Reef Angel Forum

I'm considering buying a new LED system from ApolloReefLed (not allowed to post links yet, just add .com to the end if you want to check it out) but the dimmable units don't come with any controllers (yet). They were designed to be controlled by an Apex or Profilux controller, having an ethernet port to connect to the controllers VDM.

I was wondering if anyone knew a way to use the Reef Angel to control these LED's? Is there any way to adapt the ethernet connection to a PWM to control the dimming?

The RA seems to be such a customizable controller that I think it would be a better investment than an Apex... so I'm hoping someone can help me out here.

Thanks in advance.

I looked at their spec and it seems they use meanwell drivers inside that black case.
If this is indeed true, you could easily control that fixture.
I contacted the manufacturer to get more information.

Thank you very much Roberto! Joe over at Apollo is usually pretty good with replying within a day, so hopefully you can give an update soon.

I'm not sure if the ethernet port only controls 2 channels (1 white, 1 blue/violet) or if the control for the moonlights is included in that too. There may just be an on/off button on the fixture for the moonlights? Apollo would have to answer that.

Anyway, I'll be checking back to see if there are any updates on a solution to control these LED's.

For anyone else following along on this thread...

Joe from Apollo posted on another forum I'm affiliated with (njreefers.org) and he confirmed that he not only provided the info that Roberto requested but he will also beta test and approve it as a "supported" controller device once RA is ready to do so.

Sounds like this has a good chance of happening, so I'm getting excited!

So I guess it's just a waiting game now. Thanks for the information.

Ok, I got partial information from him.
What I got is this:
1. Yes, we can hook up 2 channels, but I couldn't identify which ones.
2. It uses analog signals
3. The pinout is:
Pin 1 is +
Pin 2 is -

Pin 5 is +
Pin 6 is -

What I still need to find out is which channel is which and also if the moonlight has a dimmable channel too.
I'm going to work with him to get RA as supported by the manufacturer.

Well it's new years eve and I'm heading out the door myself so I don't expect much more progress tonight.

At least we know this is under way though. Thanks for the update on your progress so far Roberto.

Have a Happy New Year everyone!

How would you hook up multiple units?

Same way, connect them in parallel

Can the controller handle that much load? Is there a limit to the number of lights you can hook up in parallel? Also what do I need to get in addition to the controller itself to run the lights?

How many fixtures you want to connect in each channel?

Two for now. Possibly two more in the future.

That should work fine, but I can't be 100% sure because I don't have these fixtures.
Each channel can source 40mA.
The manufacturer should be able to tell.

Thanks what type of connectors would I need for the controller?

Standard CAT5 ethernet cable. You will need to splice it.
Use the pinout I posted above that was given to us by the manufacturer.
You will need the PWM-to Analog lead wire too, which is available at the webstore.

Thanks.

rimai wrote:Standard CAT5 ethernet cable. You will need to splice it.
Use the pinout I posted above that was given to us by the manufacturer.
You will need the PWM-to Analog lead wire too, which is available at the webstore.

Sounds great! Now I just need Apollo to get more Dimmable units in stock.

Well, my Apollo LED's just arrived at my door. Unfortunately, I didn't expect them to be shipped that soon and I didn't order my RA setup until 1/17/12 and there's a 2 week delay on the main controller unit and relay boxes... so I won't be able to play until I get my RA.

I hope Roberto feels my pain and gets my order shipped sooner than I expected here too.

J/K Roberto. Thanks for all the quick replies to my PM's. A+++ for customer service so far!

Just got an email this morning with a UPS ship notification. Looks like it will be here much sooner than I thought.

Thanks Roberto!

Guess I better start figuring out the code I'll use for my setup.

Thinking back to everything said in this thread, I'm not sure why I ordered the PWM expansion module, but maybe I can make use out of it.

The Apollo's only have 2 channels (per emails with Apollo, white is one channel, blue/violet is on the other).

I have 2 fixtures, but per Roberto I can just add them both in parallel, so I could easily just use the 2 channels that the main controller comes with. Moonlights are on a separate "channel" but are not dimmable (on/off only) and would therefore be simple to just use the standard moonlight functions of the RA.

My issue then, it seems, is the number of plugs used for 2 fixtures because each one has 3 plugs (1 driver is whites, 1 driver is blues/violets, the last is for moonlights). Can I assign 2 outlets of the relay boxes to one/each standard PWM channel? What about the moonlights? Can I assign 2 outlets for those as well and just use the preloaded code?

Getting back to my other way to make use of the PWM expansion... I guess if I were to have storms, sunphase, etc. it might be better to have each fixture running on a separate channel, right?

Assuming I do that, is it hard to have the controller dimm whites, blues, or both for both fixtures simultaneously, as if there were only 2 channels (for normal operation)? Then, for a random storm, could I have both fixtures dimmed a certain percentage (to simulate cloud cover) and then have lightning effects randomly chosen on 1 fixture at a time to flash (essentually, a string of lightning flashes would bounce between them)? Sorry for my ignorance, I barely know anything about arduino or what the RA is really capable of yet.

I'm not looking for actual coding on how to do this stuff just yet... just wondering if it's beneficial to hook up the PWM expansion module to keep the fixtures on separate channels so that I can have these options at a later time?

Here's the list of RA hardware I ordered, in case that helps with any replies.
- RA Main Controller
- WiFi Attachment
- Relay Expansion Module + Relay Box
- PWM Expansion Module
- Expansion Hub
- Extra Temp probe
- PWM-to-Analog Lead Wire 2-pack

I'll need to get 2 ethernet cables and splice them to connect the fixtures to the controller. Is there anything else I'll need?

Since you have the PWM module, you better off having them connected separetely and have better control of each channel. That way, you could do what you mentioned above.
The demo code will never work for you. The only thing you would be able to use the demo code for is testing your fixture. It is very limited and won't do much for your setup.
Make sure to connect the power plugs in their own individual socket. You don't want to wear out the relays with inrush current coming from the drivers.

That's what I was thinking too... I have it so may as well take advantage of it.

Point taken on the demo code not working. I was thinking that I would probably use it just to test each fixture individually with it... just to make sure they both work and to see if any bulbs were out, etc. This will also be sort of a test for the RA for me to see that it's working properly if the lights work with it. I've been reading all the manuals and stuff between breaks at work today... and will probably be asking for some help/advice on how to create my own custom code. I want to get a good understanding of how Arduino works, the structure, and capabilities, etc. and then evaluate my needs before asking for help with that though.

Make sure to connect the power plugs in their own individual socket. You don't want to wear out the relays with inrush current coming from the drivers.

Can you clarify what you mean there? Do you mean plug each driver plug into a separate relay box outlet (ie. - Don't plug the drivers into a power strip and then plug the power strip into the socket)? Or, do you mean don't put all those plugs into the relay at all (thereby overloading the relay boxes)? I'm sure that comment was quite clear to you when you made it Roberto, but I was slightly confused.

Thanks again.

I meant don't use a power strip and have all drivers connected to a single relay.
It's going to wear it out quite quickly with the amount of each driver inrush current.
The datasheets specs it to be around 40amps of inrush current per single driver.
Plug each power cord of your fixture in its own socket.

Ok, that's what I planned on doing anyway. The power cords from the drivers for the whites & blues also control power to the fans. Even when the lights aren't on, if the either the whites or blues plug is energized (plugged into a live socket) then the fans will run 24/7. Therefore, I was planning on plugging them all into the extra relay box I ordered and then have the RA head unit control when each of those gets power too, which will turn the fans off when lights are off.

I was thinking I could have the outlets still energized for about 1/2 hour after the LED's go off (0%) to blow out the residual heat on the heatsink. Joe from Apollo says I probably won't need to do this because they barely get warm... but since my fixtures will be in the canopy I figure it couldn't hurt.

The fans are not connected to the moonlight plugs. So there are no fans running during that lighting phase.

Also, I did find out more info on the Apollo pin designations...

Pins 1 & 2 (+ & - respectively) are the "whites" channel and pins 5 & 6 (+ & - respectively) are the "blues/UV" channel.

Also, for anyone wondering, the power plug sockets on the fixtures are as follows...

Looking at the sockets with the ethernet port on the right, you have (from left to right) : moonlights/ blues/ whites/ ethernet port. I got this info from Joe @ Apollo via emails.

Hope that helps someone. I've been trying to figure that info out for a while.

OK, got my controller yesterday but didn't get home til late. I decided to open it up and see what I got. Everything appears to be there except the "Expansion Hub" looked different than the one on the product page. It was a small rectangular box with 10 USB ports on it as opposed to a long skinny one like the pic shows. Not a big deal, I just didn't know what it was until I checked everything else off my list. This one looks like it will be easier to mount later anyway.

I have a couple questions regarding my setup, hopefully someone can help me out.

A. I received several of the expansion modules and at least 2 of them came with a pair of jumpers that need to go on the head units mainboard (SDA & SCL pins). I'm guessing having one pair on the pins will allow all the modules requiring this to work?

B. Does the pre-installed demo code have a time schedule programmed in for the PWM signals? I tried to wire my lights up to the PWM-to-Analog lead wires and even though the LED PWM signals were preset to 48% each... I didn't see any lights. It was after 10pm though, so I thought that might be why they didn't work. Either way, I'd like to know if there is a schedule and where I can find out what it is or how to adjust it?

C. On the Demo's menu screen, there's a strip on the bottom with blocks numbered 0 thru 7. I'm assuming this was the relay outlets and showing me which outlets were active? (some were shaded, some weren't.) I also noticed that some of the outlet numbers were flicking on and off by themselves. Could this be due to not having any temp/pH probes nor the ATO floats hooked up yet and the controller just not having the proper signals needed to keep these outlets "active" or "inactive"?

D. Going back thru this thread, you'll see that the Apollo LED's have an analog signal and Roberto contacted Apollo to see if the RA could control/dim these fixtures. I'm not going to rehash all the info given to get these to work, especially since most of it is summarized in my previous post. However, here's what I did to try to test my LEDs with the RA. If anyone can help me try to figure out why the lights didn't work at all, please comment...

*NOTE* I didn't use any RA expansion modules at all for this test. I didn't install any of the jumpers on the mainboard either. I connected the single relay box to the head unit via the VGA cable. I attached the Serial TTL cable to the head unit and the USB end to the relay box port. I then plugged the relay box power cable into a live wall outlet. The head unit booted up and was in the Demo mode. I didn't hook it up to the PC at all yet and all I did was changed the date/time setting via the menu and joystick.

1. I plugged both white and blue power cords into the fixture, then to a live wall outlet. Fans went on when either (or both) the white or blue rocker switches were in the "on" position (they lit up green). This meant that the fixture definitely had power to it.

2. I plugged a CAT5 UTP patch cable into the fixture's ethernet port and cut/stripped the wires on the other end.

3. I connected the PWM-to-Analog lead wires into my controller relay box and proceeded to connect the ethernet wires to the leads.

4. I used the following website as a reference to figure out which pins were which colored wires... using the second chart ("Straight-thru Ethernet Cable Pin Out for T568B") as this matched the color pattern on my patch cable plug. http://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/ethernetcables.html

5. So, for the "whites" I used pins 1 & 2 [(white/orange) for the + and (orange) for the - contacts]. For "blues" I used pins 5 & 6 [(white/blue) for + and (green) for - contacts.] After not seeing any lights, I reversed the + / - for both and still didn't see the lights go on.

6. I checked the controllers demo program for the LED's and the signals were set to 48% Daylight, 48% Actinic. That was eliminated as an issue.

7. Since no lights came on after several attempts (even tried both fixtures with all of the above) I'm guessing that it's either an issue with my wiring or the controller is on a time schedule and since it was after 10 PM just didn't send the signals at all. So, I changed the controllers time/date setting to make it 12:30 in the afternoon. Still, no lights came on.

It was very late at that point so I just packed it all up and went to bed. I'd like to know if I wired the ethernet cable correctly to the lead wires, and also if there's anything else I did wrong that would have prevented the lights from coming on?

Just a quick follow up to my long previous post...

Someone just mentioned to me that my issue could be the PWM ramping up from 0% to the setting of 48% in the demo mode. The Meanwell drivers are known not to do anything until around 15% intensity... so maybe I just didn't wait long enough for it to hit the 15% mark before I switched my wires around?

I plan to get a multimeter tonight to test the signal from the PWM lead wires. If I don't get any replies by then, I'll report my findings here.

The demo code will use the sunrise/sunset light schedule to calculate the PWM %.
Just make sure that it is within the light schedule and you should get some voltage in the PWM output ports.
You are in the right path. One step at a time is always best than getting overwhelmed and get nothing done

I figured it out!

The Dawn/Dusk settings were somehow set to:

Dawn 04:30 PM
Dusk 11:00 PM

I must have accidentally changed the Dawn time from AM to PM when I was just browsing all the menus at first bootup. The joystick is very touchy so I can see how I probably pushed it slightly down or up as I was pushing to the right to cycle through the changable settings.

Once I changed the Dawn to 04:30 AM and hit OK... the lights came right on!

OK, now to break that all down and start testing out the probes and outlets, etc.