DIY LCD display temp/fan controller etc.

[Mark J]

Hi guys,

As some of you who were around in the early days of my marine keeping lark will know im a b*gger for having a go at DIY and saving a few quid etc.

Ive got a couple of PIC 18F2455 chips laying around along with a 2 line LCD and various electronic bits n bobs.

After looking about, I thought that when I get my new tank I want to make it look a BIT neater than having the old floating tube type thermomiter in the tank where you can guarantee it'll be floating all over the tank about 30 seconds after youve stuck it to the glass :rolleyes:

My plan is to have 2 temp probes, 1 for water temp and the other will be for reading the temp in the hood as I will be having a hood on this tank (not sure if its open backed or not, I forgot to ask Andy!)
But if its enclosed all around, even with just T5's in there, it could get a wee bit warm etc so I will have a couple of PC fans mounted (neatly lol) into the rear of the hood and also connected upto the PIC chip.

What will happen is, depending on if either of the temp probes hits the max level on temp, it will turn on the fans to either cool the water by blowing the fans over the surface or circulating the air in the hood to stop it geting too warm under the hood.

Will also be adding a few buttons to the project so that I can adjust the min/max values on both the hood and water temp start/stop values etc.

So at the mo, ive dusted off my PIC programmer and just wrote a little LED flasher code for the chip to 1. make sure the chip works still & 2. to make sure im not THAT rusty I just ended up blubbering at a blank screen lol!!

Will post pics as I go along and if anyone is into PIC programming etc and wants the code etc once its done, i'll gladly send it to you.

Mark.

PS. the PIC chip im using is a USB chip used to communicate with a pc etc, so maybe (a BIG maybe) in the future, I could see about actually hooking up the project to the PC and have data sent back and forth. (but dont count on it, as Im not overly bothered about that part lol)

[johnl69]

Sound like a good prodject, I have never tried programming PIC's to run an LCD is it easy to do?

[Electric Monk]

Sounds a top project.

When you get it working right don't forget to patent it and get it into production and charge us reefers 20 times more than it takes to make (we are used to that :eek::rolleyes::D)

[Mark J]

Sound like a good prodject, I have never tried programming PIC's to run an LCD is it easy to do?

Pic programming isnt too hard really, as rather than trying to use something like asm to write the code, I use picbasicpro which is great because it makes things a lot easier (and also dont have to write 2 pages of code to do a simple command etc!)

To run an LCD with the basic, it couldnt be simpler as the basic has its own LCDOUT command that does the main donkey work for you so you just tell it what you want on the screen and it displays it.

Just make sure the LCD is an hitachi made one (which most are anyway)

ElectricMonk:

You sure you only would want me to charge 20 times? could make it 30 or even 50 if you prefered LOL!!!!!! :D

[moorish]

sounds a good idea.derek

[Mark J]

Will be hooking up the LCD to the PIC chip and coding some stuff to get some text displayed on the screen later this eveing after ive stuffed my face lol!
If all goes to plan, i'll take a piccy of it breadboarded up and running with some text on the screen.

Once thats working, then will pop to Maplins and pick up a couple of the temp probes ready for the next step.

[stegoodall]

i was going to do a similar thing fo rmy computing a level project but went for something a lot easier in he end, basically a plug timer lol
i used a vellemann usb experiment board, i think this had analogue inputs so you could use one of these and use the inputs for temp. used the digital outputs to control relays for switching the mains

[Mark J]

Yeah I was in 2 minds, as reading some of the forums I use for PIC programming I had seen that the 18F2455 type chips were a bit of a git to setup etc, but with the new versions of the software and assemblers etc, it was a breeze! (was amazed my flashing LEd worked first time lol!)

Well, ive hooked up the LCD to the pic, and apart from 1 minor mistake on my part (ie, I had forgotten to actually supply the 5V to the LCD :rolleyes:) it worked first time! Amazing!
I honestly thought I would be farting about getting the LCD to work for a while but luck was on my side lol.

Went to Maplins and had to order a couple of temp sensors as per usual with our local shop they stock ****** all! So should be with me start of next week and then I can start tackling the temperature reading malarky ;)

Anyway, here's a pic of the breadboard with LCD running nicely (and to show its my LCD, read the text on it :D)

[Tangman]

Well done Mark when are they going to be in production m8 and how much will they be for forum members, maybe Macca could sell you some in the shop. HTH Twiggy:D

[Mark J]

hehehe erm ive not even looked at what the final cost will be as ive had the pic chips and the LCD laying around for a while , but I will do a total once its done (just hope I dont scare myself with it lol!)
To be honest, I think it would probably add up to more than just going out to buy a digital display temp sensor but then again, they dont have multiple sensors and the ones that can turn on and off fans are a fair bit more money than just the temp readers etc.

If all goes to plan, and I can find the info etc, I could always see about expanding the system to read other stuff too (ie ph etc) but will need to do some serious research for those things.

[Tangman]

I know parts are not cheap but if you get them in bulk it should work out a decent price surely. the more you get the cheaper they are usually. :DTwiggy

[Mark J]

yeah definately, but I cant see Suz letting me order a bulk load of parts at the mo AND still get the new tank and all the kit that goes with it :D

When this is done, I will upload a schematic and the hex code for the PIC chip so that if anyone else has got access to making stuff then they can easily make thier own etc.

One thing I wont be doing is a proper etched PCB as that is beyond me at the moment, so mine will end up on one of the copper strip boards with the holes all over it, so it wont look pretty, but then again, noone will see that bit once its installed in the hood of the new tank etc (will be doing it so only the LCD and buttons are seen flush in the hood so it looks like it was meant to be there etc)

PS. will also be water tight so that no warm salty air can get into the workings and ****** it up lol

[richardb22]

is it spooky that I was using the same chip as you, as well as the same programmer for a little aquarium related project last week... how are you doing fan speed control? is it just on/off or are you gonna use PWM?

[Mark J]

I thought about PWM to controll the fans speed etc, but to be honest, when they get turned on due to max temp settings turning them on, I thought I would just have it on at full power as then I know im getting as much airflow through the hood or over the water as possible to help reduce the temps etc.

What was the project you were doing? anything juicy?

[richardb22]

high power LED lighting. you can get some pretty nifty LEDs now that can put out 220 lumens each and last 50k hours. I wanted to use the PIC for cooling and electronic dimming so I could have simulated sunrise/sunset/random cloud cover etc. problem I found was these LEDs are pretty hot running and to keep them cool I would need to have run multiple fans always on and that was too much noise so I abandoned it. the LEDs are no more efficient than CFL so it's no great loss - the dimming would have been nice though.

I think it's a cool idea to have an aquarium microcontroller though. lots of uses for it, like a wave simulator, or for monitoring tasks. got any other ideas for what a PIC could be used for?

[Mark J]

The sunrise/sunset idea is a good one, why not just use normal bright LED's? as they dont run as hot, and also I presume theyre not used as the main lighting, but just a nice effect etc to gradually introduce the light into the tank?

Not really thought too much on what else I could use a PIC for etc, but im sure something will pop up ! :)

At the mo, ive got the 3 buttons attached to the breadboard and working how I want them to cycle through the displays to show what min/max settings are set for each temp probe.
Also got it so that holding a 'set' button for a couple of seconds takes you to the 'setup' menus where you will be able to adjust the min/max temp settings for turning on/off the fans (when I get them hooked up that is lol!)

A nice feature ive added to the main view menus is that when you press a button to view what the min/max settings are for a probe, it times out after roughly 10 seconds and returns to the main temp display screen (scaring myself as its looking half professional lol!!!!)

[Mark J]

Will see about getting a bit of a video of what I mean sometime today (probably later this evening as it's my daughters 2nd birthday today so will be a bit busy and will be out later, so will get something together hopefully later)

[Mark J]

No video YET, but got the Eeprom working so it saves the MIN/MAX settings to the Eeprom so when its powered off for some reason, it wont lose the settings :D

[richardb22]

sounds neat. what about recordining water temp data to an external EEPROM and allowing it to be uploaded over USB so it can be graphed or something. might be itneresting to see how it changes.

oh these LEDs were intended as primary lighting, they cost £5 each. you can buy commercial LED lighting arrays already (I think the cheapest one is about £600 !!!). I think it has great potential as they are very compact and long lasting but I gotta figure out a way to keep the thermal side managed. I don't know much about that area.

[Mark J]

Maybe for the MkII version I probably will look at PC logging etc, but for now im just well chuffed ive got it as far as I have lol!!!
Just bloody annoying that I havnt got the temp sensors yet as to have the temps adjusting with them will look cool, wheras at the mo, its static and looks naff hehehe.....
I think tomrrow, i'll see if ive got the pc fans still and see about hooking them up and running even if theyre not controlled via the temp settings.
Will see how they run using the 5V feed and also the 12V feed.
If they run with a nice breeze with the 5V feed it will save me having to use FET's and tap a 12V source to run them. (current power supply I use is an adjustable one, but I want to keep it for my developments and not for the final hardware, so will just have to dig around and see what old adapters ive got laying around, just need one thats over 5V as the board is voltage regulated with a thingymajig (cant you just tell ive been doing this leccy stuff for next to no time at all lol!!!)

[Mark J]

Ok still no video, but some more pics of the different screens etc.

the whole thing: (black blobs are the buttons, left one is the 'set' button, other 2 are the up/down buttons for altering the values.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mark-jervis/marines/spaghetti-junction.jpg

the main display:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mark-jervis/marines/maindisplay.jpg

the hood min/max display screen:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mark-jervis/marines/hooddisplay.jpg

Water min/max display screen:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mark-jervis/marines/waterdisplay.jpg

Main setup screen:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mark-jervis/marines/settingsmenuscreen.jpg

Hood settings screen:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mark-jervis/marines/hoodtempsettings.jpg

Water settings screen:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mark-jervis/marines/watertempsettings.jpg

Note: I have noticed the space after the MIN: 25 compared to the Max:26, has been sorted in the latest compile which needs to be transferred to the PIC. ;)

and the exit settings screen:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mark-jervis/marines/exitsettings.jpg

It's starting to look a bit smart me thinks lol! and now im REALLY starting to scare myself :D

[richardb22]

good stuff. are you going to mount the LCD into the hood or an external box?

if you can't find an AC/DC adapter I have lots of 12V 1A things lying around that I could post if you want, they are quite light, would only be a £ or two to send

[Mark J]

Looking at mounting it direct into the hood (will have to see as no idea what the hood looks like yet lol!!!)

Thanks for the offer on the 12V thingys (dont you just love all the technical names we come out with lol!) will let you know how my search goes here as I know weve got some somewhere but as to if they have the actual item they were designed for with them I dont know as yet (always find them and wonder what theyre from, and its only when youve thrown it or something THEN you find the other part of it, and its usually some expensive bit of kit that you've now almost rendered useless lol!!)

[Mark J]

Just a small update at the mo,
Suz told me that Maplins called yesterday near tea time and they have my temp sensors in (and some switches for Chris's train track at last!)
So she'll be off there later to pick them up for me, and then the fun can begin on getting them working with my little project (YAY!)

Will just hook up a fan to the 5V line to test the on/off part of the routines once I know the sensors are working, but will need to get hold of a couple of FETS once everything else is running so that the fans will run off the 12V source instead.

[johnl69]

Why Maplins they are expensive and rarely have any stock, I get most of my stuff from Rapid electronics alot cheaper even with delivery and they carry alot more stock:D

[Mark J]

Didnt even know about Rapid lol!!! but will give them a go next time thats for sure!
I got the sensors but having some probs getting fractional degrees on it at the mo, I can easily get full degrees using the VDD as the ADC reference, but to get finer readings, you use a different voltage reference but thats where my problems are arising as with using the 18F2455 PIC hardly anyone on the forum i posted on have used it and it has to do with some settings, but if any of you have seen the datasheets for the PIC chips theyre not the easiest of things to decipher lol!
Wish id gone for the sensors that use farenheight instead, as 1 degree in F is a lot less than 1 degree in C, ah well.

i'll get my head around the datasheet soon, but its a sod especially for the 18F's :(

[stevieh]

good stuff well done:):)

[Mark J]

Some good news too!!!
As from Monday evening, the new tank will be empty and ready for collection from Andy (YAY!!!!) so will make arrangements to pick it up etc, and then can work out the placement etc within the hood for the LCD and buttons etc (once I get the bloody thing working how I want it lol!)

[johnl69]

What forum did you post on?

[Mark J]

Posted it in the PICBASIC pro forum on this forum site (pretty good site, but not much response for my prob mainly due I think to the PIC chip not been used too much as yet.)

http://www.picbasic.co.uk/forum/

Link direct to my thread:

http://www.picbasic.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=7027

[johnl69]

Try on here http://www.electro-tech-online.com/ theres some clever ******s on there:D

[Mark J]

Cool ta!
Will see about registering on there and see if anyone on there has a bit more info etc.

[Mark J]

Now do I feel like a dumb t*t! lol.

Was trying to think tooo hard about the sensor problems and this morning decided to step back (about 5000 steps lol!)

Using the VDD reference for the AD conversion stuff, I just displayed the results of all the samples added together (take 10 samples to find the average) with no modifications etc.
Now the display on the LCD was showing 462 and on my meter reading direct from the pins of the sensor, I was reading 231.

Suddenly, it dawned on me that the raw data from the samples all added together are actually DOUBLE the correct reading direct from the probe read by the meter.

Sooooo. I didnt need to divide by the number of samples like I was doing, just simply divide the collective result by 2 to get my proper reading which then also gives me my fractional degree's!
WAAAAAAA-bloody-WHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Finally I can now add the second sensor and then get the fans working when the min/max values are reached etc.

[Mark J]

well, got both sensors hooked upto the breadboard and nicely sat reading the temp on my desk lol!

One thing I have noticed though is that there is between 0.8 and 1 degree difference between each sensor!!!!!!!! so will have to calibrate them to find out which is the more accurate one, and then manually adjust the temp for the one that is out to match them together.

BUUUUT, its looking bloody smart already, got the Min/Max checking all working so at the mo, whenever one reaches a max setting, it puts 5V out of the relevant pin which will switch a relay to start the fans.
When reach min will turn off the voltage to stop em. just lights up an LED at the mo to show its setting the pins high etc.

oh, and I also added a little visual reference to the display when the fans are on. I put a * after the temps on the main screen to show which set of fans are on (ie, water temp fans or canopy fans)

Just starting to get a bit too overcrowded on my breadboard now though, as you can see from the pictures I posted earlier, its only a small breadboard and not got much room anyway, so with about 20 wires and resistors etc its like a plate of spaghetti lol!!!!

[richardb22]

must be nice to have a system coming together that is working well!

I've never used an analog temperature sensor because analog electronics scare me... and I have a bunch of digital sensors I've hoarded from generous semiconductor manufacturer sample offers.

I have an idea for another PIC project though - I wonder how easy it would be to measure the water salinty level, do you think you could do that by measuring the resistance of the water? then you could make a nice little tester for mixing salt. I think I'll get the multimeter out and do some testing!

[Mark J]

I would have preffered using the digital sensors, but the Dallas one wire ones were a bit expensive just as an experimental project, in hindsight I wish I had got a couple but maybe next time I will.

As far as I know, a Salinity meter shouldnt be that tricky, as I think your right on that its the conductivity reading that gives you the salinity reading, would just need to have a sample fluid with a known exact salinity so you can calibrate the settings to match and then work out the calculations to give the right reading (I think lol)

Was bored the other night, so threw together a panel screen for the buttons, just need to tweek them to get the positions and sizing right, but think it will look quite cool when it's printed and laminated so its a touch panel :D heres a pic of it.

[Mark J]

I am seriously p****d off today, as waterproofed the sensors and tested them on the tank so I could get them calibrated so I could crack on with the project and get it sorted.
well, the sensors just made me want to almost throw them out of the sodding window as when I put them in the water the readings were ranging from 22 to 28 sodding degrees!!!!!!!!! now im no scientist, but I DO know that a large volume of water will NOT change temps THAT much so sodding quick, and were not talking it starts at 22 and gradually goes upto 28 but it could be 25 one min, 22 the next then 27 the next!!

Have been looking at the Dallas one wire Digital temp thermomitors as theyre a LOT more accurate etc, and dont have the uncertainty as the analogue ones seem to have.
Will have to see about getting a couple (after been nice to Suz lol! as theyre about £2.60 each :O)

I WILL get this flaming project finished! and it'll be bloody great hehehe....

More to come......



















Eventually LOL!!

[Mark J]

YAY!
After a nice reply on the electronics forum I use, tried the suggestion of a 22uf cap between the data line and Gnd and its smoothed it out and ive calibrated the sensors and theyre gooooooood!

So now both reading as they should and are +- 0.2C between the 2 at the extremes but good enough for me.

Next is to attach the relays and get some fans working :D

Once I know its working 100% then it'll be time for the strip board and then a nice little box for it all to go in and then fill it with potting compound to make the main guts all waterproof etc.

[Mark J]

well, im in a weird mood today, good mood AND a peeved mood lol!

First off, peeved mode:
Car went for MOT today, welding n couple of other bits need doing so thats gonna cost us about £200 :eek::mad:

But the good mood bit:

Stripboarded my project and got a couple of fans hooked up and IT WORKS GREAT!!!!!!!! WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Just need to pick up some silent fans when I can, and also a nice little box for it and some potting compound to seal it all up in to make it waterproof etc.

DAM do I feel good for that lol!!! :D

[MR Teee]

£200 on an MOT is a good day for me:D

I hate the bloody things with a vengence!

[TerraC]

well, im in a weird mood today, good mood AND a peeved mood lol!

First off, peeved mode:
Car went for MOT today, welding n couple of other bits need doing so thats gonna cost us about £200 :eek::mad:

But the good mood bit:

Stripboarded my project and got a couple of fans hooked up and IT WORKS GREAT!!!!!!!! WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Just need to pick up some silent fans when I can, and also a nice little box for it and some potting compound to seal it all up in to make it waterproof etc.

DAM do I feel good for that lol!!! :D

great news on the project m8.

know where you're coming from on the mot m8. just fallen victim to the latest mot scam of "corrosion on brake pipes" that was revised last year. fek all wrong with them but i'm £145 lighter in the wallet to get this years green ticket. GRRR..

[Mark J]

YUP that was one of the things id forgotten about! was mentioned last year, and pulled up on it this year!!!
Should get the welding done today, and hopefully the other bits too as next door is doing the pipes etc for us.

Will get some piccies of the project later after work :)

[ovesk8]

Sounds good on the project then matey.:) Ill have to get maself into gear and pop and see your tank. I might be moving tho soon so might be a bit busy! Can ya believe it ay, just as the new tank is settling in:rolleyes:

Suckers for punishment . the lot of us:D

[Mark J]

LOL! always the same m8! JUST get something sorted and settling nicely and then a hooooge spanner in the works like moving house lol!
Just remember to give us a shout if you need a hand lugging the tank again.

[Tangman]

Sounds good on the project then matey.:) Ill have to get maself into gear and pop and see your tank. I might be moving tho soon so might be a bit busy! Can ya believe it ay, just as the new tank is settling in:rolleyes:

Suckers for punishment . the lot of us:D
You know what they say a rolling stone gathers no moss. Twiggy:D:D

[JAYJT29]

Any updates on this build mate?
Thanks
Jay :)

[Mark J]

Hi m8,

Sorry no updates as yet, been ripping out the kitchen and stuff lately, but I have been thinking about finishing this project as its all built and ready to be installed etc, but its been just having the time etc to do it.

I need to dig it out and test to make sure it all still works after been moved from here to there a few times lol! so once I know its all 100% i'll encase it, fill with potting compound and then sort out the hole etc in the hood to get it fitted.

Mark.

[scottk]

Very interested in this project do you have a schematic and hex available yet? I have thought of a fair few uses for this project. You can get online companys to do you prototype low run PCB's I have looked into it before for a couple of projects :)

For the Luxor type leds you will have to heatsink them to keep them cool mount them on a heatsink and they can be cooled by a PC fan :) The sunrise sunset is an Idea I have thought over for a while just not got round to building and coding it.

[cl0wn]

ooohh, looks like we have someone with very good knowledge of electronics who could contribute a lot to the diy section.

[Tangman]

Yes that is what we want on here and we can save some cash to spend on other things. We will have to set up an DIY Inventers section so that all those avid DIYers can offer there items. Twiggy:D:D

[JAYJT29]

Bump, any news on this mate?
Cheers
Jay:)

[Tangman]

Bump, any news on this mate?
Cheers
Jay:)
Hi Jay, Mark stripped his tank down a while ago before you came back on the other week. I dont know if he sold the controller or what and he rarely comes on now HTH Twiggy:D:D

[TerraC]

Mark no longer has a tank so dont think this is likely to progress. Will mention it to him next time I see him tho'

[JAYJT29]

Cheers guys :) just wondered thats all, seemed like a good build.
Jay

[TerraC]

ok guys. Spoke to Mark today and mentioned about this. he did get it all up and running but after he sold his tank he stripped the controller down to use the parts for other projects. This project is no more.

[JAYJT29]

Thanks for the update, shame about that :(
Jay

[Mark J]

Just to let you know, I 'MIGHT' resurrect this project but dont hold your breath as the stripboard I still have but the Mrs chucked it into my draw of bits so not a clue how it held up to the battering etc, as I know the wires for the LCD came off etc.

[Tangman]

Nice to see you back on Mark, are you thinking about another tank m8. Twiggy

[Mark J]

Hi Eric,

Yup, already got the tank cycling at the mo, its only a small 20 gallon 30x15x12 therabouts as cant have a big one anymore as Suz decided she wanted the living room splitting back into 2 seperate rooms lol (Dam my DIY skills lol!)

Not sure what i'll have in it yet, but will see what happens, as I would like to have a mini reef but dont want to go the halide route as too expensive and also temp probs with such a small tank etc.

Got a chunk of LR in to help seed/cycle at the mo and got one of them V2 nano skimmers which is a nice little bit of kit and is bedding in nicely.

Have been looking at the LED lighting but almost choked at the prices of the TMC ones! but knowing me, ill be having a look round at some DIY possibly hehehe....

Mark.

[Tangman]

Hi Mark what ever size it is it can be made a nice tank, i have just gone with the TMC Tiles and the affect is stunning as i only keep softies they are doing fine . They are quite dear to even do as a DIY job as a m8 of mine Lenny has just built some and he said he had spent about £300 on them. But like everything the price will come down the more they are used. Take care and i will catch up again soon. Twiggy

[Mark J]

Hi guys,

Just dusted this thread off to let you know that I will be redoing this project shortly, but because of my new setup etc, it will be a cut down temp jobby as not running a hood anymore so no need for the 2nd temp probe etc.
Im throwing ideas round inside the vast cavernous space in my head on a few other ideas to add to it etc ie conductivity so I can get a visual reading of the salinity in the tank but need to do a LOT more research as only had a quick scan on google late last night without much luck as will be needing to find out the calculations on the raw results to convert into something we can get our heads around (ie say for instance the raw reading i get is 259 (not even sure what values the raw reading would be!) then I would need to get the calculations to convert that into say 1.025 or 35ppt etc etc.

Im even thinking of adding a controller type thing to it for my 2 sunsun wavemaker powerhead things as teh controller that comes with that is ok BUT it dosnt slowly ramp up and down the flow and also id like to maybe have a certain amount of randomness to not only the flow output but also the on/off time per pump (also the sunsun controller dosnt allow for both pumps to be on at the same time!)
So by coding my own it could mean with a degree of randomness in the pumps etc it would mean that the flow in the tank would be constantly different and create more turbulence etc as even with the alternating pulsings etc you still do get a sort of linear flow.

Phew, well thats enough drivel for now, dont hold your breaths for it as yet as its still in the brain torture dept but will let you know what happens :D

Mark

[Mark J]

Right, this project will be restarted again in the next week or so when my new USB PIC programmer arrives :)

Will be doing it in stages as it will be an expanding project.

phase 1 will consist of recreating the temp sensor side but with only 1 sensor as like mentioned above, no hood so no need for hood temp anymore.
phase 2 will be to add water level sensors for the sump and possibly main tank using ultrasonic sensors so no chance of mechanical level sensors jamming etc.
with the sensors, I will be able to control a small pump to top up with RO and also if I go for the main tank sensor too, I will be using that to keep a check on the main tank level in case for some reason the weir overflow loses the syphon and the main tank starts filling up to high I can then turn off the return pump to stop a flood (you know what the Mrs would say if the room got 'slightly' wet lol)

Down the road, I will look at controlling the powerheads in the display tank as well to allow for more control on how they pulse etc, and then after that when ive saved up enough money (dont hold breath I keep telling myself!) i'll then be having a go at a DIY LED light unit for the tank which will have dawn/dusk fades and also toying with the idea of various cloud cover etc to randomise the light intensity etc.

Phew, as you can see, if all goes to plan, the tank will be pretty much all controlled from one (or two if I decide to speerate the lights from the other project) controller.
Im still toying with the ideas of the PH/Salinity etc etc, but they are a far more complex thing to work on but I will still be looking around at how they work etc, and if possible add them to the system too.

Mark. (glutten for punishment lol!)

[Tangman]

Right, this project will be restarted again in the next week or so when my new USB PIC programmer arrives :)

Will be doing it in stages as it will be an expanding project.

phase 1 will consist of recreating the temp sensor side but with only 1 sensor as like mentioned above, no hood so no need for hood temp anymore.
phase 2 will be to add water level sensors for the sump and possibly main tank using ultrasonic sensors so no chance of mechanical level sensors jamming etc.
with the sensors, I will be able to control a small pump to top up with RO and also if I go for the main tank sensor too, I will be using that to keep a check on the main tank level in case for some reason the weir overflow loses the syphon and the main tank starts filling up to high I can then turn off the return pump to stop a flood (you know what the Mrs would say if the room got 'slightly' wet lol)

Down the road, I will look at controlling the powerheads in the display tank as well to allow for more control on how they pulse etc, and then after that when ive saved up enough money (dont hold breath I keep telling myself!) i'll then be having a go at a DIY LED light unit for the tank which will have dawn/dusk fades and also toying with the idea of various cloud cover etc to randomise the light intensity etc.

Phew, as you can see, if all goes to plan, the tank will be pretty much all controlled from one (or two if I decide to speerate the lights from the other project) controller.
Im still toying with the ideas of the PH/Salinity etc etc, but they are a far more complex thing to work on but I will still be looking around at how they work etc, and if possible add them to the system too.

Mark. (glutten for punishment lol!)
Good man Mark its what is needed by many a reefer, you will have to make up a DIY diagram so they can follow it or start and do them and make some money Twiggy

[Mark J]

Will be adding schematics and stuff when stages are done so then anyone can have a go at making them etc.
Obviously not everyone has access to a pic programmer so I might see about offering pre programmed chips etc.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that I will probably add USB connectivity so that the settings can be done either on the unit or via computer as then I could add more settings available from the pc side as we all know how cumbersome it can be sometimes when there are quite a lot of settings available etc.

[Tangman]

Good man Mark keep us all up to date with how it goes for you, also put some pics up of the unit as i would be interested in one Twiggy

[Mark J]

yeah i'll be starting a new thread when I make a start on it :)
This time i'll be using the dallas 1 wire temp sensors rather than the LM ones I used before and gave me oooh so much grief! lol. so fingers crossed these ones wont give me the weird readings I was getting with the old ones before I figured out why etc lol..

Saw a nice graphic LCD on the website I ordered my programmer from, only a mono screen but blue and white so later on I might get one and see how it hooks up etc, and an even nicer addon is a touchscreen as you can pick up the touch screen pad for a nintendo DS for a few quid and they seem easy enough to incorporate (obviously thats IF the graphic LCD is the same dimensions as the touch screen!.

[TerraC]

sounds awesome m8. Be good if you could plug into USB and monitor on comp, could monitor the results from work then and check what the tank is doing at home :D

[Mark J]

Hehe connecting to the pc is one thing, having it available live online is another can of worms lol. But I was thinking about that earlier today when we were out and about. It's something I'll look into though as to be able to monitor it from anywhere would be cool, even cooler to then also be able to set things too ;)

[reefergeek]

think i might follow this one and try to duplicate if thats ok lol

kev

[Mark J]

No worries mate, the more the merrier and will be posting updates and stuff as it goes so feel free to replicate it etc.