I suppose what I'm asking, is once an ACx16 and a Freestyle are built to compleation, and are sitting there with lights attached, how do they compare?

So, Aurora will support in software for DMX all of the commands that D-Lights supports in hardware. Right?

So, I suppose the question would be: When comparing to a D-Light Silver, why not buy the freestyle and save 50%?

 

As for cat5 and networks... ehternet is cheap and we already have dual networks. I wouldn't mind switching over one side of the driveway to Freestyle and the D-Light controllers on the other net. OR, just start moving the D-light stuff wireless.

 

Did I see that DMX can go wireless too? I'm guessing that since it's still RS485 that lengths and termination is the same.

If SSR's are required there is an additional cost that definatly needs to be work into the equation. The SSR and housings is why I originally switch over to the to the D-light boards. At that time it was a wash so I figure why am I doing all this soldering when I could be syncing.

 

Slink

 

Slink

 

 

Ya-know, I'm not trying to be anti-DLight here. I'm just trying to see if I'm missing something.

Is it the same type of difference between D-Light/LOR and Animated Lighting? So Is Animated Lights to D-Light as D-Light is to Lynx?

Of course this could be half the problem since the Lynx site is just a forum, and there's really no product page comparing or explaining the product.

 

Also, I do understand that the Freestyle is a ... header for multiple other SSRs (controllers) and do nothing themselves, could be nice if there's some compact and complex display. Possibly a 64 channel tree so instead of putting 4 controllers there, you could use a single Freestyle and 4 SSRs, but even that doesn't seem to make too much logic. Can each SSR handle more amperage?

 

   It is hard to compare the Freestyle (FS) to the commercial controllers. The seperate SSR from the controller is a hang on from the DIY world. Many of the DIY users were use to the two being seperate and keeping the controller (Brain part) in the garage and the SSR in the yard. You can control a lot of channels from just one board if it is only the controller part since power is not a limiting factor. Think of a 128 channel full unit like a LOR or Express. Man how would you feed it 512 amps to meet the capacity it could handle and how big would the circuit board traces have to be to handle it, and the board would be HUGE!

 

So back to the comparison. They all do the same thing, dim lights. They all have 16 channels. They use different protocols to talk. We use DMX which is supported by almost everyone now. The stuff about fades and twinkles is not an issue. The reason D-light and LOR did this in the hardware was because the communication they used was slow enough that at large amounts of channels you could overload the pipe. So they offloaded it to the hardware so they could tell it what to do for the next few seconds and not tell it each step of the way. DMX runs fast and you will always get 512 channels updated all the time so there is no problem up to 512 channels and then you simply start a new DMX "Universe" to get another 512 channels. The user does not know the difference in other words. You mark a ramp and the software handles telling the controllers what to do.

Here is one of our users that uses LOR and Lynx stuff and he has a video talking about it. http://www.christmasonmanor.com/2009video/LYNXandLOR.wmv - http://www.christmasonmanor.com/2009video/LYNXandLOR.wmv

 

If the issue that seems wrong is the cost and what are you giving up for it then it is simple, you have to solder it, No one is in bussiness and so we do not have employees to pay or rent on the building, profit we must make, ect. We do not have warranty to take care of you built it you fix it. We do have great support and have always been able to help anyone needing it. The units even can do things other can't, like custom normilized curves per channel to allow you to mix and match lights and make the dim and ramp all at the same linear rate. Push button programming with a display and built in test mode with the ablitity to turn the lights on and off at the unit while you setup.  Cheap wireless that while one poster here had issues with range many used it without issue. We have even created a ver 2 that is in beta that outputs 2 - 3 time the signal. Now it is line of sight so you have to stay within its limitations but for $20 a controller to be wireless it is worth doing so. Setup and tear down becomes so easy with out the data cables to worry about.   

 

The last thing is the comment about us not having a page to use to compare. I think the problem is you must be looking only at the forum. We have a WIKI for this very reason with everything you want to know.

 

Check out this link :

http://diylightanimation.com/wiki/index.php?title=Equipment - http://diylightanimation.com/wiki/index.php?title=Equipment

That takes you to the equipment page but the wiki as a whole has a lot of information in it.

 

Remember any controller that works for you and makes the light blink is the one to have. My stuff is just another option and I never tell people they are better than XYZ units. Cause I can't whats better for any given person they have to make those calls themself. We all have different needs.  

 

Hope I helped and did not intrude in your thread unwelcomed.

 

RJ

 

I think that the "2010 Lone Star Holiday DIY Workshop" document "Controller Feature Comparison" compared the options available quite nicely. Although I think that if it had a section for featureset and if it informed me of h/w vs s/w, then that would have made things even clearer.

 

So I do not get you turned around all DMX equipment knows nothing about fades twinkles ect. They only go to the level they were told to go to, in a way they are dumber devices but do to the speed and compatibilty of DMX they have their benifits.

 

DIY as a whole is about giving and getting so we do it because we can and it helps. I design the pcbs for the lynx line of equipment myself and write all the firmware. As much as we all like to make money it is about something bigger. See I like you, enjoy putting on christmas shows to bring joy to others. But I did not want to pay what the commerical stuff cost. I found the DIY communitity and started to build some stuff, having some abilities allowed me to create things more to my liking and do it cheap. Then when others wanted to do the same I shared and they did. Then I notice that I could make thousands and thousands of people happy by helping others afford to put shows on through sharing my stuff. I could never do that by just putting shows on.

 

I am not alone there is a large DIY community and normally it works the same way.

 

I hope this explains it somewhat for you.  

 

RJ

 

Maybe Micheal can grant you an honorary title.

 

(sorry for the thread highjack :) )

 

:(

 

Slink

 

Just download MPLAB !!!

- View\Program Memory
- File \Import

Choose the "Machine" or "Symbolic" Tab, at the left Bottom of the window ...

BUT:

- Labels and aliases can't be displayed ( not stored by the Hex File ) ... so, it's difficult to add lines without a GOTO-GOTO jumper; lines removed must be replaced by a NOP or equ.

DO NOT CHANGE THE LINE NUMBERS !!! without exactly knowing what you are doing ...

Only real interest is to translate strings, or add a part ( or 2 , or 3 ) of program at the end of the listing.

to save : right click, and " save as " progmod.txt " ...

 

 

 

 

RJ

 

RJ,

 

Oooo.... Ouch! It was never my intention to steal anything from you RJ. Honestly, I never really thought about that. I guess being a DIY organization, I just assumed that your were also open source. I should have done my research first. (I guess I could have just asked you )

 

From everything that I have read that you have written, you seem to have the fellow DIY user's best interest in mind. I mean, you don't even have a "store" to sell your stuff! I understand that the program is your property if you choose for it to be, but I could see it benefiting the community for it to run on the ACx16 as well. I own 13 ACx16's that could benefit from a better firmware. (I just recieved 2 LE's too!)

 

RE: hardware limitations. I had not even looked into the differences in the microcontrollers, other than the part #, when I posted above. After researching further, I can see the limitations that the ACx16 PIC would have. But maybe a scaled down version could work? Like only one curve per entire unit rather than a per channel basis.

 

You will be happy to know that I have not even started on the project and will not pursue it any further without your permission.

 

Please accept my apology,

Carey

 

I have to apologize too.  It was not my intention to take anything that was not mine either.  As far as the "RE factor",  my intention for me was to see how to impliment DMX on a PIC microprocessor and not to borrow or utilize anything. 

 

From my light reading, the 18F series of PICs is mostly a different animal from the 24 series.  Other than the DMX info that is freely available on the microchip.com forum.

 

Sorry to have offended you.  I can't speak for anyone else only to say that my intention was to learn from what you had done to benefit others in this hobby.

 

 

 

Cheers and good times no one is intentionally trying to do anything wrong to anyone. We are all of 3000 folks in the world that actually do this, we all know one another and all pretty much interact with on another either here or various other sites. I knida assumed it would be a medaley of all of our ideas and thoughts when ity is all said and done.

 

It would be easier I agree to start from scratch then to try to follow someone elses assembly but then again I have 18f firmware for the Freestyle units and if I had hardware to work with I could adapt it I believe easily to run these. 

 

RJ