LOL I really have to laugh at that quote. 15 hours later I see PH on my display correctly. I won't go into detail but never count your chickens to early.

OK I'm going to take a break from the probes for a couple of weeks and devote a good amount of time back to the relays and menu design. I've got to order a few parts for the EC Probe circuit and won't have them in till late next week.

I've changed the display a little bit. You will be able to see at a glance Temp, PH1, PH2, ORP, PPT, Date, Time, and a status area that will give any alarms information. I'll post a pic tomorrow as I left my iphone at home and don't have another camera at work.

Steve

thats sounding awsome! all those things at glance! this controller is gonna be incredible

This project is awesome. For those of us that want reliable heat control and lights on and off, its going to be sweet!

hcsceo - Are you still looking at around Sept or so for release date for the kits? Ever since I heard the blip of this on RC I can't quite justify buying a Ranco heat controller since this will cost less than a dual stage and will do so much more. I have a pretty basic system but if you need any more testers let me know, I'd be more than happy to!

keep up the good work there needs to be more like people like you who dont care about making a million over night and just care about honest FAIR deals... GOODLUCK

Hcsceo; Let me know if you need and PCB work done. I have access to the newest version of Eagle.

dzeadow - yes the plan is to have this completed by Sept. 1 Not sure if the kits will be ready for sure by then but the final design will be done and we can send out for keyboards and PCB's.

Brett and Seaweed - thanks for the kind words. Everyone should have a controller on their tanks and the only way that will happen is if we get the price down. I've got no problems with companies charging what they do for a controller as the market is relatively small ,the liability is relatively high, and the work and cost involved in design is high. Innovation starts with a need, but filling a need cost money.

Steve

i understand what your saying and in some cases i dont disagree with prices of some items but greed is the biggest problem and i would just like to say your a good guy because you dont care about the money

I understand absolutely none of the techno-language on this thread, but I would certainly be interested in trying one of these controllers out if you are able to meet your goal.

I am definitely waiting in line to buy this.

I read through the first two pages of this thread but I didn't pick up on whether this unit has it's own processing, or if this needs to be usb'd to my computer.

This has its own microcontroller built into it. Does not need to be hooked up to anything. Right now the usb will be used to upload new firmware but in the future it will be able to send data to the computer for historical information.

Gotcha. That is very cool. So potentially it could upload a history of parameters to your computer?

yes, exactly. The computer will have to catch it in realtime there isn't enough room to store the data on the controller. There is an SD card option we could do down the road but it won't happen with the initial release.

That's cool. Is it compatible with Macs?

NEVER!!!!!

I am looking forward to trying one of these in the fall.

You and me both bruddeh!!!

Well at least my computer LOOKS cool!

Fosi,
No link, sorry. I'll try and dig one up.

I'm in line as well, you can sign me up now. I was away from Nano-reef for a bit but I am glad I'm back the DIY stuff such as this is what I really like about this hobby besides the visuals and the newest stuff is here.

ill be a "tester" for the "uneducated" reefers (im still in high school) + i dont have a controller



my comp looks sick, but thats cause i made it

Steve, put me down for one as well if you are able to meet your sale price of $80 something as planned. OR if you need a tester.

D

i would love to be a tester as well! sounds like an awesome project. danktank, glad to know im not the only high school kid who has this hobby lol.

glad to see there are a lot of us highschool kids reefing, although its expensive

I will go out on a limb here and say I dont really want to be a tester. I'd be open to review the hardware side prior to release to testers. Things like do the schemes match the PCB layout, do the plans have the correct labelling, etc. The best part is the cost to do this is ZERO as it can be done off of photos of parts, the schematics, and the instructions.

lol second the expensive part of reefing! i actually hold a job at my lfs to cut costs totally glad to see more highschoolers doing this!

Firewolf I'd like to talk to you some more about this. I'm using DipTrace rather than Eagle mainly cause I was able to get a legal copy of DipTrace from the manufacture for open source that does everything I need it to do. The free eagle software would not work for me and I wasn't about to spend money on it. Send me an IM with relevant experience with PCB and Schematic work. I need another set of eyes on this as mine are crossed ATM.

I do have some good news. I talked with the owner of my company and it is possible they can use this product for pool and fountain systems. If he likes it, he will pay for the UL and ETL listing which is very expensive and a stumbling block for many systems like this. In return he gets to use the design for his own use. This isn't an issue as it was open source from the beginning This will give our product a huge advantage in the market and take it from a backyard project to a respectable product.

Thanks for everyone's input. As far as testing, I will be posting a separate post requesting "resumes" from those who want to test the system. From the replies we get we will select about 8-10 people to receive the controller for testing. I'll start this process once I get the PCB's back from the manufacture and they work.

Steve

Sweet !

Steve,
I think I still have diptrace with the add ons on this PC so yea, I can go over layouts, electrical and mechanicals.
Does your company have specific route rules due to the application environment or is it standard?
Email me with the details.

Russ

Russ I'll IM you soon on the circuits. I'm getting close to a completed schematic and pcb in diptrace. I would love to have you look it over before it goes to china for manufacture.


OK guys got the keypad working tonight, finally. I'm about to kick my programmer to the curb as he hasn't done a thing to help with this project. As it stands I've written about 98% of the code and this is the first code I've written in 12 years so it takes me twice as long. I've got an old college roomate that is a programmer by trade and he is going to come on board. He is more experienced than Daniel and ready to work every night till it is done.

All that is left is Conductivity. I've ordered the parts for it and will start building it this weekend. Once EC is done this thing is ready for PCB work unless you guys convince me to add a feature to the main unit and can't be added as a i2c module via rj11. My plan is to build some sample head units even before the code or relay modules are completed so that we can get a jump on coding the menus in the final unit. I'm worried about memory so keep your fingers crossed. If we run out I do have a PLAN B that will double the memory and speed of the unit and won't take too much of a redesign. The only downside is that it isn't officially supported by arduino.

Steve

So excited, I have been eagerly following this from the beginning. Feel free to PM me if you need any help with any graphic design related things (visual identity, logo, etc.) as the project finishes up.

Keep up the good work Hcsceo. Sounds like things are moving along.

Thanks guys. I'm determined to make the Sept. 1 deadline I set for this project. If we can make it work with the memory we have left then there shouldn't be any problems. As it stands all my code thus far is 9k with only a little coding for the ec left to go. This should leave us 22k of memory for the menus. So cross your fingers.

Steve,
When you're ready, Email me the pcb and scheme files. If you have specific layout and/or design concerns let me know and I'll see what we can do. I'll put it at the top of my "to do" list to help meet the time contraints.

Russ

One word of advice before shipping this off to fab. Make sure you view the final gerber files in a separate viewer like viewplot before sending them out. I've caught quite a few problems that aren't obvious when looking at the board files in your CAD tool (Allegro in my case, I've never heard of DipTrace). I'd be willing to review any board files, but I can't promise super quick turnaround.

I'd also be willing to purchase an early unit, and provide any possible feedback.

This is a really great project, keep up the good work.

+1.
If things go well with this, I may be able to get my Reef Club and an LFS interested.

hcsceo - great build man. Let me know when you want a resume for a tester. I'll buy this if it works, for sure.

D

If this goes out 220V capable, I'll definitely be interested. Finding a controller to do all of these functions for under a grand here is nigh-on impossible, let alone one that's open-source/expandable.

I'm excited

OK guys I'm building three units this weekend. ALL HAND WIRED (that is about 100 wires and about 250 soldering points) I've got cases from the vendor and test keypads so I should have at least one or two working demos based on my current schematic ready for testing on Monday. I probably won't get EC done this weekend as I'm still waiting on a probe but I'll leave room on the demo systems to add it to the boards once it is done. I'll be taking a little video so you guys can see it in action and what the final product will look like. We'll be building a jig for our CNC machine to do all the cutouts on the cases which will make them very professional and save that cost with the case manufacture. Everything right now is about cost reduction and meeting the sub $100 goal I have set. The only part of this entire job that relies on a particular vendor is the Keypad. If I could build them I would.

Steve

Well I went with the RKL deal that is going on, but if you need testers with experience with other controllers I would be happy to help you out.

is there a completely built price no someone willing to do it and sell them pre built?

Right now no. I'm considering setting up a deal to connect people with builders on our website when done. Each builder would charge thier own rate for a complete unit The other option we are considering is adding a build it price to the order form. If we build them I couldn't do it for less than $100 per unit since they will be hand done. Once you add that price into the cost of the unit then it brings the total to around $200 and it gets less competative.

Honestly, what I really hope happens is someone in china decides to build these things. With everything converted to surface mount and machine picking and soldering, there is no reason this couldn't be built and sold for around $99. ANYONE FROM CHINA WANTING TO BUILD THESE THINGS PLEASE CONTACT ME. There are a ton of uses for this product beyond fish tanks. The design can be modified to do all sorts of things.

Anyway, hope that answers your question.

Steve

I'm assuming that it simply comes with the controller for under a 100 right? no probes or outlets?

No probes but should come with at least 4 outlets.

Steve,

As already stated excellent project.

I'm curious how you are going to interface with the Conductivity and pH probes? Are you going to design and build your own probe amplifier (pH) and AC circuit (for conductivity) probes yourself using discrete component or buy already built interface cards?

I'm currently building my own interfaces for pH and Conductivity probes and they can be a bit tricky. For the conductivity probe I'm usnig a K=10 /cm probe with graphite electrodes because saltware has a conductivity of about 53,000 uS/cm, 53 mS/cm. Most of your K=1/cm probes that you see for sale cheap from Hydroponic shops can't handle NSW, since they max out at 20 mS/cm. And the 'fresh water' probes use a K=0.1 /cm probe that maxs out at 2000 uS/cm. Great for pure water but not NSW!

Keep up the good work!

Scott

Plankton, All the circuits are going to be built. This is the only way to get the cost down to the sub $100 mark for retail. I'm iusing low power op amps for all the probes from circuits I've found on the internet and modified with noise filters. I haven't decided on the probe yet for EC. I've got some coming from a manufacture from China and I'm planning on buying a aquacontroller probe from reefgeek to make sure it works with probes others might have currently. So far the PH and Orp circuits are done with only EC left to complete. For EC my current design calls for using PWM to create a squarewave and them using an op amp to shift the squarewave to cross over the 0 mark and create a simulated AC current. I've also got a circuit I've found on the internet that includes a AC generating signal from DC. This is my last circuit and the most complex of the items and I think the reason most of the low cost controllers don't include it.

Steve

If there is a list started to buy these I want in.....

They are already tooled up for it too. IE CNC head units ( pads )
All they would need to do is add a step to the line.

LOL so true. I'm sure someone in china who has never seen a saltwater fish is already watching this thread to build these things.

OK guys here is a pic of the project as promissed. This board is going into the production case with the production keyboard. This is a sample that is ALL hand wired with 30 gauge wire on the backside. I still have all the meters left to wire on this board. I'm using a simple radio shack prototyping board. Believe it or not this is one of three I'm currently building. This is to show that you can build these without my PCB and only the schematics as shown here. Enjoy.

Steve,
when you gonna fire over the Scheme and PCB files. I dont think converting it to SMD's should be that difficult based on what I've seen.

Russ