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Growtronix

Harry Gypsna

Dirty hippy Bastard
Veteran
I havent read this thread past the 1st couple posts so dunno if its already been said but you shouold look into aquarium controllers.... you can get some good stand alone units to do EC, PH, or for ozone units sterilising the water and bringing it to a perfect oxygen level and then nice ones to do heating and cooling-for ur fans whatever-.
google aquamedic and aquadigital then theres the total aquarium controller to do ec/ph/temps and timed functions -all that stuff in ur tank Google aquatronica, and IKS Aquastar- (these are supposed to be really good in aquariums- with float switches to top up and all the EC/PH stuff and you can automate tank changes-they also both do the text messaging thing and you can set it up to go online from somehwre else and check ur levels and adjust if needed) these are similar to growtronix in that you have the controller unit and the relays for ur equipment ...Im lookin at Aquamedic automated Ec and PH control at the moment... Found a ph controller for 85 pounds and a peri pump with low enough flow for another 100...
Of course these are just all for your tank really...but you could try the harvest master.... or the intelliclimate..thats another couple to google.... have just finished putting a great fanspeed controller with high temp controller to switch it to full power when needed, and a controlled heater socket for nighttime if required.... watch for it in this forum....
Have a look at the harvest master though..
This is what Im looking at for a ph controller http://www.monitors-direct.co.uk/ProductDetails.asp?ProductID=1029
with this peri pump(the second one down) to dose the ph down http://www.stm-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Dosing_Pumps_7.html
These an Ec controller similar that Ive been looking at...and for that i would use the 2 of the cheaper peri pump at the top of the page for the A and B nutrient..... I still havent figured what id do about the additives though like silicon and enzymes and such though that Intellidose can do many oart recipies but its too rich for my blood.
Anyway I hope you figure out what to do
 
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BlindDate

Active member
Veteran
i see that unit you need to select if you want it to adjust up or down you usually keep it on ph down but what happens if it need to up? it wont do it till you flip the switch?
Correct, as you can see, it only has one pump.

also do you know how long it waits for a new reading before making more adjustments? when i put ph down in my system it takes a few minutes for me to get a clear reading(20 bucket dwc recirc system)?
The controller does not wait, but the pump doses VERY slowly so there isn't any overshoot. You can also dilute the Ph solution and slow the dosing even further.
 
S

sneakyninja

Common Sensi said:
hey sneaky all it want is a datalogger that monitors mulitple air and water temps, multi ple ec and ppm reading ( might have more than one res. and type of system.), humidity. be able like i said to datalogger and print out a graph etc.. also maybe monitor alerts as upgrades. i want to be able to just look at my comp real quick and check my readings without having to actually look at the system. so if you make it and it's good i will buy.

long live Goldie Locks and capitalism. figure out where i got that phrase.

The leap from this to actually being able to control things is simply the addition of "switches" to flip Solid State Relay's on/off, therefore the ability to monitor everything is pretty much intrinsic in this package.

I'll be meeting directly with my buddy this weekend and will report back on what he has to say and how likely this project is to go through after that.

Common Sensi - What do you mean by "monitor alerts as upgrades"?

Goldie Locks - A goldie locks economy is one that is not great but not terrible either, the typical example being the 90's (with the exception of .com's of course):rasta:

To everyone - Is there anything you would like to see in a new grow automation software that isn't currently available? Other than it doing the trimming for you of course :yeahthats

Thanks,
SN
 

green_tea

Member
when I get around to it (woot woot graduation!) i'll be working on my system pretty much as much as i can.

I priced some mini CO2 sensors, though they are like 500 bucks a pop... I was expecting like 200 max.. but whatever, thats for the future.

Youll want your app built upon modules... a module for each sensor you can hook up, with individual settings per module, with tagged modules so you can use the "PH" module 6 times assuming you have 6 sensors... each with their own settings/config because not all sensors are made alike.

Youll want data logging, into a database of sorts, since wrting to a text file is barbaric IMO. probably a polling system for this... maybe daily trend line compression, to save database space.

this isn't a project for the light hearted, and your going to REALLY have to plan it out, draw out diagrams, state charts, use cases, SSDs, class diagrams etc etc etc.

I have my data logger complete on the platform im working on, but school has bogged me down so I havent started on recreating it within the framework I also need to create for my module system.

yar!!!
 

a6grow

Member
Hey guys, I was wondering if anyone knew of a DIY temperature/humidity logger? I'm not looking for 100% automation, just complete logging of temperature and humidity so that afterwards I can personally fine tune my setup. Ideally I would like to be able to check on temp/rh of my growroom from online and also be alerted when temp/rh reaches a pre-set max/min. However at the very least I would like to have my temp/rh recorded periodically 24/7 (maybe every 15 minutes it logs the readings, etc) and then the following day I can go to my growroom and analyze the data, and then fine tune according to my ideal temp/rh. I just want an easy and effective setup, I'm not really looking to invest in a lot of hardware, just looking for some custom DIY...thanks.
 

green_tea

Member
LOL growtronix shut down?

maybe cause their price is sooo fucking high IMO.

You can buy a phidget for ~100 bucks, and that allows for 8 analog sensors, 8 digital inputs and 8 digital outputs...

sick shit.
 
E

eidanyosoy

Saved me some cash as I was about to place an order but i wanted to see the software first, oh well i am not too lazy yet to do it the old fashioned way. Thanks for the heads up.
 

minds_I

Active member
Veteran
Hello all,

Syng and I ahve discussed this begfore and we were leaning towards 1-wire applications.

Just a suggestion.

minds_I
 
B

badugi

So what's the deal? Growtronix is alive (seems so from website) or gone?

I'm most interested in getting text messages on: high heat, power outage, motion detector. (All of those modules should be available, unlike the pH/TDS modules which I understand is a problem.)

Sounds like it's going to cost me (give or take) $700 + old PC to do it the GrowTronix way. Gotta be easier ways, but I'm not down with developing my own software or anything like that.

I've seen systems that can be connected to phone lines to dial out and call on high-temp, power outage, etc, conditions... but not text messages (via email) that don't require phone lines (which I'd prefer).
 
B

badugi

Just whipped up a solution to get text message alerts when the power goes out. Gonna order a cheap DS temperature sensor parts and set up my own high-temperature warnings.

Gonna use a Sentinel MDT-1 as a main lighting timer w/ light shutoff switch in high heat.
 
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