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DMX Lynx vs ACx16 |
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Comporder1
DMX Joined: 11 Dec 2007 Location: Brookhaven, MS Online Status: Offline Posts: 163 |
Quote Reply Posted: 01 Mar 2010 at 2:21pm |
RJ, it's funny to see the title "Newbie" under your name on the left! HAhahah!!
Maybe Micheal can grant you an honorary title.
(sorry for the thread highjack :) )
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RJ
Newbie Joined: 27 Feb 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4 |
Quote Reply Posted: 01 Mar 2010 at 1:23pm |
Well first and foremost, A SSR is a "Solid State Relay" that is the part of a controller that switches the high voltage. Then is the controller part which tells it when to do it. In LOR, Expresses and D-lights they are one in the same in that all of it is on the same board.
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
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Pony_God
Senior Member Joined: 01 Sep 2008 Location: Naples, FL Online Status: Offline Posts: 551 |
Quote Reply Posted: 01 Mar 2010 at 9:04am |
Mr. RJ, thanks for dropping by and you deffinately have clearly stated pretty much everything that I've been wondering. I did see the Wiki, but not knowing that it's software based instead of hardware based control, I though that there was a lot of information missing and without knowing what an SSR is (and still have no idea what it stands for) it all made less clear.
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.
I suppose that the price difference is the same idea as "Animated Lighting" vs Lor/D-Light, just how much do you want to pay the company for support/warrentee/etc.
So if there is no for-profit company, who designed built the boards? Who builds the firmware and maintains it? Do you not want paied for your time and effort?
Well, now, see, I suppose I have to get on the DMX bus now? I think I'll wait until Aurora has DMX out and an adapter before buying some Expresses though.
RJ, again, thank you.
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deweycooter
Development Joined: 14 Oct 2007 Location: League City, TX Online Status: Offline Posts: 674 |
Quote Reply Posted: 28 Feb 2010 at 7:23pm |
Thanks RJ - good to see you here. :)
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RJ
Newbie Joined: 27 Feb 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4 |
Quote Reply Posted: 27 Feb 2010 at 1:00pm |
Maybe I might know enough to help?
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
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 :
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
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Rod R
Newbie Joined: 06 Jan 2010 Location: Campbell Online Status: Offline Posts: 7 |
Quote Reply Posted: 25 Feb 2010 at 2:46am |
Keep an eye out looks like RJ is going to do another Coop on the Lynx Express in the next week or two. The last one over 500 LE were ordered.
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cstrang
Pre-Order User Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Location: San Antonio Online Status: Offline Posts: 15 |
Quote Reply Posted: 24 Feb 2010 at 2:08pm |
Don't forget another advantage of the Freestyle being that you can expand as needed. The full system consists of one freestyle controller and 32 SSR4 modules, but you only need the controller and 1 SSR4 module to turn on 4 strings(or groups) of lights. The SSR4's are "cheap" in the sense that each (pcb and parts) is about 12 bucks. The controller is close to 80.00 and for less than 100 you have a 128 channel capable system with 4 channels. add SSR's as you get funds...
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Charles
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deweycooter
Development Joined: 14 Oct 2007 Location: League City, TX Online Status: Offline Posts: 674 |
Quote Reply Posted: 24 Feb 2010 at 8:33am |
Actually, I think of the advantage of a Freestyle is when you have elements that are really spread out. For each SSR (group of 4 channels), you can trade using 4 extension cords with 1 (potentially longer) and a cat5 run. Cat5 is cheaper to run than extension cords. Amperage - I think it's limited by the triac, so unless there are beefier triacs on board, I'm not sure there'd be a difference. Edited by deweycooter - 24 Feb 2010 at 8:38am |
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Pony_God
Senior Member Joined: 01 Sep 2008 Location: Naples, FL Online Status: Offline Posts: 551 |
Quote Reply Posted: 24 Feb 2010 at 8:07am |
So... I'm back to why D-Light or LOR when the Express is 1/2 the cost and all functionality is in software instead of hardware?
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? Edited by Pony_God - 24 Feb 2010 at 8:15am |
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Bigindian
Beta Testers Joined: 13 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 373 |
Quote Reply Posted: 23 Feb 2010 at 8:18pm |
The Lynx Express and the Freestyle are two different animals. As HH said above the Express is a 16 channel controller that is essentially the same type controller as an AC16. The freestyle is a 128 Controller only. To be complete, it requires the SSR modules at each location where control is required. Each SSR4 is a 4 channel device capable of controlling 4 channels at any one spot in your show. The idea behind this controller is you can tie each SSR4 to a specific area in the show and have 1 central controller for all 128 channels. |
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