How to use smart differential receivers with Falcon controllers 

You're welcome and thank you! I'm glad my videos were helpful!

Esp32 mcu boards will do the same or a teensy 4.1 wirh some Middleware for shifting array data in binary form. I don't have a degree though. Not meant to be a troll brother. An ee degree is on my bucket list.

Thank you so glad I could help!

Thank you so much! Glad you found it useful!

Nice! Glad the video helped!

You're welcome, glad you found it useful!

Thanks, glad you enjoy them!

Thanks!

Thanks!

I found it on a website called all things pixel. They sell the entire kit and hp power supplies there too.

It should as long as you program it correctly. You'll probably have to power inject since you have a lot of pictures on one port

So I'm going to be honest, I'm not 100% sure since I haven't used receivers this way in a while. I do know that some information in this video is wrong and I plan on updating it sometime this year. If I recall correctly, there's a setting called the port index in the serial outputs tab you need to setup on the F16v3 for it to work. The mode for each of the 4 outputs on that page needs to be set to pixel data, and then the port index is set to whatever ports you want to go to the receiver instead of the controller. For example, if I wanted the receiver to be sent the data for pixel ports 1 through 4, I would set the port index to one for the first output on the serial outputs page, then 2 for the second, 3 for the 3rd, and then 4 for the 4th. This would now send any data that would be going out of pixel ports 1 through 4 to the receiver. However, if I wanted pixel ports 13 through 16 to go to the receiver, I would set the port index of the #1 output to port 13, the second output to port 14, 3rd to port 15, and 4th to port 16. Now ports 13-16 would be disabled but the data would go to the receiver. In this video, I showed only outputs 3 and 4 being set to pixel data, but that is not correct. All 4 of them should be set to pixel data. Did this help at all or are you still confused? I know I was really confused when I first learned about receivers so I completely understand 😂

When it says 1a, 2a, 3a, and 4a, those are all the ports on the 1st receiver. 1b, 2b, 3b, and 4b are all the ports on the 2nd receiver. All 8 of the ports will only disable 4 ports on the falcon, but you will have the max number of pixels split on the receivers. For example 1a and 1b will be split, so each can only have a max of 512 pixels. Same with the rest of the ports on the receivers. Hope this helps!

@@How2Pixel Thanks a ton!

If I remember correctly you said you have 2 ports with 800 pixels max. I would have 600 pixels, so half the tree, on one port. Then I'd put the other half first on the other port, then hook the star on the end of those 6 strings. So make sure to set the tree to 2 strands in xlights (aka setting it to use 2 ports)

Is the receiver connected to the extra receiver port built into the f16v3? Or is it plugged into an expansion board? If it's the first one, you probably need to go to the serial outputs tab and set up that. You need to go under one of the 4 ports on that tab, set the mode to pixel data, and put the first channel of data sent to the receiver. For example, if the reciever is only for a tree and the tree's start channel is 1,000, put 1,000 into the start channel. The only problem is I don't know which output on that tab is for the receivers. I had a hard time setting it up myself. I recommend just setting them all to pixel data and the start channel. Now if you have the receiver on a differential expansion board, I don't really know what the problem could be. Hopefully this helps!

@@How2Pixel My set up has one expansion board connected to the extra receiver port. On the serial port tab all are set to pixel data, port index set #1-port 5, #2-port 6, ect. I'm using port 5a-8a and that is displayed on the port configuration tab. I have a 50 node string connected. port 5a shows the string on the port configuration tab, has a universe and node count from xlights. xlights shows the controller and the port is set to 5

Are you using the new blue receivers or the older white ones? One thing to check is if the terminator is on and it's set for the right mode. If you have a dumb receiver you don't need to worry about that but if you have a smart one then check the mode and terminator. Since it's just the one receiver the terminator should be on and it should be set for normal mode.

I'm using the blue boards. I'm fairly new and have a simple house outline and some props. After some head scratching, I was able to trace my problem to a bad power supply. First time I have experienced one. Now I know what to look for. Thanks so much for the follow ups. All is working well now gearing up for Halloween.

@@gregmartin5062 I'm glad you got it fixed and good luck on the show!

Thanks!

Cost ? This wouldn’t be a bad idea lol 😂

I'm not sure what you mean by cost. Do you mean just the differential receivers or a power supply and enclosure with the differential receivers? The differential receivers are usually $22 a peice, a power supply for them is $30 (you should need only 1, maybe 2 at max), and a enclosure is $25 for a total of $77. It does have benefits of using differential receivers instead of long lengths of wire such as you can test just the props on the receivers if you want to, and you need less data boosters.

Excellent explanation. Thank you. I bought one of these last year but next Christmas will be my first year using it.

Thanks! Good luck with your receivers!

Yes you can. My box has 2 recievers on one.

@@How2Pixel Great! Thank you for the reply. I have watched numerous videos and have found yours to be the most helpful. Please keep tossing them out!

@@How2Pixel I really need a better understanding of how power injection works. From the connection to the power source.

I wish I had a video on it but I dont. It's a lot to explain, but this video helped me understand it so I recommend you check it out: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bvN91XDH2V0.html

You're definitely going to need 3 power injections for each. One at the end and 2 in the middle. You may even need 3 in the middle but I think you should be ok 2.

So I'm not sure about how other people turn all their power supplies on, but I can tell you how I do it. I have 4 power supplies that all have extension cords that go to them. All the extension cords go into our garage and are hooked to a surge protector. That surge protector is then plugged into a smart plug that is on a schedule to turn on and off for the show. Now for the power injection part, you should use the power supply that the lights are plugged into for power injection. For example, lets say you have 200 lights plugged into a differential receiver, then that differential receiver is plugged into a power supply. You should use that same power supply to power inject your lights. You can even use other power supplies in your show, but then it gets more complicated. You'll have to cut the positive wire on your pixels between power injections so the power doesnt back feed into a different power supply. So I'd recommend just using the power supply the strand of lights are on to power inject that strand. I hope this helps!

@@How2Pixel This helps me understand so thanks for your time and effort getting back to me because unlike yourself and others it can get very confusing for beginners like myself but I understand a lot more of the process behind it now , keep up the good work .

I'm not the best at answering these types of questions since I can't see the problem, but my guess is you need to go into the layout of the tree and set 2 strands on it. That way you can have 600 pixels going to one port, and then the other 600 on port 2. Then you can hook you star onto the end of strand 1 or 2. Hopefully this helps!

So now you should put 6 in the strands/strings setting, and set the nodes a string to have of how many pixels are in the tree and that should work.

Sorry but I don't have a video about that. I'm sure there are other videos online that talk about that. I might be making a video like that though in a few months from now cause I may need to do this sort of setup for the display this year.

Sorry, but I do not. I haven't done a ton of research about any of the new receivers or the V4/V5 controllers. I only have an F16v3 and the older receivers, but I am considering getting an F16v5 this October when they start shipping out. Maybe ask on a forum like Falcon Christmas and someone can help you out there.

I'm assuming you'd be using the extra dmx output for the receivers built into the board, right? If so, you can go into the serial output tab in the controller, and set all 4 outputs to pixel data, then use the port index to select which ports you want the receiver to run on. This will allow you to choose any ports you want, so you don't mess up your other props. Hope this helps!

I also forgot to mention, yes you will be able to use 12-volt props as long as you have 12 volts going to the receiver.

@@How2Pixel this definitely helps, I really appreciate it. I have one more question. Considering the fact that both expansion boards and diff receivers force you to split the number of pixels each port can run, what options are available to increase not just the number of ports but also the number of pixels in your show? Just getting a second controller? To me it looks like the diff receivers get you closer to the props and increase the number of ports if you don't need to run many pixels per port. And expansion boards increase the number of ports. But neither gives you more ports AND more pixels. Thank you!

You are correct and neither do increase how many pixels you can use. They were meant to help reduce power injection and spread out all the pixels the board can use. Each port can run 1024 pixels (a little less if you use 40 FPS sequences) but that's impossible unless you power inject. Whereas if you have differential receivers or expansion boards, you can get access to all 1024 pixels (now spread across multiple ports) easier with less power injection. Now if you're looking to run more pixels, I'd recommend either getting a second controller or selling your controller and getting a new V4 from Falcon. The new V4s can run over 32,000 pixels (if you get an expansion board) instead of 16,000 with the V3. Now the only difference with the V4 is if you use an expansion board, you get more pixels instead of splitting them. So you could have 32 ports with 1024 pixels per port. If you expand it a 3rd time, however, then it splits the pixels to 704 per port with 48 ports. It will probably be hard to get your hands on a new controller though, because they are all sold out.

I'm not 100% sure how the F16v4 works cause I don't have it, but it sounds like you haven't setup the channels correctly on the second port. Have you setup anything on that port?

I'm sorry for the late reply, I didn't see your comment until just now. I honestly have no idea why only the dmx option would be there and my recommendation would be to ask that question of Falcon Christmas. There're a lot more experienced people there and I'm sure they'd be able to help you.

Sorry, I didn't know they weren't ethernet ports. Some information I read online said that they were, but I guess there not. I'll leave something in the description about it so people don't get confused. Thanks for pointing that out.