Stc-1000+

[nickmv]

Unfortunately I don't think there's any sure-fire guarantee of getting a 1.0 with any specific vendor.

For example, atoughram has had no 1.1's from his vendor, but on the other hand, I ordered all 3 of mine from Elitech, and never had any issues. But someone else has reported getting 1.1's.

It's a bit of a crapshoot. At worst, you could send them back saying they're faulty. It'll just get refurb'd, most likely.

 

[MrMista]

Thank you, I just ordered from them. Crossing my fingers...

 

[atoughram]

For example, atoughram has had no 1.1's from his vendor.

Yea - It's really a crapshoot...

 

[atoughram]

Just reflashed and started a test of V1.01. Should stabilize at 70f and then ramp to 80f over 8 hours.

 

[atoughram]

Looking good so far...

 

[krazydave]

Flashed one of mine with 1.01 yesterday and noticed that the version number was still showing 1.0 when holding both up and down.

I gave that one to a buddy to test out.

 

[alphaomega]

Then you downloaded from master branch, not work branch. You need to select the correct branch on start page.
I think I will push v1.01 to master soon though, as I think it works and no one else have reported issues either.

 

[disney7]

My ferment chamber heater has been tied up with a starter for the last couple of days. I'll start a test with 1.01 later today when it is freed up.

Also, I'll be fermenting a batch of weissbier this afternoon with version 1.0.

 

[atoughram]

Here is a 1.01 profile that I did - would you like me to give you all of the parameters?

 

[alphaomega]

My ferment chamber heater has been tied up with a starter for the last couple of days. I'll start a test with 1.01 later today when it is freed up.

Also, I'll be fermenting a batch of weissbier this afternoon with version 1.0.

Very cool! Let me know how both 'tests' turn out.

Here is a 1.01 profile that I did - would you like me to give you all of the parameters?

No, that is ok. If output is what you expected, I can pretty much guess from the graph.
I have done some testing of the algorithm on my PC, and there it worked fine. The can of course be other issues on the STC. But if it seems to work, then I feel pretty good about it.

 

[atoughram]

OK Mats - I've programmed it for a longer profile on the Saison I just brewed. Post 545 should update automatically. The profile is 68f for 84 hours, then ramp to 75f over 48 hours, hold 75f for 48hr then ramp to 85f untill it's done. (I'll cold crash it when appropriate.) Started the profile at about 2pm PST (9pm GMT) on 4-13-14.

 

[Bosman]

First off....awesome work so far. Got to love turning something that was relatively cheap into something much much more powerful.

Out of interest, where are you getting the temperature profiles for each yeast / style of beer from?

I have and STC-1000 on my fermentation fridge but have just been setting it and forgetting until its done.

Cheers.

 

[krazydave]

Then you downloaded from master branch, not work branch. You need to select the correct branch on start page.
I think I will push v1.01 to master soon though, as I think it works and no one else have reported issues either.

I did download the work branch and verified the date on the file. Also noticed that STC1000P_VERSION says 101 in the picprog.ino that I'm fairly certain I flashed with.
There is a slight chance that I had a second IDE window open with the v1.0 sketch, but I don't believe so.
I'll try flashing another this evening and see what the results are. I definitely can't rule out human error on this one as I was programming while doing some taste testing.

Also, I gave the STC to my buddy to do some testing and he reported back something strange. It seems that the STC just does not display 80.0F. It goes from 79.9 to 80.1. Is that a result of the C to F conversion?

 

[alphaomega]

Well, if sketch says 101 then I do think taste testing may be the problem
If the problem persists when not tasting, let me know and I'll have another look.

That is somewhat odd. It is not because of conversion per se, but it might be due to resolution and the characteristics of the temperature/restistance curve of the probe.
The STC is originally designed for C scale, and F has almost twice the granularity.
I won't go into the details, but I find it strange that there are values 'missing' so close to the working point.
Don't loose any sleep over it though. I think it is just due to the limitations of the hardware.

 

[barrooze]

It seems that the STC just does not display 80.0F. It goes from 79.9 to 80.1. Is that a result of the C to F conversion?

The STC is originally designed for C scale, and F has almost twice the granularity.

I haven't delved into any of the coding or what alphaomega has done just yet, but as he stated, the STC was originally designed for C scale. Though F does have more granularity, the STC's Technical Parameters show that it's resolution for temp is 0.1C. That being said, 26.6C = 79.88 (rounded to 79.9)F and 26.7C = 80.06 (rounded to 80.1)F. Unless alpha's interpolating temperatures, a direct conversion of the input temperatures would avoid 80.0F.

Regardless, I fully agree that it's nothing to worry about. Your yeasties won't know the difference between 80.0F and 80.1F.

The STC Manual I snipped from was found here.

 

[Agtronic]

Hey guys, this is my first post in this thread.

First off, I want to thank you, alphaomega, for investing so much of your free time designing the code and then coming on here and helping others fix and implement it. This is how I remember forums being 10-15 years ago. This makes the forum fun and rewarding for everyone.

Also, a big thanks to everyone else who contributed, tested, posted etc on here.

I used to fiddle around with electronics (a long time ago) but haven't had much free time in recent years with the garage/fabrication business. Now I have a bit more time and this post convinced me to start dabbling again.

I'm in Canada, so a lot of what I read on forums is a bit different, especially with respect to sourcing "the goods". On friday, I ordered an STC-1000 from Amazon.ca (which as I understand it, uses a different distribution network than the US amazon.com does.) I figured, if I get the incompatible "v1.1" one, I would just run it as is and be happy with it. Well I received it today and quickly opened it up to find that it is a A400_P V1.0 board. I'm pretty happy about that.

So in case any Canadians want to undertake this project, I got it from Amazon.ca, chose simple 2-day shipping and got it in record time. (Ordered Friday afternoon, encountered a credit card problem in the evening, fixed it, and STILL got it on Monday AM. I was shocked.)

The seller I got it from is this one: (But keep in mind that it does not guarantee you will receive a A400_P board.)
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00862G3TQ/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Here are some pics:

I'll probably start a separate thread when I build the box and everything for it.

Again, thanks to everyone for their contributions, love the team spirit on here!

 

[krazydave]

Well, if sketch says 101 then I do think taste testing may be the problem

If the problem persists when not tasting, let me know and I'll have another look.



That is somewhat odd. It is not because of conversion per se, but it might be due to resolution and the characteristics of the temperature/restistance curve of the probe.

The STC is originally designed for C scale, and F has almost twice the granularity.

I won't go into the details, but I find it strange that there are values 'missing' so close to the working point.

Don't loose any sleep over it though. I think it is just due to the limitations of the hardware.

Makes sense!
As long as I get a few free minutes tonight I'll re-flash prior to any kegerator trips.

Thanks again!

 

[MrMista]

Unfortunately I don't think there's any sure-fire guarantee of getting a 1.0 with any specific vendor.

For example, atoughram has had no 1.1's from his vendor, but on the other hand, I ordered all 3 of mine from Elitech, and never had any issues. But someone else has reported getting 1.1's.

It's a bit of a crapshoot. At worst, you could send them back saying they're faulty. It'll just get refurb'd, most likely.

I'd like to let everyone know that I just got my order from amazon in and it is the proper V1 unit. Mine was an 'Elitech 110V All-Purpose Temperature Controller+ Sensor 2 Relay Output Thermostat Stc-1000' and it was distributed by 'LERWAY Tech'

It may be a good chance that if you use my Amazon link above and order via the LERWAY Tech that you will get the proper version.

Good luck guys.

 

[krazydave]

Makes sense!
As long as I get a few free minutes tonight I'll re-flash prior to any kegerator trips.

Thanks again!

okay, just verified with certainty that I have the sketch extracted from the stc-1000p-work.zip with STC1000P_VERSION 101 going up to the arduino. The timestamp on the picprog.ino is 4/11/2014 11:30AM. No other windows open and no brew sampling while flashing.

STC version still showing 100 on button press and arduino detection is stating "STC-1000+ Fahrenheit firmware with version 1.00 detected." also.

I've tried both initializing EEPROM data and not, both with the same result.

 

[MrMista]

I have no real soldering experience so I am planning on following figure 7

from the user manual. Will I need to worry about cleaning up the board at all if I attempt to use that approach? Would you just hold the pins in place by hand while flashing?

 

[atoughram]

Will I need to worry about cleaning up the board at all if I attempt to use that approach?

Yes - you can try using a q-tip and some denatured alcohol or rubbing alcohol. Be careful to keep it off of the display, try and clean only the solder pads where your trying to make contact. Clean the back side of the board, where there are no components.

 

[truvr]

I'd like to let everyone know that I just got my order from amazon in and it is the proper V1 unit. Mine was an 'Elitech 110V All-Purpose Temperature Controller+ Sensor 2 Relay Output Thermostat Stc-1000' and it was distributed by 'LERWAY Tech'

It may be a good chance that if you use my Amazon link above and order via the LERWAY Tech that you will get the proper version.

Good luck guys.

That's the one I ordered and I got a v1.1. I think it's a crapshoot. Good luck!

 

[wilconrad]

Would you just hold the pins in place by hand while flashing?

Yes, that's what I did. I've flashed 2 controllers now and the first one went well, but the second one gave me trouble with this method because one of the holes didn't have any solder in it. I ended up soldering in a pin header on that one. Good luck, hope it works for you.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[alphaomega]

Also, I gave the STC to my buddy to do some testing and he reported back something strange. It seems that the STC just does not display 80.0F. It goes from 79.9 to 80.1. Is that a result of the C to F conversion?

Ok, I have now pushed version v1.02 to work branch. I have reworked averaging to work on temperature instead of on AD value. Averaging A/D value should help stability, but does nothing for resolution. Averaging temperature should in theory allow better resolution as well. I haven't done much testing on this yet though.

okay, just verified with certainty that I have the sketch extracted from the stc-1000p-work.zip with STC1000P_VERSION 101 going up to the arduino. The timestamp on the picprog.ino is 4/11/2014 11:30AM. No other windows open and no brew sampling while flashing.

STC version still showing 100 on button press and arduino detection is stating "STC-1000+ Fahrenheit firmware with version 1.00 detected." also.

I've tried both initializing EEPROM data and not, both with the same result.

I'm stumped. I have tested downloading the packaged, unzip, upload and flash and I can't reproduce.
I'll try to do some more extensive testing, but this seems like very odd behaviour.

 

[IslandLizard]

I'd like to let everyone know that I just got my order from amazon in and it is the proper V1 unit. Mine was an 'Elitech 110V All-Purpose Temperature Controller+ Sensor 2 Relay Output Thermostat Stc-1000' and it was distributed by 'LERWAY Tech'

It may be a good chance that if you use my Amazon link above and order via the LERWAY Tech that you will get the proper version.

Good luck guys.

That's the one I ordered and I got a v1.1. I think it's a crapshoot. Good luck!

Crapshoot exactly. You got to understand this:

Sold by LERWAY Tech. and Fulfilled by Amazon.​

The clue lies in "fulfilled" you're not buying directly from LERWAY, you're buying from one of their stockpiles stored in one of Amazon's distribution centers. We don't know where, how or when they've been sourced.

It's a real pain in the a$$ having both versions around with no guarantee which you'll get. Keep rolling those dice...

 

[krazydave]

I think I may know what I'm doing wrong. I just realized when you said "upload" that I'm forgetting that I do need to send the sketch to the arduino before doing the flash. Just having the sketch open and going straight to the serial monitor won't work. Duh!

I'll try again later but I think we can chalk this one up to an ID10T error.

Sorry for wasting your time on that!

On another note, I went to flash another STC that I have. The first one that I got years back on the slow boat from eBay and found out that it was v1.1. Odd, considering that was the one I was fully expecting to be a v1.0.

It does make one wonder how long there has been two versions of these things kicking around.

 

[Wilberforce]

No you would not need an UNO only the Yun.
Nice that there is an interest, but Im still trying to get it working, so dont rush into it just yet. I will probably start a new thread if I can get PoC working.
I just thought Id mention it, so if you are interested dont waste money on an UNO when you might want a Yun in the end.

I'm curious - why use a arduino yun at $70 when you can use a raspberry pi at $35?
Is it about the stability of using a micro controller?

 

[disney7]

I'm curious - why use a arduino yun at $70 when you can use a raspberry pi at $35?
Is it about the stability of using a micro controller?

I'm guessing it is because the BrewPi firmware is made to run on an Arduino microcontroller and not a full blown PC.

 

[alphaomega]

I think I may know what I'm doing wrong. I just realized when you said "upload" that I'm forgetting that I do need to send the sketch to the arduino before doing the flash. Just having the sketch open and going straight to the serial monitor won't work. Duh!

I'll try again later but I think we can chalk this one up to an ID10T error.

Sorry for wasting your time on that!

On another note, I went to flash another STC that I have. The first one that I got years back on the slow boat from eBay and found out that it was v1.1. Odd, considering that was the one I was fully expecting to be a v1.0.

It does make one wonder how long there has been two versions of these things kicking around.

No problem. Glad you got it sorted!

I think it is worth mentioning again, that the different version of the boards refer to two entirely different PCB's (S1000-Power_V1.1 vs. A400_P Version:1.0), they have no relation. So the one referred to as v1.1 may very well be older than the one referred to as v1.0. That is, they are not versions of the same thing...

I'm guessing it is because the BrewPi firmware is made to run on an Arduino microcontroller and not a full blown PC.

That is true. Porting BrewPi to the Yún is pretty much a matter of tweaking the Arduino code to match the Arduino side side of the hardware and making sure the correct dependencies exist on the linux side. Making it all run on a Raspberry would need a pretty decent reimplementation of the entire Arduino code base.
I have made some more progress on that, but I'm afraid it will be slow for a while due to easter and family obligations.

 

[atoughram]

I'm curious - why use a arduino yun at $70 when you can use a raspberry pi at $35?
Is it about the stability of using a micro controller?

The Raspberry Pi has very limited I/O (approximately 17 pins of mixed use)

The YUN has more I/O (20 pins mixed use)

Raspberry Pi has 10/100 Ethernet only

The YUN has 10/100 and WIFI

The YUN can directly connect to a plethora of Arduino Sheilds. Not so easy on the Pi.

One huge advantage of the Pi is software support, lots of distributions to use. Not sure about the YUN.

The YUN actually has two MCU's - one for the linux side and one for the Arduino side. The Pi has one.

I'm sure there is more... Graphics capability, memory, etc... google YUN vs Raspberry Pi