My Neptune Apex web interface compatible DIY reef controller

[SorsCode]

Hzuiel - I'm using clones with no issue. I do own true Arduino Mega and Ethernet shield, but not using it on this project.

[d0ughb0y]

Don't pay full retail price. Shop around.
I got a brand new original mega for $11.50 on ebay.

http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?to...482#msg1389482

clones work just fine.

[Hzuiel]

So i want to take this slow and tackle one thing at a time. The first things i'm aiming for is switchable power supply with RTC so I can replace a day/night outlet timer and ethernet connectivity. I already bought some temperature probes so i might as well include that too.

So list of what i know i need:
Arduino Mega 2560 or compatible.
Ethernet shield
8 channel 5v relay
DS1307 RTC

If I am missing anything, please let me know. Including bits of wire(what gauge?) and everything.

I am planning to put the arduino and any expansion boards in it's own project box with adhesive nylon standoffs, rather than trying to fit everything in the chauvet, and use rj-45 jacks and plugs to terminate cables(aside from any bnc connectors), instead of 3.5mm jacks.


Out of curiosity, has anyone attempted any reef controllers using intel's galileo, or any combining of a raspberry pi and arduino?

[Hzuiel]

Bah, the forum keeps giving me timeouts saying the hosting server is down, and this time it caused a double post.

[wgraham]

Originally Posted by d0ughb0y

Don't pay full retail price. Shop around.
I got a brand new original mega for $11.50 on ebay.

http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?to...482#msg1389482

clones work just fine.

Use to live in Milpitas

[rrbigdog]

Originally Posted by Hzuiel

So i want to take this slow and tackle one thing at a time. The first things i'm aiming for is switchable power supply with RTC so I can replace a day/night outlet timer and ethernet connectivity. I already bought some temperature probes so i might as well include that too.

So list of what i know i need:
Arduino Mega 2560 or compatible.
Ethernet shield
8 channel 5v relay
DS1307 RTC

If I am missing anything, please let me know. Including bits of wire(what gauge?) and everything.

I am planning to put the arduino and any expansion boards in it's own project box with adhesive nylon standoffs, rather than trying to fit everything in the chauvet, and use rj-45 jacks and plugs to terminate cables(aside from any bnc connectors), instead of 3.5mm jacks.


Out of curiosity, has anyone attempted any reef controllers using intel's galileo, or any combining of a raspberry pi and arduino?

I built mine with a separate project box. I first started using RJ45 jacks but found it a pain to cut the box. So I switched to these. Drill a hole and snap in.

http://www.arcade-electronics.com/Ca...cad-30-712.htm

I found a Chauvet for 20 bucks couldn't pass it up so now I everything running with a 12vdc 2A power brick and using a db9 connection to the relay. I wanted a display and it makes it easier to see what the unit is doing on power up. Helped me troubleshoot a bad sd card slot on my ethernet shield.

I have a rPI running with a 4-port relay and temp but do not have it tied to an arduino. I know there are several projects that are doing this. But this project is "THE BEST I HAVE FOUND" d0ughb0y has done a great job.

[d0ughb0y]

Originally Posted by Hzuiel

So i want to take this slow and tackle one thing at a time. The first things i'm aiming for is switchable power supply with RTC so I can replace a day/night outlet timer and ethernet connectivity. I already bought some temperature probes so i might as well include that too.

So list of what i know i need:
Arduino Mega 2560 or compatible.
Ethernet shield
8 channel 5v relay
DS1307 RTC

If I am missing anything, please let me know. Including bits of wire(what gauge?) and everything.

I am planning to put the arduino and any expansion boards in it's own project box with adhesive nylon standoffs, rather than trying to fit everything in the chauvet, and use rj-45 jacks and plugs to terminate cables(aside from any bnc connectors), instead of 3.5mm jacks.


Out of curiosity, has anyone attempted any reef controllers using intel's galileo, or any combining of a raspberry pi and arduino?

I highly recommend you add a buzzer and an I2C LCD.

you can get both for under $5 on ebay.
I initially wired everything on a breadboard, then moved it to a proto board. I simply used the breadboard jumper wires and cut the ends and used them to wire the proto board.

rrbigdog, that audio connector is a good find. is that a TRRS connector? I would have used that if I knew it existed.

[rrbigdog]

Originally Posted by d0ughb0y

I highly recommend you add a buzzer and an I2C LCD.

you can get both for under $5 on ebay.
I initially wired everything on a breadboard, then moved it to a proto board. I simply used the breadboard jumper wires and cut the ends and used them to wire the proto board.

rrbigdog, that audio connector is a good find. is that a TRRS connector? I would have used that if I knew it existed.

It is a TRRS connector. I bought one of ebay to test....then I found who the manufacturer was and you can get better price direct from some of the electronic part sites. I bought 10 to use in my box. Working great so far.

[SorsCode]

rrbigdog - Thanks for sharing, just ordered 25 of them.

[rrbigdog]

Originally Posted by SorsCode

rrbigdog - Thanks for sharing, just ordered 25 of them.

FYI, One note to make. They are made for a .07 thickness. My box was thicker than that so I just snipped some of the tab to make for a thicker panel. Quick fix.

[rrbigdog]

More sharing.

Here is my box for my frag tank.... not all your bells and whistles but will be perfect. Also, I got these to fit my LCD and the Sonar in.....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Plastic-...item5d4c974920

[Hzuiel]

I was planning to put the rj-45 plugs external, rather than cutting holes in the project box. Either via a biscuit jack with inserts, a surface mount wall plate junction box with inserts, or a patch panel. You can get 12 port patch panels for 15 bucks, providing a total of 48 pairs you could run external from there.

The chauvet brand is I assume a more well known name and probably built more robust, but i've seen a couple other people build switched power supplies from a gutted apc battery backup, and one of these. http://www.amazon.com/Technical-Pro-...ref=pd_cp_MI_1 Which actually includes a 5v circuit that could be used to power the relay board itself.

Could http://www.amazon.com/American-Pc-10...ds=american+dj
or http://www.amazon.com/Eliminator-Lig...ref=pd_cp_MI_0 be viable options as well?

[d0ughb0y]

nice. I see you just use uln2803 and db9 to connect to an "unmodified" chauvet?

how much space does the audio jack take inside the chassis? I can't find any technical diagram with dimensions for that connector.
I'm thinking if I replace my PCB mounted jacks, if there will be enough space for these chasis mounted jacks.

The advantage of using stereo jacks: they are cheap, it is way easier to drill a round hole than to make a square hole, and if you accidentally trip on one, it will disconnect from the controller and not drag the whole controller down and yet provides a secure enough connection for this application.

[rrbigdog]

Originally Posted by d0ughb0y

nice. I see you just use uln2803 and db9 to connect to an "unmodified" chauvet?

how much space does the audio jack take inside the chassis? I can't find any technical diagram with dimensions for that connector.
I'm thinking if I replace my PCB mounted jacks, if there will be enough space for these chasis mounted jacks.

The advantage of using stereo jacks: they are cheap, it is way easier to drill a round hole than to make a square hole, and if you accidentally trip on one, it will disconnect from the controller and not drag the whole controller down and yet provides a secure enough connection for this application.

The total length is about 7/8". take a look. inside would be about 3/4"

[d0ughb0y]

Originally Posted by Hzuiel

I was planning to put the rj-45 plugs external, rather than cutting holes in the project box. Either via a biscuit jack with inserts, a surface mount wall plate junction box with inserts, or a patch panel. You can get 12 port patch panels for 15 bucks, providing a total of 48 pairs you could run external from there.

The chauvet brand is I assume a more well known name and probably built more robust, but i've seen a couple other people build switched power supplies from a gutted apc battery backup, and one of these. http://www.amazon.com/Technical-Pro-...ref=pd_cp_MI_1 Which actually includes a 5v circuit that could be used to power the relay board itself.

Could http://www.amazon.com/American-Pc-10...ds=american+dj
or http://www.amazon.com/Eliminator-Lig...ref=pd_cp_MI_0 be viable options as well?

there is no right or wrong way to do this. if it works for you, do it.

the way I did it, I was going for a self contained all in one box solution.

[rrbigdog]

Originally Posted by d0ughb0y

nice. I see you just use uln2803 and db9 to connect to an "unmodified" chauvet?

how much space does the audio jack take inside the chassis? I can't find any technical diagram with dimensions for that connector.
I'm thinking if I replace my PCB mounted jacks, if there will be enough space for these chasis mounted jacks.

The advantage of using stereo jacks: they are cheap, it is way easier to drill a round hole than to make a square hole, and if you accidentally trip on one, it will disconnect from the controller and not drag the whole controller down and yet provides a secure enough connection for this application.

Yep. using the unmodded SR8. My unit was not the exact same you have. Same brand and same model but my unit was smaller then the one you used. Using the separate project box for everything except the sr8 worked great... Again thanks for all the work you have done on this project.

[wgraham]

d0ughb0y, you can't comment #define _Temp out it will not compile.

[Hzuiel]

Okay i just went wild on ebay, mega, ethernet shield, rtc, 8 channel, and jump wires.

[d0ughb0y]

Originally Posted by wgraham

d0ughb0y, you can't comment #define _Temp out it will not compile.

try
#define MAXTEMP 0

[formula409]

How hard would it be to get the relay board controlled by a pcf8575?
would be so amazing to be able to run a 4pole 3.5mm to it!
the quest for a 4 pole splitter continues!

[formula409]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-5mm-4-POLE...-/190608490828

Does she look like a go'er?

[rrbigdog]

That's one expensive cable....

How about these?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-5mm-4-POLE...item51c4070b5e

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CablesOnline...item3f30e11483

[Moomin1967]

Originally Posted by formula409

How hard would it be to get the relay board controlled by a pcf8575?
would be so amazing to be able to run a 4pole 3.5mm to it!
the quest for a 4 pole splitter continues!

I've got confused, can someone remind me what the 4pole splitter is for?

Thanks

[d0ughb0y]

to hook up more devices to the i2c bus.
Currently, the connection to LCD is an I2c bus.

the pcf8575 is similar to the chip used in the I2C LCD backpack circuit (MCP28xxx).

I don't want to pay even $5 for these splitters. If you have space in your project box, you can just more TRRS jacks for additional I2C device connections. The LED control will be via I2C. You can also use the EZO atlas stamps on I2C, so potentially you can have 5 or 6 I2C devices attached to the controller (plus the RTC). Or if there is no more space to add more jacks on the controller box, you can build an I2C expansion box by using the one connection to the controller, then splitting it out to N connections on the project box.

You will have to modify or replace the whole outlet routines to use I2C for IO control. The routines cannot run inside an interrupt handler anymore, and must be run in the main loop. It can be done, just not going to be trivial.

[Moomin1967]

Originally Posted by d0ughb0y

to hook up more devices to the i2c bus.
Currently, the connection to LCD is an I2c bus.

the pcf8575 is similar to the chip used in the I2C LCD backpack circuit (MCP28xxx).

I don't want to pay even $5 for these splitters. If you have space in your project box, you can just more TRRS jacks for additional I2C device connections. The LED control will be via I2C. You can also use the EZO atlas stamps on I2C, so potentially you can have 5 or 6 I2C devices attached to the controller (plus the RTC). Or if there is no more space to add more jacks on the controller box, you can build an I2C expansion box by using the one connection to the controller, then splitting it out to N connections on the project box.

You will have to modify or replace the whole outlet routines to use I2C for IO control. The routines cannot run inside an interrupt handler anymore, and must be run in the main loop. It can be done, just not going to be trivial.

So how about RJ11?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/White-RJ11...item1c3abc61fb