metrokat Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 these? OMG! those are beach wear. I meant ninja killer heels. Link to comment
masami93 Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 I should get my girlfriend these heels. Maybe then, she'll be more inclined to go diving with me these? Link to comment
solefald Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 I meant ninja killer heels. http://www.buzzfeed.com/hgrant/30-insane-h...-your-feet-hurt ^ Link to comment
Chrisl1976 Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Sorry, but your RA is not all that special. It does exact same thing that Apex does. Lets see Apex open my garage door? Link to comment
Salty_Snack Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Lets see Apex open my garage door? Sure. It could do that. Would you like it to work off of a switch, timer, iPhone, ect.? Link to comment
solefald Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Lets see Apex open my garage door? This is rather an easy task. I can make it work with IR, RF, light beam, iPhone app, Web browser and directly from Apex display unit. IR/RF/Light beam would be more complicated because i'll have to build a small receiver, but I see nothing that would stop Apex from automating your entire house. But we are not talking about outlandish things like this, and to be fair RA is nothing more than a bunch of Adruino modules and we are not talking about Arduino capabilities over here. Link to comment
Deckoz2302 Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Lets see Apex open my garage door? Bahah...arduino ftw if you really wanted to you could control your whole house ... Link to comment
Deckoz2302 Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 OK since it hasn't migrated over here let's talk about real applications..... Flow meters - reactor clogged? Pump need cleaning? IR sensor - wake screen. Constant IR announce tank stats via speaker Using pinpoint probes such as nitrate, calcium, alkalinity etc etc for continual monitoring?(working on libraries)- know your stats over a network - auto create dose amount and time to keep at specific level Self adjusting solenoid control for a calcium reactor. Salinity control and auto or continuous waterchange Should I keep going? Link to comment
Chrisl1976 Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Bahah...arduino ftw if you really wanted to you could control your whole house ... Just think. I was going to go buy a timer for my christmas lights next year.....LOL Saved myself $10 bucks Link to comment
solefald Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 OK since it hasn't migrated over here let's talk about real applications..... Flow meters - reactor clogged? Pump need cleaning? IR sensor - wake screen. Constant IR announce tank stats via speaker Using pinpoint probes such as nitrate, calcium, alkalinity etc etc for continual monitoring?(working on libraries)- know your stats over a network - auto create dose amount and time to keep at specific level Self adjusting solenoid control for a calcium reactor. Salinity control and auto or continuous waterchange Should I keep going? You realize that both devices are micro-controllers, right? The difference is that one is made for one thing and one thing only and does it rather well. The other one is jack of all trades, yet master of none. Sure, it will work, but its only as good as the person who wrote the code, and since you are introducing everything and the kitchen sink into the equation, there will be plenty of bugs. But lets not get into Mac vs PC argument here. As much as i love open source, this is the thing i hate the most. Too many cooks in the kitchen, and your great idea goes to sh*t, because some dude wrote a line of code that should not be there and uploaded without testing, and you, having absolutely no idea what that code is supposed to look like, download the file and upload it to your controller... and accidentally fry it. Yes, you can do the code audit. As the matter of fact, you SHOULD do the code audit of everything you download from the internet, but do you seriously expect every user of RA to be a nerd with C++ knowledge? To most of the people that looks like gibberish. We are beating the dead horse over here. I have nothing against RA, as the matter of fact, i like those things alot and going to build a similar controller for my second "frankentank" using Arduino, because i want to build it myself. Hell, i will probably buy their probes and relays so i dont have to build my own... and maybe even re-use some of their code. The thing is... i am a nerd who loves doing things like that. 99% of the aquarists out there could not give 2 sh*its about being able to write their own code and build their own modules. they want to buy something that works right out of the box, does not have a steep learning curve, looks nice and has a phone number they can call to ask for help, if needed. For these people RA is not the right choice. The original question was RKL or Apex. My vote is Apex. Oh yeah, and detecting a clogged pump is done with a simple open/closed pressure switch, so it will work with Apex. Writing complex condition-based code is also possible with Apex. I see both, Apex and RA as absolutely equal devices (one is nice and polished. another one is a red-headed step child), yet both are superior to Reef Keeper. Link to comment
Chrisl1976 Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Sure, it will work, but its only as good as the person who wrote the code, and since you are introducing everything and the kitchen sink into the equation, there will be plenty of bugs. So your comment does not scare off everyone who has fears of writing code. Lets clarify one thing I have learned from reading the RA forum. As far as the code being only as good as the person who wrote it, YOU AS A NEW USER SHOULD NOT WORRY. The RA comes with stock code installed to do exactly what a basic set-up needs do to. Unless I am completely reading the set-up procedure wrong....All you have to do is tweak a few numbers in the code to match what you want it to do (lights on, lights off times, heater temp on, heater off, wave maker setting, ect) Same thing you would do in the RKL or APEX setup software) Than just upload that code back into the RA. You do not have to physically write 50 lines of code yourself. It sounds like the stock code is working just fine. COPY & PASTE are your friends when it comes to RA. Please do not over complicate the basic tank set-up of this unit. Link to comment
metrokat Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Why would you need an RA if you're going to copy and paste code from the net? Isn't that cheating for a person that knows code? And if you don't know code, why would you get a controller that needs you to know code? Link to comment
solefald Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 APEX setup software. yes. that software is called a web browser Link to comment
Chrisl1976 Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Why would you need an RA if you're going to copy and paste code from the net? Isn't that cheating for a person that knows code? And if you don't know code, why would you get a controller that needs you to know code? When you pay $360 for a APEX, part of that money is paying for the guy who wrote the code to make it turn your lights on, run your wavemaker run, monitor temp, PH, ect. With the RA, you are not paying that money for the code time. More or less its free. (Open Source) Most DIY communities do it for the love of the hobby and the people in it. Some guys want to be able to say, look, I made this.(ego boost without the commercial overhead cost) In most cases, its not for profit. RA designer sat down and wrote code to make your lights turn on, ATO work, wavemaker work. ect. Just like the guy at APEX did. What RA allows you to do is write your own code if there is something special you want to make work. Other guys have written code to make your wavemaker run special cycles different from the cookie cutter....Off/On we normally see. They SHARE that code with the community. This is where the "Caution" come to play. Some random guys code may be written wrong. Just like buying corals or fish...make sure you trust the guy you are getting code from . I personally would not worry about any of the stock code being wrong. Link to comment
Chrisl1976 Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 And if you don't know code, why would you get a controller that needs you to know code? Cost is cheaper. You have a great community of guys willing to share the code they wrote, tell you how to tweak it to what you exactly want, and how to upload it. This is the mis-understanding people have about this. For basic control features, you dont need to know how to write the code. Its already been done. Its like buying DIY LED retro kits vs buying a complete assembled LED hood. Someone has written the instruction on how to mount them, correct wiring procedure, etc. You may even learn how to solder your own wires on. With the RA, you will learn how to tweak pre-written code to make your lights turn off at 9pm. Link to comment
Deckoz2302 Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Lol he is right...RA comes as a complete controller with code pre loaded on it and a.full menu on the controller to set times.etc etc. Without ever plugging it into the computer....however lol The other side is instead of keeping that code...write your own...it is a full controller out of the box. With the option to customize to your liking or needs Link to comment
nhart608 Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 Well Banshee, now that your thread has been hijacked, I am going to suggest that you get the RKL for starters. It will do what you want it to, it's not all that hard to programl, DA has GREAT support if you need help, and it's expandable. I'm not knocking any other controller, but I have great peace of mind having my RKL running my tank. Link to comment
Pickle010 Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 Well Banshee, now that your thread has been hijacked, I am going to suggest that you get the RKL for starters. It will do what you want it to, it's not all that hard to programl, DA has GREAT support if you need help, and it's expandable. I'm not knocking any other controller, but I have great peace of mind having my RKL running my tank. This thread has officially come full circle. lol Link to comment
Chrisl1976 Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 Lol he is right...RA comes as a complete controller with code pre loaded on it and a.full menu on the controller to set times.etc etc. Without ever plugging it into the computer....however lol The other side is instead of keeping that code...write your own...it is a full controller out of the box. With the option to customize to your liking or needs Little more looking and Deckoz is absolutely right. The RA needs no new coding for basic functions right out of the box. Much like the RKL, you program it from the display unit with no need to hook it to a computer. Settable features out of the box with no coding required include: Port 1: Auto top-off pump Port 2: Moonlight lights Port 3: Actinic lights Port 4: Daylight lights Port 5: Wavemaker pump 2 Port 6: Wavemaker pump 1 Port 7: Heater Port 8: Return pump Link to comment
Deckoz2302 Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 This thread has officially come full circle. lol Haha twice.... Link to comment
metrokat Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 Cost is cheaper. You have a great community of guys willing to share the code they wrote, tell you how to tweak it to what you exactly want, and how to upload it. The other side is instead of keeping that code...write your own...it is a full controller out of the box. With the option to customize to your liking or needs okay sold. when are both of you coming over to code the RA for me? I'll make lunch, you code and Britt and I will go to the spa. Link to comment
nystang Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 Little more looking and Deckoz is absolutely right. The RA needs no new coding for basic functions right out of the box. Much like the RKL, you program it from the display unit with no need to hook it to a computer. Settable features out of the box with no coding required include: Port 1: Auto top-off pump Port 2: Moonlight lights Port 3: Actinic lights Port 4: Daylight lights Port 5: Wavemaker pump 2 Port 6: Wavemaker pump 1 Port 7: Heater Port 8: Return pump If you don't have some of those devices, can you program another light for example on port #8 ? Link to comment
nystang Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 Another question, please. Can you gradually dim the lights and then turn them off and vice versa. I hope I didn't miss it on previous pages. Link to comment
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