reef-pi :: An opensource reef tank controller based on Raspberry Pi.

[DirtDiggler2823]

I already have 2...theres a thread on it...the ones i got(and have 2 more coming) are industrial quality...double crimped and even have high temp shielded conductors that were 24 awg not the skimpy 26 or 28 awg and horrible waterproofing on the 5 for 10 dollar ones floating around everywhere on amazon. These are $12 for 2 sensors and cables are 3 meters. The 2 I already have are within .1F of a NTC 10k thermistor that was calibrated. Im not saltwater, but the stainless probe is real stainless.

Did you have to seal them?

 

[b4tn]

I think it’s a bug. Let me take a look

@Ranjib was playing with the timer function again in the macro section and I now get this. None of the timers I have are present in the list. After a reboot they still don’t show up.

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib was playing with the timer function again in the macro section and I now get this. None of the timers I have are present in the list. After a reboot they still don’t show up.

I am able to do this on my end. Can you share a screenshot of the timer UI?

 

[Ranjib]

I already have 2...theres a thread on it...the ones i got(and have 2 more coming) are industrial quality...double crimped and even have high temp shielded conductors that were 24 awg not the skimpy 26 or 28 awg and horrible waterproofing on the 5 for 10 dollar ones floating around everywhere on amazon. These are $12 for 2 sensors and cables are 3 meters. The 2 I already have are within .1F of a NTC 10k thermistor that was calibrated. Im not saltwater, but the stainless probe is real stainless.

I like these. I have a normal steel one, that is running for over 2 years now, without rust

 

[b4tn]

I am able to do this on my end. Can you share a screenshot of the timer UI?

Is this what you are looking for?

 

[Ranjib]

I am summarizing my thought on the PAR meter here. There are lots of good things already you all have shared,
1) There are cheaper lux meter. But we need PAR meter for reef specifically.
2) PAR meters are expensive, but could be done lot cheaper than current alternatives (apogee, in my case) in DIY route
3) This whole thing is used sporadically. Specifically during initial setup, and any light changes.
4) If we are using specific type of lights (say kessil, or radion or nano box or blueacro), we kinda know what PAR to expect at what height.

These are some of things that made me not prioritize this on 3.0. I would absolutely love to see one of these 50$ sensor mounted on a clear rigid acrylic tube . I think the ongoing hal layer will make it lot easier. I am also in process of introducing a new connector type that represents analog input (par sensor, ph, orp probe etc). These are all part of 3.0.
Please continue this discussion, I will roll up a git issue on this (unless one of you beat me to it ).

 

[Ranjib]

Is this what you are looking for?

Yes, now go to the macro tab, you dont see the timer under steps section? Here is a small test that I just ran,
1) Created a timer that turns on skimmer after every 10 seconds, and turn it off after 5 seconds

2) Created a macros that turns off the timer, wait for 10 seconds and then turn it back on.

3) I had add some logging to verify things working as expected, but the results are consistent. reef-pi is turning off the timer and turning back on,

 

[Ranjib]

Some update on the ongoing hal development (hardware abstraction layer)
1) Users should be able to add new hardware driver through UI. This will be used to add new ph boards, base board, mcp23017 based GPIO expanders and what not (PAR sensors ??? . A driver has a name, type (currently only rpi and pca9685 will be supported) and configuration (UI not developed yet). Type is used to decipher pin count, capabilities etc.

2) Once added , each driver and pin(s) are associated with connectors. Connectors will always be backed by driver (rpi default). Inlet (digital inputs like float sensors), outlet (digital output like relays), jacks (DC pwm output, aka variable voltage) are always associated with a driver.

Pardon the un-aligned UI. One of us (@Zekth, looking at you buddy ;-)), will clean it up once we have the whole story implemented.

 

[Ranjib]

Lot of thing happened in past few weeks. One of them was the apartment move. Now I have a garage . So I guess this will be the official unofficial reef-pi laboratories

Rigorous testing is in progress . And for some reason Batman decided to drop by and say hi

 

[Erica-Renee]

Batcar Reef-pi theme case.. Awesome.
OHH I think my Van will not fit in your Garage.. But we can put your garage and my Van and go Mobile..

Cute Beta Tester ...

Thanks for sharing

 

[crusso1993]

Lot of thing happened in past few weeks. One of them was the apartment move. Now I have a garage . So I guess this will be the official unofficial reef-pi laboratories

Rigorous testing is in progress . And for some reason Batman decided to drop by and say hi

Is that the tool you use (vise) for making add-on PCBs fit? Lol

Is that a Rigol oscilloscope?

 

[Bigtrout]

Lot of thing happened in past few weeks. One of them was the apartment move. Now I have a garage . So I guess this will be the official unofficial reef-pi laboratories

Rigorous testing is in progress . And for some reason Batman decided to drop by and say hi

Nice lab! Cute helper! Its missing something...like a reef-pi sign!

 

[b4tn]

Yes, now go to the macro tab, you dont see the timer under steps section? Here is a small test that I just ran,
1) Created a timer that turns on skimmer after every 10 seconds, and turn it off after 5 seconds

2) Created a macros that turns off the timer, wait for 10 seconds and then turn it back on.

3) I had add some logging to verify things working as expected, but the results are consistent. reef-pi is turning off the timer and turning back on,

Very strange, this happened before and it just started working for me. I assumed it was from a restart. But I had nothing in the drop down box to select which timer. I just made a new test timer and now all my timers are in the drop down. I will test it when I get home.

 

[b4tn]

Lot of thing happened in past few weeks. One of them was the apartment move. Now I have a garage . So I guess this will be the official unofficial reef-pi laboratories

Rigorous testing is in progress . And for some reason Batman decided to drop by and say hi

Congrats on getting situated. What I would do for a garage!!

 

[Ranjib]

Is that the tool you use (vise) for making add-on PCBs fit? Lol

Is that a Rigol oscilloscope?

Yes , rigol

 

[rushbattle]

Congrats on getting situated. What I would do for a garage!!

Garages are like money, you can never have enough, and not having any is a real drag.

 

[bishoptf]

Garages are like money, you can never have enough, and not having any is a real drag.

I agree I do all the work on my cars and my belief you can never have too big of a garage, when the cars are in the garage not much room to do much. My workspace is in the basement backroom, I still need to clean out more junk, I have way to much computer electronics stuff that I need to clean out.

 

[Diamond1]

Some update on the ongoing hal development (hardware abstraction layer)
1) Users should be able to add new hardware driver through UI. This will be used to add new ph boards, base board, mcp23017 based GPIO expanders and what not (PAR sensors ??? . A driver has a name, type (currently only rpi and pca9685 will be supported) and configuration (UI not developed yet). Type is used to decipher pin count, capabilities etc.

2) Once added , each driver and pin(s) are associated with connectors. Connectors will always be backed by driver (rpi default). Inlet (digital inputs like float sensors), outlet (digital output like relays), jacks (DC pwm output, aka variable voltage) are always associated with a driver.

Pardon the un-aligned UI. One of us (@Zekth, looking at you buddy ;-)), will clean it up once we have the whole story implemented.

Very cool this opens lots of doors for testing and expansion!

 

[Ranjib]

Yeah. This is the first time I have access to a garage
Wife was pretty tolerant about my tiny lab at one corner of the dining room till now.
My apartment move broke pretty much all of my acro colonies. I took the opportunity to get rid of some of the bigger pieces (bubble, frogspawn, monti cap ) as well. They found good homes to local reefing community. There are newer folks who absolutely love those pieces. Tank is pretty different looking now. I took this opportunity to revisit the rockscape as well. Its still needs lot of work (and currently going through some cyano period).

I saved pretty much all the corals, including the broken acro colonies. I have cleared up some premium space. Now that reef-pi doser module is functional and I have almost 3 years of experience with reef keeping, I think I'll go for a battle box.

My zoa island +acan

Lepto, strawberry shortcake colony (move out from premium space to down below)

micro goniopora colony (stings its neighbors all the time)

I have mixed feeling overall. I miss the old fully grown out tank, but I also look forward to grow some harder keep acros, and with a bit more thoughtout rockscape and coral placement (less aggression related issues)

 

[rushbattle]

Yeah. This is the first time I have access to a garage
Wife was pretty tolerant about my tiny lab at one corner of the dining room till now.
My apartment move broke pretty much all of my acro colonies. I took the opportunity to get rid of some of the bigger pieces (bubble, frogspawn, monti cap ) as well. They found good homes to local reefing community. There are newer folks who absolutely love those pieces. Tank is pretty different looking now. I took this opportunity to revisit the rockscape as well. Its still needs lot of work (and currently going through some cyano period).

I saved pretty much all the corals, including the broken acro colonies. I have cleared up some premium space. Now that reef-pi doser module is functional and I have almost 3 years of experience with reef keeping, I think I'll go for a battle box.

My zoa island +acan

Lepto, strawberry shortcake colony (move out from premium space to down below)

micro goniopora colony (stings its neighbors all the time)

I have mixed feeling overall. I miss the old fully grown out tank, but I also look forward to grow some harder keep acros, and with a bit more thoughtout rockscape and coral placement (less aggression related issues)

Still looks better than my tank! I am sure with Adam's frags you will do well, they come in nice and healthy, colorful and growing.