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

b4tn · Nov 26, 2018

Ryan115 said:
Where are you sourcing the mini-din and mini-xlr connectors?
I am still confused how people are getting shorts when plugging in a TRS connector.
If the tip is +VDC, the ring as GPIO/Data and the sleeve as GND, it should not be possible for +VDC to short to either other conductor.
Or is it possible that the jacks are being damaged during soldering and melting the plastic in-between?

I don’t even have an issue with shorts but have not removed it while running. My female ends either stop working all together or short permently internally. I am using a low wattage iron so not sure but it’s possible.

Ranjib · Nov 26, 2018

Ryan115 said:
Where are you sourcing the mini-din and mini-xlr connectors?
I am still confused how people are getting shorts when plugging in a TRS connector.
If the tip is +VDC, the ring as GPIO/Data and the sleeve as GND, it should not be possible for +VDC to short to either other conductor.
Or is it possible that the jacks are being damaged during soldering and melting the plastic in-between?

amazon, mini din https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074H1LVDN/ mini xlr: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00W4MHZBY/ . I ordered micro usb connectors as well,

Ranjib · Nov 26, 2018

Ryan115 said:
Where are you sourcing the mini-din and mini-xlr connectors?
I am still confused how people are getting shorts when plugging in a TRS connector.
If the tip is +VDC, the ring as GPIO/Data and the sleeve as GND, it should not be possible for +VDC to short to either other conductor.
Or is it possible that the jacks are being damaged during soldering and melting the plastic in-between?

When you insert or remove the jack from the housing the tip touches the sleeve. Its not a big deal unless you are not plugging/unplugging probe when pi is running. This is also the reason I have not changed the guides to use some other connectors (other than the fact other connectors are relatively hard to source and may require special crimping tools)

Ranjib · Nov 26, 2018

Too much tech stuff, time for some tank updates . Pico tanks are humming along . I want change a few things but holding them off for now, I’ll be changing my apartment next month, after the move I have big plans for one of the pico

And

My nano is now fairly grown out, for its rockscape. Sps are fighting each other for space and light. I feel strange to trim and prune them , there was a time when I struggled to even keep them alive

Red dragon is growing fastest now, I think because it has space

Bottom of the tank

And miscellaneous

ScottBrew · Nov 26, 2018

Ranjib said:
Too much tech stuff, time for some tank updates . Pico tanks are humming along . I want change a few things but holding them off for now, I’ll be changing my apartment next month, after the move I have big plans for one of the pico

And

My nano is now fairly grown out, for its rockscape. Sps are fighting each other for space and light. I feel strange to trim and prune them , there was a time when I struggled to even keep them alive

Red dragon is growing fastest now, I think because it has space

Bottom of the tank

And miscellaneous

Looks beautiful! Something for me to aspire for. Just got frags in my tank last night, it will be a long time til I get them grown out.

Ryan115 · Nov 26, 2018

Ranjib said:
When you insert or remove the jack from the housing the tip touches the sleeve. Its not a big deal unless you are not plugging/unplugging probe when pi is running. This is also the reason I have not changed the guides to use some other connectors (other than the fact other connectors are relatively hard to source and may require special crimping tools)

So are you saying that the male tip is contacting both female tip and ring at the same time? The male tip shouldn't engage with the female tip (and become energized) until it is almost completely seated.
I will have to test some of the spares I have around here with a continuity meter while mating them to see if I get any connection.
I have plugged and unplugged mine several times while the pi was running with no issues.

Ranjib · Nov 26, 2018

ScottBrew said:
Looks beautiful! Something for me to aspire for. Just got frags in my tank last night, it will be a long time til I get them grown out.

That galaxea will sting everything within 6” with its sweeper tentacles

Ranjib · Nov 26, 2018

Ryan115 said:
So are you saying that the male tip is contacting both female tip and ring at the same time? The male tip shouldn't engage with the female tip (and become energized) until it is almost completely seated.
I will have to test some of the spares I have around here with a continuity meter while mating them to see if I get any connection.
I have plugged and unplugged mine several times while the pi was running with no issues.

Not at the same time, but it touches both (one after another) during the plugging/unplugging process

LionHeart2017 · Nov 26, 2018

Ryan115 said:
So are you saying that the male tip is contacting both female tip and ring at the same time? The male tip shouldn't engage with the female tip (and become energized) until it is almost completely seated.
I will have to test some of the spares I have around here with a continuity meter while mating them to see if I get any connection.
I have plugged and unplugged mine several times while the pi was running with no issues.

Could be a quality thing with the connectors, I'm yet to find a good quality barrel Jack and the male plugs are just junk, but for a £1 for 10 you get what you pay for I guess

Ranjib · Nov 26, 2018

LionHeart2017 said:
Could be a quality thing with the connectors, I'm yet to find a good quality barrel Jack and the male plugs are just junk, but for a £1 for 10 you get what you pay for I guess

I order a set of panel mount female barrel jack connector rated for 10A, with the xlr/mini din connectors

LionHeart2017 · Nov 26, 2018

Ranjib said:
I order a set of panel mount female barrel jack connector rated for 10A, with the xlr/mini din connectors

Finding good quality at low prices is so hard, I made an order today, cheap as chips and that's 2x pca9685 boards in there

ScottBrew · Nov 26, 2018

Ranjib said:
That galaxea will sting everything within 6” with its sweeper tentacles

Yeah, I am aware! That's why it's up there on its own rock.

theatrus · Nov 27, 2018

The pitch of MicroUSB is pretty small, so panel mount breakouts are ideal.

Using a MiniDIN for power is very nice - do note that several variants exist, and its common to find the power variant of DIN-4 connectors for higher current power supplies. The usual standard for lower current supplies is the good old 2.1x5.5mm barrel.

Guillermo Tinoco · Nov 27, 2018

Hi, I was hoping someone could help me. I have been running my reef-pi without any problems for a week. Now all of a sudden I can't access the UI. When I go to my raspberry pi's ip (like i had been doing all week) it now tries to get me to download a file, (i downloaded it and opened it in notepad and it doesnt seem to be anything). Reef-pi still seems to be running without any problems, lights are working, ato is working but now i can't get to the page.

Any help would be appreciated. Below is the readout of the status command.

Code:

pi@reefpi:~ $ sudo systemctl status reef-pi.service
● reef-pi.service - raspberry pi based reef tank controller
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/reef-pi.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: active (running) since Mon 2018-11-26 23:50:07 CST; 12min ago
 Main PID: 1730 (reef-pi)
   CGroup: /system.slice/reef-pi.service
           └─1730 /usr/bin/reef-pi daemon -config /etc/reef-pi/config.yml

Nov 27 00:02:09 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:09 temperature sub-system:  sensor Temp1 value: 76.1
Nov 27 00:02:09 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:09 temperature subsystem: Current temperature is wit
Nov 27 00:02:09 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:09 Setting GPIO Pin: 3 State: 1
Nov 27 00:02:10 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:10 ERROR: Failed to submit data to adafruit.io. User
Nov 27 00:02:23 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:23 ato sub-system:  sensor ato1 value: 1
Nov 27 00:02:23 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:23 Setting GPIO Pin: 2 State: 1
Nov 27 00:02:38 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:38 lighting-subsystem: Setting PWM value: 86  at cha
Nov 27 00:02:38 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:38 ato sub-system:  sensor ato1 value: 1
Nov 27 00:02:38 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:38 lighting-subsystem: Setting PWM value: 91  at cha
Nov 27 00:02:38 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:38 Setting GPIO Pin: 2 State: 1

pdisner · Nov 27, 2018

LionHeart2017 said:
Is there a reef-pi wallpaper I can use?

I think we all need to work on some sort of logo or design. My wife is an awesome artist. She’s designed a company logo for me? That is, once I have a company[emoji1]. I just have a FB group page for now.
But if you all would like to spitball some ideas on a logo for Ranjibs project, I’d be happy to have her try out some ideas from your ideas. Let me know.

pdisner · Nov 27, 2018

Ranjib said:
yes :-) . I think we'll run our of compute power on pi, before electronics limitations, once mcp23017 support lands. We have to update the reef-pi code as well, currently it assumes only one pca9685 is present.
Whats more interesting is Raspberry Pi 4 will be based on different processor, means significantly more firepower. And god knows what else peripheral, may be more built in PWMs, or even analog I/O .. finger crossed

Have you seen the A+? I’m sure you have. I was debating on ordering one to play with.

pdisner · Nov 27, 2018

theatrus said:
I’m thinking along the lines of the Atmel SAMD21 series

Why?

Cheap
Good peripherals
Not archaic
Already used by the Arduino Zero and Circuit Playground Express (you can run MicroPython on the big one!)
I was already use the SAMD10/11 on the Pico board for pH and system watchdog :)

It’s not a DIP package and not 5V I/O as the main downsides. But someone could reprogram a CircuitPlaygroundExpress or Arduino Zero as the controller.

So what did you use for you pH module and probe? How much was it? I can’t afford 200$ for a pH setup. My wife would kill me if I spent that much on a oH probe.

pdisner · Nov 27, 2018

Soulreefer said:
halow Ranjib, I need your help to check my schematic, sorry I am not electronic engineer maybe there are still many errors, I have a problem with libraries for CHIP L29D tipe SMD. I am very happy if anyone can help this eagle library chip. thanks

This design is not finished just to see the chip layout.

What did you use to diagram all of this? It looks incredibly pristine. Very neat and tidy. And don’t tell me it’s freehand...

Ranjib · Nov 27, 2018

Guillermo Tinoco said:

Hi, I was hoping someone could help me. I have been running my reef-pi without any problems for a week. Now all of a sudden I can't access the UI. When I go to my raspberry pi's ip (like i had been doing all week) it now tries to get me to download a file, (i downloaded it and opened it in notepad and it doesnt seem to be anything). Reef-pi still seems to be running without any problems, lights are working, ato is working but now i can't get to the page.

Any help would be appreciated. Below is the readout of the status command.

Code:

pi@reefpi:~ $ sudo systemctl status reef-pi.service
● reef-pi.service - raspberry pi based reef tank controller
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/reef-pi.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: active (running) since Mon 2018-11-26 23:50:07 CST; 12min ago
 Main PID: 1730 (reef-pi)
   CGroup: /system.slice/reef-pi.service
           └─1730 /usr/bin/reef-pi daemon -config /etc/reef-pi/config.yml

Nov 27 00:02:09 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:09 temperature sub-system:  sensor Temp1 value: 76.1
Nov 27 00:02:09 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:09 temperature subsystem: Current temperature is wit
Nov 27 00:02:09 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:09 Setting GPIO Pin: 3 State: 1
Nov 27 00:02:10 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:10 ERROR: Failed to submit data to adafruit.io. User
Nov 27 00:02:23 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:23 ato sub-system:  sensor ato1 value: 1
Nov 27 00:02:23 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:23 Setting GPIO Pin: 2 State: 1
Nov 27 00:02:38 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:38 lighting-subsystem: Setting PWM value: 86  at cha
Nov 27 00:02:38 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:38 ato sub-system:  sensor ato1 value: 1
Nov 27 00:02:38 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:38 lighting-subsystem: Setting PWM value: 91  at cha
Nov 27 00:02:38 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:38 Setting GPIO Pin: 2 State: 1

I think you have enabled https. How are you acessing reef-pi? like ip & port? Share the address you are typing on the web browser, if its http://localhost, try https://localhost:80

Ranjib · Nov 27, 2018

Guillermo Tinoco said:

Hi, I was hoping someone could help me. I have been running my reef-pi without any problems for a week. Now all of a sudden I can't access the UI. When I go to my raspberry pi's ip (like i had been doing all week) it now tries to get me to download a file, (i downloaded it and opened it in notepad and it doesnt seem to be anything). Reef-pi still seems to be running without any problems, lights are working, ato is working but now i can't get to the page.

Any help would be appreciated. Below is the readout of the status command.

Code:

pi@reefpi:~ $ sudo systemctl status reef-pi.service
● reef-pi.service - raspberry pi based reef tank controller
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/reef-pi.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: active (running) since Mon 2018-11-26 23:50:07 CST; 12min ago
 Main PID: 1730 (reef-pi)
   CGroup: /system.slice/reef-pi.service
           └─1730 /usr/bin/reef-pi daemon -config /etc/reef-pi/config.yml

Nov 27 00:02:09 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:09 temperature sub-system:  sensor Temp1 value: 76.1
Nov 27 00:02:09 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:09 temperature subsystem: Current temperature is wit
Nov 27 00:02:09 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:09 Setting GPIO Pin: 3 State: 1
Nov 27 00:02:10 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:10 ERROR: Failed to submit data to adafruit.io. User
Nov 27 00:02:23 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:23 ato sub-system:  sensor ato1 value: 1
Nov 27 00:02:23 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:23 Setting GPIO Pin: 2 State: 1
Nov 27 00:02:38 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:38 lighting-subsystem: Setting PWM value: 86  at cha
Nov 27 00:02:38 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:38 ato sub-system:  sensor ato1 value: 1
Nov 27 00:02:38 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:38 lighting-subsystem: Setting PWM value: 91  at cha
Nov 27 00:02:38 reefpi reef-pi[1730]: 2018/11/27 00:02:38 Setting GPIO Pin: 2 State: 1

And welcome to reef2reef :0), you'll love it here