Well some of you know that I purchased an RKE and as most people are are running ACs i figured I would start a thread on here since it looks like im the resident RKE guy on here. At first after reading some reviews I hated the unit before I even starting using it. New firmware had to be installed (yourself) to get rid of some of a ton of bugs the unit was having. Finally after it sat in the box for a few weeks I said i paid the money for it I mind as well try it out. At first I was very hesitant about hooking anything meaningful up to the unit again because of all the bad reviews I had heard. So I started it with my powerheads. Which was super easy to set up, I started trusting it more and more.
Anyway now I have been tinkering with it for about a week now. Digital Aquatics does not supply a manual the give you a cd with a very basic manual of how to set the thing up. At first I was very angry with how the manual was so vague and did not tell you how to wire it up or anything really, just basics. Though DA did this simply because the RKE is made to fit any configuration you throw at it. THE DC-4s can be daisy chained or independent. Every module just needs to have at least 1 cord hooked up to it to have it running. It may sound confusing but it really is meant to be customized. I have played around and made things really techincal and some really easy. I have my metal halides hooked up with the "sure on" which cuts off power to only the metal halides for 15min after the unit senses a power outtage so that it gives your bulbs a proper time to cool down before they are re lit. I have 2 halides that will shut off if the temperature gets too hot, my CO2 needle valve is hooked up so that if my PH out of the Calc reactor drops too light that it will shut off co2 flow, but the calc reactor will still run just with no co2 and once ph gets back into range the co2 will turn back on. wave makers can be set at any configuration down from hours to seconds. The RKE features a "night mode" which you can set to start and end at any time, which any fucntion that you set will ask you what you want to do at night mode. So if you want all lighting off at night but your moonlights to turn on, all wavemakers off at night, etc you simply set check the box when setting eeach function that you want something to be on/off during night mode. The only actual time you need to set is when night time ends and begins.
This is just a brief input to get the thread started, anyone with questions or help with setting one up post on up about it.
I think the biggest thing is that the RKE right now is still only a few months old so as with any new peice of technology there is going to be bugs. But the folks over at DA have their own forum and are very active on it taking input and helping to solve their customers problems. The RKE is on its way to be an awesome controller. Very shortly they will be realeasing and SL-2 which instead will monitor PH, Salinity, temp, and have 2 on/off switches for auto top offs and etc... The regular SL-1 features and ORP input instead of salinity. Also shortly the will be realising a wireless module which when hooked up the internet will be able to sent email/text/sms alerts to the user to let them know the status of the tank. I also hear that you will be able to program the RKE from your laptop wirelessly instead of through the actuall controller itself. The just realeased LED moonlighting modules in both blue and white that are designed specfically for the RKE.
So far that I have downloaded their latest software I love this controller and cant wait to see how their new accesories work out.
Anyway now I have been tinkering with it for about a week now. Digital Aquatics does not supply a manual the give you a cd with a very basic manual of how to set the thing up. At first I was very angry with how the manual was so vague and did not tell you how to wire it up or anything really, just basics. Though DA did this simply because the RKE is made to fit any configuration you throw at it. THE DC-4s can be daisy chained or independent. Every module just needs to have at least 1 cord hooked up to it to have it running. It may sound confusing but it really is meant to be customized. I have played around and made things really techincal and some really easy. I have my metal halides hooked up with the "sure on" which cuts off power to only the metal halides for 15min after the unit senses a power outtage so that it gives your bulbs a proper time to cool down before they are re lit. I have 2 halides that will shut off if the temperature gets too hot, my CO2 needle valve is hooked up so that if my PH out of the Calc reactor drops too light that it will shut off co2 flow, but the calc reactor will still run just with no co2 and once ph gets back into range the co2 will turn back on. wave makers can be set at any configuration down from hours to seconds. The RKE features a "night mode" which you can set to start and end at any time, which any fucntion that you set will ask you what you want to do at night mode. So if you want all lighting off at night but your moonlights to turn on, all wavemakers off at night, etc you simply set check the box when setting eeach function that you want something to be on/off during night mode. The only actual time you need to set is when night time ends and begins.
This is just a brief input to get the thread started, anyone with questions or help with setting one up post on up about it.
I think the biggest thing is that the RKE right now is still only a few months old so as with any new peice of technology there is going to be bugs. But the folks over at DA have their own forum and are very active on it taking input and helping to solve their customers problems. The RKE is on its way to be an awesome controller. Very shortly they will be realeasing and SL-2 which instead will monitor PH, Salinity, temp, and have 2 on/off switches for auto top offs and etc... The regular SL-1 features and ORP input instead of salinity. Also shortly the will be realising a wireless module which when hooked up the internet will be able to sent email/text/sms alerts to the user to let them know the status of the tank. I also hear that you will be able to program the RKE from your laptop wirelessly instead of through the actuall controller itself. The just realeased LED moonlighting modules in both blue and white that are designed specfically for the RKE.
So far that I have downloaded their latest software I love this controller and cant wait to see how their new accesories work out.