MisterTang January 3, 2014 Share January 3, 2014 So through all my tanks, I've never had a controller solution because they're a pricey investment and it's hard for me to determine which one will do the "advanced" stuff I want. All of them seem to do "basic" stuff with a power bar and probes. I'm hoping someone who has a decent amount of experience with them and is also pretty technically inclined could help me out here... I'd like to be able to script off of a yes/no measurement of current draw on a particular power port. The Apex looks like it might be able to do this, but they don't explicitly say they can. This requirement is to support legacy devices that have their own timers, but allow me to have a decision tree on the controller that would turn off these devices if they're on and the temp is too warm or something. I'd also like a way to measure IO from third-party devices or devices I build. Measuring analog would be preferred, but I'm willing to settle for simple on/off switching. Lastly, I'm looking for a unit that will allow lots and lots of programming. I'm comfortable with most languages from asm to Python, so the more flexibility I have to write complex programs, the more satisfied with my purchase I'll be. Really, I'm looking for the most "tinkering" flexibility I can find. I would also prefer something open-source if possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishie January 3, 2014 Share January 3, 2014 if you are comfortable with programming and want open source for complete control...then go reef angel the only other good system is the apex but it doesn't fit what you have described and is not open source...but will do a lot as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lnevo January 3, 2014 Share January 3, 2014 I'm a big advocate of the ReefAngel but it cant do current draw for the ports. It is arduino based and open source so if its something you can add then yeah, otherwise all of the above works. I love it because almost anything I can think of can be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM January 3, 2014 Share January 3, 2014 To do current draw measurements and act on them you may be able to get an intelligent APC or Raritan power strip from eBay and then install a cURL Web parsing library for arduino into a reef angel so it could get outlet draw and act accordingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterTang January 3, 2014 Author Share January 3, 2014 To do current draw measurements and act on them you may be able to get an intelligent APC or Raritan power strip from eBay and then install a cURL Web parsing library for arduino into a reef angel so it could get outlet draw and act accordingly. This is a fascinating idea! However, after checking out the price on them... I might just build a photovoltaic doohicky and install it in my LED fixture to detect if the lights are on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lnevo January 3, 2014 Share January 3, 2014 (edited) We've had someone use a cheap sensor to measure light output and feed that to the IO module. He was going to see if he could monitor it long term to see if any difference as his bulbs aged... http://forum.reefangel.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2740&start=10&hilit=light+sensor Edited January 3, 2014 by lnevo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM January 3, 2014 Share January 3, 2014 This is a fascinating idea! However, after checking out the price on them... I might just build a photovoltaic doohicky and install it in my LED fixture to detect if the lights are on. These are the ones we use at work. It ain't really cheap, but not silly expensive either. Outlets are individually switchable and you can get data on per-outlet current as well as total current. http://www.ebay.com/itm/APC-AP7901-Rack-PDU-Switched-1U-20A-120V-Surge-/121182166560?pt=US_Power_Distribution_Units&hash=item1c37051e20 If I go with an arduino based controller at some point with a network connection I may try to write some code that works the outlets on one of these instead of buying USB cable controlled relay bars included in most controller packages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM January 3, 2014 Share January 3, 2014 Or here ya go. $75 bucks for a network based power strip with individually switchable outlets and current measurements. http://www.ebay.com/itm/APC-AP7901-Switched-Rack-Power-Distribution-Unit-PDU-120VAC-w-12-Cord-NEMA5-20R-/161188026961?pt=US_Power_Distribution_Units&hash=item25878e1a51 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterTang January 3, 2014 Author Share January 3, 2014 (edited) Or here ya go. $75 bucks for a network based power strip with individually switchable outlets and current measurements. http://www.ebay.com/itm/APC-AP7901-Switched-Rack-Power-Distribution-Unit-PDU-120VAC-w-12-Cord-NEMA5-20R-/161188026961?pt=US_Power_Distribution_Units&hash=item25878e1a51 Thanks for the suggestion! Just got one... not sure if it's going on my tank or my server rack Edited January 3, 2014 by MisterTang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lnevo January 3, 2014 Share January 3, 2014 Just FYI thats a 20amp power bar not a standard outlet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM January 3, 2014 Share January 3, 2014 Mine has a twist lock plug on it, but it is easy to make a converter whip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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