When setting up your LOR display you may end up with many different controller types. Soon you’ll ask the same question that everyone else asks, “Can I mix controller types on the same network?” The answer depends on the types of controllers as well as the ages of the controllers.

When Light-O-Rama started things were quite simple. There was one type of controller that did one thing. You didn’t have to worry about it, you just connected the controllers and moved on. As technology progressed more controllers were added and the need for more speed became apparent. In order to resolve these issues, LOR added higher speed and “enhanced” networks to the hardware and software. This changed the answer from “Yes” to “It’s Complicated.”

How do you determine what controllers can be run together on a network? Take a look at this Network Speed Chart. It shows you what speeds and types of networks each controller type can run. For example, if you have a CTB16PC and a CTB16PCg3 you could mix these controller types on the same network but they’d have to run at 57.6k setting. Since the CTB16PC can not run 500k speeds, you wouldn’t be able to set that network, with the CTB16PCg3, at 500k.

Let’s look at two controllers you can not run on the same network. Suppose you have a Pixie4 and a CTB16PC. As you can see on the chart the Pixie4 can’t run 57.6 and the CTB16PC can’t run 500k. As a result you would not be able to run these controllers on a single LOR Network; you would have to get 2 RS485USB adapters, and configure multiple networks in your display.

Conclusion

As you can see much of the Light-O-Rama hardware is compatible and would allow you to mix controller types on a network. However you should always check the speed chart to make sure that your specific controller types are compatible, or at the very least, share a common setting that would allow you to run them on the same network.

Light-O-Rama has two different types of RGB Ribbons. Each of the ribbons are LED based, and can change to any color you wish.

The similarities end there. 

There are two types of ribbons. A smart ribbon and a dumb ribbon. It is very important that you understand the difference.

The Light-O-Rama Cosmic Color Ribbon is a SMART ribbon. This ribbon has it’s own controller, and only one ribbon can be attached to that controller. When you purchase the CCR, it comes with a power supply to connect to the controller. Yes, you can have any color you want. You can also have as many colors showing on the ribbon as you wish (up to 50, which is the number of pixel groups on the ribbon.)

The RGB Dumb Ribbon comes in a single or 8 pack. This ribbon is usually connected to a CMB24D controller. The CMB24D needs a seperate power supply in order to operate. While you can have any color you want on the RGB Dumb Ribbon, you can have only one color at a time on the ribbon. This means no matter which color you pick you will have that color over the entire ribbon.

The RGB Floods and RGB Strips from Light-O-Rama hook up to the CMB24D controller. This controller needs a 12VDC power supply in order to power the devices.

Both the floods and strips will connect to the CMB controller. The power supply will also connect to the controller, and provide DC power to the attached devices.

The g3 firmware supports lighting curves. These are used to allow different types of lights to behave similarly when dimming. LEDs tend to go from off to full brightness over a much narrower range of voltages than incandescent lights. This means that a fade going from 0 to 100% voltage with an incandescent light will not produce the same results with LED lights. The LED lights will come on later and reach full brightness sooner than incandescent lights.

There is a built-in Standard curve for incandescent lights which behaves as a simple, linear 0 to 100% voltage provider. This is the behavior seen with previous versions of the firmware and most DMX dimmer packs. There is a built-in On/Off curve. This on/off ‘curve’ is used on a channel where the connected devices do not tolerate dimming, for example, the air blower motors in inflatables. Setting a channel configured for on/off operation to any intensity 50% or greater results in 100% intensity or ‘on’. Intensities below 50% result in the channel being off.

Finally, a LED curve is provided which is the average for various LED colors and dimmable power supply configurations. This curve is provided with the software, so if you choose to change it you can recover the original. It is custom curve 1. The g3 firmware accepts up to eight downloaded, custom curves. Each channel is configured with its own curve from the ten possible curves the controller may have available.

The default location for curve files is …Light-O-Rama\DimmingCurves
The curve file names are LOR-Curve01.ldc through LOR-Curve08.ldc. 

A curve file is a list of comma delimited numbers with as many numbers per line as you like. Text on a line preceded by a ‘#’ is treated as a comment.

There are 1024 numbers in a curve file. The first number represents off and the last full brightness. A number in the curve file is a value between 0 and 1023. The curve files map into the LOR brightness world for which LOR will provide a conversion utility.

The Light-O-Rama Cosmic Color Ribbons were not designed to be shortened or lengthend. You could, in theory, ‘shorten’ a CCR by simply not programming those pixels that you don’t wish to use. 

If you were to lengthen a CCR you would have to cut into the ribbon, which would void the warranty. There are some other technical specifics that you would need to be aware of, which are beyond the scope of this document.

In short, if you try and extend the CCR, you are on your own.

Confused about the different generations of Light-O-Rama controllers that are out there? Here is a quick guide to help you determine what generation of controller you are looking at.

As of LOR 3.10.0 (Open Beta) the following DMX adapters are supported. When configuring the DMX settings in Light-O-Rama, use the protocol listed to the right.

If it’s a 1600 series Generation 1 or 2 (metal enclosure and no LED display inside)), disconnect the power, set the unit ID switches to 0-0, and reapply power.  The status light will blink very fast.  Wait a few seconds, remove power, change the Unit ID switches back to where they were and reapply power.  You’ve reset the board.  

If it’s a 1600 series Generation 3 (metal enclosure with LED display inside), disconnect the power, press the up and down buttons simultaneously and reapply power. The display will show ‘0000.’  Wait a few seconds, release the up and down buttons, the controller will be reset and return to normal operation in about two seconds.

If it’s a CTB-16PC series Generation 1 or 2 (plastic enclosure and has a jumper block to the right of the data cable connectors), disconnect the power, remove the jumper next to the data connectors (usually in the second position (or J2)) and reapply power.  The status light will blink very fast.  Wait a few seconds, remove power, replace the jumper on the J2 position and reapply power.  You’ve reset the board.  Go into the Hardware Utility and make sure the board is assigned to the correct physical location where it was before the reset.  

If it’s a CTB-16PC series Generation 3 (plastic enclosure and has a jumper block to the left of the data cable connectors), disconnect the power.  On JP3, counting from the left, move the jumper on pins 4 and 5 over one notch to pins 5 and 6.  Reapply power.  The status light will blink very fast.  Wait a few seconds, remove power, move the jumper pack to pins 4 and 5.  Reapply power.  You’ve reset the board.  Go into the Hardware Utility and make sure the board is assigned to the correct physical location where it was before the reset. 

If it’s a CTB-32 controller board (typically with a green status light), disconnect the power from the controller.  On reset header JP3 (just to the lower left of the data cable connectors), counting from the left, remove the jumper between pins 4 and 5.  Power up the controller and  the Status LED should flash rapidly.  Disconnect the power from the controller and put the jumper back on between Pins 4 and 5 of the reset header JP3 (MAKE SURE OF ITS LOCATION).  Power up the controller.

It’s 10:30pm and your show is over for the evening. You look into the yard and notice one channel is still lit (either fully or partially.) What’s going on?

The first thing you should do is reset the controller.

If that fails, then the most likely cause is a blown triac. The solution is to send the unit to LOR for repair. You can enter a support ticket at lightorama.com/support, and they will get the return address to you.

If you are handy with a soldering iron, you could request that LOR send replacement triacs to you.