The SP511E addressable LED controller is the successor to the very popular SP501E controller. It is available for around $8 on AliExpress and $12 on Amazon. Like the SP501E, the SP511E is powered by an ESP8285 with 2MB flash running a firmware for the FairyNest app. Unlike the SP501E, the SP511E comes with an IR receiver and 38 key remote, 3 case push buttons, two output connectors (on same pin), and a microphone. Both the SP501E and SP511E controllers are quite capable, however FairyNest leaves much to be desired. It has 180 dynamic effects, however they are mostly different color combinations of perhaps a dozen animations. And before you can use the app, you have to register with your email.
To make better use of these controllers, we will be replacing the stock firmware with WLED. WLED is open source and features over 100 animations and 70 color palettes, a large number of interfaces and is very configurable. There is also a Sound Reactive fork of WLED. Because the FFT calculations require the additional processing power of the ESP32, the Sound Reactive WLED community focuses their efforts there. The EPS8266 version does not have 2D matrix support or FFT effects, but it does have over a dozen sound reactive animations in addition to all the effects in standard WLED.
Getting set up for the first time can take some time. But once you have flashed to WLED the first time, you will be able to perform over the air (OTA) updates. Here is what you will need:
- USB to TTL UART adapter. I'm using the CP2102 available from Amazon or AliExpress.
- Install the CP2102 drivers.
- A program to write to the ESP8266. Review the guide on installing the WLED binary. I will be using esptool in this guide but ESP Home Flasher will work also.
- A clip to attach the CP2102 to the RS232 pads on the bottom of the board, and Dupont wires to attach the clip to the CP2102 adapter. You can purchase pogo pin clips designed for this (2.0mm single row 5 pin). We will be making our own later in this guide.
- The firmware WLED 0.13.3 or SoundReactive 0.13.0b-3. I will try to keep the SoundReactive updated when the SoundReactive team releases changes to the ESP8266 branch. However, there are continual updates to standard WLED. Check if there is a more recent firmware on Serg's repository
If you plan on flashing many of these controllers, I highly recommend purchasing the pogo pin clip. But if you are flashing one or two, it doesn't make sense to pay $11 for a clip to program an $8 controller. I used the long pinned male-female header. The long pins are springy enough to maintain good contact while you program the board. If you have any Wemos D1 mini boards, you likely have plenty of these lying around. You can purchase them here. The pins have a 2.54mm spacing and the pads are spaced 2.0mm so you will need to bend the pins in a bit. If you have a jumper lying around, put it on pins 4 and 5 before bending. Otherwise, solder a piece of wire between pins 4 and 5 after bending. I also bent two outer pins down, so they clip on the edge of the board. This isn't required, but it allows you to hold the clip firmly in place with one finger. If your header has additional pins, you can cut them off or bend them out of the way. If you don't have a clip and don't want to make one, you can also solder wires to the pads and desolder them once you are done. If you do this, do not solder a Dupont pin on to the pad. Cut and strip the wire and solder the wire to the pad. The rigid pins can rip the pads off of the PCB and you will be stuck with whatever firmware is on the board.
The pads on board are clearly labelled. When connecting the CP2102 to the clip, connect 3v3 to 3v3 and ground to ground, but cross TX to RX and RX to TX. You also need to connect io0 to ground in order to program it. There is only 1 ground pin on the CP2102, which is why we connected pins 4 and 5 together with a jumper or wire. The CP2102 also has a 5v pin, be sure to use 3v3 and not 5v!
Now we are ready to program the board. If esptool detects multiple ports, it can take a while as it attempts to write to each port. We'll start by figuring out what port our CP2102 is on. Plug the CP2102 in to your USB port then open Device Manager. Expand the "Ports (COM & LPT)" section and note the port for the Silicone Labs CP210x device. Mine happens to be COM4. Now open a Power Shell or CMD window and change directory to where you downloaded the WLED firmware to and type in the following command. Be sure to replace COM4 with whatever your port is.
esptool.py -p COM4 write_flash 0x0 SP511E.bin
If you have the pogo clip, and the SP511E is attached, you can hit enter right away. But if you are using the long-pin headers that need held in place, type the command but do not hit enter. Unplug the CP2102 from your USB port, position the clip over the pads, and plug the CP2102 back in. Hit Enter to execute the command you typed earlier. It will take about 60 seconds to write to flash. Once it completes and verifies, you will see a success message. You can disconnect the CP2102.
Connect the controller to a 5-24v power supply and verify you see the WLED-AP wifi access point. If you see it, it succeeded and you can stuff it back in its enclosure and follow the getting-started guide to get it connected to your network and configured.
Once your basic setup is complete, go back to the "LED Settings" page.
- Configure IR by selecting "JSON remote" as the remote type. The IR pin is 5, but should already be set for you. Once you select "JSON remote" a control will appear to upload the config. Upload the 38-key config found here.
- Configure the two additional buttons. The power button (pin 2) is set as button 0 because its default behavior is to toggle off and on. Set button 1 to pin 13 ("M" button) and button 2 to 14 ("S" button).
- You will need to make presets for each button action to make the "M" button cycle through effects create on preset with API Command of
FX=~and save to ID 100. Then make a second preset withFX=~-and save to 101. To cycle speed with the "S" button, you want to take bigger steps. The API commands would beSX=~16andSX=~-16. - Finally, you need to map your presets to the button action. Go to Config -> "Time & Macros" and set short press on button 1 to 100 and long press to 101. If you made presets for the "S" button, set them here as well.