had no way to implement.

Duh, first priority is safety.

One thought I had was beyond the individual sensor probes and outputs, There could be a room probe as a master. Such that if the room temps go over a set level, all heat sources are turned off. Kind of a summer failsafe.

To make it cost effective, maybe the probe/output units could be modular? Where they connect to a buss and are addressed so you could expand as you wish. Some may want to heat an entire stack of boaphiles with one sensor probe. Others may have elaborate cage stacks with two controllers per cage, one for basking spot, one for ambient temps. Obviously the cost of the system would be driven by the number of controlled temps (probe/heater output) and should be variable to suit the needs of the individual. Also, probes should be seperate, plugable units. Since all would be controlled by some central PC, some cages will be much further for probes than others.

Or, the probe/heat conmtroller could, be localized to the cage with a data cable conmnected either to the PC or to a Buss that "snakes" (pun intended) around the room.




>>A couple of friends and I are considereing building
>>something I've been thinking about for a while.
>>
>>Briefly, it's a sytem for controlling heating,
>>lighting and possibly other things like misting sytems
>>for reptile enclosures. The biggest difference between
>>our idea and anything else I've seen is that rather
>>than having a separate box with controls for each cage
>>or small group of cages, the controllers would be
>>networked and contolled by software on a PC. Aside
>>from allowing setup of large groups of cages from one
>>point, it would allow more flexible control.
>>
>>For instance:
>>Set heating and lighting to gradually change over a
>>specified period.
>>Set heat and light ranges and times to gradually
>>change with programmed "seasons".
>>Group cages by home region to simplify setup.
>>Possibly allow web based monitoring and override of
>>settings.
>>Possibly integrate web cams.
>>
>>We hope to keep the price for the controllers below
>>the price per cage (not counting the PC) of all but
>>the very simplest current controllers (dumb
>>thermostats), so that this will be affordable for
>>private keepers (like me).
>>
>>What I need to hear are:
>>Who would be interested in this?
>>Who thinks it sounds too complicated and is perfectly
>>happy with current, simple controllers?
>>What (if anything) are you using now?
>>For any breeders or curators with large display
>>collections out there, is this something you need?
>>Would you be willing to work with something from a new
>>company?
>>What are you using now?
>>Does anyone know of anything similar that I might not
>>have seen yet?
>>Any other features you would like to see?
>>
>>We would not be building the heating or lighting (at
>>least for now), just the controllers.
>>
>>Please let me know what you think.
>>
>>(Moderators: I hope this is appropriate. It seems to be OK under my reading of the TOS but there's certainly a commercial aspect to it, so if you disagree please remove this post.)
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, selectively bred from good stock)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
13.26 BRB
11.16 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

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