Author Topic: Advice - active hub or Lynx DMX dongle for just DMX?  (Read 929 times)

Offline Heinekenator

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Hello.

I have an active hub that I'm planning to eventually use (obviously) for both smart strings and DMX. Some DMX stuff is ready to go, but the smart string stuff won't be ready until next year. In the meantime, I'd like to run just the DMX stuff. But, I'd like to get my software setup (Vixen, xLights) so that I can sequence the DMX stuff now and then add in the smart string stuff later on. I'm using the USB dongle, not an etherdongle, btw.

Can I flash my dongle to pixelnet and run the active hub for the DMX stuff without using the power supply for the hub? It seems like a waste of electricity for me to run the supply without powering any SSCs. Or, should I just leave the dongle flashed for DMX, run the DMX stuff directly through there, and worry about the hub when I'm ready to add smart strings? And will that method give me issues if I want to later add smart strings to the existing DMX-only sequences?

Thanks in advance.

-Greg

Offline rrowan

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Re: Advice - active hub or Lynx DMX dongle for just DMX?
« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2013, »
For me I wouldn't use the active hub this year.

Just keep the dongle dmx and daisy chain each dmx device from there.

Next year if you add Zeus, SSC or DSC etc (pixelnet) then its a easy reconfig of the software (xLights or Vixen) to add channels and plugins for Vixen. There is no problem to adding more channels or changes over to pixelnet in the software later.

Rick R.

Light Animation Hobby - Having fun and Learning at the same time. (21st member of DLA)
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Offline jnealand

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Re: Advice - active hub or Lynx DMX dongle for just DMX?
« Reply #2 on: November 20, 2013, »
What I have done is commit my first 512 channels (even though I am only using about 180) to DMX.  All my old programs using DMX controllers still work as before and all my newer pixelnet stuff starts at 513 and goes up.  Two years ago I only used one pixelnet universe because I only switched to RGB nodes to my eaves and windows (reducing my needed DMX channels).  Last year I had to go to a second pixelnet universe because I added a 7ft pixel tree that uses about 3000 more channels.  This year I added pixelnet arches and porch columns which are addressed in the empty spaces of universe 1.  Thru it all the DMX channels only changed a little (mostly less needed channels), but I have not had to change the DMX portions of my sequences at all.  Do not worry about leaving gaps in your channel assignments until you get to the point of needing all those unused channels.  This year I will be using about 6000 channels and there are gaps all over the 8192 channels (2 pixelnet universes) that I have defined.  If you make everything too tight together you will be realigning your channels in sequences every year as you add / change things.  My advice is don't do that until you have to.
Jim Nealand
Kennesaw, GA