T-1000s LED Controller Review: Programming LED Pixel Lights

T-1000s LED controller is one of the most popular LED controllers for programming pixel LEDs today due to its low price and features.

This is more of a review than a build. This controller has been lying around for almost a year. I liked the idea that the animations run from the SD card. What put me off was the software that came with it, going by the name LEDEdit. Several versions are floating around.

Jinx!, Glediator, and LEDEdit 2014 are all free and easy to find with a little Google search. The downside with Jinx and Gladiator is that they require your matrix to be connected to an Arduino or something like a computer. so your animations will be streamed from the software to the controller and then to the matrix. Which is great for big setups, but I much prefer standalone setups.

T-1000s LED Controller can control a maximum of 2048 LEDs at 30 frames per second and store 16 separate animations. I have not found a limit on each animation. One of the animations I put together runs for over 30 minutes. A great feature I found in LEDEdit was screen capture. The ability to capture from video or other animation sequences and play them back

From the controller, The animations can be sped up or slowed down, and you can skip through animations. Once an animation has been selected, it will be repeated continuously until the next animation is selected.

Overall, this is a great little controller for small and large setups. I love the idea that I can create animations without having to have everything plugged in.

Supported Driver chips

TM1803, TM1804, TM1809, TM1812, TM1829, TM1913, TM1914, UCS1903, UCS1903B, UCS1909B, UCS1912, UCS2903, UCS2909, UCS2912, UCS3903, UCS6909, UCS6912, UCS7009, UCS5903, UCS8903, UCS512, US2811, WS2821, P9813, P9823, LPD1886, GW6202, GW6201, GW6202B, GW6204, GW6203, GW623X, TA9909, MBI6021, INK1003, LX10003, LX2003, LX2006, TLS3100, DMX, SM16711, SM16726, SM16716, LPD6803, LPD8806, LPD1882, LPD6812, TM1903, TM1904, TM1909, TM1912, , DMXMonochrome, WS2801, WS2803, D7710, QC1109, TLS3001, TLS3008, APA102, MY9221, BS0815, BS0825, BS0901, HL32, HL1809, HL2803, RGB, Monochrome, XB001, XB002.

T-1000s LED Controller Installation

Single-wire IC typical installation:

Connect the signal and data lines to the corresponding terminal as shown below:

Double-wire IC installation:

Connect the clock and data lines to the corresponding terminal as shown below:

Notice:

1. Connect the load wire first, followed by the power wire. Please make sure a short circuit will not occur between wires before you turn on the power.
2. The power supply voltage range is DC5–24V; a higher voltage might burn the controller; a lower voltage might not drive the controller normally.
3. A reset operation can be performed when plugging in the SD card.
4. Make sure the SD card is formatted as FAT before use.
5. For a single application, if the error indicator flickers, it means there is an error; please check the SD, programs, and connections.
6. The maximum distance from the DMX controller to the start side of the strips is 10 meters; if the distance is too large, the data signal will go wrong and patterns will also be wrong.
7. The Max qty of patterns is 16, and the pattern number is from 00 to 15, numbers must be in series.
8. When multiple controllers are used, the SD number is started from 1 to the last.
9. Remote controller keys A==set; B==mode; C==speed+; D==speed-. When pressing the keys on the remote controller, please keep pressing slowly, or the command will not be accepted.
10. The antenna wire length will affect the remote control distance; the maximum distance is about 10 meters with the maximum antenna wire length.

Concatenation installation: ( Synchro working needed)

Note: When working in synchrony mode, the error indicator will flicker; this is normal, and the flicker frequency will change when working at different speeds. (The first DMX controller doesn’t flicker; otherwise, it's wrong).

Concatenation installation: ( DMX Floodlight )

Control Panel Button Instructions

Key instructions:

• Set key: Save settings (save current setting file and playback speed).
• Mode key: Change programs.
• Speed+ key: Speed up.
• Speed- key: Speed down.
• Speed+ and Speed- key: if you press speed+ and speed- at the same time, the program will play circularly.

Port and indicator instructions:

• DC5V: if the input voltage is 5V or lower than 5V, please connect DC5V and GND port to the power supply.
• GND: connected to power GND pole.
• 7.5-24V: if the input voltage is larger than 5V, please connect 7.5-24V and GND port to the power supply.
• Power LED indicator: when there is power supplied.
• ERROR LED indicator: No SD card or SD card is wrong, or other error occurs, the light will flash.
• SD Card: SD card slot, please insert SD card.
• CLK: Clock signal out.
• DAT: Data signal out.
• GND: Signal ground.
• B: DMX- / (88Light Decoder 2.)
• A: DMX+ / (88Light Decoder 3.)
• GND: Signal ground. / (88Light Decoder 1.)
• Input A, Input B, Output A, and Output B: When two or more controllers two controllers needed, the controllers should be connected in cascade, connect Output A of the first controller to Input A of the second controller, connect Output B of the first controller to the Input B of the second controller, connect Output A of the second controller to the Input A of the third controller, connect Output A of the second controller to the Input A of the third controller, the max length of the cable between two controllers is 150 meters (0.5 m2 of copper cable), etc.