Here is a post from Dave describing his new expansion board for the Falcon16v2.
What does this offer? Instead of 40-50' to the first light from the f16v2 board, this allows 300-400'.
So:
(1) f16v2 supports 3 or 4 wire lights , up to 680 per port. 32K channels per f16v2.
(2) if you add the f16 expansion board, you now have 32 outputs, 340 pixels each. Still 32K total channels. Supports 3 or 4 wire lights. This is what has been offered since last summer.
This new board is a differential expander. You use it instead of (2) above.
(3) expansion board drives only 3 wire lights (no 2801) , each output is now 170 nodes. 16 ports on f16v2 plus the 32 expansion ports that this board supports gives you 48 outputs. 16x340 nodes on main board + 32*170 nodes on the differential expander board = 32K channels.
Note with the 8 port expander, 32 data line expansion board (3) above you will need receiver boards that are located 300-400' away. Currently one cat5 cable coming into the receiver board will produce 4 outputs. I think dave is thinking of also offering a 8 port output receiver. The outputs again can drive 40-50' from the receiver to the first lights.
Dave Pitts wrote: "New F16V2 differential expansion board in the works. This board will allow the F16V2 to drive 16 or 32 3-wire strings up to hundreds of feet away. The 16/32 strings are in addition to the 16 strings that can be driven from main board for a total of 48 strings max. When the expansion board is in 16 string mode each port can drive 340 pixels worth of data or 170 pixels in 32 string mode. The expansion board utilizes differential signals similar to those used on our Falcon hubs and Smart String controllers to drive inexpensive four string receivers. The receivers are in the PCB layout process and both expansion and receivers are expected to be tested in the next two weeks."
