Reef angel

[Mawnkey]

Everyone always talks about apex and such. But i was looking into the reef angel and it seems to have a lot more for less as far as inicial purchases go. It also seems it can so anything the apex can. What are your opinions on the reef angel?

 

[cdness]

When I bought my ACIII the Reef Angel and other Arduino based controllers were still in their infancy... I see they have come a very long way and look like they can be a direct competitor to the Apex and ReefKeeper controllers... I have no personal experience with the Reef Angel, but the features and price points do look nice.

 

[Mawnkey]

I was thinking the same thing. I believe that the apex is a very good product. But I also believe that your paying for a name. Where as the reef angel is a feed product as well but you actualy pay for what your buying vs a name

 

[JackoChang]

I've only heard good things about it, the issues seem to get ironed out on their forums. I'm planning on getting one for my new build. I'll keep in touch.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[Mawnkey]

Thank you jackochang. I will probably place my order within a couple of weeks

 

[Mawnkey]

Does anyone have experience with the programming aspect?

 

[Mawnkey]

Bumb

 

[Mawnkey]

Bump

 

[Jdoenumber2]

Price me up a reef angel that is net capable and has pwm 0-10vdc. Then price me up an Apex without their useless display. Not to mention reef angel may have good support. But, Neptune has the best support by a long shot. Not to say that the reef angel is a complete waste of money. But with cost of the add ons and much less support they are not even in the same ballpark. I know they have a niche market. Sometimes you get what you pay for and this is a perfect example.

 

[Jdoenumber2]

Thats $417 for the reef angel with pwm and net capable.. Apex $375 with temp and EB8.

 

[Mawnkey]

What is Pwm and eb8?

 

[Mawnkey]

You must know that I am completely new at controllers and led lights

 

[JackoChang]

Ask questions on their forum, they really have an active coding community there.

 

[Mawnkey]

I would imagine Pwm and eb8 are command terms if be is asking about it that you guys might know about

 

[JackoChang]

Pwm is the dimming thing, dc8 is your power outlet. ReefAngels allow for more customization than Apex or RK, however they are coding intensive.

 

[xXch0dyXx]

I wouldnt say they are coding intensive by any means. They come with standard code, and the community has already created most any code you could ever want. Thier forums are extremely helpful as mentioned before. I am currently waiting for the RA to be back in stock, but I have sifted through the forum jsut to get a solid grasp on what I need to do when it arrives.

IMO, you will not find a better controller for the money. PWM = Pulse Width Modulation. It is a newer means of controlling LEDs, moreover, the drivers running the leds. You can also use the PWM function on the RA to drive an analog 0-10v signal with minor modifications.

I have never heard anyone talk down a RA, unless that person was incapable of using a computer. There is a slight learning curve to properly upload code to the controller, but all of the programming leg work has already been done. Unless you are wanting to think outside the box, in which case your possibilites are endless.

 

[Mawnkey]

I'm really liking everything about it. Only thing i don't like is that i am going to have to get the WiFi to be able to control it with my phone at all times. The reef angel is capable of using the web to communicate but only if it connected to a computer that is on all the time. Also, it has 2 independant pwm channels out of the box. So technicaly it can do it all out of the box, not to mention that it comes with two water level sensors, ph sensor, thermonitor, and an eight power plug modual.