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

[Mandelstam]

Thank you for this. My one concern is that I am already using pin 12 for the power control circuit?

You should be able to use pin 18 for pwm instead. Or you just use another pin for the power control, you have more options there to choose from.

 

[ekopapers]

So I am trying to get my viparspectra hooked up to my reefpi, I have the @Michael Lane goby hat and adapter, I am trying to make sure I wire it correctly, from the picture on the upper right jst connector is the yellow Chanel 2 the black(center) the ground and the red Chanel 1? After I get the wiring correct do I need to setup a pca9685 driver for it and then add a new jack calling pins 13,14 and listing the driver I created?

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

So I am trying to get my viparspectra hooked up to my reefpi, I have the @Michael Lane goby hat and adapter, I am trying to make sure I wire it correctly, from the picture on the upper right jst connector is the yellow Chanel 2 the black(center) the ground and the red Chanel 1? After I get the wiring correct do I need to setup a pca9685 driver for it and then add a new jack calling pins 13,14 and listing the driver I created?

Yes. Pwm outputs on mike lane’s hat are controlled with 9685 driver.
then final step is to setup the light on light tab with the jack you created.

 

[ekopapers]

Yes. Pwm outputs on mike lane’s hat are controlled with 9685 driver.
then final step is to setup the light on light tab with the jack you created.

can you confirm if I have correctly labeled the pins that go out of the viparspectra adapter to the hat, specifically that the ground is the center pin on the adapter?

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

can you confirm if I have correctly labeled the pins that go out of the viparspectra adapter to the hat, specifically that the ground is the center pin on the adapter?

i can’t say for sure but the Mars adapter looks very similar and there is diagram showing ground in the middle. Maybe send a dm to Mike lane. He has been very helpful to me before when I’ve asked questions.

 

[Yov]

Here's my original post

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

Ok I understand, how do you assign pin number to pi, so pin 8 cant be same as pin 8 on hat..?

www.reef2reef.com

If i understand it correctly i realy need t oreverse everything! so On = OFF to?
So what i want:

What i need to write if i run it with a timer:

 

[Yov]

@Ranjib is there an easy methode to just set 1 Light output and just copy this to my other light's ? I have quite some for the Terrarium. (also still hoping on random lightning/rain thing or triger system with real time information. )

 

[Des Westcott]

If i understand it correctly i realy need t oreverse everything! so On = OFF to?
So what i want:

What i need to write if i run it with a timer:

That looks to me like it will work.

Please let us know how it goes.

 

[Yov]

That looks to me like it will work.

Please let us know how it goes.

i wil! i wil not activate it yet as i am not at home and do not want my terrarium to flood ... XD

 

[erzwire]

We can tinker with it and salvage what's usable. It will be really cool if we can get reef-pi running in one of those. I dont know how many custom components it has, and how easy it will be to get those working with reef-pi. If its a lot of work, its probably not worth , since theres only a handful of these units present. But without testing out, its hard to say how much effort involved

have you had the chance to look into this? i also have a bricked vertex cerebra id love to run reef-pi on

 

[Ranjib]

have you had the chance to look into this? i also have a bricked vertex cerebra id love to run reef-pi on

Nope :-(

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib is there an easy methode to just set 1 Light output and just copy this to my other light's ? I have quite some for the Terrarium. (also still hoping on random lightning/rain thing or triger system with real time information. )

:-( . this is super easy with api/coding , but alas nothing fancy with the UI.

 

[ekopapers]

So I am trying to get my viparspectra hooked up to my reefpi, I have the @Michael Lane goby hat and adapter, I am trying to make sure I wire it correctly, from the picture on the upper right jst connector is the yellow Chanel 2 the black(center) the ground and the red Chanel 1? After I get the wiring correct do I need to setup a pca9685 driver for it and then add a new jack calling pins 13,14 and listing the driver I created?

@Ranjib I can't get the lights to power, is there a step I am missing? Other than running power to my pi do I need to hook up an additional power source to my goby hat to get it to work?

 

[b4tn]

Question. Do you guys wire your relays normally open or normally closed? Which and why?

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib I can't get the lights to power, is there a step I am missing? Other than running power to my pi do I need to hook up an additional power source to my goby hat to get it to work?

I don’t have this setup or tinkered with in past . I’m sorry I can’t validate the circuit, let’s wait for someone with this unit to respond

 

[Ranjib]

Question. Do you guys wire your relays normally open or normally closed? Which and why?

I used wire normally closed, because of heater. I didn’t want it to turn off when it’s not being controlled. I can see reasons for the opposite as well. If you are doing scratch build, then no reason to have mixed setup as well, if that suits your need,

 

[ekopapers]

@Ranjib I can't get the lights to power, is there a step I am missing? Other than running power to my pi do I need to hook up an additional power source to my goby hat to get it to work?

If I unplug what I think is the ground wire the light will turn on but I can't control it, it is either on or off. If I plug the ground wire in then the lights turn off immediately. Anyone else experience this?

 

[stefanm]

Question. Do you guys wire your relays normally open or normally closed? Which and why?

I run a mixed set up, pumps and skimmer NC and everything else NO, this is for two reasons, firstly if I need to remove the pi the pumps remain on and secondly if the pi fails I don't have the chiller constantly on etc...

 

[b4tn]

I planned to wire them 50/50 but accidentally wired all 16 NC. I was trying to convince myself to just leave it so I didn’t have to disassemble everything and re do it. Lol. But I went ahead and took it all apart and re did it. I have 8 NC and 8 NO now.

 

[andieasy]

Adding analog sensors with ADS1115

Michael Lane has been working on a new ADS1015/ADS1115 driver for reef-pi.

This brings new possibilities to Reef-Pi:

• PH/Orp probes
• Pressure sensors
• Flow sensors
• Etc.

Any analog sensor can be used as long as the analog signal is in between 2.0V to 5.5V.

ADS1115 16-Bit ADC - 4 Channel with Programmable Gain Amplifier

ADS1115 Features:

• Resolution: 16 Bits
• Programmable Sample Rate: 8 to 860 Samples/Second
• Power Supply/Logic Levels: 2.0V to 5.5V
• Low Current Consumption: Continuous Mode: Only 150µA Single-Shot Mode: Auto Shut-Down
• Internal Low-Drift Voltage Reference
• Internal Oscillator
• Internal PGA: up to x16
• I2C Interface: 4-Pin-Selectable Addresses
• Four Single-Ended or 2 Differential Inputs
• Programmable Comparator

I had an ADS1115 board so I tried if my PH probe is working. So I made a “How to guide” maybe it will be of use for others. I used a Raspberry Pi 2 Model B with Reef-Pi version 3.5.

Add driver under Configuration/Drivers

Configure the Driver:

Name: PH
Type: ads1115
Address: standard is 72
Gain: 2/3, 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16

An Adafruit tutorial has this guidance.
# Choose a gain of 1 for reading voltages from 0 to 4.09V.
# Or pick a different gain to change the range of voltages that are read:
# - 2/3 = +/-6.144V (High Gain, Sensitive to noise)
# - 1 = +/-4.096V
# - 2 = +/-2.048V
# - 4 = +/-1.024V
# - 8 = +/-0.512V
# - 16 = +/-0.256V (Low Gain, Not Sensitive to Noise)
# See table 3 in the ADS1015/ADS1115 datasheet for more info on gain.

Reboot (Configuration/Admin)

Add analog input under Configuration/Connectors

Configure the connector

Name: PHpin0
Pins: 0 (depends what pin you use on the ADS1115 board)
Driver: PH
Reload (Configuration/Admin)

Add the probe under pH

Configure the PH probe

Name: PH
Analog input: PHpin0
Check frequency: 10
Ph status: Enabled
The other settings are not mandatory.

Calibration
The first readings will be high:

Therefore you need to calibrate!

To be able to calibrate you first have to disable the Ph status

• Edit ph.
• Disable probe.
• Save
• Calibrate
• Rinse probe in rodi
• Place in 7 calibration fluid
• Wait for readings to stabilize
• Set cal value to 7 (Midpoint)
• Push Run
• Rinse probe
• Put in 10 calibration fluid
• Set cal value to 10 (Second Point)
• Run
• Enable probe
• Rinse probe and check both 7 and 10 and make sure it’s close.

Enjoy!

thank you for this post, the step by step you provided really helpful. finally, I can use my pH probe. I admit that this cheap pH probe perhaps lacks of accuracy if compared to ezo pH probe. But in my place, the ezo is really expensive and I can not afford it.
I still face a problem however, whenever I put my pH probe into my tank, the pH is always fluctuating. I search about it and found that I have stray voltage on my tank. do you have any suggestions to overcome this? it seems that analog isolator might be the answer, yet as it is still pricy for me, I would like to hear your opinion about this. or perhaps you have an idea about DIY analog isolator. of course, the step by step will help much . Once again thank you