RK Elite Reviews?

[coralfever]

Looking for some first hand experience/reviews with the Elite.

Thanks in advance

[hellssephiroth]

i absolutely, absolutely love mine. i havent had a single problem with it so far and it works great. i like the fact that i hooked up all my halides seperately to make like a daylight cycle. and did i mention it looks cool lol. i dont understand why ppl have so many problems unless thats a thing of the past but so far so good for me :)

[melvinudawl]

same here...haven't had a single problem. Set it up and programmed it in about an hour. Looks great too. Gonna suck to drop another $110 on the NET interface + $40 for a wireless interface, but that'll finish out the functionality off the RKE quite nicely.

[rroselavy]

Overall I really like the unit, but only have a basic configuration with only a few settings customized. I have one main problem: the Graphing features are VERY buggy, limited, and the graphs are small and hard to decifer. The current values displayed on the head unit are reliably correct, but the graphing function sometimes stores errant values. This often makes the graphs unreadable. Supposedly, DA is going to fix this with v. 2.0 of the head unit firmware.

I would also like access to data logs.

I also am looking forward to the RKM-NET to provide connectivity and to supersede the buggy head unit graphing. This will put me at ($490 + $110) $600 for connectivity that the $470 Neptune Sys ACIII has built in, but the RKE is far sleeker than the ACIII while being much cheaper than most if not all the European controllers.

[atvdave]

same here, works great. Just like the rest... waiting for the NET & wireless interface.

[cbrguy]

I love mine. There are a few features that I would like to see. Like being able to name outlets and modules.

[jtma508]

Also love mine. I'm currently controlling everything in my system. I have 3 PC4 power bars, 2 SLI pH/ORP/Temp/Switch interfaces and the MLC moonlight controller. I control my skimmer, sump return, closed loop and 4-way, Ca Reactor, ozone, heater/fans, ATO, all lights (including refugium) and monitor system pH, ORP and temp.

I've had no issues. It works great and I trust my reef to it. Yea, the graphing isn't all that hot but I feel that function is better suited to software anyway. The NET module will help make that happen. DA has been superb at taking users' input and suggestions. To a large degree it is the user community that is shaping where the RKE is going. It really is a great system and it's only going to get better.

[rroselavy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13861790#post13861790 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jtma508
Yea, the graphing isn't all that hot but I feel that function is better suited to software anyway.

Agreed, but DA could have done a LOT better on this advertised feature. Full screen graphs would increase clarity (instead of 1/4 of screen), a scrolling cursor with time/data readouts would give users access to the logs, and a way to reset/clear the logs without having to reset ALL your controller settings. Currently, you cannot even rely on the controller to give you min/max historical data since it gets corrupted by errant data every other day.

I have no doubt that DA will rectify most of this. I am just surprised that the graphing feature wasn't well thought out to begin with and that fixing the graphing bugs still hasn't happened despite 8 firmware revisions.

[coralfever]

Thanks for the responses and insight. Anyone know when v2.0 is coming out? Are the planning to have the NET module built in? Do you think it will be worth the wait?

[atvdave]

All RKE's can be upgraded to v2.0 when it comes out. It's just a firmware update.

And I don't work for DA but my guess is no, the NET will not be built into the head unit.

And no.. it's not worth the wait, just get one now and up-date it to v2.0 when it comes out.

EDIT: all firmware updates are free.