The Big Controller Comparison Chart.

RobbyG · #1 12/18/2006, 06:42 PM

The Big Controller Comparison Chart.

Hi guys this has been 5 weeks in the making. It started out as a nice little project that ballooned into major work. I spent 3 weeks using my spare time to read about and visit the web pages of every controller I could find then I started putting together the data and created a draft version. This draft version was emailed to each controller manufacturer asking them to correct any data they found in error and to also add in any features I might have missed. I had a good response from most of the companies, only a few decided not to participate. There was also a major problem in that some companies interpreted what I was trying to do incorrectly and thought that features of their PC software could universally be used as general features.
An example of this is one company figured that since there controller has PC software that allows you to see all the data from the controller on your PC's desktop, if you then use PCAnywhere or Remote Desktop and view that data remotely, there controller is basically Web Server Capable. I had many such problems and tried to strike some sort of balance between the wishes of the company vs what I thought might be seen as confusing to the RC members.

Ultimately this is a huge work in progress, it will be a few weeks from now before the Chart is 100% accurate, but it is a start!
I am hoping that RC members and Manufactures will help me to further edit the chart and correct any missing or bad data. This is why I did not post the Chart directly on RC because it is a work in progress. Also the prices have not been included because it was just very complicated to figure out pricing for all the dozens of configurations you can buy.

I hope that this chart will give RC members a better understanding of what controller is right for their situation. It has been a lot of work, I almost did not post it because I did not feel the Data was accurate enough, but as time passed I realized that something like this cannot be made accurate without Constructive feedback from actual users.

Heres the link

www.aquariumcontrollers.com

Enjoy

dirtyreefer · #2 12/18/2006, 06:51 PM

Man great job on this. I was maybe expecting 2 or 3 controllers but you have them all covered (that I can think of!).

I'm in the market for a controller and this will be a great resource to help make my decision. Much appreciated!

Criminal#58369 · #3 12/18/2006, 06:57 PM

Thanks! Will help with my decision also!

RobbyG · #4 12/18/2006, 07:03 PM

Your welcome guys, thanks for thumbs up.

gigiba · #5 12/18/2006, 07:32 PM

Great info !!!

Thanks

slovan · #6 12/18/2006, 07:53 PM

Wow, a big thanks for the effort you've put into compiling this data!

I didn't know half of those controllers were on the market. I also didn't know there were so many features available. Wow....again thanks for putting in the time and effort. I'll be sure to refer this if I decide to replace my current controller.

Hopefully this will be a sticky under this forum.

outlaw60 · #7 12/18/2006, 08:16 PM

very nice, thanks for your time!

RobbyG · #8 12/18/2006, 09:21 PM

Any owners of these controllers, please let me know if something is listed wrong on your controller. Thanks
BTW if you know of any (non commercial) units that I missed please let me know so I can add it

swedish steel · #9 12/18/2006, 11:35 PM

I saved this to my favorites! Thanks.

karma · #10 12/19/2006, 04:15 AM

Robby,

I'm pretty sure the firmware on the Octopus 4000 can be upgraded. The firmware on my 3000 is stored in Flash memory and I have upgraded it before. My understanding is that the 4000 is pretty much a 3000 with some slight improvements, so I don't think they have eliminated that feature.

The Octopus has an IR printing port (one-way) only.

I'm not sure what you mean by "hysteresis mode for programming". You can program in a range around the setpoints on any of the probe readings (temp, ORP, pH, cond). Is that what you mean or is it something else?

Aquadyne does make two higher end controllers (the Aquanode EX and Aquanode XL) that do have more capabilities (and a higher price tag) than the Octopus.

Michael

getdownup · #11 12/19/2006, 08:19 AM

many thanks for the information

RobbyG · #12 12/19/2006, 01:07 PM

Karma I am taking a look back over the 4000's Data. Thank you for pointing out the memory etc.

I think I remember seeing the EX and XL but I am pretty sure they are commercial controllers. I decided to leave out commercial units because they are not something that home tank owners would buy. Let me check this all out and I will post back and do the changes.

Thanks

elosusa · #13 12/19/2006, 02:19 PM

Robby I sent over my revisions, sorry for the delay. This is my list and if the guys back in Italy want to add anything I will be sure to let you know.

snslarison · #14 12/19/2006, 02:42 PM

Wow great info.

reefkeeper1 · #15 12/19/2006, 03:38 PM

RobbyG, I thought I was an equipment junkie, but this chart puts you in a whole different league. I just bought the LightHouse, so I don't have much feedback yet. In the meantime, if you don't have Excel, here's a 1-page PDF of the great spreadsheet RobbyG put together. You'll have to zoom in quite a bit for the details, but 1 page kept the file small.

Lutefisk · #16 12/19/2006, 03:53 PM

Nice job and much needed!

Judging by the data and guessing at the users, I'd like to suggest breaking up the "PC Connection" line into two separate rows for ease of deciphering of "RS-232" and "Ethernet."

kbecker · #17 12/19/2006, 04:46 PM

For the Aquacontroller III Pro, you can have as many float switches as you have digital IO ports.

Lutefisk · #18 12/19/2006, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by kbecker
For the Aquacontroller III Pro, you can have as many float switches as you have digital IO ports.

The same is true for the Aquacontroller III (non-pro). The base unit has two inputs for switches and each expansion ADDS six.

You might consider a "Yes" with a footnote for the AC III's (both pro and regular) on the "Leak detector" because standard water sensors like the one in the following link can be connected to the integral IO ports.

http://www.homesecuritystore.com/ezS...?productID=608

Paul

RobbyG · #19 12/19/2006, 05:32 PM

Just Updated the List, with new Data on Elos Biotopus II.
Elos is not 100% complete as we are still clarifying some of the Data.

Also thank you all RC members for your corrections. Most of them have been added.

RobbyG · #20 12/19/2006, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by reefkeeper1
RobbyG, I thought I was an equipment junkie, but this chart puts you in a whole different league. I just bought the LightHouse, so I don't have much feedback yet. In the meantime, if you don't have Excel, here's a 1-page PDF of the great spreadsheet RobbyG put together. You'll have to zoom in quite a bit for the details, but 1 page kept the file small.

Thanks for the PDF

You really have to zoom it up to read all the stuff but its nice to see what it looks like on one page.

Tech Junky, oh my wife might agree

You should see the electrical part of my Tank

jdieck · #21 12/19/2006, 05:48 PM

Robby:

Great Job!

A couple of suggestions.
You may want to add if the controller has circuitry self test capability.

On the feature of Power Bar Manual Override I ntoiced that the Neptune controllers are listed as NO but I do not know if this may count but they have the capability to turn each channel into AUTO or Manual ON, Manual OFF

Thanks for all the work.

RobbyG · #22 12/19/2006, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jdieck
Robby:

Great Job!

A couple of suggestions.
You may want to add if the controller has circuitry self test capability.

On the feature of Power Bar Manual Override I ntoiced that the Neptune controllers are listed as NO but I do not know if this may count but they have the capability to turn each channel into AUTO or Manual ON, Manual OFF

Thanks for all the work.

Thank You, I am happy so many people like it.

The Self test Circuitry, I am not sure if I am following you, do you mean a startup diagnostic mode or an optiion in the Menu to do a hardware/software scan? Do any of the units I listed have this feature? Please let me know, I am very interested in reading more on this.

The Manual On/Off is suppose to be a button on the powerbar that will disconnect it from the controllers control and turn all plugs ON. Very useful if you controller dies and you need to temporarily have the PowerBar work like a regular power strip.

kbecker · #23 12/19/2006, 07:10 PM

What do you define service mode as?

jdieck · #24 12/19/2006, 07:15 PM

The Self Test feature of the AquaController performs a short diagnostic on the major internal components in
the base unit. If the Self Test is selected and the unit is operating correctly, a "passed" message is displayed on the
screen. The other information displayed indicates the date and revision of the AquaController III firmware as
well as the controller's serial number.

It also has a feature for Memory initialization, this will reset the calibration constants (for the probes) to the factory condition and to the original default basic program.

RobbyG · #25 12/19/2006, 09:20 PM

I will definitely look into this for an addition later on. Right now I am gathering new features so that I can combine them into a new questioner, once I have enough I will email the manufacturers for information and then add it. Thanks for the heads up on this feature.