Vertex Cerebra Videos

Reefin Ross · Jul 13, 2016

Hello R2R!

I got the Vertex Cerebra on Monday, July 11th and have been toying around with it since.
Was told I was the Customer #1

I've uploaded a few videos over the past couple of days to share my experience with the reefing community. Links and updates to videos will be posted in this thread to make it easier for members to find them.

My focus is on making a mini-series for this promising controller.

Feel free to make a request of any aspect of the Vertex Cerebra you want and I'll make a video of it.
+Reefin Ross

Reefin Ross · Jul 13, 2016

Remote access video is up!

Mr. Fancy Pants · Jul 13, 2016

Ross, what did you end up using for the WiFi dongle?

FarmerTy · Jul 13, 2016

Pretty sweet! Thanks for posting!

What program did you use to mirror access the unit?

Reefin Ross · Jul 13, 2016

Mr. Fancy Pants said:
Ross, what did you end up using for the WiFi dongle?

It came with one already plugged in the one of the USB port on the Cerebra

was it not supposed to be included?

Reefin Ross · Jul 13, 2016

FarmerTy said:
Pretty sweet! Thanks for posting!

What program did you use to mirror access the unit?

I just start VNC by running the VNC App on the cerebra and used Firefox on my laptop.
Any browser would work as long as you have a 'back' key.

Doesn't work well on ipad because of the lack of physical keyboard. I might write an iOS App to wrap around a browser. Maybe make the app look like the Cerebra button layout. I know Vertex is going to push an App out at some point so I might not do it.

Another way is put up a website that encapsulate the VNC server with Vertex Cerebra buttons.

Reefin Ross · Jul 13, 2016

pH Calibration for the Vertex Cerebra

Sabellafella · Jul 13, 2016

Awesome!! Keeep them comming!! Thanks for sharing bud

Blitzie · Jul 13, 2016

Is it just me or does that section where the outlets plug into look rather large.
Even the display looks like it would stick out from wall quite far

revhtree · Jul 14, 2016

Thanks for the vids!

Reefin Ross · Jul 14, 2016

Sabellafella said:
Awesome!! Keeep them comming!! Thanks for sharing bud

Anytime bud.

Reefin Ross · Jul 14, 2016

revhtree said:
Thanks for the vids!

Np. Just trying to be helpful.

FranklinDattein · Jul 14, 2016

Thanks for sharing.
So far, I am not impressed. I guess other Vertex products raised the bar very high and I was expecting their controller to be at that level.

FranklinDattein · Jul 14, 2016

Having that said, the power bar packs a lot of useful and expensive sensors and I would love to be able to buy it alone.

Reefin Ross · Jul 15, 2016

fsamir said:
Having that said, the power bar packs a lot of useful and expensive sensors and I would love to be able to buy it alone.

I think it will get much better with software updates. Even with Apex, the controller champ has major issues with the latest release.
All the hardware are there for future expansion.

I think it would be possible to run the multibar by itself. You would need to capture the USB messages between it and the controller.
Once the communication protocol is decoded, you can use a tablet with a USB port to run it.
It would be easier to start trying to use the temperature sensor first.

koshersalt · Jul 15, 2016

Reefin Ross said:
I think it will get much better with software updates. Even with Apex, the controller champ has major issues with the latest release.
All the hardware are there for future expansion.

I think it would be possible to run the multibar by itself. You would need to capture the USB messages between it and the controller.
Once the communication protocol is decoded, you can use a tablet with a USB port to run it.
It would be easier to start trying to use the temperature sensor first.

Potential for future hardware upgrades?
Would be interesting to see any future hardware upgrades being made by way of swapping just the android interface itself.

slief · Jul 16, 2016

Reefin Ross said:
Remote access video is up!

Ross,
Was/Is VNC preloaded on the controller or did you side load it? I was looking for it yesterday and couldn't find it. Maybe I missed it though.

slief · Jul 16, 2016

I found the VNC app. Kind of weird because I looked before and didn't see it in the Apps folder but it's there now.

slosoak · Jul 16, 2016

Can the power bars be connected together like the apex or does everything need to be connected to the controller?

slief · Jul 16, 2016

Mike sokol said:
Can the power bars be connected together like the apex or does everything need to be connected to the controller?

There is only 1 USB connection on the power bar so you cannot daisy chain them. They either need to be connected directly to the controller or you need to use a USB hub which in my opinion isn't reliable. Having been in the computer industry for nearly 30 years and my core business being a server manufacturer, I have decades of experience with USB hubs and most fail after 12 months of continual use. This applies to most every decent commercially available USB hub I have ever used. I have trouble shot some many issues as a result to faulty USB hubs for color grading control surfaces to USB based RAID units and more that we've learned to recommend avoiding them for critical devices. Especially nearline data storage arrays. As such, using a USB hub for anything mission critical is not a good solution long term IMO.