Must-haves for EASY DIY controller?

der_wille_zur_macht said:
I don't have a battery on my RTC yet, so I just grounded the battery pin on it. Hence it doesn't keep time, so I left the "set RTC" function active in that sketch so it resets the time every time it's uploaded. If you have a battery and you want yours to function correctly, you should set the time accordingly in that function call, upload the sketch, then comment out that function call and upload the sketch again (otherwise, it'll reset the time every time the whole thing resets).
Click to expand...

Right, I just looked up the battery specs a bit ago - what I've found so far, 3V lithium, 12mm so I found that a BR1225 seemed to fit that spec...not sure how hard or easy they are to find.

Mine is pin3 grounded as well at the moment. I've just been playing with formatting the text and been updating the time setting in the sketch on each upload - then let it run and make sure it's keeping time...


EDIT: just saw that you had mentioned the CR1225 in a post way at the beginning....
 
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DWZM, I've made a few changes yes. I also took the MCP23xx code out of the LCD library so that I can share it with the relay code. Also added PH reading code. I'll email you what I have tonight.

Regarding the RTC, it is advancing about a second a day faster. I guess it is fine for our purpose. We can always update the time every once in a while via NTP :D
 
Picked up a CR1225 on the way to work this morning and got it installed in the circuit. Had a bit of trouble until I moved the 1307 to a new protoboard where I had more space. Had to take the battery in and out of the circuit a couple of time and then re-upload the setDate command for it to start working right but it's now keeping time even when my hydra is powered down...

I'll work on piecing the ethernet section together today - I think I have enough parts. I don't have a PH probe yet, so I'll wait on that section.


EDIT: and yes I took the setDate command back out after I got the date set with the battery in place..
 
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ok, won't be putting together the ethernet section - a good chunk of those parts are SMT, so I'll have to figure out breadboardable alternatives....
 
Your voltage regulator choice should be fine.

I have no clue on the ferrite bead. I struggled to pick that one based on the near-complete lack of specs in that datasheet, so I'm not really sure what to look for in a through-hole replacement.
 
terahz said:
... I've been using a 9V for Hydra, but I'll be stepping down to 7.5V probably.
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Are you or dwizum running your Hydra on 7.5v now?

What is the reason for the change?

I finally have all the parts and am starting assembly, but I don't want to run it with 9v if that is a problem.
 
I'm using 9V at the moment. With 7.5V I'm expecting the regulator to run a little cooler. Other that, 9V should work just fine too.
 
im not sure if you guys have answered this already, but how many different ELNs can you controll with the ELN shield??
 
On 9v at the moment, too. Should be fine.

blackizzz, if you're referring to the ELN shield described on the google code site, it translates all 6 Arduino PWM channels to 10v, so you can run 6 "channels" of LEDs. Each channel can handle many drivers (more than you'd probably ever want/need).
 
ok so if i would like to control 2 "blue" meanwells, 2 "white" meanwells and 1 "red" meanwell i sould be fine? sounds pretty good!
 
Just now tuning into this project and all 350 posts. I found it when I was looking for the ELN dimming shield. This is looking great! I can't wait to see it all grown up.

I've seen some of the arduino related reef controllers but they are always so poorly documented so it's nice to see something built piece by piece from the ground up for the community!

DWZR: What are you planning on doing with the dimming shield? There are probably quite a few people that want one for their current or future meanwell arrays (myself included). Is there a decent place to get a single PCB printed (or a board assembled)?

Anyways my first arduino is in the mail so I'm looking forward to tagging along with this project.
 
Just adding my voice to this.

I am just starting out in Arduino ..... and reef keeping. I have a book called Practical Arduino that a friend is borrowing at the moment. If I remember correctly there was a few projects in that book based around measuring water parameters. I'll post about it when I get the book back.

I am not at the same technical level as many of the others in this thread, but happy to test whatever whenever.

This is a great thread, and if I can help in any way just shout.
 
I'm getting close to running some tests on the Ethernet section...DWZM or Terahz (or anyone who has actually tried it) am I wrong in understanding that the Ethernet functions and ultimately the code will be running on the second "head" of the hydra?? I just have to finish hooking up the mag jack.

Before I power up the board again, should I not connect the SPI bus until after loading code on the second AVR to tell it to be a slave? Or does it not really matter since initially there isn't any code to tell the second AVR to do anything - including pay attention to the SPI bus..... I think I just answered my own question!

Hopefully I can get that last part put together at lunch today.
 
One more question, in looking at the schematics, is pin 5 of the mag jack supposed to be connected to the center of the two resistors and the cap?? I found this site that outlined the same Ethernet chip for a different processor, but the circuit was similar
http://www.kandi-electronics.com/uCEthernet/Ethernet_1.aspx
on page 2 they have this schematic http://www.kandi-electronics.com/uCEthernet/uC%20Ethernet1.pdf and they show pin 5 connecting similarly to pin 4...

Any thoughts on this? is the Ethernet circuit working on anyone who has gotten that far with the way it is? I know it's not shown as connected on the sample circuit on the datasheet....
 
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