LOR/Lynx question...

[tng5737]

My current setup is PC --> LOR Dongle --> LOR1602W    I plan to go to Lynx equipment but don't want to discard the LOR.   How do I hook this up?   I watched the 2009 conference video, but unfortuneately atthe end where RJ demos this - everyone crowed around in front of the camera and what with all the noise I can't even hear him explain it.    I know that the Lynx dongle talks DMX and the LOR dongle talks 485.   I don't plan on going wireless this year (maybe next) so the wiki diagram didn't help much.   I'm thinking that I could run both dongles to their respective equipment and abandon LOR's S2 software and use LSP or Vixen, but that seems a little messy and am seeking a 'cleaner' way to do this.   Has anyone made a video on how to do this (or perhaps written a small tutorial).   I wish I had come upon this site earlier!

[basis21b]

There are any number of ways you can do this, I'll throw out a couple.

Assuming you want to keep your current S2 software platform, you could purchase an IDMX from LOR.  Attach the IDMX to one of your existing LOR controllers, make a cable that puts the DMX output on the correct pins of a cat-5 cable, connect that cable to the first controller in your Lynx network and you are ready to go.  The wiki has a how-to on the creation of the needed cable.

Almost any other choice means scrapping S2 and moving to another software platform to run your display.  LSP is supposed to be able to import LOR sequences and convert them for use.  (I say supposed because I have not gotten it to do it.)  Vixen is another option for your software platform.  I know there is a utility out that can be used to convert the LOR sequence to a file that makes Vixen happy.  Both will play nicely with the DMX dongle RJ has designed.

If you'd prefer not dropping the money on the IDMX yet you don't want to sell off your LOR controllers you could run them in DMX mode.  This assumes the controller has the firmware loaded to handle DMX protocol and would require construction of a cable/connector that allows the DMX signal to be transmitted from your Lynx hardware to your LOR hardware.   (Again, the construction of this can be found in the wiki.)

I know I'm not the only one here running an environment with Lynx and LOR so you won't be on the bleeding edge.

[tng5737]

I don't want to go the iDMX route - too expensive.   I already own LSP and have the latest Vixen.  I haven't seriously played with Vixen yet, but I have gotten LSP to import LOR seqs though  you WILL lose your visualizations.   I thought that the LOR hdw ONLY spoke 485 on input but are you saying the setup would go like this:
PC --> Lynx Dongle --x--> LOR   --x--> LE --> FS  
     or perhaps
PC --> Lynx Dongle --> LE --> FS --x--> LOR    with LOR being last on the chain.

[dowdybrown]

I'm using a mix of LOR and Lynx equipment. I sequence in LOR S2, but I use xLights to schedule/run my show without an iDMX. All you would need with your current setup is a Lynx dongle. With xLights, you could run 2 lighting networks, one off the LOR dongle and one off the Lynx dongle. However, what I've done (and I think is easier), is to have a single DMX network connected to the Lynx dongle and run your LOR boards in DMX mode (they will do this automatically with anything but the oldest firmware). LOR uses pins 4 & 5 on the CAT5 cable and Lynx uses pins 1 & 2. So as mentioned above, refer to the Wiki for instructions on constructing a cable to swap the lines around.

xLights will play LOR and Vixen sequences over any combination of LOR, DMX, and Renard networks.

Matt

[tng5737]

Running the two dongles was my first option.   I just thought it would be better to have the simpler setup running one Lynx dongle.   I thought xLights was still beta...  Is it stable enough to run show?   LSP claims to be able to run various hdw devices, but I got started late (in October)  ordered and setup my LOR .  The S2 software is pretty straight forward.   LSP has quite a learning curve (perhaps its just me), so I just used the S2 software for my presentation.  Then I discovered this board and RJ's great equipment.   I thought the iDMX1000 went on the output side of LOR and that the LOR input was strictly 485.   Guess I need to revisit LOR forums about using it with DMX.    

[dowdybrown]

It is confusing because the software, the hardware, and the communication protocol are all referred to as "LOR".

Hardware

Most LOR controllers speaks two languages (protocols): LOR and DMX. This is true as long as the firmware on the controller is somewhat recent (last few years).

Software

The LOR software saves your sequence to an XML file. When communicating to the network, it only "speaks" the LOR protocol.

iDMX

The iDMX device takes the LOR protocol as input, converts it to DMX, and sends that DMX as output

xLights

xLights as able to read the LOR sequence file (XML) and use your show computer's resources to convert that on the fly to DMX (or Renard or LOR protocols). Even though xLights is beta, it is running shows for a number of people this season. This includes my own show, which is over 1000 channels.

Hope this helps,

Matt

[basis21b]

I don't want to go the iDMX route - too expensive.   I already own LSP and have the latest Vixen.  I haven't seriously played with Vixen yet, but I have gotten LSP to import LOR seqs though  you WILL lose your visualizations.   I thought that the LOR hdw ONLY spoke 485 on input but are you saying the setup would go like this:
PC --> Lynx Dongle --x--> LOR   --x--> LE --> FS  
     or perhaps
PC --> Lynx Dongle --> LE --> FS --x--> LOR    with LOR being last on the chain.

The LOR hardware will respond to DMX (assuming you have the appropriate firmware).  Either of the above should work assuming x represents a cable/connector that switches the DMX signal from/to pins one and two as per what the LE and FS are expecting to pins four and five as per what the LOR hardware expects.  Putting the LOR hardware at the beginning of the chain means you need two cables/connections, putting it at the end means one.

[tng5737]

Thanks, that what I needed to know!   

[jnealand]

LOR and Lynx play fine together.  This is my second year for doing that.  I have also converted many LOR sequences to Vixen using the LOR2Vix program.  Some to use and some just to try and get me started.  I am terrible at starting from scratch.  All my Lynx run wireless.  I use a short converter cable  and an ethernet cable to go from a Lynx DMX2 out to LOR in.  Works great.

[tng5737]

Thanks to all who replied...  I spent the evening over at the LOR forums - reading the posts concerning LOR hdw and DMX, the reason for the iDMX1000 etc...  I feel prety confident about how to accomplish all this now!   Thanks again!

[Dennis Cherry]

Thanks to all who replied...  I spent the evening over at the LOR forums - reading the posts concerning LOR hdw and DMX, the reason for the iDMX1000 etc...  I feel prety confident about how to accomplish all this now!   Thanks again!

Just one recommendation, make sure you group your controllers in your display.

If you are using Vixen, Lightshowpro then start with your dongle then connect all your Lynx controllers, add your conversion cable then connect all your LOR controllers. This will be on one universe.

If using LOR S2 then output to LOR controllers first then add the IDMX, add the conversion cable then the Lynx controllers.

Maybe next year the LOR software will have the option to output DMX directly without the IDMX.

[CaptKirk]

Maybe next year the LOR software will have the option to output DMX directly without the IDMX.

Where is the profit in THAT??  No motivation for LOR to do that....

[taybrynn]

From what I have read, the show scheduler in LSP is a bit weak and sometimes a bit unstable ... so using xlights to run the show could potentially have other advantages, like stability.  Again, YMMV, but thats what I've heard.

[mokeefe]

Like many other people on this forum, I started with LOR and have now discovered Lynx.  This coming year I'll be running a hybrid setup of LOR and Lynx.  Having read this thread and a number of others regarding this type of environment, I understand the hardware and protocol pretty well now and know the options I have to make it all play together.

There's one question still remaining for me, though.  I initially thought I'd switch over to run exclusively in a DMX world since both Lynx and LOR hardware support that. And I'd convert my existing LOR sequences to either Vixen or LSP, but I understand that when using the DMX protocol you lose some of the built-in LOR effects like twinkle and shimmer.  Since many other people have been down this road and likely have had those effects in their LOR sequences, how is this handled in the DMX realm.  Do the LOR to Vixen (or LSP) converters generate some sort of DMX stream that emulates those effects?  I'd hate to lose those effects in my show, so if need be I could run in the dual LOR and DMX mode with multiple dongles, but it just seems cleaner if it could all be one protocol and universe.

-Mike

[rrowan]

Hi Mike

To keep your LOR sequences and be able to run LOR and DMX take a look at xlights for running your show. No conversion needed

Cheers

Rick R.