ONE PROBLEM BEING ADDRESSED –H2O SCALE August 21, 2022
Posted by rik94566 in agponics.com, aquaponic devices, aquaponic issues, aquaponic systems, aquaponics, auqaponics automation, DIY aquaponics.Tags: aquaponic water issues, aquaponics, DIY aquaponics, indoor aquaponics, rik kretzinger, water quality
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As the water situation becomes much more extreme in Northern California water quality changes depending upon the source of water supply. Water hardness has changed many, many times over the last 5 years and I have had to be more careful with pH and hardness when doing water changes or water additions in the fish tanks and monitoring much more and I still end up with this. So I have now developed a plan on what needs to take place and starting to put the plan into action and will be talking about the efforts now as well as other interesting things I am tracking and working at getting put into place in my grow area. Once I have cleaned up the scale issues I can move on to misting systems and use of some more advanced technology to get me to the next level in my efforts.
TIME TO STEP UP TO A BETTER TESTER March 21, 2021
Posted by rik94566 in aquaponic systems, aquaponics, Controlled Environment Agriculture, DIY aquaponics, general, Internet-of-Farming, IoT aquaponics, pH, rik kretzinger, rik.diy.IOT, rik94566.Tags: aquaponics, Bluelab, pH, rik-dyi-IOT, rik94566, tester
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For about 3 years I have been using a cheap pH tester. The main reason for using cheap units has been that I did not know the type and configuration that I wanted to purchase for the main unit that I would be using for many years to come. After the purchase of another testing probe made by Bluelab I started researching the pH options the Bluelab offered. As I found many different units that could be purchased for this purpose. So after some time and reading many reviews I selected the pH-PEN. Life has gotten much simpler with this purchase. More expensive YES – but I now save so much time as the calibration holds for a month and is very accurate every time I use the unit. So happy I selected this unit of very high quality and perfect for all my needs. I purchased the unit from Amazon.
HOME ASSISTANT — NODE-RED August 31, 2020
Posted by rik94566 in agponics.com, aquaponic automation, aquaponic systems, aquaponics, auqaponics automation, Controlled Environment Agriculture, DIY aquaponics, indoor aquaponics, internet of farming, Internet-of-Farming, Uncategorized.Tags: aquaponic automation, aquaponic devices, Home Assistant, Internet-of-Farming, Node-Red, rik kretzinger, rik-dyi-IOT, rik94566
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Researching how best to start learning Node-Red I spent a lot of time on YouTube watching what Node-Red is and how people learned how to use it. As always a lot of YouTuber’s put out content and some are clearly better at actually helping people understand concepts and produce valuable content that can be put to use by a non-computer programmer type person.
So I developed my list of people that were best for me to follow and start the process of learning this new skill set. Many of the ones I like were talking about the use of Node-Red with Home Assistant.
I had looked at Home Assistant some years ago and at the time it seemed Home Assistant was for very advanced users that are very good at the command prompt and with a lot of system knowledge. Way above my level at the time.
Then my research turned up this reference and changed my perspective on using Home Assistant.
This was, just what I was looking for.
Miniature Test Leads – which ones work best for my projects July 20, 2019
Posted by rik94566 in adafruit, agponics.com, aquaponic automation, aquaponic systems, DIY aquaponics, indoor aquaponics, Instructables, internet of farming, Internet-of-Farming, IoT aquaponics, rik kretzinger, rik.diy.IOT, rik94566.Tags: aquapnic devices, aquaponic system parts, aquaponics, DIY aquaponics, Internet-of-Farming, jameco electronics, rik, rik94566, sensor
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I wanted to move away from alligator clips because they were much large when working with small gauge wire. They did not work for me in very small areas. So was looking for a better solution. Found this miniature test leads at Jameco Electronics when I was picking up an order, they were a good solution for me.
When first using these miniature test leads they worked very well. But after a little time using these leads and problems surfaced. The problem was that they were cheaply made. The connection of the wire and the metal insert probe would break off without much stress placed on them. One or two is understandable, but 5 out of 10 was not the experience I was looking for.
When doing a search for a new product on the Adafruit site I found these test leads
These leads are a little larger than the Jameco test leads, but still were small enough for my use. Construction and connections were of high quality and work perfectly and held up with repeated use. So these are my new go to test leads for my development efforts. They will be seen in a number of up coming Instructables that I am working on and all my testing of sensors and connectors.
Aquaponic DIY Automation Blog 