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AC JR with Bluetooth WiFi

cabrego

By cabrego,
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cabrego Master Reefer

cabrego

Greetings! While doing research last night I stumbled upon some interesting information. It turns out the AC JR has the capability to be hooked up to your home's WiFi via the serial port and a Blue tooth adapter! This is great news for me since I was starting to run out of neat stuff to do with my fish tank! It looks like the total cost so far is in the neighborhood of about 70 dollars to make the conversion. From what I have read about it, most of the users are pretty happy with the software that has been developed.

 

Here is a link to the software

 

http://sites.google.com/site/acserial2web/Home

 

There are a few hardware options, the bottom line with hardware is that you need the serial cord to the AC JR. If you want wireless you will also need a Serial Bluetooth adaptor , and a bluetooth dongle for your computer. Pretty cool and a seems like a great alternative for those that don't have the fancier aquacontrollers. :clap: :clap:

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zoozilla Legendary Reefer

zoozilla

From what I have read about it, most of the users are pretty happy with the software that has been developed.

 

Here is a link to the software

 

http://sites.google....serial2web/Home

 

 

Yep, the serial2web software came in very handy last year for several months prior to me upgrading to the ACIII. Was able to access/control the ACJr over the web, post a status signature, view graphs, etc. At the time, I didn't go the Bluetooth route. Instead, I connected the ACJr via Serial cable to a spare laptop w/WiFi connection. Worked like a charm.

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phisigs79 Oracle Reefer

phisigs79

so i assume the somputer must always be on right?

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phisigs79 Oracle Reefer

phisigs79

is there anyway to get around this buy going the blue tooth route?

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cabrego Master Reefer

cabrego

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is there anyway to get around this buy going the blue tooth route?

 

My comp is always on so ist is no big deal for me. I also like the idea of controlling from any place with a connection.

 

Zoo curious what the AC3 can do that thus cant

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zoozilla Legendary Reefer

zoozilla

(edited)

is there anyway to get around this buy going the blue tooth route?

 

The blue tooth allows the ACJr and Computer to go physically untethered. The desktop/laptop is still needed because the ACJr does not have a built-in Web Server. Wish there was a way around that though.

 

 

Zoo curious what the AC3 can do that thus cant

 

From what I recall, with the ACSerial2Web software, the majority of the things you can do online with the ACIII you can pretty much do with the ACJr except monitoring ORP, controlling more items, etc. In fact, he offers ACIII apps for ACJr. If you have an IPhone/ITouch, there's an APP for that :)

 

It's a very cool "Free" software option, if you don't have any plans to upgrade your controller.

Edited by zoozilla
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phisigs79 Oracle Reefer

phisigs79

does anyone know if there is a app on the droid network?

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phisigs79 Oracle Reefer

phisigs79

i think it needs bluetooth

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cabrego Master Reefer

cabrego

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I am not sure about the webcam but if you wan't a wireless connection to your AC JR you will need at least the 3 pieces of hardware I mentioned in the first post. I purchased all of them yesterday for around 70 dollars shipped. I

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darkcirca Tang

darkcirca

(edited)

We did a serial to ethernet conversion on our AC Jr and the fiance wrote his own web interface to track things, and to have control over things. Can remotely connect home and turn things on/off, which is great. The latest was monitoring when exactly the heater is on during the day.

 

This was some time ago (the original), but here is what we did:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1454800

 

It's been updated since then..

 

We've got a web server though to run it on, and just use a network camera. Just purchased a new Panasonic one for this house. The last one was on the bar in front of the tank, but there is no where to sit this one, so it's mounted on the ceiling. Not the best to watch, but it does the job of making sure the sump is level.

Edited by darkcirca
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cabrego Master Reefer

cabrego

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We did a serial to ethernet conversion on our AC Jr and the fiance wrote his own web interface to track things, and to have control over things. Can remotely connect home and turn things on/off, which is great. The latest was monitoring when exactly the heater is on during the day.

 

This was some time ago (the original), but here is what we did:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1454800

 

It's been updated since then..

 

We've got a web server though to run it on, and just use a network camera. Just purchased a new Panasonic one for this house. The last one was on the bar in front of the tank, but there is no where to sit this one, so it's mounted on the ceiling. Not the best to watch, but it does the job of making sure the sump is level.

 

 

Looks very cool! Nice to know there are other options !

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darkcirca Tang

darkcirca

Attached 2 pictures of "as of now" - red is when heater is running. We moved the tank about a month ago, and wanted to keep track of it, as it never ran at the old place..

 

Bought a PH Probe as well (finally) - haven't set it up in tank, but it'll be on here next. History is 4 hours, 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 1 year.

 

 

At the time we purchased our ACJr, we didn't want to front the funds for the AC3. It works fine for what we need.

post-2631237-127377881809_thumb.jpg

post-2631237-127377882521_thumb.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
cabrego Master Reefer

cabrego

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A little update, I have set up the ACserial2web software and it works pretty good. The software has USB web cam picture and video support which is really cool! The bluetooth connection has been very spotty and does not like to stay connected for more than a few hours so it is not working for my needs at the moment. I have a hard wire connection hooked up to my computer and it seems to be working ok..Except I can't see my signauture with my status below, can anyone see it?

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cabrego Master Reefer

cabrego

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I was able to see the signature block from home so it must be the server at work.

 

Yeah thanks for the confirmation. I can still access my info and control my system/ see pictures of it from my phone so I guess that will work for me. Too bad I can't see my sig though, I need to set one up at reef chat but i am having some trouble...

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