controller input! who's got one

stevenhman · Apr 21, 2012

I have a Reef Angel. I was worried as well about the amperage limitations on the relay boxes, but then again I'm not running a whole lot. I'm sure Roberto would try to accommodate a higher amperage design if you asked him.

The open source is absolutely not marketing fluff what so ever. There is an easy program to generate code, but you can still write in custom functions and addons if you're handy with programming. The Arduino platform is incredibly expandable and versatile.

The only thing I don't like about mine so much, is the design of the head unit and the lack of adequate markings on it and the relay box. I used numbered pieces of tape to label mine. I do like that the connectors between the separate pieces of the package are your run of the mill VGA, USB, and 2/3pin fan. It makes cobbling together an 8ft PWM wire and temperature probe wire a lot easier.

I'm not saying that the other controllers are not any good - I just don't have a spare $500. To me it was a choice of economy and my love to fiddle with electronics that helped me choose the Reef Angel.

haysanatar · Apr 21, 2012

thanks for bringing up the power aspect of it I haven't thought about that..
honestly I doubt I'll use too much honestly.. my pumps are vortechs so the rfmod controls that.. other than that it'd just be my ato pump and my heater honestly.. the big thing for me is simply pwm for my leds thats really what it all boils down to I can't stress this enough I'm not replacing 8 drivers its simply not worth it.
I have 2 analog controllers (for cyan and red) and 8 pwm controllers.. it just so happens that I could get a analog reef angel ( which has two analog ports) with a pwm modular to get me covered in both departments almost perfectly..

wgraham · Apr 21, 2012

Hello new to the club, what I have running my diy led's is an arduino reef controller. It controls my led's and powerhead and also my heaters right now. Later I will add ph control. The one I build has 6 channels. It will do pwm drivers. You can program it to ram up to up to 100% of the led's brightness and ram down to 0%. I add feed control to turn off main pump downing feeding. It is alot you can do with it.

VandyTime · Apr 21, 2012

RKL here and love it!

mixer911 · Apr 21, 2012

The reef Angel looks pretty cool. I have also been thinking of trying an arduino based system on my frag tank.

wgraham · Apr 21, 2012

Yes the arduino base system can do a lot for the price if you a diy.

haysanatar · Apr 22, 2012

stevenhman said:
I have a Reef Angel. I was worried as well about the amperage limitations on the relay boxes, but then again I'm not running a whole lot. I'm sure Roberto would try to accommodate a higher amperage design if you asked him.

The open source is absolutely not marketing fluff what so ever. There is an easy program to generate code, but you can still write in custom functions and addons if you're handy with programming. The Arduino platform is incredibly expandable and versatile.

The only thing I don't like about mine so much, is the design of the head unit and the lack of adequate markings on it and the relay box. I used numbered pieces of tape to label mine. I do like that the connectors between the separate pieces of the package are your run of the mill VGA, USB, and 2/3pin fan. It makes cobbling together an 8ft PWM wire and temperature probe wire a lot easier.

I'm not saying that the other controllers are not any good - I just don't have a spare $500. To me it was a choice of economy and my love to fiddle with electronics that helped me choose the Reef Angel.

have you had any issues with your reef angel so far? And have the people on the forum been helpful when it comes to coding help?
what all do you have your reef angel controlling so far.

stevenhman · Apr 22, 2012

No issues at all. The forum is pretty helpful with a coding questions, but the setup at first can be a bit tricky making sure you have all the right programs etc. installed. You can do a lot of stuff even with the basic programming if it takes you a bit to get the computer part down.

I sold my other tank and am building a 300 gallon paludarium. I just had it controlling lights and fans previously. Gonne be able to use ph, ato, pwm slope w/leds, etc when the new one gets done, ill probably use the feeding mode setting to do water changes from the sump.

Posted w/ tapatalk - sorry for any errors