What the HECK!

A

algerdes

Supporting Member
At this year's Transworld I was presented with two strings of lights as a "go home and try these" kind of thing. Well, as you can imagine - I brought them home and then promptly forgot about them.
Today, during cleanup of my workshop, I found them again. First off, they are NOT 3 wire connects. They are TWO. If fact, they look like AC lights, right down to the fact that each bulb screws in to the base. The manufacturer actually converted their round 2 wire plug to one that looks just like an inline Edison. (I forget the designation. This is a point of concern, but for now I'll look the other way.)

Plugging the controller into the wall outlet and then turning them on using the included remote, low and behold I am seeing changing colors in each bulb. In fact, 8 colors along with fades, chases, flashes, etc. are present. They all work.

The only marking on these is on the remote. "Dynamic RGB by Holidynamics".

It is really interesting that the sockets look just like vampire sockets on SPT-1 wire. The screw-in pixels/lightbulbs are also worth looking into.

Has anyone else seen these? Used these? Is there a way to use them with setups? (E1.31, DDP, DNS, etc.)

Thanks for any thoughts on this.
 
Immediate followup:
I found the company online and had a wonderful conversation with one of their folks. Unfortunately they are "self-contained" and don't have any kind of interface to other controllers. :unsure:
So... If anyone has done what some of us do in the form of "finding a way", please let me know. I'm very interested.
 
Those look neat. The implication is that the bulbs are smart and most likely pick up a signal from the AC line. Not sure how you handle replacing a bulb (as in do you need to tell the bulb where it is in the string like DMX or does it somehow know this from the data stream like ws2811). At any rate, the remote control may be the key to this. There are remote control sniffers / signal generators that can be used to see what the remote tells the controller. From there you create a device that can output the remote control data based on received E1.31 data. I suspect the remote cannot tell the individual bulbs to be a specific color which would make these strings more like a dumb RGB type of string or a triggered effect device.

You could also crack it open and see what the control data looks like going into the power circuit. Then take an Arduino and replicate that data, bypassing the built in data. I am betting the control data is a modulated waveform that is placed onto the AC waveform.
 
I was given two different strings to try. The first, very similar to what we call 'hats'. A square top 5mm pixel embedded into a plastic holder. Wiring for them is exactly like AC LED wiring with a lead going into each bulb, a lead coming out, and two extra wires bypassing the pixel. I haven't mapped out how they are connnected, just a visual inspection.

The one I am really interested in is the C9s. They screw in! Easy replacement!!!

Now, how fast they are and how they are addressed is of key interest for me at this time.
The folks I talked to today have been very helpful. I'm waiting for a call tomorrow from another "more knowledgable" person.
At this time I have been told that unfortunately they don't have anything in their plans for opening it up for "external control".
Perhaps we can convince them as to the possibilities. :thup:
 
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