reef-pi :: An opensource reef tank controller based on Raspberry Pi.

[sector9]

Awesome, thanks for the 0.0.7 release!

I am having trouble getting my temperature to display on Adafruit though. Not sure where my issue lies.

It looks like my probe is successfully being read by my pi at 24.0 C

I turned on the temperature probe in config.yml

However, I am not getting data

 

[Ranjib]

Awesome, thanks for the 0.0.7 release!

I am having trouble getting my temperature to display on Adafruit though. Not sure where my issue lies.

It looks like my probe is successfully being read by my pi at 24.0 C

I turned on the temperature probe in config.yml

However, I am not getting data

Can check log ?
```
sudo journalctl -u reef-pi.service
```

 

[sector9]

Can check log ?
```
sudo journalctl -u reef-pi.service
```

Sure, thanks for your help

 

[Ranjib]

Sure, thanks for your help

Check interval is in Minutes . ;-(, so according to your configuration it will read temperature after every 60 minute, can you change it to 1

 

[Ranjib]

Check interval is in Minutes . ;-(, so according to your configuration it will read temperature after every 60 minute, can you change it to 1

And restart reef pi

 

[sector9]

Check interval is in Minutes . ;-(, so according to your configuration it will read temperature after every 60 minute, can you change it to 1

And restart reef pi

Perfect, now it is working! It was actually working already, I just wasn't patient enough to wait an hour apparently haha

 

[keddre]

BOO, Go sucks, learn a real language. That being said, it's a neat project I was thinking of and I'm mad someone beat me to it. I'll see if I can get it incorporated into my system as I'm currently trying to build my own Amazon-Echo-Like device and will see if I can incorporate it in when done.

 

[Ranjib]

Perfect, now it is working! It was actually working already, I just wasn't patient enough to wait an hour apparently haha

Im glad it worked out . You can use just the sensor for the time being and check your temperature pattern , if you want to control it you have to get a dual or single channel relay and hook it up with heater/cooler etc. My housing is progress, expect a temperature controller specific build thread soon.

 

[Ranjib]

BOO, Go sucks, learn a real language. That being said, it's a neat project I was thinking of and I'm mad someone beat me to it. I'll see if I can get it incorporated into my system as I'm currently trying to build my own Amazon-Echo-Like device and will see if I can incorporate it in when done.

, are you comparing it with C ? or python? Its more performant than python (a full blown reef-pi controlquiteill run quiet a few threads and an http server), its far more easier to do everything that is not device programming in go, albeit not as good as C. But writing an http server will be massive pain.
I had to include multiple language none the less for the UI. Currently these are all jsx/react.

 

[keddre]

, are you comparing it with C ? or python? Its more performant than python (a full blown reef-pi controlquiteill run quiet a few threads and an http server), its far more easier to do everything that is not device programming in go, albeit not as good as C. But writing an http server will be massive pain.
I had to include multiple language none the less for the UI. Currently these are all jsx/react.

I hate C (but not ++) and suck at python. I'm over here trying to make a home Alexa-Like server in Common-Lisp. But yours looks like a good monitoring tool

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

, are you comparing it with C ? or python? Its more performant than python (a full blown reef-pi controlquiteill run quiet a few threads and an http server), its far more easier to do everything that is not device programming in go, albeit not as good as C. But writing an http server will be massive pain.
I had to include multiple language none the less for the UI. Currently these are all jsx/react.

+1. I'm working on a Pi-based alkalinity monitor, and it's definitely not intuitive programming somethign so complex in Python. Not to me, anyway (speaking from a Java/C# background). Go is definitely the way to go when writing a project like reef-pi. I'm so lazy that it beggars belief. If I wasn't, I'd learn Go and write my own project in it as well.

 

[Ranjib]

A small but important update. Yesterday night I was able to successfully convert 5v pwm to 10v pwm that does not require isolated outputs.

This is something I was struggling to achieve from the beginning. I needed this for the kessil controller but all my past attempts to convert 5 v pwm from pcs9685 either failed(mosfets) or required isolated outputs (uln2803, l293d) . I knew from beginning the reason is my lack of electronics knowledge , all the ways should have work d otherwise (including opamp).

The breakthrough came from spending enough time to study and understand how amplification works and how to use transistor. And finally yesterday I was able to get 10v pwm that can share a common gnd, and I was able to get this with the most commonly used npn transistor. Very happy about the whole thing

This brings the next step , is to build a dedicate kessil controller based on pi zero , along side already temperature , ato and dosing controller. All the software and electronics are already sorted, all I need is to focus on housing and connectors

 

[sector9]

Nice to have my temperature monitoring running!

A small but important update. Yesterday night I was able to successfully convert 5v pwm to 10v pwm that does not require isolated outputs.

This is something I was struggling to achieve from the beginning. I needed this for the kessil controller but all my past attempts to convert 5 v pwm from pcs9685 either failed(mosfets) or required isolated outputs (uln2803, l293d) . I knew from beginning the reason is my lack of electronics knowledge , all the ways should have work d otherwise (including opamp).

The breakthrough came from spending enough time to study and understand how amplification works and how to use transistor. And finally yesterday I was able to get 10v pwm that can share a common gnd, and I was able to get this with the most commonly used npn transistor. Very happy about the whole thing

This brings the next step , is to build a dedicate kessil controller based on pi zero , along side already temperature , ato and dosing controller. All the software and electronics are already sorted, all I need is to focus on housing and connectors

Excellent! More details about which transistor and how you wired it?

 

[Ranjib]

Nice to have my temperature monitoring running!

Excellent! More details about which transistor and how you wired it?

I am using 2N-3904. I think any 10v compliant npn transistor will work, (e.g. PN2222A ).

 

[Ranjib]

Nice to have my temperature monitoring running!

Excellent! More details about which transistor and how you wired it?

It awesome to see other's temperature graph powered by reef-pi

 

[Ranjib]

Over the past few days, I got a website working for reef-pi, Thanks to hugo, github and couple of other opensource projects, hosting a static website turned out lot simpler than it used to be

http://reef-pi.com

Not a whole lot of content there yet. Its just the skeleton and tentative list of guides I want write. The developer environment setup guide has some draft content.
@denierlexiese , if you get some time, I could use some feedback on the development environment setup guide.
I hope I'll get to build the housing for the ato, temperature , doser controllers this weekend. I have the software and electronics running from a bread board for couple of weeks now :0/

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

Hey @Ranjib just FYI, https://reef-pi.com does not work (ERR_CONNECTION_CLOSED on Chrome 59.0.3071.115). Similarly, https://www.reef-pi.com does not work either (same error, ERR_CONNECTION_CLOSED). www.reef-pi.com seems to work fine, and redirects to https://reef-pi.github.io/ without issue.

Let me know if I can lend a hand with the redirects. I built a labyrinth of ProxyPass and virtual host directives in order to serve my personal sites to the Internet.

 

[Ranjib]

Hey @Ranjib just FYI, https://reef-pi.com does not work (ERR_CONNECTION_CLOSED on Chrome 59.0.3071.115). Similarly, https://www.reef-pi.com does not work either (same error, ERR_CONNECTION_CLOSED). www.reef-pi.com seems to work fine, and redirects to https://reef-pi.github.io/ without issue.

Let me know if I can lend a hand with the redirects. I built a labyrinth of ProxyPass and virtual host directives in order to serve my personal sites to the Internet.

Thanks for pointing this out .
I am not hosting the website using nginx/apache, or even a linux server. Its all hosted via github, using github pages, all I do is push the html /css/javascript content to https://github.com/reef-pi/reef-pi.github.io and rest is magic
reef-pi.com domain is something I bought from google, couple of days back, and I have configured it to forward (http 302) to https://reef-pi.github.io ,
It seems like google domain forwarding only works for http not for https :-(
Glad we have a old school sysad to notice such screw ups . Thanks for cross checking the site, @chipmunkofdoom2

 

[Cory]

I havent read the whole thread but how much does it cost?

 

[MaccaPopEye]

I havent read the whole thread but how much does it cost?

That depends on a lot of things. How basic or advanced do you want to go? Where you live can also play a part etc.

Just for reference though I live in Australia (sh*ts expensive here) I haven't started building yet, just ordering in all the parts so I can start when I get back from my Holiday in September. But my costs are currently:
Raspberry Pi - $54.45
Pi heat sink - $3.50
MCP3008 chip - $6.50
Lots of jumper wires and break away pins (hopefully way more than I need lol) - $29.00
Two 8x relay boards - $25.28
16GB SD card - $29
Bread board - $3
ULN2803A chip - $3.50
PCA9685 board - $13
Temp probe - $2
DC plugs / sockets & other misc bits and pieces - $8
3x 5 socket power boards - $60
Total without shipping is $237.23 so lets say I'm sitting around the $250 mark with shipping.

That's where I am up to at the moment, but keep in mind tech things can be crazy expensive in Aus. The wood and other bits used to build an enclosure will certainly add to the cost a bit more but everything I have should be all I need to control 15 power outlets, dim 3 Mars Aqua LED lights & monitor / control temp.

Can't wait to start building. Finally got a enough time to install raspbian on the Pi yesterday. Next step, download ReefPi and get that running!

Using just a Pi zero to monitor temp could be done quite cheaply. Then the more you want to add on the more it will cost.

Edit: I recommend you at least read just the first couple of pages though. Ranjib put a lot of detail into his instructions and also included a bill of materials for you to price it up yourself.