dante411x February 25, 2014 February 25, 2014 So, in continuation with the fact that my girlfriend is reef friendly... I'm apparently getting an Apex for my birthday or so I've been told. However, after she told me that, I now know what her budget is and can make adjustments... I've been thinking about this for a little while, and I think I'd rather get a reef angel. If all I've got is $550 budget. Would really love to see some RA people pitch in here. I've seen an Apex. I know Apex is awesome. But I've no problem programming the controller to do what I want, and it seems that for the same price I could easily get much more from a reef angel. Here's what I would want my controller to do: Monitor PH and Temp - duh Turn on heater and turn off heater - duh (1 outlet now, 2 in near future when I finally convince myself that only having one 500w heater is a bad idea in many ways) Turn on and off all my lights - (7 outlets. 3 for each MH light, 2 for each PC, 1 for moonlights, 1 for refugium light) Turn on and off kalk reactor - 1 outlet. ties off to the ph probe! Turn on and off ato pump (and monitor how long it runs, monitor a float switch and a reduntant one for backup) - 1 outlet Here's what I would also like for my controller to do, but don't really care if it actually happens: Monitor my return pump and tell me if it stops working - 1 more outlet Monitor my skimmer and tell me if it stops working - 1 more outlet Monitor my floor and tell me if it's wet! Also it would be pretty cool to be able to hit a feed button and have the return pump and skimmer shut off for a set amount of time. I have jebao pumps and it looks like a reef angel ties into them already, so would be neat to have it as a monitor/feed mode starter/some other cool stuff these pumps don't do already that I could figure out. Now, that's at least 11 outlets that I need. That would mean 2 8-outlet strips from either RA or Apex. Also, it would be pretty darn hard to get a cord to my fish room and/or I would have to buy something along the lines of an Airport Express to connect the Apex without the wifi module. Now that's been said and done, lets look at prices: If I get an Apex, I get the unit with lab grade ph probe, temp probe, 8 outlet power bar. If I get a RA, for the same $550 I could get the RA Plus, Wifi module, 2 Jebao cords and an extra 8 outlet power bar. The RA is clearly winning that race so far. At least in my head. Am I missing something here?
lnevo February 25, 2014 February 25, 2014 Your only missing the leak detector Nothing that you said is any challenge. All quite simple in fact. You will have no problem or lack of support on the RA side.
Rosco's Reefs February 25, 2014 February 25, 2014 there are several of us around that will show you what we're doing. It is a little harder than "quite simple" but Lee (lnevo) has helped me repeatedly with my code and the support on the forum is phenomenal. The only limitation to the thing is your imagination and your willingness to learn and tinker. Come on in, the water is fine! Ross
howaboutme February 25, 2014 February 25, 2014 (edited) Here's a recent thread on the subject. http://wamas.org/forums/topic/64069-reef-controller/ Edit...Just for clarity..you can't upload code to the RA w/ the wifi module. It needs to be hardwired (I used a USB extension) or you can buy the new bluetooth attachment to do it wirelessly (I don't believe it's in the store but you can order it from Roberto/RA). Edited February 25, 2014 by howaboutme
dante411x February 25, 2014 Author February 25, 2014 Yeah, I read that thread already. And that's disappointing that you can't upload code over wifi.. But I guess that prevents some hacker from making my tank kill itself from anywhere Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
dante411x February 25, 2014 Author February 25, 2014 I do have a question though. What extra hardware will I need in order to connect a second power bar to the reef angel? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
lnevo February 25, 2014 February 25, 2014 If you have no other expansion modules than just the relay expansion kit which comes with the module and the power bar. If you have any other modules (dimming, leak detector, salinity, etc) than you'll need the expansion hub.
howaboutme February 25, 2014 February 25, 2014 (edited) I do have a question though. What extra hardware will I need in order to connect a second power bar to the reef angel? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Nothing. The relay box comes w/ the relay expansion module. But note that you can only plug 1 expansion module into the head unit w/o an additional expansion hub. So if you want the leak detector too, you'll need the additional expansion hub to connect 2 expansion modules. Lee or Ross can confirm this. Edit..Looks like he just did... Edited February 25, 2014 by howaboutme
dante411x February 25, 2014 Author February 25, 2014 (edited) Gotcha. Just did some research and found this too So here comes the next question... Do I want the analog or the PWM.. Right now, it would be used to control Jebao WP-40's and a Speedwave DC10000. Seems like analog is the way to go. However! It also looks like there's a possible way to control D120 LED's with the analog one? I don't have them now, but it's something I'm considering for the future. And to demonstrate my lack of knowledge about differences, I take it if I see a driver that is dimmable by 0-10V that's analog? Edit: just for example a Mean Well ELN-60-27Ddriver is analog and a Mean Well ELN-60-27Pis PVM? Edited February 25, 2014 by dante411x
lnevo February 25, 2014 February 25, 2014 Jaebos can take either signal. Most lights these days take analog (aka APEX Ready). DIY usually go with PWM. You've got it right with the drivers. The D120 hack would need analog.
dante411x February 25, 2014 Author February 25, 2014 Thanks for clearing that up Inevo. Looks like I've got the order that I would want down then. I'm not worried about leak detection yet, probably add that in the future, but for the rest, this seems like all I would need: Reef angel plus controller with analog dimming signal Relay expansion + relay box Wifi attachment Jebao/speed wave cable - 3 of them Are there any other cables/attachments that I'll need in order to make all that work? Or is that it? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Rosco's Reefs February 25, 2014 February 25, 2014 I ended up ordering several extra temp probes and a number of temp probe and ph cable extensions. Even being pretty close to my tanks I still needed \ wanted them.
lnevo February 25, 2014 February 25, 2014 Yeah the extensions are good to have. Keep the following in mind with the temp probes. They each have a digital signature. They will appear as T1, T2, T3 based on that signature and not by the port they are plugged into. Also you need to reboot after plugging them in. A lot of people end up breaking the connector going nuts trying to figure that out.
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