Cerebra owners. Where you at??

[jason2459]

Originally Posted by DarkSkyForever

They're separate BNC ports.

https://i.imgur.com/JcQVA28.jpg

Nice! I've always hated that ph/orp shared port. I have multiple pH probes and an ORP probe so that means another module that has to be bought with the other two controllers I have.

[sleepydoc]

For the people that have the power bar, are the outlets spaced far enough to allow wall warts to be plugged in?

[jwilliams860]

Originally Posted by sleepydoc

For the people that have the power bar, are the outlets spaced far enough to allow wall warts to be plugged in?

It doesnt look that they are, the bottom one for sure. I took a random one laying around my office and it covered up the port below it by half.
Although in my application, so far none of the things Ill plug in have the larger adapter

[jwilliams860]

Also, I only have the Multi Bar, not the stand alone power bar, but they appear almost identical in construction and spacing from what I can tell

[SaltLife19]

Originally Posted by DeepSeaBeauti

I came on this post because it was actually informative. I feel like this one is going south fast, its a shame.

Anyway, Im on pins and needles waiting for mine to arrive. Its killing me.

Seems like only you and I ordered from AquaCave DeepSea. I'm with you though, I can't wait to get this controller in my possession.

[Kazer]

Originally Posted by sleepydoc

For the people that have the power bar, are the outlets spaced far enough to allow wall warts to be plugged in?

I agree with jwilliams. I only have the multibar so I can't comment on the power bar.

[SaltLife19]

Looks like AquariumSpecialties.com is giving their Vertex Cerebra customers a probe holder with their order. This is pretty cool on their part! I wonder if AquaCave and BRS are going to do something similar to this....

[sleepydoc]

Originally Posted by SaltLife19

Looks like AquariumSpecialties.com is giving their Vertex Cerebra customers a probe holder with their order. This is pretty cool on their part! I wonder if AquaCave and BRS are going to do something similar to this....

Very cool. Probe holders are one of those things that are annoying to have to pay for after you just shelled out several hundred dollars for a controller. I can't imagine they are that expensive to make. It would be nice if the controller companies just included them with the controller.

Originally Posted by jwilliams860

It doesnt look that they are, the bottom one for sure. I took a random one laying around my office and it covered up the port below it by half.
Although in my application, so far none of the things Ill plug in have the larger adapter

That's frustrating. If they would have rotated the outlets 90 degrees it wouldn't be a problem. Of course it depends how may wall warts you have, too. The DC adaptor for my Tunze ATO is actually off to the side rather than vertical - I wonder if that's a German/European thing. It would explain the outlet orientation.

[DeepSeaBeauti]

That's frustrating. If they would have rotated the outlets 90 degrees it wouldn't be a problem. Of course it depends how may wall warts you have, too. The DC adaptor for my Tunze ATO is actually off to the side rather than vertical - I wonder if that's a German/European thing. It would explain the outlet orientation.[/QUOTE]

There is always a solution to every problem. All though I still agree with you about the anoyances of such large wall warts.

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...nclutterer-20/

Will

[cali9dub]

Got my Cerebra and so far it appears very nice indeed. I haven't fiddled with it yet because I forgot to get calibration solution (doh!) and am waiting on that. The Cerebra forum is very proactive and responsive !! They are definitely working hard and fast at resolving issues and addressing wish lists. However as one who got in on the second batch it's been a little confusing trying to catch up on the forum as to what issues still exist and what have been addressed because they have stable firmware releases and beta firmware releases (which seems redundant in a beta program but I see they want everything in place for the full launch...no biggie). I'm anxious to get my probes calibrated and get this think rocking and rolling to see how it goes. From what I've been reading (catching up) the Cerebra has been running solid for lots of folks. It's when very specific set ups and programming comes into play that they accommodate those unthought of settings and subsequent Cerebra reactions to unique settings so the more people in there with their varied set ups will make the firmware so much better. I don't see a reason so far to degrade the Cerebra compared to the Apex. They are both doing exactly what they are designed to do...the Cerebra after a few pushes of buttons and apex by specific programming. So it's whatever you prefer. The more apex users that have bought a Cerebra will see the difference right away. I think with the fact that you do all the programming yourself in the apex users kinda have a safer feeling about the results and with the Cerebra (so far) you have to watch the results carefully because of it being beta. I wouldn't run a complete system just yet but once this is out of beta I wouldn't hesitate. They know how to attack the issues and fix them quickly. They are also very willing to get any other piece of equipment to work with the Cerebra without prejudice which is pretty sweet too !! They are in talks with lots of equipment suppliers who are on board. Super promising because a lot of functions will eventually be done at one push of a button. The future is awesome with this. The cloud is coming very soon and it will open the possibilities of this so much more !! The closed forum is a very good idea by vertex because they are working constantly at getting ALL the kinks worked out of this thing and curious questions would just take time away from that. I didn't get it from the outside looking in, but now that I received my unit and am in the forum I get it 100%. That's just what info I have so far. Pretty stoked but got a little ways to go....

[sleepydoc]

Originally Posted by cali9dub

I haven't fiddled with it yet because I forgot to get calibration solution (doh!) and am waiting on that.

Back to patiently waiting?

Originally Posted by cali9dub

It's when very specific set ups and programming comes into play that they accommodate those unthought of settings and subsequent Cerebra reactions to unique settings so the more people in there with their varied set ups will make the firmware so much better.

Yes - Exactly what one would expect and why they released it as a beta - so they could work out all the little glitches that won't come up in their in-house testing. The universal report I've heard is that they are very responsive and aggressive at fixing these issues, which is very good news.

Originally Posted by cali9dub

They are both doing exactly what they are designed to do...the Cerebra after a few pushes of buttons and apex by specific programming.

Have you used an Apex and if so can you say how it compares to Apex Fusion? If you want to dig deeper with the Vertex and get more advanced with the programming, are you able to? With interfaces there's generally a tradeoff between simplicity and flexibility/advanced feature programming. Traditionally, the Apex was more flexible, but also more involved to program with Fusion coming in later to simplify the task. I'm curious as to how the Cerebra manages this trade off.

[jason2459]

I'd be curious between the setup controls of

cerebra vs neptune fusion dragging
cerebra vs apex classic local web interface basic menus (not programming)

Fusion has made a few things like pump and light setup really easy but still has some of the basic menu driven setups as well as the advanced programming. The local web interface has the basic menu driven setup that's very basic and the advanced programming.

Then see how their cloud may possibly simplify and make more complex programming easier.

[cali9dub]

Originally Posted by sleepydoc

Back to patiently waiting?



Have you used an Apex and if so can you say how it compares to Apex Fusion? If you want to dig deeper with the Vertex and get more advanced with the programming, are you able to? With interfaces there's generally a tradeoff between simplicity and flexibility/advanced feature programming. Traditionally, the Apex was more flexible, but also more involved to program with Fusion coming in later to simplify the task. I'm curious as to how the Cerebra manages this trade off.

I've had an Apex for 7 years. I control 28 different outlets, multiple probes, breakout box, etc so I'm very familiar with it prior to and after fusion. I really don't use the fusion "wizard" to do my programming because it was too hard to get the sliders stopped on exact times (at least for me it was...maybe it changed). Like I stated I haven't messed around with the Cerebra yet because I'm waiting on conductivity calibration solution. I guess I could pre-program some stuff while I'm waiting and just plug a lamp or something into the outlet I'm controlling. I need to double check, but I think you need something plugged in to be able to program the outlets. I'm going to go find out if that is true or not. If not I'll pre-program some of my more complex stuff and see how it works. Not that there are any really complex things programmed in my apex that I can think of right off hand. The most complex is my heating/chiller settings based off the season table.

[jason2459]

The seasonal table would be something to bring up in that forum to see if they can get support for.

There's some really interesting things you can do with it. I have practically everything timed, directions, speeds, intensities, etc coordinated together with the seasonal table. Lights, moonlights, heaters, pumps, tides, etc

[cali9dub]

Originally Posted by jason2459

The seasonal table would be something to bring up in that forum to see if they can get support for.

There's some really interesting things you can do with it. I have practically everything timed, directions, speeds, intensities, etc coordinated together with the seasonal table. Lights, moonlights, heaters, pumps, tides, etc

I will but I'm pretty sure that if any controller...say bluefish for example can run off a chart via the Internet. (My lighting mimics Nausori, Figi) that the Cerebra will do the same once the cloud is up and running. I'm not 100% sure so I will ask and get back to you. Bluefish gets its info from Weather Underground. That would be pretty nice if it did.

[cali9dub]

Working probes need to be in place to schedule outlets that require the input of a probe. However other outlets can be programmed without the equipment being plugged in. Just some FYI.

[cali9dub]

Originally Posted by jason2459

The seasonal table would be something to bring up in that forum to see if they can get support for.

There's some really interesting things you can do with it. I have practically everything timed, directions, speeds, intensities, etc coordinated together with the seasonal table. Lights, moonlights, heaters, pumps, tides, etc

They said any and all of this can be done with an add on app once the cloud is up. I guess it's been discussed with add on app developers and will be a free for all once the beta testing is done. I assume as long as the add ons are written well and performing as they should, all is good. On that front the possibilities are endless as long as you or someone you know will develop the add on. I'm not sure what's involved with that yet because I don't think any of it has been released to developers and won't be until the cloud is up which I think will be happening in the next week or two. I know they said very soon.

[cali9dub]

I just test programmed a heater and it is very simple. You set your acceptable range with the temp probe, click on rule, then the outlet you want effected by a rule (i.e. Heater) put in your target temp (say 80) and your tolerance range (+,- temperature) and that's it. The heater plug is programmed. It's different in that you program the heater plug through the temp probe, but it makes sense if you look at it like...what outlet will be effected by temp and pick that outlet, touch what you want and bingo! It's programmed. Very fast, super simple.

[cali9dub]

It also has a rule wizard that you can hit the temp button, then rule, then rule wizard and pick one of 2. One is heater only and one is heater and chiller. Pick your outlets, Set your temps and tolerance and that's it. It's pretty nice that way, but driving those off of a table will not be directly available till add ons are created later.

[cali9dub]

Hmm. Just found out you can do it via the heater outlet too...didn't try it that way though.

[cali9dub]

Also found out no type of OSC command in Cerebra. That kinda sux

[jason2459]

Originally Posted by cali9dub

Also found out no type of OSC command in Cerebra. That kinda sux

Now that's interesting. Vertex dev team maybe work on adding that? How about a min time , max time, or defer equivalent ?

[jason2459]

And thanks for the updates

[cali9dub]

Originally Posted by jason2459

Now that's interesting. Vertex dev team maybe work on adding that? How about a min time , max time, or defer equivalent ?

Yeah they have a defer type commands. Not sure about the min max. They have no interest in an OSC type command. They don't sound like they think it's needed. I asked about using it for an exhaust fan, Kalk stirrer, skimmer neck cleaner, cheap power head, Kalk dosing, etc....they seem to think it is a one off request. That it can be fulfilled by the 0-10v option somehow.

[jason2459]

That would eliminate many things I include. Or at least makes scheduling more tedious.

Like I have my limewater (kalk) separate from my ATO and runs for 1 second every 2 minutes. My ATO is also uses osc to control run times. Thats two of many I use.