Reef Angel Star Controller

[lnevo]

The RA standard was obsolete because of memory. The star and plus have the same amount so shouldnt be an issue.

[Seedlessone]

The RA standard was obsolete because of memory. The star and plus have the same amount so shouldnt be an issue.

Thats what I figured.

You've been around a while, are you upgrading? If so, what was your main selling point? Choices, choices....

[lnevo]

I have a developer version (prototype). Look for the thread Lee's Next Project. When I get back from vacation, I will be swapping out.

[rimai]

You can put anything in there.
The images for the feeding, water change and boot are currently store there. So it is very easy to change them.
The remote firmware is also stored there.
Other thing that can be stored that I can think of is data logging.

[binder]

The RA standard was obsolete because of memory. The star and plus have the same amount so shouldnt be an issue.

Thats what I figured.

You've been around a while, are you upgrading? If so, what was your main selling point? Choices, choices....

I've got a new Star (probably one of the first to get an official one besides Lee). i like the extra dimming ports and some other built in stuff. the developing/uploading works over a standard usb instead of special cable. it's got the built in buzzer too. i like the touchscreen but i just spent several hours customizing my old Plus to get the screen to look like i wanted. the built in ethernet is nice and seems to work pretty reliable (a little better than wifi but i never had any issues with wifi to begin with). the cloud support built in is nice....it's essentially an instant update to any device configured to communicate with it. my android app doesn't currently support that aspect but will in the future.
you are right, lots of choices...lots of choices.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Seedlessone]

The RA standard was obsolete because of memory. The star and plus have the same amount so shouldnt be an issue.

Thats what I figured.

You've been around a while, are you upgrading? If so, what was your main selling point? Choices, choices....

I've got a new Star (probably one of the first to get an official one besides Lee). i like the extra dimming ports and some other built in stuff. the developing/uploading works over a standard usb instead of special cable. it's got the built in buzzer too. i like the touchscreen but i just spent several hours customizing my old Plus to get the screen to look like i wanted. the built in ethernet is nice and seems to work pretty reliable (a little better than wifi but i never had any issues with wifi to begin with). the cloud support built in is nice....it's essentially an instant update to any device configured to communicate with it. my android app doesn't currently support that aspect but will in the future.
you are right, lots of choices...lots of choices.


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Your home screen was always nice looking. Do you have any pics of the new LCD and layout?

And, can code be uploaded directly via the LAN now, or do you still need to plug a USB cable in to adjust coding?

[binder]

Your home screen was always nice looking. Do you have any pics of the new LCD and layout?

here's my latest Plus screen (it's still currently running my tank because I haven't had a chance to fully switch to the Star).
http://forum.reefangel.com/viewtopic.ph ... 230#p55230

I have been tweaking some code on the Star and fixed a couple software bugs that hadn't been found yet (and wouldn't be until we started using it).
The Star has a touchscreen interface and looks "similar" to the 2014 Screen, WITH the exception that you can actually control things from the screen. Meaning you can change the Dimming values from it and I believe you can toggle relays on/off (but I have to confirm this). I don't believe you will be able to change this layout at all because it is hard coded.
I will post some screenshots of the screens hopefully tonight for you.

And, can code be uploaded directly via the LAN now, or do you still need to plug a USB cable in to adjust coding?

You can still use the USB cable if you want. I spent some time getting the Arduino software working on Debian 9 (linux distro) so I can use things from my main computer. I wanted to still use the direct programming since I can make changes to the libraries and upload to test. You cannot change the libraries and test out the changes if you use the webwizard.

You can upload code via the webwizard. You simply login to the webwizard, edit/modify/create your code and then you can upload from there. The uploading only works from the webwizard if you have Windows or Mac...which could work for me since I own a Mac laptop, but I prefer to plug a cable in to upload directly AND because I want to change the libraries to work on new stuff (at times). I also prefer to do things locally and not always rely on the internet if I can....I know I'm "old school" in that regards but that's just how I operate.

The nice thing about the webwizard is that it always has the latest version of the software. So that's a plus AND it saves your INO files for you so no worrying about your computer crashing and losing your code that runs your controller. It also is not tied to a single computer.....so you can freely switch between laptop, desktop, office computer, whatever to update your code and the code is saved on the cloud server and backed up for you. (This is a GREAT feature in my opinion!)

I'm not sure if there are other ways to upload via the LAN other than the webwizard option. I haven't had a chance to look around at it fully...I just can't seem to find or make the time to dive into things fully. I just look at pieces of it and am trying to get a feel for where things are handled in the code. I'm actually trying to get the push notifications/live updates working and follow how that works.

[rimai]

Yes, you can upload remotely using LAN only without the USB.
Use the web wizard and choose remote upload port instead of USB COM port.
Next time the controller connects to the portal, it will download the firmware and auto-update itself.
It saves the firmware to the SD card temporarily while it does that.

[Seedlessone]

Yes, you can upload remotely using LAN only without the USB.
Use the web wizard and choose remote upload port instead of USB COM port.
Next time the controller connects to the portal, it will download the firmware and auto-update itself.
It saves the firmware to the SD card temporarily while it does that.

Do you have a picture comparing the two LCDs? Or is the Star LCD very similar to the RA+ in terms of pixel density, etc.

[binder]

Yes, you can upload remotely using LAN only without the USB.
Use the web wizard and choose remote upload port instead of USB COM port.
Next time the controller connects to the portal, it will download the firmware and auto-update itself.
It saves the firmware to the SD card temporarily while it does that.

Do you have a picture comparing the two LCDs? Or is the Star LCD very similar to the RA+ in terms of pixel density, etc.

Star screen is much bigger.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[lnevo]

You can use any browser to upload code from the webwizard. It works from an iPhone, but editing code is a bit of a pain

[binder]

Yes, you can upload remotely using LAN only without the USB.
Use the web wizard and choose remote upload port instead of USB COM port.
Next time the controller connects to the portal, it will download the firmware and auto-update itself.
It saves the firmware to the SD card temporarily while it does that.

Do you have a picture comparing the two LCDs? Or is the Star LCD very similar to the RA+ in terms of pixel density, etc.

here's a side by side comparison. the stars screen is much bigger than the plus.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[GiraffeCat]

So, what about the Ranet equipment some of us have? I'm not going to give up my wireless relays or dimming module, but the ability to control everything from the screen and Ethernet connectivity sound great. Let me know.

Thanks,
GC

[madweazl]

I have the old relay expansion; would this just connect to the RA* USB and then the normal 25pin cable from the expansion to the old relay or would this require the Expansion Hub as well?

[rimai]

So, what about the Ranet equipment some of us have? I'm not going to give up my wireless relays or dimming module, but the ability to control everything from the screen and Ethernet connectivity sound great. Let me know.

Thanks,
GC

I thought about that when designing it
You can plug the radio in the socket for RANet inside the unit. Yay!!!

[rimai]

Oh, there is even a socket for Bluetooth radio

[rimai]

I have the old relay expansion; would this just connect to the RA* USB and then the normal 25pin cable from the expansion to the old relay or would this require the Expansion Hub as well?

No, you need one of the old Relay expansion modules.
I don't have them in the webstore anymore as I'm in the process of getting them made.

[ReefingHavoc]

I have the old relay expansion; would this just connect to the RA* USB and then the normal 25pin cable from the expansion to the old relay or would this require the Expansion Hub as well?

No, you need one of the old Relay expansion modules.
I don't have them in the webstore anymore as I'm in the process of getting them made.

Any idea when they'll come in? I'll need one and wanted to get the RA* before the price goes up, but would rather avoid two shipments.

[madweazl]

I have the old relay expansion; would this just connect to the RA* USB and then the normal 25pin cable from the expansion to the old relay or would this require the Expansion Hub as well?

No, you need one of the old Relay expansion modules.
I don't have them in the webstore anymore as I'm in the process of getting them made.

I have the old relay module (currently using two relay expansions on the RA+).

[rimai]

Yeah, so you can use the relay expansion on RA* too. So you would have two relay boxes. One that comes with RA* and your relay expansion module.
You would need another module only if you want 3 relay boxes.

[cgonser]

Reef Angel Star dimming, where is the connector? How do I hook my wires into it?!? Please help!

[lnevo3]

It's the RJ-45 port on the bottom. Next to the leak detector which is a smaller RJ port (6pin vs 8pin). There is a picture of it in the manual and the pin-out.

[cgonser]

It's the RJ-45 port on the bottom. Next to the leak detector which is a smaller RJ port (6pin vs 8pin). There is a picture of it in the manual and the pin-out.

Understood. But where do I get this connector?? Any special tool required??

[cosmith71]

It's the RJ-45 port on the bottom. Next to the leak detector which is a smaller RJ port (6pin vs 8pin). There is a picture of it in the manual and the pin-out.

Understood. But where do I get this connector?? Any special tool required??

It's an ethernet connector. Just cut the end off of an ethernet cable and there you go.

[tngo]

Hi All.

In regards to the 4 dimming channels on RA*, is it possible to connect 4xd120/evergrow led lights to it, which would need 8 dimming channels? Are the 4 dimming channels PWM only on the RA*? I also have a dimming expansion so I can connect it there also, but would like to mix in 4 lunar lights which will need PWM. So which way would you suggest is the best way to connect these 12 channels?

Thanks,
Tim

[binder]

the star channels can be changed from pwm to analog and from 10 to 5 volts, just like the dimming expansion.
you may need the 16ch dimming option that exists but i don't know much more about it. otherwise with the 4 built in and the 6 expansion, you would be 2 channels short of 12.


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[tngo]

Would it be possible to run 2 of the dimming channels from the d120 into one of the expansion ports or the RA*? I'm not sure how much current can the channels can safely handle. I understand it's that only one lunar light per channel.

Thanks for the support.
Tim

[rimai]

Yes. You can connect many drivers to a single channel. The lunar module doesn't have a driver and that is why you can only connect one.

[tngo]

Okay cool. I'll run all the lunar lights off of the dimming expansion, and have all the d120s connected to the head unit. Just starting to play with the unit. Looking good. Great work on the design!

Thanks again.

Tim

[lnevo]

Roberto, we need a cool RA star themed web banner for everyone using the new controller