tank automation maybe x10

I actually was just talking to Randy at MSM today about that X10 stuff and it seems awesome. You can do so much with it. I may get a Neptune and it controles X10 I think you can control about 260 different X10 mod of of it.

Dan,

You might want to check out Jeff Hite's system. He is also using X10 to control some of his system. It seems to work well. Jeff is in Layton.

Um... this might be a silly question, but what the H is X-10? Sounds like something out of Area 51.

My reliablility issues were solved when I put it in Amplifier/Repeater/Coupler Module. Since then I haven't missed a beat .

Ryan are there other issues I need to be aware of?

 

they have alarm clocks that control things also. If you had a Neptune it doesn't have to run just your tank. you could program it to do a ton of things.

Kirk, the reliability issues tend to be caused by electromagnetic interference (noise) introduced into your home wiring (flourescent lights, computer monitors, etc.)

Connecting filters, amplifiers, etc will really help eliminate the problem as long as you put them in the right places (as you have successfully done.) For other people, one example of what not to do, is that you wouldn't want to put a line amplifier in the system in-line with a source of noise because it will only amplify that noise and make the system that much more unreliable, defeating what you were trying to accomplish.

All in all, it's great technology, and if I had the money, I'd be using it on my tank too. Just make sure if you have problems that you have all the necessary components.

Edited by Ryan Willden

Jon,

Yes it is possible that your signal can travel to your neighbor’s house.  To resolve these issues you can change the "house setting" on your x-10 module to eliminate house to house interference.

I've been looking at controllers a lot lately, because I'd really like one. I just can't believe how expensive they are! Even just a Aquacontroller II base unit, a control interface, 2 control modules, and a couple probes is more than $500 at most places I've seen. Then on top of that, they want $150 for their AquaNotes program. The Octopus controller is even more. Plus they both use X-10, which has potential drawbacks as already mentioned.

So I've decided to make my own. I'm working on the software to manage an aquarium and a controller out of a Lab Jack (www.labjack.com). The labjack is only $119 and can control more than 20 devices and has 8 analog inputs for a variety of probes for one tank or more. That and some solid state relays and other misc. electronics, and you have a controller for a lot less and without X-10. It'd be perfect for those of us with a PC we can use for our tank. It's also not limited to 1 float switch like the Aquacontroller. It could have many float switches (if you don't use all the digital I/O ports for other things) and automate water top-off and even water changes, feeding phyto and rotifers, etc.

Anyway....The only reason I can think of for those companies' charging so much is that they have a virtual monopoly on the market. The equipment, even for a standalone microcontroller just isn't THAT expensive. Does any one happen to know why?

-Tom

Carl wrote: It's the same with many types of markets, such as gasoline. The last big increase at the pump was due to "overseas supply issues", right? Well, if Maverick uses 100% of American Supplied gasoline why are their prices equally as high? Because they can be... Until someone tells them to lower them.  Just IME

Hey, hey, hey...  Being in the refining industry, I'd like to think I have an inside look at these sorts of issues (and probably a conflict of interest from your perspective ).  Gasoline and diesel are both commodity products and as such are almost totally priced by supply and demand.  It's a bit unique in that pricing is quick to go up and slow to come down (pricing inertia that favors the supplier).  The recent local spike in pricing had nothing to do with "overseas supply issues", as far as I know.  It had everything to do with the pipeline failures in Arizona and the unexpected shutdown of a couple refineries on the west coast.  Our trucking market, which normally extends about 120 miles in all directions from SLC, suddenly grew into Reno, Las Vegas and N. Arizona!  Same supply, MUCH larger demand.  That is an example of one market (Phoenix and California) effecting another market (Utah, Idaho).  The same can and does happen everywhere.  It's a global market place.  When the price of Saudi Arabian oil goes up, domestic refiners buy more domestic oil.  Domestic oil production is (more or less) fixed and the increased demand drives the price up.  BTW, no one "tells us when to lower prices".  We lower prices when our inventories start increasing...

(oops I didn't mean to be so long winded... sorry)

But seriously, aren't the petroleum market prices influenced by the trade or transportation commissions? Similar to the interest rate being set nationally for prime by the Government? Of course supply and demand contribute a HUGE amount, but I thought that Uncle Sam tried to keep it in check when it gets carried away. I don't know, I'm probably wrong.

Nope, the only thing Uncle Sam's interested in is the $0.43 per gallon tax he collects.  Petroleum products are not considered a "utility" like electricity or natural gas.  Maybe it should be (but I don't think so).

But, I think that it's amazing how the prices at each gas station on all four corners will usually be the same even if their supplies come from a different source.

Next time you go into a gas station, ask the manager how often they do a "price survey" of all stations within 4 - 5 blocks?  You might be quite surprised!  If you were a large purchaser of gasoline (say Maverick), there is a "web" site that you can connect to and see what price gasoline is selling for at each of the 5 refinery terminals in Salt Lake.  This is how you decide where to buy your 30 truckloads of gasoline from for that day.  All the refineries also watch the board and update their prices daily (and when prices are unstable, update it many times per day).  It doesn't surprise me that the prices are the same.

My point was that needed or not, a profitable company will jack their prices as soon as they can and milk it for as long as they can.

That's the American Way.  That's what keeps a market driven economy going.  You might not believe it, but there are times when we (refineries) will go months at a time operating at a loss.  But, you've got to cut the hay when the sun shines. And it's been blistering bright the last couple months

And it's a LONG walk to SLC from Syracuse! 

well, there's always that option...