MADRIX Forum

Hertel wrote:Please tell me more about the E1.31 (sACN) Gateway devices. Where do you bought your E1.31 (sACN) Gateways?

Hi Christian,

I'll put a vote in here for the sACN Gateway boards made by Jim St. John at SANDevices (http://www.sandevices.com). The E682, in particular, is a really flexible board and a very inexpensive way to get into the kind of DMX-to-IC chip translation that's necessary to drive pixel strips that use chips like the WS2801, HL1806, LPD8806, TLC3001, and a bunch of others.


The E682 board can drive 16 sets of strips, and while not every strand is completely independent of the others (the board is divided into four clusters), within each cluster you still have a lot of flexibility. Currently each E682 board can address 6 universes of DMX, but there's some potential for future expansion. Pixels also can be grouped, such that a single set of RGB DMX addresses can control two or more pixels in a strand.


If you don't need hyper-resolution in your application (in my case, I'm doing a lot of cove lighting, so the need to have individual, point-control of each pixel is not always there), you can control an obscene number of pixels with this one board.


I don't work for Jim but I own five of the E682 boards and am really intrigued by the possibilities these boards present. The board is available pre-assembled or as a kit, and I'll vouch for the fact that it's also a fun electronics project to build for those with somewhat above average soldering skills.

Cheers,
Matt

I will second the E682 board by SanDevices.. im using them for my Christmas lights.. a total of 1600 Pixels all with individual pixel control.. im using TLS-3001 Pixels and no matter what effects I throw at it, it just responds beautifully..

I bought my controlllers fully completed just for the fact i didnt have time to source components or build the kits.. Jim was VERY helpful with getting them set up and to work with MADRIX.

mine came with outdoor cases, power supply, and prewired with weatherproof connectors for the Pixels..

so far I have had no issues and these have been outside in Rain, Ice, sun, and freeze / thaw so far this season...

These appear to be very well built Boards!
EDIT: I should say my 1600 Pixels are across 2 boards.. not just 1

-Christopher