, B, G.  This is the most common string type.  Its been a while since I've seen something other than common anode.
 

[MrChristmas2000]

Just placed another order.

Shipping is not cheap these days.

If it gets more expensive for DHL I will probably go the slow boat from China route next year. Probably real close to the last stuff I'll need.

[lboucher]

Thanks for the reply!

[thestig]

Just placed another order.

Shipping is not cheap these days.

If it gets more expensive for DHL I will probably go the slow boat from China route next year. Probably real close to the last stuff I'll need.

Did you email Ray? I haven't heard back from him. I asked for a quote and need to order product asap.

[Steve Gase]

Just placed another order.

Shipping is not cheap these days.

If it gets more expensive for DHL I will probably go the slow boat from China route next year. Probably real close to the last stuff I'll need.

Did you email Ray? I haven't heard back from him. I asked for a quote and need to order product asap.

I've needed to send multiple emails to ray.  it also seems that he uses multiple email addresses.
Email: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login You are not allowed to view links. Register or LoginMSN: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login; Skype: alpha_lighting

[MrChristmas2000]

Just placed another order.

Shipping is not cheap these days.

If it gets more expensive for DHL I will probably go the slow boat from China route next year. Probably real close to the last stuff I'll need.

Did you email Ray? I haven't heard back from him. I asked for a quote and need to order product asap.

The best e-mail is You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login. I have the other ones but they don't get monitored as closely as this one. It is the same e-mail as doing a message off of his Aliexpress store.

We have e-mailed back and forth several times over the last few days working out the details of my order.

Hope that helps.