The FEL-CA2 is the Ethernet controller for the SPI pixel installs — the box that sits between the show and the pixels. The media server or the console speaks ArtNet across the network; the CA2 receives it, decodes the show data and drives 16 ports of SPI pixel output at 3 amps each. The pixels run by the IC: the 2811-class strips, the APA102 dots and the rest of the compatible list the specifications name. And when the install mixes pixels with the CV decoder family, the dual DMX512 output ports bridge 2×512 channels out to the rail decoders downstream. Config happens in the built-in web server, the firmware upgrades online, and the DC5-24V supply carries a 5A fuse on board.
Sixteen pixel ports at 3 amps
The 16 output ports each drive 3 amps of pixel load, with a 5A fuse on board protecting the run. The pixel counts are per port: 340 RGB pixels on each of the 16 ports — 5,440 pixels across the controller — or 256 RGBW pixels per port, 4,096 across the 16. That is the high-density end of the strip and dot installs: the media façades, the pixel matrices and the long addressable runs that a CV decoder’s four or five channels cannot cover.
The pixel ICs it speaks
The output speaks the SPI protocols by IC name — 2811, 8904, 6812, 2904, 1814, 1914, 5603, 9812, APA102, 2812, 9813, 3001, 8806, 6803 and 2801 — the designations the strips and dots carry. The specifications list the full set, and the sales team confirms others beyond it. Match the IC on the strip to the port config and the pixels decode as addressed — no re-soldering, no protocol conversion boxes between the controller and the run.
ArtNet and sACN on the network
The Ethernet side speaks ArtNet on the V1 firmware, and ArtNet plus sACN (E1.31) on V2 — the two protocols the lighting networks run. One Ethernet line in carries the show data for all 16 ports, so the controller sits on the network like any other node: the console or media server addresses it, and the pixels on the far side follow. No DMX lines in from the desk unless the install wants them.
Dual DMX512 out
Two DMX512 output ports carry 2×512 channels out of the box. That is the bridge to the rest of the range: the CV decoders — the DIN rail family, the slim bodies, the stage units — all hang off DMX512, and the CA2 drives them from the same show file as the pixels. Pixels on the ports, decoders on the DMX, one network input feeding the lot.
Web server and firmware
The config runs through the built-in web server: the port setup, the IC selection and the network settings happen in the browser, on site or over the install network. The firmware upgrades online, so the controller takes new features and protocol updates without a trip up the ladder. For a box that lives at the centre of a 5,440-pixel install, that is the maintenance path the crews ask for.
Working envelope
Working temperature spans -20°C to +55°C, which covers the plant rooms, the riser cabinets and the racks the controller lives in. The supply is DC5-24V with the 5A fuse on board, and the body is L260×W146.5×H40.5mm at 1,100g — a rack-and-cabinet plate sized for the terminal blocks, the Ethernet and the two DMX ports across its face.
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The controller earns its place wherever the pixel count outgrows the DMX channel budget: the media façades and building outlines running thousands of addressable dots, the nightclub and stage pixel matrices, the themed-environment strips that chase and flow, and the creative signage builds. Wherever a media server or a console speaks ArtNet and the far side is SPI pixels, this is the box in between.
Where it sits in the range
The CA2 sits upstream of the decoder family: the Ethernet and ArtNet side of the signal chain, driving SPI pixels directly off its 16 ports. The CV decoder family — the DIN rail units, the slim bodies, the stage boxes — sits downstream of its dual DMX512 outputs, translating the DMX into constant-voltage PWM for the strips. The two together cover the install: pixels off the ports, CV strips off the decoders, one show file driving both.
