I just read through this post and felt compelled to throw in my two cents. I bought one of the original production run units of the RKE back in 2008. Within a few months, several of us were asked if we wanted to be beta testers for it as they tweaked the software and added new modules. We were also helping to come up with modules that should be produced. At the time, the Apex did not exist. I am sure it was in development, but was not even being hinted about by Neptune. The RKE represented a completely new way to lay out a control system. Having a modular system so you could put specific features right where you needed them. As an example, I helped push for the SW-5 module because I needed more switch inputs and wanted a relay for a part of my system in a remote sump room. It was a great idea and as the Apex was built around the same idea, it is apparently a good way to do it.
Digital Aquatics was started as a thesis project in electrical engineering with the RK1. The now owner of Dynon Avionics did this and his brother Scott saw a value to it and began making them and selling them. He then improved it with the RK2 and somewhere in there Digital Aquatics was born as a division of sorts of Dynon. Dynon did then and still has a huge market share in avionics equipment for small aircraft and apparently in that world are known to have exceptional products. Digital Aqautics pulled from the literal rocket scientists at Dynon to design and prototype the RKE system. The successful launch well prior to the launch of the Apex, went well for quite some time. Then...support from the Dynon side seemed to start waning a bit. Modules came out slower, software for easier programming (myReef) seemed to stall, and several annoying little glitches seemed to take forever to address. As a moderator on their support forum I was constantly dealing with complaints regarding the software. The controller was fine, but some people found it tough to program and wanted a computer solution. It never really got there 100%.
Eventually people came and went and once they hired Eric, it seemed like a new life was coming back. They released the Archon, which as pickupman66 mentioned, the Archon was again a very different approach to the controller. The biggest value to it was complete compatibility with all of the legacy modules, with the exception of the Net module, but that connectivity was built into the Archon so the Net module wasn't needed. Again, there were several of us that helped develop the Archon, beta tested it, kicked it, and pushed it every which way we could and ultimately it was released. I believe (but have no first hand knowledge of it) that further development was dependant on sales of the head unit. Only then would the company support further software tweaks and module upgrades. Ultimately the company seemed to decide that it was not a viable product line anymore and decided to get out of the controller business. In my honest opinion, since the Digital Aquatics side was never really a priority for the holder of the checkbook at the top, he didn't really care about how abruptly stopping production would effect the current users. It is unfortunate, but it happens.
If I had the money to do it, I wouldn't hesitate for a second to buy all of their existing inventory and intellectual rights to the product line and take it further. With the right support in technical development, sales, and support the Digital Aquatics products would be an excellent option to the other controllers out there. Who knows, maybe somebody with the proper resources will step up to generate more competition and all of us hobbyists will benefit from it. Competition is almost always good for the consumer.
