Check out my first ever blinky-flashy and first ever pumpkin chorus: You are not allowed to view links.
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LoginIt rained until about 4 pm that day, so all my electronic were setup very quickly. I would love to say this pumpkin chorus was the top feature but the stupid bubble-fog machine from Target took that honor. It injects fog into the bubbles so you get a little burst of fog when the bubbles pop!
I came to the web last year to find a controller for a pumpkin chorus. I am so happy I found the Lynx Express. Being one who likes to use 'standards', the DMX format was perfect for me. I was a little apprehensive about getting into a DIY solder kit since I really only soldered about 2 connections ever in the past. But I bit the bullet on this great deal and it all worked nicely.
I got 3 kits early this summer and they sat around since Halloween seemed so far away. I ended up bringing a kit to solder on a trip in early October that involved 5 airplane segments. I expected trouble bringing the PCB and components through TSA in my carry-on. But, no problems! Kit finally soldered, it self-tested perfectly when I supplied power to the correct input. I ordered the EntTec DMX USB Pro and a connector converter (XLRJ45-5M) from Production Advantage.
Vixen is a great program, especially for the price (FREE!) I finally had my own little tech theater. =) Oh, I ran Vixen on a laptop running Windows 7. Had a few problems with stability but some testing taught me how to run the sequence the whole night without interruption.
Words of advice to others just getting started: you always trade-off price and convenience. And when you choose convenience, you give up a lot of educational experiences. Sure I could have spent at least 6 times as much on other controllers and saved some time, but I learned (and can troubleshoot) a lot more by building the Lynx Express. (Where else can I get 110v dimming at $4 a channel?)
System: Vixen on Windows 7 laptop -> USB -> EntTec DMX USB Pro -> 5-pin DMX to Cat5 adapter -> Lynx Express