Author Topic: What is a Lynx Smart String?  (Read 175791 times)

Offline RJ

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Re: What is a Lynx Smart String?
« Reply #45 on: November 03, 2010, »
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RJ

    What is the spacing between the nodes so we can figure the lengths we need & will we be able to order any length or will there be set lengths.

                  Mike

These are just like the others, ~ 3.5 " between centers. 

The Strings will be ordered for 1 to  128 pixel count to your request. The neat thing thing is if you change your mind you just cut or splice them the size you want.

RJ
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Offline RJ

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Re: What is a Lynx Smart String?
« Reply #46 on: November 04, 2010, »
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Looks great.  Wish the coop was starting after the holiday season!

The coop is planned to run until Mid January.

RJ

Great, so it is reasonable to expect that we can send in payments then in January?  Had to tighten in the budget a bit expensive year with our first house, first baby, first $7,000 dollars of house taxes and first attempts at being blinky ;)  I will let the audience in general figure out what is more costly, eheheheh.

Yes as is normal the payment will be due at the end of the coop.


RJ
« Last Edit: November 04, 2010, by RJ »
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Offline JerryPlak

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Re: What is a Lynx Smart String?
« Reply #47 on: November 04, 2010, »
RJ,
Wow, This is an amazing development!!!
I am looking forward to the coop :-)   <pop..
Jerry Plak

Offline trekster

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Re: What is a Lynx Smart String?
« Reply #48 on: November 04, 2010, »
This all looks and sounds cool.  I guess I am the only one who does not understand them completely.  I would like to see a small short demo of a sequence to show some of the things you can do with the Smart Strings.  I saw the random lights blinking but do you control each light or the color in a string?

Ron
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Offline Rainlover

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Re: What is a Lynx Smart String?
« Reply #49 on: November 04, 2010, »
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This all looks and sounds cool.  I guess I am the only one who does not understand them completely.  I would like to see a small short demo of a sequence to show some of the things you can do with the Smart Strings.  I saw the random lights blinking but do you control each light or the color in a string?

Ron

Ron,
You can do it either way. You can control each individual pixel or each individual string.
If you want to control each light, it takes 3 channels per light to control the color. You would be able to make any light any color
Another way to do it would be to control a complete string with 3 channels. That woud enable you to make that string any color you want.
If you have a 128 light string, you would need 384 channels to control each indiviual light or you could use 3 channels and control the entire string.
Different colors are made by blending different amounts of Red, Green and Blue.
That is all I know so far. I have not figured out the software part yet.
As usual, I reserve the right to be wrong.

John
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Offline tbone321

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Re: What is a Lynx Smart String?
« Reply #50 on: November 04, 2010, »
If you watch the video that RJ put in the first post in this thread it will give you an idea of what they can do.  I am very new to this as well but from what I can see, you have a choice of setting up the controller to control the entire string as a string or to control the pixles individually.  In string mode the entire string is controlled with 3 channels which allows you to change the color and intensity of the entire string.   This would work well in a mega-tree configuration.  The other mode is individual pixel mode allowing you to control the color and intensity of each pixel on the string.  This can add up needed channels very quickly (3 per pixel) and would work best in small strings with the current software available.  

For example, I was also looking at setting up a mega tree consisting of 16 strings and each one containing 42 pixles for a total of 672 pixles not including the star.  I will not include the star in this example as I don't know what type of star I will use or how many strings and pixles it will need.  In string mode my tree would require 48 channels (not including the star) and would allow me to change the color of the tree to just about anything that I want it to be (including white) as well whatever patterns I can come up with on a string based setup.  This is far more flexable than using individual colored strings where your colors are limied to the string colors on the tree and the number of colored strings may be limited due to cost and weight of the strings.  You could also set the tree up in pixel mode and be able to do some amazing displays but you would then be using 2016 channels (again not including the star) for this tree which would be just about impossible to work with on a grid based system.  Perhaps Prancer with its abstracted methods would be able to do it and I look foward to seeing if it can.  
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Offline Dennis Cherry

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Re: What is a Lynx Smart String?
« Reply #51 on: November 04, 2010, »
SuperStarLights.com has the closest to doing a string like that right now. His will do 50 RGB lights to a string,but only can run with LOR's S2 software.

RJ said he was working with LightShowPro for next year.
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Offline fasteddy

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Re: What is a Lynx Smart String?
« Reply #52 on: November 04, 2010, »
Light show Pro is another piece of software that will program and drive these strings without even touching the grid to program and has come a long way from the beginning of the year to now be version 1.8

The RGB Journey has been going on for the past year over at auschristmaslighting forum and before that with MPH & JEC so the technology and how to drive these isn't anything new. The software side of things is rapidly catching up and there will be many new displays this year featuring a large RGB component.

So it looks like 2011 will truly be the year of RGB as more people next year take up the technology after seeing what some of the new RGB displays look like.
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Offline mmais68569

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Re: What is a Lynx Smart String?
« Reply #53 on: November 04, 2010, »
OK I am sold on this item BUT I am new & do not have any of RJ's products.
WHAT DO I NEED TO USE THE SMART STRING???

I do know I will need Vixin or Light Show Pro bat what other controllers or will these work without a controller.

                         Mike

Offline tbone321

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Re: What is a Lynx Smart String?
« Reply #54 on: November 04, 2010, »
Most of what you need to use these light stings will be available in the coop.  The only other thing that you will need will be a dongle.
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Offline mmais68569

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Re: What is a Lynx Smart String?
« Reply #55 on: November 04, 2010, »
So with a dongle & power supply & small controller in the coop  these Smart Strings will work with nothing else.

                    Mike

Offline tbone321

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Re: What is a Lynx Smart String?
« Reply #56 on: November 04, 2010, »
I believe that you will also need a hub that wil also be part of the coop as well as the ethernet cables that connects them and that's about it.
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Offline RJ

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Re: What is a Lynx Smart String?
« Reply #57 on: November 04, 2010, »
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SuperStarLights.com has the closest to doing a string like that right now. His will do 50 RGB lights to a string,but only can run with LOR's S2 software.

RJ said he was working with LightShowPro for next year.

LSP support will be ready before then  ;D
RJ
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Offline RJ

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Re: What is a Lynx Smart String?
« Reply #58 on: November 04, 2010, »
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So with a dongle & power supply & small controller in the coop  these Smart Strings will work with nothing else.

                    Mike


A complete setup requires just this :

Lynx DMX dongle
Lynx Smart String Hub
Computer power supply
Smart Strings
A cat5 cable to connect each Smart String to the hub


Thats it!
RJ
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Offline budude

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Re: What is a Lynx Smart String?
« Reply #59 on: November 04, 2010, »
Hey RJ - are you going to run more coops (or at least another one) during next year or just this one in January? I reallllllly want pixels next year for my mega tree so just wondering if I can wait till later or not.

Thanks! Your math on the mega tree sold me as well - even if there was more of price difference I would still go this way since it will have much more capabilities!