Go the Distance! How to connect a 4 Port SmartRecevier into your Falcon Controller

[@pomonabill220]

I know this video is old, but I have watch many of your videos to try and learn the system, and your videos are VERY helpful and detailed. Thank You! In watching your videos, I understand now and am confident with what I need and have purchase my pixels off Amazon (the 500 pix. X 3 variety like yours) and 4 of the 4 port V2.01 boards so I can use a F16V4 when it is available, and drive a few strings that are a ways away from the main controller without having to run extra data cables to them. I also have several old computer power supplies with high current 12V outputs that I can use at the strings, so all I need is an ethernet cable between the main controller and the 4 port boards. This is my first pixel lighting setup for Halloween and Christmas (2022) that I have done. I have a few moving head lights that i will use with the DMX ports as well! This is something that I have dreamed about for a long time, and with your great help, I am excited to do! Wish me luck! hehe

[@trevilights]

Wow! Congratulations. You pretty much have everything you might need. The setup of the new Falcon V4 is almost the same. But if you need help just let me know.

[@frankhernandez5273]

All of your video tutorials are so informative and well thought out. Perfect for a beginner like me. This is exactly how I am planning my setup. Thank you, Trevi!!!!

[@trevilights]

Hey Frank. Glad to help. Get ready, show time is coming fast. Thanks for watching.

[@s.macmillan460]

Great instructions trevi. Enjoy your videos and very helpful. Great to see you posting again.

[@trevilights]

Thank you. Posting some more in a few days.

[@jandrews755]

Amazing videos explained so simply it's my 1st year and your vids have filled me with so much info thanks

[@trevilights]

Hey Justin. Thank you for your words. I am glad you find it useful. It's not too hard to understand once you know the basics.

[@boblarocque68]

Once again, you have demonstrated something for a guy like me that is just starting first year with pixels. Greatly appreciated, and understandable. No high tech language it just seems to be a one on one conversation. A request now, if you could find the time to help me understand the sharing of sequences and how to import it to my layout that would be great.

[@trevilights]

Hi Bob. Thank you very much for your comments. I really appreciate it. See if the videos below helps you understand a little more about sequences. I am also planning to create a video on Exporting, Importing and backing up your work. Stay tuned. How to upload your sequences to your Falcon Player, create a playlist and schedule it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jIGoZqJ-fqlpf9E How to import xlights sequences to your light show. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e53dlWN9hMyGo5o

[@Florida-Ken]

Great video Trevi, you are so clear on your teaching style!

[@trevilights]

Thanks Sunny. Just trying to help. Thanks for watching.

[@SolutionsJJr]

hola gracias por compartir tus conocimientos, estoy esperando la version en español.

[@dannygasca6898]

Hey Trevi, Hope you and your family are well. Thanks for this Awesome video. I always enjoy your videos.

[@trevilights]

Hey Danny. Everyone is doing fine. Thanks for asking. Hope yours too. Thanks for watching.

[@MotoMerica]

You explain things very well. Great video thank-you.

[@trevilights]

Thanks for watching. More videos coming soon.

[@Chulo0210]

Gracias pod el video. El primer show esta listo para comensar!

[@trevilights]

Me Alegro. Saludos.

[@renzoscarparo6867]

This has helped me SOOO much.. Thank you.

[@trevilights]

Hey Renzo. I am glad I was able to help. thanks for watching.

[@sidxshark]

Thank you for such a great and thorough explanation. It is super useful to know that adding a 4 port smart receiver will actually reduce the usable ports on the f16 by 4. Very helpful in planning out requirements and runs!

[@trevilights]

Hi Sid Mody, Thank you very much for watching my video. Also thank you for your words.

[@tpayne1568]

Thank you so much for all of your videos that you have produced I have learned so much I do have a question about the new smart receiver version two would you be able to produce a video explaining them a little bit more and how they work thank you

[@trevilights]

Hey Tim, thank you for watching my videos. So the v2.00 receiver work only with the new Version 4 of the falcon Controller and Differential boards. Just a few months back a new version of the Falcon controller was released (F16V4) and they had to make changes to the smart receivers to work with them. Here is a link for a comparison sheet on the old F16V3 and the new F16V4. docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LTQzdvSYMrRGI62KTGdh5EmUhVB9uZZMQ4iwWtK7yYk/edit?fbclid=IwAR33f8nxOD-bPBZK3F9M6IILNB96UiWpSwP67KyMHWce-1woMmiiRfcl29c#gid=2005112714

[@taunado]

Excellent and informative. Do you have a video showing how to run a lighting setup without the use of a PC connection? Eg. A setup where a sequence saved to an SD card and somehow triggered. From what I've seen the Minimad is very simple, and Madmapper is also great to go together.

[@trevilights]

Hey Taun, Thank you for watching my video. In the case of the Falcon Controller, even it does have an SD card port it is only use for software updates. That's why using a Raspberry PI is the solution. This Raspbarry PI will have the Falcon Player Installed and the sequences will be playing from the SD in this device. The Falcon Player will then send the sequence to the Controller using a CAT5 cable. You can check that video here. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6K7fGimZsqFg5Y and kzbin.info/www/bejne/jIGoZqJ-fqlpf9E

[@nelsonanas1140]

like always very nice video, congratulations Trevi.

[@trevilights]

Thanks Nelson.

[@TMan4775]

Thank you for your videos, I have learned a great deal from them. Have you done a video for putting all of this together yet? IE, I got my controller configured, the player setup etc...

[@trevilights]

Not a all in one. Most of them are isolated video. But you just gave the idea to make one. Thanks.

[@davetuttle2174]

Another great video. I have 2 f16v3 controllers, 1 with an expansion board and I want to run 2 smart receivers off each controller. What would I change the serial outputs to? Also do I have to temporarily change the controllers to add the smart receivers?

[@trevilights]

Hey Dave. Thanks for watching. Unfortunately I have no way to tell how or what to configure since I do not have an expansion board. But here is what you can try. First in the String Output screen you will need to select in the port mode that you have a main board plus one expansion. Then click one of the blue plus signs (The 4 port that you want to use). Select another 4 port and also click on the plus sign. Hopefully you will get letter 'a' on the first four and a letter 'b' on the other four. If you do not see a letter 'b' then click the blue plus sign again. On the serial port page try to see if you can map the ports as I did in the video. Remember that you will have to set the switches on the smart receivers to be 'a' and 'b'. Good luck.

[@rextonandrew]

Thank you for all your videos and it’s simple to understand and helpful. I have got my pixel into the strips for the Christmas tree and the ready to run f16v3 Falcon controller. I’m ready to plug in. I have few questions. I’m following your first controller setting video about putting in the IP address. Will the IP address change if I take to the garage using another etharnet outlet? My tree is about 30 feet from the garage. Do I have to add anything to boost the signal? My tree is 24 strings non musical sequence this year as I’m new and not very good with electronics. Thank you in advance.

[@trevilights]

Hi Rexton Fernando. Good to know that you are almost ready to go. If you define your IP address as static then it should not change. This is why we use the static option. About the distance, if you use a good quality 18 gauge cable you should be good. If for any reason you see that the pixles flicker then you might need an F-amp to boost the signal. They are not expensive. Here is the link. www.pixelcontroller.com/store/controllers/53-falcon-picap.html

[@rextonandrew]

Thank you. I’ll let you know how it goes.

[@mindbreaking]

Question, are you able to use more them one smart expansion board directly off the F16v3? I am confused by the serial port settings page as I thought I could daisy three of them, that would use 12 ports off of the f16.

[@trevilights]

Hi There. I think you are taling about Smart Receviers which connect using the RJ45 ports, correct? I stopped using the V3 years ago, so I am going to talk of what I know the V4 and V5 setup is. Yes, you can daisy chain them, but keep in mind that that you are sharing one port throughout the chain. Let say that you daisy chain two of these SR, you will end up with 8 ports in total (ports 17 to 20). The max number of pixels (1024) you have will be diveded by two. In other words you could have 800 pixels on the first SR and some 200 on the second SR. See the links below. Smart Receiver pixelcontroller.com/store/accessories/86-srx1.html Specifications: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LTQzdvSYMrRGI62KTGdh5EmUhVB9uZZMQ4iwWtK7yYk/edit?fbclid=IwAR33f8nxOD-bPBZK3F9M6IILNB96UiWpSwP67KyMHWce-1woMmiiRfcl29c&gid=2005112714#gid=2005112714

[@ronm6585]

Nice! Thank you.

[@trevilights]

Thanks for watching. Glad to help.

[@RobertRudolf-r2h]

Your videos are great! One problem I have is that I'm running F48v4 and things don't work the same as the v3. When I select Serial Outputs I get a screen that allows only DMX/Renard selections. I can select the start universe/start channel/number of channels and the baud rate. The selections have no effect on the Output Setting screen. I'm almost to the point of buying a v3 board to save myself the hassle. Any ideas?

[@trevilights]

Hi there. Thanks for your kind word. I am sure that I understand your question/needs. On the V3 you have 2 dropdown. The Mode (Serial or Pixel Data) and the Type (DMX, Pixelnet, Renard) on the V4s you get only one drop down (DMX and Renard). What are you tying to control? What were you expecting to see on the V4?

[@RobertRudolf-r2h]

Trevi, I revisited the docs on the F48v4 and realized I had overlooked setting the configuration for the Srx boards. At the time I first read the docs I wasn't planning on using them and so skipped that part. If you select 'Status' on the F48v4 you can set the sixteen Local Ports and two Smart Receiver chains. Keep Smiling, Bob

[@trevilights]

@@RobertRudolf-r2h Awesome. I am glad you got it working. Thanks for watching.

[@RobertRudolf-r2h]

Just for everyone's information. When you select Status + two smart receiver boards the program adds two smart receivers to your list of pixel ports in XLights. Unfortunately they were both identified as A receivers. I figured out that if I clicked on the plus sign on 17a it would add a B receiver. They will be identified as 17b,18b,19b,& 20b. I then made the other A receiver chain into normal channels by clicking the minus sign next to 21a. After I did that everything worked. Bob

[@trevilights]

@@RobertRudolf-r2hthanks Bob.

[@darknes7800]

Hi there! Love your videos! Working on my F16 v3 Falcon controller and for some reason it is sending the same signal to all 16 ports. If I pick port 1 with 257 lights for my snowflake, all ports are outputing the same snowflake signal. Even in test mode, it sends signal to all ports regardless which ports I have selected on the dash board. Could you tell me what might be the problem ?

[@trevilights]

Hey Jekyll & Hyde Garage. Thank you for your words and for watching my videos. There can be different reason, but the most obvious one it that your ports are mapped to the same channel. For example, take a look at the screen on Minute 10:25 of this video. Port 9 to 16 are mapped to start on channel 1. So whatever data is been sent to channel 1 is going to play on all those ports. Port 1 also starts on Channel 1.

[@melvinguzman5339]

But if I daisy chain 3 smart receivers I still can control same amount of pixels if have only one receiver . I’m confused.

[@trevilights]

Yes. You still have the same number of pixels. What a smart receiver does is to provide a long distance connection for up to 4096 pixels with only one long ethernet cable.

[@mintysweb]

Another great video..... how do you instinctivly know where and when I am stuck and then add a video within days of me starting to stress lol you are psychic ....

[@trevilights]

Lol. So perfect timing I guess. I am glad that someone is finding my videos useful. Good to see you around. Thanks for watching.

[@mintysweb]

@@trevilights you are so helpful and show things at my level... im almost done with all my props building and painting etc(1st timer) and have a few sequences ready on my computer .... just need to tie it all together... 1 thing if I want to make a custom prop like a different shape etc... how do I model it onto my layout so I can use it in xlights

[@trevilights]

@@mintysweb that's amazing. And I am glad you are doing it now because time goes fast. And about the custom model...give me a few days and I make one video on that. I am currently working on a Mega Matix and it's taking some time.

[@mintysweb]

@@trevilights cool no rush I think I actually worked it out for myself... Now to get the xlights to talk to the controller etc... I have set mine up with the PI like you did for wireless connectivity. I have set all the string outputs for the props I plan to use. On test in falcon they work properly But cant seem to get xlights to control them yet...

[@trevilights]

@@mintysweb Alright. Glad to help.

[@percydoucet1838]

Hi another great video. So if I have 3 smart receivers with 12 pixel ports that can have 4096 pixels. So does that mean that I can have 341 pixels on every one of the 12 ports. I have used all your videos to set up my Christmas.

[@trevilights]

Hi Percy, Thanks for watching. It all depends on the configuration that you use. You can have as many as 1024 per port on the receiver if you want to. But your numbers are also correct if you daisy chain 3 receiver and configure them to use 1 main board port distributed on the three receivers. Is all comes to your layout and preferences.

[@percydoucet1838]

@@trevilights Hi so if you use ports 1,2,3,4 on the f16v3 controller for the smart receivers like 1a 2a 3a 4a for the first one and 1b 2b 3b 4b for the second one and 1c 2c 3c 4c for the third one, so with 12 ports on the 3 smart receivers I should be able to put 341 on all 12 ports because it is using 4 ports on the f16v3 I hope.

[@trevilights]

@@percydoucet1838 Unfortunately I cannot confirm your setup because I only have 1 smart receiver. But it does sound correct. But, why would you need 3 smart receivers? Do you have long distances between your elements?

[@trevilights]

I just went into the Pixel output for the V4 and tried your configuration and it works. 341 pixels for each letter, a b and c.

[@percydoucet1838]

@@trevilights Thanks Trevi your videos and information about this is very informative and I don't think I would of got this far without your videos.

[@carlosescamilla5526]

In reference to controllers which one is more friendly to work with falcons or coro controllers? I'm new and start working on led pixels led strip ect....I live in California LA area and cam recommend me where to purchased lights.... thank you so much.

[@trevilights]

Hey Carlos. Unfortunately I have only used the Falcon controller, so i can not speak of others. I believe Falcons are out of stock. I buy the pixels from Amazon, i can return them if there is anything wrong with them. Make sure you buy the correct voltage since thry come in 5 and 12 vokts. I recomend the 12 volts. If you buy ws2812 chech that they are water resistant since they are going to be exposed to the weather.

[@carlosescamilla5526]

@@trevilights thank you for your time.

[@carlosescamilla5526]

Otra pregunta que recomienda para LED strips? Puede uno inyectar más electricidad a luces de strip?

[@trevilights]

Hey Carlos. I have only worked with the Falcons, So i cannot speak of others. As long as they have a web interface their setup should not be difficult. I buy all my light in Amazon. I like Amazon because I can return them if there is something wrong with them. Some people order their lights using Aliexpress from China but I just do not like the timing and the return hassle. So I rather pay a few more dollars and buy them is the US.

[@trevilights]

@@carlosescamilla5526 Yo solo tengo un par de Strips y compro las que vienen en una funda de silicon. Estas soportan mejor la interperie. Y si, Puedes injectar las enegia a estos strip. Solo concetas el positivo u negativo de tu fuente de poder al inicio o final de las tiras. Por lo comun , ya viene preparadas con un par de cable extras para esto. Puedes comprar una tira y probarla. Si te convence pues pides mas. Las tiras ws2812 vienen con configuraciones diferentes. Unas traen 30 pixeles por metro, otras 60 pixeles. Asi que fijate bien de cuales compras. Tambien vienen de 5 y 12 voltios.

[@juancamiloarrubla8726]

Hola, Trevi. Saludos. Tengo un controlador F16V4 y un SmartReceiver x 4. Pero aun no logro hacer el la conexión entre ambos. Es decir, los 16 puertos de la F16v4, llegan bien, pero los puertos de la SRX4, no me llega ni uno. El SRX4 tiene un boton de test, y lo preciono y todo funciona bien. Solo me falta poder hacer la conexión entre ambos, ¿sabes cómo podría solucionarlo? Muchas gracias

[@trevilights]

Hola Juan. Pueden ser varias cosas. Vamos a empezar por lo basico. Primero, en el menu de Status asegurate y tengas seleccionado la opcion de Board Configuration=16 Local + 2 smart Receivers, y presiona "set". Esto agregara otros 8 puertos mas. Asigna algun elemento digamos a puerto 17. En el receiver, todos los switches deben estar "on" y el seleccionador de ID en Cero. Reinicia el controlador y el receiver. Suerte.

[@juancamiloarrubla8726]

@@trevilights Trevi, he estado investigando y se supone que el SRX4, como es de 16 puertos, se selecciona 16 local + 4 Smart Receivers y así lo tengo. En cuanto a el ID, lo tengo en cero y los switches en 'On'. Aparentemente, todo estaría bien. Pero hago la prueba de test general y solo me toma los 16 local. Sigo sin conexión al SRX4 😒 he probado muchas cosas, pero no sé en qué estaré fallando.

[@trevilights]

@@juancamiloarrubla8726 Desde donde y como estas haciendo las pruebas? Supongo que desde xlights. Tienes correctamente (suficientes) los canales/universos a utlizar en la seccion de controllers? Y en el controlador, en la seccion e1.31 tambien debes tener una cantidad suficiente de canales/universos a recibir. Me es dificil saber que puede estar pasando sin ver su configuracion. Sigue probando y si no tienes suerte puedes ir a mi sitio Trevilights.com y separa tiempo conmigo. Hacemos una video llamada y revisamos tu configuracion.

[@SolutionsJJr]

buenas noches una pregunta q nombre o como aparece unos arbolitos en forma espiral en xLights

[@trevilights]

Hola Julian. No creo que existan como tal. Los busque y no encontre. Podrias probar unos "Spinners" y ajustar el numero de luces que tienes conectados. O definirlo como un "Single Line". Podrias despues crear subelementos para hacer effectos.

[@SolutionsJJr]

@@trevilights gracias por la infomacion

[@johnnagy1575]

Hello. How do you do this I Raspberry pi 4 to control the falcon controller

[@trevilights]

Hey John, you need to prepare a SD card with the 'Falcon Player (FPP)' software. Then you configure the Falcon Player with the controllers IP address. Here is a video about it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6K7fGimZsqFg5Y

[@johnnagy1575]

@@trevilights I did do that for my Raspberry pi 4. And get an error on pi boot up. But I still am able to get to the web interface for FPP. I was just wondering if I have 4 ,4 string smart receivers. How is that put into the pi ? Thank you. You have taught me a lot.

[@trevilights]

@@johnnagy1575 You do not need to put the smarts receivers into the Pi. The only things it cares about is the output channel count. The Pi send all the raw data to the controller and then the controller sends it to the pixels . Is the controller that needs to know were the channels are, either connected to a common pixel port or a smart receiver. As an example, if you have 4 snowflakes in a smart receiver, make sure the channel definition in xlights for those snowflakes has the correct channels used on the smart recevier so it knows how to route the data.

[@johnnagy1575]

@@trevilights So. If I put in the FPP pi player. There is only 96 universes. And I configure the falcon controller with the smart receiver outputs. The pi will still send 96 universes plus the four string universes? Yeah. Sounds really confusing to me. Lol

[@trevilights]

@@johnnagy1575There is not "plus four" string universes. Your four remote string are part of those 96 universes. Let's say that you are only going to use 2 port of your falcon controller. Port 1 and port 2. Port two is going to be configured to be a smart receiver. Port number one is going to use Channels 1 to 3072 (1024 pixels x 3 channels). Your port 2 is going to use Channels 3073 to 6144 (1024 pixels x 3 channels) which are configured to be used in a remote recevier. That's it. Everything is about Channels. Channels do not repeat. So wherever that channel is, the data is going to be sent there, local port or remote port. This is why the FPP does not care where the pixels are, it just send all the data, The controller then routes it to the right place.

[@melvinguzman5339]

Can you explain falcon 48 please.

[@trevilights]

The Falcon 48 is a little different, but still can only control just over 16000 pixels. It allows for you to connect up to 12 differential receivers with 4 ports each (12x4 = 48 pixel ports). This works well if you show is spread out. You need to send pixel data far from the source(main controller). You need to provide a power supply to each of those receivers to power the pixels connected to them.

[@stephanlemaire]

I watch the video twice but still not understand why the blue + signs appear beside port 1, 5, 9 and 13. Why the smartReceiver choose thos ports automaticly. Even if you create 13a, 14a, 15a and 16a, they still appear at the 1, 5, 9 and 13. Why the + blue sign do not follow the new ''a'' ports? Maybe it is too late tonight hahaha! 😆😆😆

[@trevilights]

Hello. What type of controller do yo have?

[@stephanlemaire]

@@trevilights I just received it. It's a Falcon16V5. Did not plug yet but I try to understand the all process before. It will drive at least 6000 pixels; 4000 pixels for my 16' tree and the rest will be spead on some usual props.

[@trevilights]

@@stephanlemaire I do not own a 16V5 but does blue +sign will or will not be there depending on the setting you choose. Like if you are only using 16 Local ports or 16 Local + 2 Smart Receivers. Once you are ready to try, take a look at your settings and I am more happy to help you out. You can book some of my time in my website trevilights.com and we can do a Zoom to review your setting. We can cover a lot of material in one call instead on text messages. Good luck.