Reef Angel Star anyone?

[Cherub]

I used the old Reef Angel on my last build and it did everything I wanted it to. This build I was wanting to try something new then Reef Angel goes and releases a newer controller. Does anyone use this and if so how is it? Is it worth getting? The price is right and seems nice with a touchscreen. Looking for feedback, recommendations and ratings. I am currently using a RKL waiting on the Vertex and eKoral to be released now here's another option... I am not a fan of Neptunes offering so that is why I didn't mention it above. No need to beat a dead horse.

Thanks in advance!

 

[cmcoker]

Price looks right. How was the programming experience on your previous build?

 

[Cherub]

Price looks right. How was the programming experience on your previous build?

They had default code and a wizard that helps people who don't know how to code. Plus a forum where you say what you want and someone codes it for you. In other words its easy lol

 

[Cherub]

I ended up ordering one. It was cheap enough I didn't feel it was a risk while in that introductory price.

 

[cmcoker]

I ended up ordering one. It was cheap enough I didn't feel it was a risk while in that introductory price.

Yeah, I emailed some questions today and got a quick response so that's a good sign to me. I have dabbled with arduino so I'm not totally unfamiliar, but wouldn't call myself a competent coder either.
I would like to give it a whirl, will see what the wife says, lol.
I wonder, do you know if I downloaded the installer can you play with it, without a controller connected?

 

[Cherub]

Yeah, I emailed some questions today and got a quick response so that's a good sign to me. I have dabbled with arduino so I'm not totally unfamiliar, but wouldn't call myself a competent coder either.
I would like to give it a whirl, will see what the wife says, lol.
I wonder, do you know if I downloaded the installer can you play with it, without a controller connected?

Not sure. One way to find out lol. It was 3.5 years ago that I had one

 

[Cherub]

plus with my Cherub handle, it only makes sense to go with the reef angel lol

 

[Cherub]

Well I ordered the Reef Angel Star and it finally came yesterday. Shipping was a slow 8 days and came USPS even though I paid 26 bucks for shipping. It came that slow inefficient method and I'm certain it was under 8 bucks to ship so I was a tad annoyed. When it came the mailman literally threw it onto my porch with a loud thud that I heard from a backroom in the house. I get the box inside and it has a sticker "received unsealed" from the post office. "Lovely" I think and sigh dejectedly. The box is haggard and clearly mistreated the whole way, good thing I paid for shipping. Not sure why they didn't use UPS or Fedex.

I open the box, everything looks fine so I blow off the shipping.

I plug it into the computer and go to the wizard to set up the code. I set up the code and find that the software isn't recognizing the device. I email reef angel and unplug it to measure it, I want to 3D print a mount for it so i needed to measure it. Reef Angel replies with a link for updated drivers pretty quickly. I plug the USB cable/power into the reef angel and with a crunch the port collapses. It won't power on now...

This thing is flimsy. Literally maybe 3 insertions of the cable and it broke. I emailed RA for a replacement and I will see how that goes. The replies earlier were instant. This time it's been over an hour no reply. it is Sunday and all so whatever. I am willing to give them a chance instead of just asking for a refund. I really want to like this device. Maybe they used a defective port, maybe it was not mounted to the board well? I don't know but I will see what happens. I used RA in the past and loved it, this reboot of the system was appealing to me but so far the experience is just cringe worthy.

This is the box before I opened it.

The broken port.

 

[cmcoker]

Bummer hope they make it right.. but this makes me wary of getting one.. fragile and me don't get along

 

[Cherub]

I ended up returning it. I was afraid of how flimsy it was. Roberto was good to work with. I feel bad but for $500 with a salinity probe it shouldn't preak on the 3rd insertion of the power supply. My luck the next one would do the same.

He made me pay for return shipping. So 25 dollars both ways even though its defective was pretty annoying. I asked him to refund shipping as well.

 

[Crashjack]

My RA experience has been good. It is more user friendly than buying a bunch of hardware and trying to use open source and code it yourself, but it isn't as user friendly as something like an Apex. However, it works well. The biggest shortfall in my opinion is the lack of documentation. There is documentation on how to plug everything in and get started, but nothing that really explains what is going on. That said, the Web Wizard steps you through basic as well as pretty sophisticated stuff. You can even hard code your parameters or code to where you can alter your parameters online. However, you start running into issues where you have to figure out what function to call out because all functions aren't available through the wizard. Roberto is very helpful, and you can usually get answers to your questions in the forum. I think if Roberto either took the time or paid someone to develop some good documentation, especially as it relates to programming, he would sell a lot more units and become a lot bigger player in the aquarium controller business.

 

[MDandD]

The Reef Angel Star is still very buggy. I'm on my third unit and still can't fully use it because of random bugs and error locks in the middle of the night. I feel that it is a code problem but the support responses I'm getting seem to be simply giving up on the problem of reliability. Unit works pretty well until it gets connected to the internet. Once that happens the unit gets possessed. I'm $700 and 6 months into it and still trying to get it to run my system entirely. Still using my old RA+ controller for most things until I feel OK about the new gear. Kinda sucks. I really believe in the idea of the system.

 

[Cherub]

The Reef Angel Star is still very buggy. I'm on my third unit and still can't fully use it because of random bugs and error locks in the middle of the night. I feel that it is a code problem but the support responses I'm getting seem to be simply giving up on the problem of reliability. Unit works pretty well until it gets connected to the internet. Once that happens the unit gets possessed. I'm $700 and 6 months into it and still trying to get it to run my system entirely. Still using my old RA+ controller for most things until I feel OK about the new gear. Kinda sucks. I really believe in the idea of the system.

I went with the eKoral. I love it

 

[Crashjack]

The Reef Angel Star is still very buggy. I'm on my third unit and still can't fully use it because of random bugs and error locks in the middle of the night. I feel that it is a code problem but the support responses I'm getting seem to be simply giving up on the problem of reliability. Unit works pretty well until it gets connected to the internet. Once that happens the unit gets possessed. I'm $700 and 6 months into it and still trying to get it to run my system entirely. Still using my old RA+ controller for most things until I feel OK about the new gear. Kinda sucks. I really believe in the idea of the system.

I had some bus locks with my Star in the beginning but none in a while. Two things: 1) Try to keep your USB cables from running alongside power cables, and 2) Roberto made a change with how the unit deals with bus locks. I believe if you upload code from the Web Wizard, you will get that change.

 

[User1]

I have a Reef Angel which has been in use a little over 5 years. I've been working on a upgrade for a while with it recently being brought online. For this tank I went with the Apex instead. The RA could pretty much handle everything I wanted. However, I was getting a bit frustrated with some of the temp probes and their wonky connections and cables. Much like has been said here the physical packaging of the device isn't high quality - say like Neptune or other off the shelf products. It clearly has a DIY or low production vibe. It is so thus the feel. Having said that I never had a issue with it and it worked flawlessly and still does today. I actually still run some of the code to manage two of my DIY Custom LED multi channel chips. Works wonders.

When the star came out I considered it since all I would have to do is swap head units and be done with it. Then I figured I should wait for the first revision. Instead I went with the Apex. Looking at both outside the product packaging I will say there are things the RA does that the Apex just can't do such has cloud and storm patterns with LEDs, tides, and of course sunrise and sunset. Few other things are not has easy like using custom light schedules using parabola patterns. Thus me keeping the RA still in use. I think the best thing you can do when using a RA is buy the components you need up front so that you don't have to fiddle with the connectors. That is when it breaks. Dis/re-connecting stuff to change code. Star fixes some of that I believe but mine if I wanted to update code I had to disconnect wifi plug then attach USB cable, then upload, then swap again. Apex I just mod the code and push to portal. Done... Ra you need more adapters or the Star.

Anyway the RA is a great product. Just don't expect a package housing electronics equal to Apex or GHL.

 

[southerntnreefer]

Now that the whole ordeal is over, I would not recommend the star at all. It was on my tank maybe 3 weeks at most. Was far from reliable, had some quality issues right off, and they took care of me. However when the controller starts rebooting randomly 5 times or more a day you can't trust it. I managed to stump the creator with why I couldn't send logs. I ended up returning it and going another way. Great idea, but I felt it lacked on the stability side like the past releases were built on. Thankfully I work at home and my tank was cycling, so nothing was hurt but at the end of the day I needed stability.