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

[Ranjib]

Looks good.

I’m also curious how much of the response time of the probes is due to the probe type - are they different types?

I don’t know yet, I’m polling the probes at 15s to 1m interval, I couldn’t notice the difference .

I think both Milwaukee and American marine probes are good, I’ll set up more rigorous comparison in future, now that these boards are working

 

[Ranjib]

Im running 2.3, but not scared to update...i dont have the test build but id love to help test...

Ill probably order a probe this week...anyone like the pinpoint marine probes?

A freshwater guy with a ph probe, will I have to order a tux and look sophisticated?(read the cartoon a dozen or so posts up)

I like my pinpoint marine probe, but not sure how it compares to the Milwaukee or scientific American probe in terms of accuracy and precision. I can see the overall daily ph cycle . My calibration are all against Hanna ph checker

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

The Pinpoint probes are a decent value. I also had good luck with the Extech probes but they have a very short cable.

I'm ordering a BRS double junction pH probe. Do you anticipate any problems with that?

 

[Jean-Pierre Renaud]

Hey guys, i have a weird problem,

when i use my PC or latest ipad or iphone, it works perfectly,
on my old Ipad mini and Samsung Galaxy tab 2 i only see a white page, nothing shows.

any idea ?

 

[Ranjib]

I'm ordering a BRS double junction pH probe. Do you anticipate any problems with that?

No, should be fine.

 

[Ranjib]

Hey guys, i have a weird problem,

when i use my PC or latest ipad or iphone, it works perfectly,
on my old Ipad mini and Samsung Galaxy tab 2 i only see a white page, nothing shows.

any idea ?

what browser you are using? Try installing latest google chrome and see it works

 

[Jean-Pierre Renaud]

what browser you are using? Try installing latest google chrome and see it works

i try safari, chrome and opera, all doing the same on the galaxy tab 2 and the ipad mini 1st gen.

it works perfect on my ipad pro and all my phones.

ios 9 is not supported by chrome anymore, i had to install an old version,

even then it's hot showing

 

[T-MIKE]

Hi,

Just fired up my Pi Zero and is trying to get everything setup for my new light that's coming tomorrow. Do you happen to know if those cheap Chinese lights use PWM or an analog signal?

One other thing, the camera module appears to be working as I tried the interval shots and it displays the picture but whenever you click on the camera tab, it says "404 page not found | HTTP 404".

 

[Michael Lane]

Hi,

Just fired up my Pi Zero and is trying to get everything setup for my new light that's coming tomorrow. Do you happen to know if those cheap Chinese lights use PWM or an analog signal?

One other thing, the camera module appears to be working as I tried the interval shots and it displays the picture but whenever you click on the camera tab, it says "404 page not found | HTTP 404".

Those lights are usually analog control, but I may be able to confirm if you post the specific one. Your protoboard looks pretty good, so you could probably make an adapter circuit. You can smooth and amplify a pwm signal to make reef-pi work with analog lights. I have a block diagram and circuit you can reference if you'd like.

 

[T-MIKE]

Those lights are usually analog control, but I may be able to confirm if you post the specific one. Your protoboard looks pretty good, so you could probably make an adapter circuit. You can smooth and amplify a pwm signal to make reef-pi work with analog lights. I have a block diagram and circuit you can reference if you'd like.

Thanks for your reply. This is the one I got: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078RZGYKP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

There are 3 little fets on there for the 2 channels and then one for controlling an UV light for my webcam so it can see in the dark.

I like your pwm converter but I was planning on using a simple RC circuit. Will that not work?

 

[Michael Lane]

Thanks for your reply. This is the one I got: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078RZGYKP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

There are 3 little fets on there for the 2 channels and then one for controlling an UV light for my webcam so it can see in the dark.

I like your pwm converter but I was planning on using a simple RC circuit. Will that not work?

That almost certainly looks like an analog driven light. An RC circuit amplified to 0-10v should work just fine. That's the majority of what my converter is doing. RC alone won't be sufficient since rpi is 3.3v, but the addition of an op amp can solve that problem.

 

[T-MIKE]

I see what you are saying now. Thanks for the tip!

I'll definately post pictures so others will know. I think it's one of the cheapest 165W lights on Amazon.

 

[T-MIKE]

Repeated...oops.

 

[T-MIKE]

@Ranjib

I did a search of old posts and installed gdrive cli client and motion(4.0-1) with apt. What else do I need to do make live streaming and gdrive upload work? I don't see the files on gdrive and it is still only showing the last photo taken. Thank you! Good work here!

Edit:
Actually going back and reading the posts again I don't think reef-pi works with motion yet. What else do I need to do to get gdrive to work?

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib

I did a search of old posts and installed gdrive cli client and motion(4.0-1) with apt. What else do I need to do make live streaming and gdrive upload work? I don't see the files on gdrive and it is still only showing the last photo taken. Thank you! Good work here!

Edit:
Actually going back and reading the posts again I don't think reef-pi works with motion yet. What else do I need to do to get gdrive to work?

have you configured the gdrive cli with your google credentials? reef-pi will log the errors , you can check it for pointers (more on the troubleshooting guide). reef-pi just embeds the video component which can be provided by motion. I use it sporadically as and when im going out of home. Camera and video operations significantly reduces Pi's performance, for my zero based builds I run them headless and with no camera/video.
I do want to better motion (optical image analysis in general) gears in reef-pi, but thats not something of a priority in near future.

 

[T-MIKE]

have you configured the gdrive cli with your google credentials? reef-pi will log the errors , you can check it for pointers (more on the troubleshooting guide). reef-pi just embeds the video component which can be provided by motion. I use it sporadically as and when im going out of home. Camera and video operations significantly reduces Pi's performance, for my zero based builds I run them headless and with no camera/video.
I do want to better motion (optical image analysis in general) gears in reef-pi, but thats not something of a priority in near future.

I got the log and the PWM lighting control does not appear to be working as well. What should I do?

As for the gdrive, it looks like it's using the command "drive push" but that's not documented on the gdrive github. I downloaded gdrive-linux-rpi and ran "gdrive-linux-rpi about" and it is connected to my account at the moment. This is the CLI I'm using that was mentioned in previous posts: https://github.com/gdrive-org/gdrive

I understand that motion uses a lot of resources but I would like to get it working for now. I installed motion with apt-get. Do I need to build it from source?

I'm running reef-pi 2.3 on Raspberry Pi Zero W with Raspbian.

May 21 09:02:21 reefpi reef-pi[235]: 2019/05/21 09:02:21 Camera subsystem: Image captured: /var/lib/reef-pi/images/09-02-01-Tue-May-21-2019.png
May 21 09:02:31 reefpi reef-pi[235]: 2019/05/21 09:02:31 ERROR: Failed to upload image. Command: drive push -quiet -destination reef-pi-images -files /var/lib/reef-pi/images/09-02-01-Tue-May-21-2019.png Error: exec: "drive": executable file not found in $PATH
May 21 09:02:31 reefpi reef-pi[235]: 2019/05/21 09:02:31 lighting-subsystem: Setting PWM value: 50  at channel: 1
May 21 09:02:31 reefpi reef-pi[235]: 2019/05/21 09:02:31 Setting pwm driver: rpi pin: 1 value: 50
May 21 09:02:31 reefpi reef-pi[235]: 2019/05/21 09:02:31 ERROR: lighting-subsystem: Failed to set pwm value. Error: write /sys/class/pwm/pwmchip0/pwm1/duty_cycle: invalid argument
May 21 09:02:31 reefpi reef-pi[235]: 2019/05/21 09:02:31 lighting-subsystem: Setting PWM value: 50  at channel: 0
May 21 09:02:31 reefpi reef-pi[235]: 2019/05/21 09:02:31 Setting pwm driver: rpi pin: 0 value: 50
May 21 09:02:31 reefpi reef-pi[235]: 2019/05/21 09:02:31 ERROR: lighting-subsystem: Failed to set pwm value. Error: write /sys/class/pwm/pwmchip0/pwm0/duty_cycle: invalid argument

 

[T-MIKE]

I tried updating the jack for the pwm light control and got this message, "{"error":"Failed to update. Error: write /sys/class/pwm/pwmchip0/pwm0/period: invalid argument"} | HTTP 500".

I think I had this same problem when I first installed reef-pi and I deleted the database to start over and didn't get the message the 2nd time but now it's showing up again.

EDIT:
Deleting database and starting over again.

EDIT 2:
Deleted database but still get same error when setting up jack. I selected rpi and tried to use pins "0,1".

EDIT:
Deleted database and re-installed with "sudo dpkg -i reef-pi-2.3-pi0.deb", same error. If I use pca9685 with "0,1" then I get no error.

 

[Zippyfear]

I'd like to deploy at least 2 cameras, one on the tank, and one under for the sump. what inexpensive cameras is everyone using, or looking at using?

 

[T-MIKE]

I'd like to deploy at least 2 cameras, one on the tank, and one under for the sump. what inexpensive cameras is everyone using, or looking at using?

I'm currently using Yi Home webcams, I got a pack of 4 or five for $75 on Amazon. Not sure if they still have that deal.

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

@Ranjib, @theatrus, what calibration solutions do I need to order with my probe?