EuroDriver
Active Member
I'm looking to start a thread for all things Archon as a central reference for us Archon users.
Pickupman66 has taken the time to provide a great intro found here.
I'll start out with my first impressions and comments on the Archon and then move to the technical Q&As.
Introduction:
A couple of weeks ago my RKE PC4s died as a result of an unnoticed drip under my cabinet from one of the bulkheads. I figured it was a good time to upgrade. I had my fingertip hovering over the Enter button to order the new Apex, but then decided to investigate the Archon a little further. It looks like there's been a few updates and a lot of improvements since it was first released in 2015 (my research revealed that the new Apex has also gone through these growing pains). Thus, I ended up ordering the Archon for the same reason most people will end up buying it - too much invested in Digital Aquatics modules and accessories, so keep moving forward vs having to buy everything over with a different brand.
The Archon arrived last weekend and I have been tinkering with it. Out the gate, I had a couple of hiccups and was on the verge of returning it but Eric at DA personally called me and we did some troubleshooting over the phone. Between the two of us we got it working at almost 100% but not quite, so DA is in the process of making it right and they're sending me a new replacement system. (We couldn't get the email alerts to work, and the PB8 registered as a PB4 and thus won't operate - everything else seems to be running smoothly).
In the meantime, I have kept tinkering with the one I currently have and I must say I really like it. I still haven't been able to get port forwarding to work and it looks like I'll need to get a DDNS subscription so I can access the Archon while away from home - I'm really looking forward to this since I never managed to get the Net module to work for me. In the meantime, it's so nice to work from my laptop or smartphone without the limitations of the wired head unit or SID cable.
Another comment I want to make for prospective buyers is that I'm not sure whether the PB8 is worth buying - With the PB4's you get a status light on each channel whereas the channels on the PB8 don't have a status light. This may not seem so important, since the interface will report status. It became an issue to me though, because since the Archon was recognizing it as a PB4 and telling me the channel was on, I was thinking my ATO pump had bit the dust. It took me a few back-and-forth trips between the computer and the equipment to realize the interface was reporting a PB4, not PB8. Had there been status lights on the individual channels, I would have known right away that there was no power being sent to the ATO pump and thus I learned to appreciate the importance of the status lights on the power bars.
The PB4 has 4 BUS ports and the PB4 has 2 (so 2 PB4's instead of the PB8 gives you the same amount of BUS ports). The only advantage I see to the PB8 is that you'll only need 1 electrical outlet vs 2 when running 2 PB4's. All in all, for the price of the PB8 (currently $219.99), it is cheaper to get 2 PB4's (currently $99.99 each) and you get the added functionality of a status indicator for each channel.
That being said, the web interface is very nice - easy on the eyes and much easier to use instead of either pushing through menus on the RKE head unit, or tinkering with MyReef (which I never got to work with my Dell laptops). If you're used to the RKE or MyReef menus, it is a rather small learning curve to adapt to the Archon interface.
Now for the technical stuff and my Q&As:
At the moment, I'm trying to figure out the best approach to connect the following:
I have 2 Jebao PP-15's that I'm currently controlling with a Jebao dual controller. I purchased the APC and DCI modules to run on the RKE but apparently, the APC is not needed with the Archon, as the DCI can plug directly into it without needing the APC in between.
I also bought an ALC to control dimmable supplemental T5's (my main lighting is 3 Hydra 52's which I am controlling via the AI Director - the Archon doesn't have the capability of controlling the Hydra 52s with any available modules). However, it appears the ALC is not needed, since the Archon has built-in 0-10v ports (as well as pmw ports). I bought te IOE module ("breakout box") because access to these ports is via RJ9 connectors.
My question is this: It appears that if I use the IOE, I will have to splice the cables for the Jebao pumps to connect them. If I don't want to do this, I need to connect the DCI directly to the Archon and consequently, I won't be able to use the 0-10v channels for the T5s as the ports will be used up by the DCI. Is this correct?
If that's the case, am I best served using both the DCI for the Jebaos and the ALC for the T5s and just leave the IOE out completely?
In the alternative, if I opt to use the IOE for something else (i.e., pmw signal control), do I need to plug in the APC to run the DCI?
Pickupman66 has taken the time to provide a great intro found here.
I'll start out with my first impressions and comments on the Archon and then move to the technical Q&As.
Introduction:
A couple of weeks ago my RKE PC4s died as a result of an unnoticed drip under my cabinet from one of the bulkheads. I figured it was a good time to upgrade. I had my fingertip hovering over the Enter button to order the new Apex, but then decided to investigate the Archon a little further. It looks like there's been a few updates and a lot of improvements since it was first released in 2015 (my research revealed that the new Apex has also gone through these growing pains). Thus, I ended up ordering the Archon for the same reason most people will end up buying it - too much invested in Digital Aquatics modules and accessories, so keep moving forward vs having to buy everything over with a different brand.
The Archon arrived last weekend and I have been tinkering with it. Out the gate, I had a couple of hiccups and was on the verge of returning it but Eric at DA personally called me and we did some troubleshooting over the phone. Between the two of us we got it working at almost 100% but not quite, so DA is in the process of making it right and they're sending me a new replacement system. (We couldn't get the email alerts to work, and the PB8 registered as a PB4 and thus won't operate - everything else seems to be running smoothly).
In the meantime, I have kept tinkering with the one I currently have and I must say I really like it. I still haven't been able to get port forwarding to work and it looks like I'll need to get a DDNS subscription so I can access the Archon while away from home - I'm really looking forward to this since I never managed to get the Net module to work for me. In the meantime, it's so nice to work from my laptop or smartphone without the limitations of the wired head unit or SID cable.
Another comment I want to make for prospective buyers is that I'm not sure whether the PB8 is worth buying - With the PB4's you get a status light on each channel whereas the channels on the PB8 don't have a status light. This may not seem so important, since the interface will report status. It became an issue to me though, because since the Archon was recognizing it as a PB4 and telling me the channel was on, I was thinking my ATO pump had bit the dust. It took me a few back-and-forth trips between the computer and the equipment to realize the interface was reporting a PB4, not PB8. Had there been status lights on the individual channels, I would have known right away that there was no power being sent to the ATO pump and thus I learned to appreciate the importance of the status lights on the power bars.
The PB4 has 4 BUS ports and the PB4 has 2 (so 2 PB4's instead of the PB8 gives you the same amount of BUS ports). The only advantage I see to the PB8 is that you'll only need 1 electrical outlet vs 2 when running 2 PB4's. All in all, for the price of the PB8 (currently $219.99), it is cheaper to get 2 PB4's (currently $99.99 each) and you get the added functionality of a status indicator for each channel.
That being said, the web interface is very nice - easy on the eyes and much easier to use instead of either pushing through menus on the RKE head unit, or tinkering with MyReef (which I never got to work with my Dell laptops). If you're used to the RKE or MyReef menus, it is a rather small learning curve to adapt to the Archon interface.
Now for the technical stuff and my Q&As:
At the moment, I'm trying to figure out the best approach to connect the following:
I have 2 Jebao PP-15's that I'm currently controlling with a Jebao dual controller. I purchased the APC and DCI modules to run on the RKE but apparently, the APC is not needed with the Archon, as the DCI can plug directly into it without needing the APC in between.
I also bought an ALC to control dimmable supplemental T5's (my main lighting is 3 Hydra 52's which I am controlling via the AI Director - the Archon doesn't have the capability of controlling the Hydra 52s with any available modules). However, it appears the ALC is not needed, since the Archon has built-in 0-10v ports (as well as pmw ports). I bought te IOE module ("breakout box") because access to these ports is via RJ9 connectors.
My question is this: It appears that if I use the IOE, I will have to splice the cables for the Jebao pumps to connect them. If I don't want to do this, I need to connect the DCI directly to the Archon and consequently, I won't be able to use the 0-10v channels for the T5s as the ports will be used up by the DCI. Is this correct?
If that's the case, am I best served using both the DCI for the Jebaos and the ALC for the T5s and just leave the IOE out completely?
In the alternative, if I opt to use the IOE for something else (i.e., pmw signal control), do I need to plug in the APC to run the DCI?
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