After some research I decided to try the ECG-P2 controller from Joshua-1 systems. The ECG-P2 is a E1.31 to Pixel controller allowing you to control 2 banks of pixel strings. Each bank supports 4 DMX Universes of pixels which totals to 680 pixels (4 * 170 = 680px)
I ordered the controller at the end of 2013 but didn’t really have time to look at it until recently. Also had to order some pixels to use it with and I was taking advantage of some of the preorder sales for that.
First impression was good. Looks like high quality hardware. Nice case (I opted to pay additional for the included case) and it comes with nice connectors as well.
I already noticed when ordering that the J1SYS web site could be a lot better in terms of organization and content.
When I tried to get started I realized that there was no information/documentation included with the product nor is there any available on the J1SYS web site. After spending a little time on the internet and asking some questions on some forums I was pointed to third party information to help get started.
In order to use the J1SYS ECG-P2 you need to first make sure that the jumpers are correct
here is a link to a document that shows all the jumper setting
http://clap-supplies.yagoonalights.com/manuals/ECG-P2+ECG-D2+Quick+Notes.pdf
After setting the correct jumpers the next step is to make sure you can communicate with the controller on your network
The controllers default setting is not using DHCP but a fixed IP address of 10.10.10.10 if I remember correctly. If your network is set to using a different subnet (mine is 192.168.1.x for example) you will not be able to communicate directly with the controller until you change the IP address of the controller.
you can download a third party utility called PIC32UBL that will allow you to set the IP address of the controller to one that works in your network
http://clap-supplies.yagoonalights.com/info-centre/
Make sure the address you use is outside your networks DHCP range and does not conflict with another device on your network
After setting the ip address on the controller you should now be able to navigate to the ip address using your browser