Thunderstorm Posted November 8, 2004 Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 Hiya After looking at the interesting posts and ideas on this site for several months i finally signed up Im currently building my dream tank, 1840 mm x 600mm x 650mm. Just finished the stand over the weekend, very pleased with the result, all nice and square etc took me 7 hours to make it lol Next phase is to get the control equipment mounted in the stand with the filtering etc then i can place the tank on the stand and hook it up to the equipment under it and test fill it before making the shroud around it. I have some controllers by ICPcon Listed below http://www.icpdas.com/products/7000/i-7520r.htm http://www.icpdas.com/products/7000/i-7067.htm Basiclly those 2 are the interface to a computer and a relay box. The relay box is goin to be used for the lights and controlled by the computer, Just a simple timer script really. Anyway my question is, Who here knows of a NZ supplier for more of these controllers? I would like temp etc controlled by the computer as well. Thought i would ask here as i know some other tanks are controlled by a computer as well. Thanx Peter PS, will post pics i have so far for those interested Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooky Posted November 8, 2004 Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 According to the distributors link at the bottom of their homepage the New Zealand distributor is JENLOGIX, http://www.jenlogix.co.nz. They seem to do online ordering. They look like quite useful modules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderstorm Posted November 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 Doh!! how daft is that lol Didnt look down the bottom, Thanx Heaps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted November 8, 2004 Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 Looks like the relay contacts aren't rated for NZ voltages. Make sure you get a module with enough capacity to control the devices you wish to attach to it. If you are going to run it off a PC you'll need something really reliable that doesn't crash. You'd be best with server based operating system and get a good UPS. Sound's pretty expensive though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderstorm Posted November 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 Hiya Warren The contacts are rated for 24VDC @ 1A I'm using those to trigger another 12v relay with 10A 240 VAC contacts to switch the equipment. Being as this relay box is only for the lights probally dont need contacts rated so high but i always use higher in electrics, tends to last longer and no hassles in the long run. Each light will turn off 1 by 1 every 15 - 20 mins trying to replicate the sun going down then before the last light is off the "moon" is going to come out Im buying the "moon" controller from a guy who sells them on Ebay, It replicates the moon cycles as in nature. As for the computer im using a 200 Mhz with a flashcard to run a cut down version of NT4 and the controller software, This way it will have no moving parts (less to break and crash) and i can connect it to my network and admin it via terminal services. I can also hook a small LCD up to it to display temps etc if i want too. It will be running through a UPS as well Thanx Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scholesy Posted December 6, 2004 Report Share Posted December 6, 2004 gidday Peter, would be interested to hear how you go as this is sort of something I'm looking to do with my old PC (have it monitoring temp etc, plus controlling a pump or two, also transmitting data to a 4x40 LCD screen I have). cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderstorm Posted December 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 Hiya scholesy The software will be limited to a certain type of controller but yup once i have it all done i will gladly describe how i did it at the moment i only have the controllers for the lights but will add more as money permits for temp etc I have started a thread here as a kind of log for my progress on the whole project, now that i finally got the pics off my camera. Thanx peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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