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Driver Type
Categories
- Recent Updates
- Access Control
- Amplifier
- A/V Receiver
- Climate and Pool Control
- Disc Player / Changer
- Display
- DSP
- DVR
- Irrigation / Sprinklers
- Lighting Control
- Matrix Switch
- Media Server and Player
- Multi-Room A/V
- Networking
- Power and Rack Management
- Security
- Surveillance
- Teleconferencing
- Training
- Tuner
- Utility
- Video Projector
Epic Sky Star Ceiling (SHP)
By: David Bowdler
Updated: Sept. 18, 2026
Version: 0.8
Epic Sky Star Ceiling
Full RTI control of epiXsky fibre-optic star ceilings and LED effect lighting over a single RS-232 port - the whole published epiXsky command set, across every controller in the chain.
Key Features
- The complete command set: Advanced Pro RGBW controllers (colours, colour presets, named shows, ramp and rate, brighten and dim, stored presets), the Twilight White LED Stars family (night sky, scintillation, tropical, rain, party, sparkle), Shooting Star, Meteor Shower, the Addressable Constellation and Addressable Firework boards, Epic Moon, and the RGB and RGBW Mini and Cube controllers.
- One cable, the whole ceiling: epiXsky controllers daisy-chain and commands repeat downstream, so a single processor serial port drives every board in the run.
- Six controllers, addressed individually: each board carries a DIP-switch address, so a cinema with a separate screen halo, cove and speaker wash is three named zones on one cable - plus a broadcast category that hits every board at once.
- Build the page once: every controller is also an RTI Source. Build one colour and show page, then copy it and change only its Source to re-target every button at the next controller.
- Quick Set: two commands with drop-downs - pick the controller, pick the colour or the show - for fast macro and scene building without hunting through the function tree.
- Per-controller feedback: colour, mode and RGBW level variables, source-scoped so a shared page reads back the right board.
- Tuned for a real daisy-chain: adjustable command spacing and off-command repeats, because a 9600 baud chain with no flow control will drop back-to-back commands if you push it.
- Built for support: telnet diagnostic console with controller listing, board probe and receive dump, plus optional remote logging so faults can be diagnosed without attending site.
Requirements
- epiXsky controllers - Advanced Pro, Twilight White LED Stars, Addressable Constellation or Firework, Epic Moon, RGB / RGBW Mini or Cube
- One free RS-232 port on the RTI processor, wired to the first controller in the chain at 9600 8-N-1
- Three-wire serial: TX to RX, RX to TX, and ground to ground - a missing ground is the most common cause of a dead link
- The DIP-switch address of each Advanced Pro board (pin 8 = 1, pin 7 = 2; no pins = address 0)
- RTI processor running firmware that supports runtime 24 or later
How It Works
epiXsky controllers take short ASCII commands terminated with a carriage return, and address-prefixed families take a leading address character so a single serial run can drive several boards independently. The driver holds a paced transmit queue - deliberately spaced, and repeating off commands - because the chain has no flow control and will silently drop commands sent back to back. State is tracked optimistically and published per controller, so the panel reflects what you sent even though the controllers are fire-and-forget.
Epic Sky Star Ceiling Control Driver
Version 0.8 - Smart Home Programming
Controls epiXsky (Epic Sky) RS-232 LED controllers - Advanced Pro RGBW, Twilight White LED Stars (shooting stars + meteor showers), Color Stars, Addressable Constellation, Addressable Firework, Epic Moon and RGB/RGBW Mini - over a single daisy-chained serial connection.
Wiring & Setup
- Connect the RTI processor serial port to the epiXsky controller's RS-232 IN. Controllers repeat commands out to the next unit, so one serial port drives the whole chain.
- Serial settings are fixed at 9600 baud, 8 data, no parity, 1 stop, no flow control.
- In Driver Properties set the Serial Port. Set Controller Address to 9 (all units) unless you have multiple separately-addressed Advanced Pro controllers, in which case set the address (0-7) per the unit's DIP switches.
Controller types
- Advanced Pro RGBW: red/green/blue/white levels, solid colours, themed shows (Sunset, USA, Rainbow, etc.), colour cycle, brighten/dim, save/recall presets A-E, ramp/rate.
- Stars: Night Sky, Scintillation, Tropical Winds, Rain Shower, Party, solid level, sparkle speed.
- Shooting Star: trigger one now, or auto every 10s / 1 / 2 / 5 / 10 minutes, on/off, speed and interval.
- Meteor Shower: on/off, speed, time-between-meteors, interval, number per shower.
- Constellation / Firework / Moon: dedicated effect commands.
- Send Raw Command: type any command from the epiXsky sheet verbatim (a carriage return is added automatically) - covers RGB/RGBW Mini, Epic Cube, and any controller variant.
Quick Set (drop-downs - fastest way to program)
Two commands under the "Quick Set" category let you program a colour or scene with two drop-downs instead of hunting a separate per-controller button. When you add the command to a button, pick the target controller by its friendly name (or "All Controllers") and pick the colour/scene from the list:
- Set Colour: Controller + a solid colour (Red, Green, Blue, Magenta, Cyan, Gold, RGB White, Orange, Light Blue, Light Green, Violet, Pink, Warm White).
- Set Scene: Controller + a themed show (Sunset, Tranquility, Morning Sky, Royal, USA, Twilight, Valentines, Easter, Autumn, Christmas, Mardi Gras, Cool Cabaret, Rainbow).
The controller drop-down shows the friendly names you set under Controllers (Screen Halo, Cove, etc.); only the controllers you have configured appear. The per-controller buttons (Controller N - ...) are still there if you prefer a dedicated button per action.
Build one page, reuse it for any controller (Sources)
If you build a page of colour / show buttons and want to reuse it for a different controller without re-pointing every button, use the Source model - the colour choice stays separate from the controller choice.
- Add a Source per controller: in your project, add the "Epic Sky Controller" source (one per Advanced Pro controller). Add them in the same order as the Controllers you configured in Driver Properties - Source 1 is Controller 1, Source 2 is Controller 2, and so on.
- Build the page once: under the "Controller - Colours, Shows & Levels (drop onto a Source)" category, drop the controller-agnostic tags (Colour Red, Show USA, Red Level, All Off, etc.) onto your buttons. Set the page's Source to the controller it should drive.
- Reuse it: copy the page and change only its Source to another Epic Sky Controller. Every colour / show button re-targets that controller automatically - the colours stay wired. Dropping a level tag (e.g. Red Level) also wires that controller's two-way feedback.
- Leaving the Controller drop-down at "All Controllers" (the default) broadcasts to every controller - handy for a single-controller install or a master page.
Important - DIP switches
Each epiXsky board reads its MODE and address from physical DIP switches at power-up. Serial commands only act within the mode the DIP switches select - the driver cannot override the DIP mode. Set each board's DIP switches before installing in the ceiling.
Feedback
Most epiXsky commands are fire-and-forget (no acknowledgement), so the driver tracks state optimistically. The Advanced Pro "Query Status" function requests a status string; the format varies by controller firmware.
Diagnostics
Telnet to the processor on the Debug Console Port (default 12531) for a live console - type "help" for commands (status, colour/show/stars/shoot, send <raw>, probe). Remote Logging (in the hidden Development category) can stream logs to Smart Home Programming for support.
Licensing
The driver runs a 120-minute trial with full control. To license permanently, enter the Licence Key supplied by Smart Home Programming for your processor into the Licensing category in Driver Properties. After the trial expires control commands are blocked until a valid key is entered.
Support
Smart Home Programming - https://smarthomeprogramming.com.au
Licensed per RTI processor. The key is generated from the processor MAC address, and one key covers the whole ceiling - every controller, on every serial port, on that processor.
A 120-minute trial runs from each restart without a key. When the trial expires, commands stop until a valid key is entered.