sumer Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Just saw this awesome controller on LEDgb's website. As I scrolled down the page and read what it is capable of doing, I became more and more interested in trying it. I have a lot of questions regarding this controller now. I need them answered before I preorder it. I also sent an email to Milad but then I thought it'd be a good idea if the answers would be available here for everyone to read. 1. How big is it? I am halfway through making my LED unit. I was about to use MakersController which can be attached to the heatsink itself. How would Bluefish perform in this regard? Running an extra cable from the cabinet to heatsink would be a difficult task. 2. How would it connect to the LDD drivers? I am using Makers 5up Pro to 'plant' 5 LDD drivers in my heatsink. What kind of cable would be needed to connect Bluefish to my Makers 5up Pro? 3. When would the shipping start? 4."Integrate the video feed from webcam directly to your app". What do you mean by that? What kind of camera would be needed to do that? Would the camera be connected to the controller? 5. Would it bring down the LEDs to absolute dark state (where they are no longer emitting any light) or would it just leave them at 0 volts where they will keep glowing? I hope my questions make sense. Some of them may sound very lame but they are very important for someone like me to understand this amazing new product. Thanks much, Sumer. Link to comment
sumer Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 Wow, it also has a photography preset. I will use it just for this feature. Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Yes, it is as great as it sounds. (says the only person that actually has one so far and is using it ) 1) Tiny, less than twice the side of an SD card (the Bluefish uses the Electric Imp system as its 'brain' and is housed in an SD card format, the PCB it is attached to is less than twice that size). 2) Can't connect to MakersDrivers. They only accept a data signal from the MakersController. 3) Early April according to Bluefish. 4) Just need an IP camera that has an IP address and an MJPEG feed. 5) LDD drivers stop all output when a '0' signal is received. And yes, the photography mode is nice, you set it to whatever percentages you want (I have it do 100% on all channels, more light = more better photos, but I know you know that, you put me to shame! ) with the touch of a button. Link to comment
SpencerShepard Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Hi Sumer, I'm the developer of this controller. Ben pretty well answered all of your questions accurately, so I will just say...you take AMAZING PHOTOS! Link to comment
deathbyart Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Would be even better if I had mine. Link to comment
sumer Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 Thanks Ben and Spencer I am almost convinced to use it for my current build that I am working on. A few last questions: 1. How would the LDD drivers be used with these? Is there a board that can be used to mount LDD drivers which will also work with this controller? I just noticed this coralux board on the website. Would this work? http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/coralux-5up-ldd-driver-board/ Which board did you use Ben? I would like to keep everything (LDD Drivers with the board and the controller) on my heatsink itself. By doing this, I will only need one cable coming to the heatsink from my DC power supply. 2. I just Googled about the IP cameras for aquariums and it seems like Foscam cameras are pretty popular. But I couldn't find any info about them using MJPEG feed?Does the following cam look okay?http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/915820-REG/foscam_fi9821w_wireless_720p_megapixel_h_264.html/prm/alsVwDtl 3. What is the main practical difference between this new mini Bluefish controller and the old big Bluefish controller? https://aquarium-led-controller.com/product/bluefish-led-controller/ Can that be used with DIY units as well? Thanks so much for all your help, Ben and Spencer. Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 1) Yes, that board will work. I use custom boards that have more features (like fan control, etc). Can't spill too many beans, but there will be something coming shortly after the Mini that will make the MakersDriver seem like an old hunk of junk 2) I'm not 100% sure. Googling around it looks like they have an MJPEG stream available. I think Spencer knows a bit more on this, so I'll let him reply when he can 3) It's cheaper and doesn't have 0-10v support. It also may or may not be compatible with future accessories (like relays, sensors, etc). Link to comment
sumer Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 Oh ho.. Am I making my unit at a wrong time! I don't wanna regret it later. Any time limit on the new board? I mean would it be April itslef or a couple of months from now? Also, how do you DIY a board? Having the fan output etc will be of much help, of course. Seems like the coralux one doesn't have anything like that. Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 The board I use is designed by O2Surplus from Reefcentral. It is pretty complex, has jumpers for enabling different settings, enabling fan control for specific channels, daisy chaining channels via jumpers, and two SCW slots for providing lots of 12v power, and three sets of controlled 12v output activated by a transistor array. The final revision will have ethernet ports for daisy chaining multiple boards from one BF Mini. Link to comment
sumer Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 Oh! This looks and sounds very complicated. I wish both the controller and the board came out at the same point. I will wait for a couple weeks just to see if there's any development on the board. If not, I will have to go with Makers stuff. Link to comment
sumer Posted April 8, 2015 Author Share Posted April 8, 2015 Had a word with MS and it seems like the LDD board isn't gonna come at least this month. It might come some time in the next month and that too is not very sure. So with a very heavy heart I think I will start my build with maker's stuff. I wish I could use this controller in any way. But guess not.. Link to comment
sumer Posted April 8, 2015 Author Share Posted April 8, 2015 Same here, Ben. But I cannot delay my project more than a couple weeks. I am already a month late. Even if there was a board that would work with the big bluefish, I'd use it. But there's none. I would have loved to write a detailed instructable on it. Anyway, I'd suggest BlueFish and LGB to come up with everything at once in the future. Haha.. I don't know if people know or not but I wrote this world famous instructable which has more than 2 million views on it: http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Complete-Idiots-Guide-to-Make-LED-Light-Unit/ Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 Same here, Ben. But I cannot delay my project more than a couple weeks. I am already a month late. Even if there was a board that would work with the big bluefish, I'd use it. But there's none. I would have loved to write a detailed instructable on it. Anyway, I'd suggest BlueFish and LGB to come up with everything at once in the future. Haha.. I don't know if people know or not but I wrote this world famous instructable which has more than 2 million views on it: http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Complete-Idiots-Guide-to-Make-LED-Light-Unit/ Both the Bluefish Mini and Regular Bluefish are compatible with any LDD board. I was actually going to use my full Bluefish to control my new planted tank light I built last weekend and use one of my 4up LDD boards with a fan converter, but I guess I messed up that board and it doesn't work, so I put everything on a 5up MakersDriver with the manual dimming accessory and I'm using just one of the 0-10v outputs of the full Bluefish to control it. I only have one channel of control for now, though, which sucks. Link to comment
sumer Posted April 8, 2015 Author Share Posted April 8, 2015 Both the Bluefish Mini and Regular Bluefish are compatible with any LDD board. I was actually going to use my full Bluefish to control my new planted tank light I built last weekend and use one of my 4up LDD boards with a fan converter, but I guess I messed up that board and it doesn't work, so I put everything on a 5up MakersDriver with the manual dimming accessory and I'm using just one of the 0-10v outputs of the full Bluefish to control it. I only have one channel of control for now, though, which sucks. Wait wait. Any board means? I thought it doesn't work with Makers 5up Pro? And even if it will work with any other LDD board, would it control all 5 channels? Link to comment
anh85 Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Board looks amasing. I would love the gerber files if u would like to share Link to comment
evilc66 Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 I'm pretty sure this is not open source hardware, so Spencer is not going to give those out readily. Link to comment
Sherman Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Can I use this on my DIY light I build 5 years ago? Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Can I use this on my DIY light I build 5 years ago? As long as the drivers dim by 3.3v PWM, then yes. If not, you'll need to swap out your drivers for Meanwell LDD-H or something like the A6211. Link to comment
Sherman Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Look like I cannot use. My leds arrays and driver is build in a pcb board Link to comment
evilc66 Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Which drivers did you use? I'm sure there is a way to make it work. Link to comment
Sherman Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Hi evilc66, The driver is not buy off the shelf. The driver was design and build into the mpcb by a board design company when I get them produce the 6 leds with driver onboard in 2009. I will try to get a pic of the driver later Link to comment
PicoSavvy Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 The board I use is designed by O2Surplus from Reefcentral. It is pretty complex, has jumpers for enabling different settings, enabling fan control for specific channels, daisy chaining channels via jumpers, and two SCW slots for providing lots of 12v power, and three sets of controlled 12v output activated by a transistor array. The final revision will have ethernet ports for daisy chaining multiple boards from one BF Mini. Any development on this board is it out or still being design Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 Those boards are the old versions. These are the newer ones: Link to comment
PicoSavvy Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 WHAT is the micro controller for? Also this one has 8 channel right. WHAT is the pricing on them. They look awesome Link to comment
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