Is there a way to program a Renard into a full fledged e1.31 sACN device?

Aurbo99

Aurbo99

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Is there a way to program a Renard into a full fledged e1.31 sACN device? I know I asked before but could not adequately verbalize my thoughts.

I have numerous Renards, from Ren64's to RenSS 8's, 16's, and 24's as well as about 30 PX1's slowly gathering dust and I hope there is still a chance to keep the PX1's in use a while longer as my latest PC has no Serial ports.

I think RPM's bridge boards may work but those are also out of production.

Any thoughts?
 
ESPixelStick outputs the Renard protocol as well as a few other controllers. The RPI and most Falcon boards have Renard outputs. I am pretty sure the Alpha-Pix controllers have a renard output (dont own one so cant be positive).

Many of us still run our Renard controllers. FYI: I have never connected mine to a computer. Usually to an RPI or ESP.
 
To answer your original question: The flash on the CPUs used in the Renard series of devices does not have enough space and there is not enough RAM to support E1.31. You would also need a few more IO pins to support an Ethernet RMI interface.
 
Martin's right. Easiest way is via an espixelstick running in Renard mode and feeding its output to the input pin of the Renard's PIC
 
Good thing I purchased 4 espixelstick units last Nov.

Do they pair up to PX1's?
 
Yes you can drive PX1s using ESPixelStick V3 or V4 SW. ESPIxelStick outputs renard data at whatever speed you specify.
FYI: V3 Hardware supports D+/D- so you can run in in RS458 mode.
 
Good to know!

I could be going in circles with this,,,I failed to identify I use only pixels. (a single USB to serial dongle will handle the LedTriks as my only non pixel/non e1.31 connection if this all works out)

ESPixelStick V4 can control ws2811 pixels directly, correct? Which means no need for PX1's as long as my pixel count fits the ESP limits and I set up a WiFi point (or two) that will ensure a strong signal and connection to the ESPixelStick V4 units.

My main bottleneck is centered around 5 pixel props that are too far apart to use 4 or 16 output controllers like my e6804 and e682's.
I also run Cat5 exclusively to connect all SanDevices on my display network.

The 5 PX1 props are driven individually via an ePCI to Serial adapter card which I cannot install in my new PC.(no slot). My current PC running my show is now pushing 12+ years old and is showing its limitations. I would rather sort this all out over the Spring and Summer months with plenty of testing/troubleshooting time.

My distribution network of one sACN(e1.31) Cat5 out to my 24 port switch which feeds a 48 port distribution panel which in turn is wired to 25pair cables feeding several 6 port Bix ports or Keystone jacks in my garage, house front and house sides and megatree drop.

Serial ports are additional Cat5s from the PC directly to the 48 port panel then out to whichever Bix/keystone plug is closest to the PX1 driven props. <-- These are going to be the issue when I switch PC's
 
Those san devices controllers are missing serial outputs. So close. :(
Yes the ESPixelStick V4 software can drive up to 1000 pixels on an ESP8266 controller (limited to one port) and 3000 pixels on an ESP32 controller (up to 8 ports).

ESP32 versions also come with optional Ethernet CAT5 support so you can skip the WiFi and stay with your cat5 distribution network. The DIG product line is an example of products that come with ESP32+Ethernet+SD card support and all combinations are supported by the V4 software release.

Adding this: https://quinled.info/quinled-esp32-ethernet/ to your Dig-uno (https://quinled.info/quinled-dig-uno/) gets you an ethernet enabled single port controller. A 4 port version is available as: https://quinled.info/quinled-dig-quad/
 
"ESP32 versions also come with optional Ethernet CAT5 support so you can skip the WiFi and stay with your cat5 distribution network" <--- This is my preferred method

Dig-uno appears to fit my needs, only thing I did not see was how to set this up in Vixen3
 
You install ESPixelStick V4 on the dig uno and on vixen you create an E1.31 controller. I would use ddp but you seem to like E1.31 so that works as well.
 
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