USB Relay With Vixen Question

J

jaydenmiller

New member
Hello,

I am new to the Christmas light show world and this is my first year attempting one. I am looking to use Vixen to create it and use just USB relays to control light strands. Is it possible to use just a USB relay plugged into a PC to control the lights? Here's the relay board I have:https://www.amazon.com/SainSmart-Ei...prefix=8+channel+usb+relay+boar,aps,88&sr=8-3

I have a generic serial controller with 8 channels added with the port info of the relay board that shows up in device manager. I then have 8 single items that are each patched to a channel. I am using the set level effect in the sequencer but am having no luck with the relays coming on when using the scheduler. I tested the relay board out with the test program the MFG provides and they work properly. At this point, I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or if what I'm trying to do is not possible without some additional/different hardware.
 
Is there documentation on the serial interface with the board? Is the test program you refer to an exe or is it source code?
 
From what I read in the Amazon product comments, this board uses a single byte (8 bits) to control the 8 outputs. e.g. if you send B10010010 that would turn on relays 1, 4, 7 respectively. Vixen supports 1 byte per output channel always (for single colour node, 3 channels for RGB, 4 for RGBW), so this isn't going to work. A by-product is each output always supports intensity, through this has no use case with relays. Normally you would configure the associated hardware to switch on the relay at >50% (127) or at full 'on' so 255. There is no function in Vixen to use 1 byte across 8 discreet nodes in your sequence, supporting on/off only.

There are lots of examples on here and on YouTube (some better than others) on how to use a microcontroller like an Arduino board or similar, and a relay board designed to work with those. IMO this is probably the way to go for your application, the board you have looks like a non-starter to me. There are ways of connecting more than 8 relays to one microcontroller. You can also connect multiple microcontrollers on different USB connections.

I assume you're wanting to control AC mains voltage lights. If DC low voltage, relays aren't the best (or cheapest) way to go.
 
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Solid State Relays are the better choice for either AC or DC. No moving parts. Mechanical relays are fine if you turn the outputs on and then off again four hours later. Trying to do a sequence will wear out mechanical relays pretty quickly making them the more expensive choice in the long run.
 
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