Open Source Aquaponics ~ Reconnecting with Food

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12/7/12 - Hydroponics
Did some clean-up on the tomatoes trimming back lower leaves that are dying off. Doing so revealed a wonderful crop of hidden fruit! :) Federle tomatoes and Mexican midget cherry tomatoes appeared all over the place! Have a look…

In addition to tomatoes, some of the Goldenberries have reached a ripe state (never eat them green as they may be poisonous before ripening) and taste better than I expected. Up until recently I've only had them in dehydrated form with similar texture to a large raisin but much different flavor. They are quite tart and a bit sweet too. I call them Nature's sweet & sour candy!
They are extremely nutritious too! Comment on Facebook or Gimme Feedback!

12/7/12 - Automation
I wanted to find a way to keep tabs on the water levels in the sump to see how flow rates and temperature may affect transpiration rates in the plants. Measuring the amount of water continually along side the temperature sensors will certainly help me figure that out. It also will allow me to instantly know if my water is getting too low and potentially causing problems with my pump. So, I looked at getting a liquid level sensor, but they're not very long so they have limited conditional use. I decided I would try building my own liquid level sensor using an ultrasonic range finder which can work over greater distances and is less expensive. After researching various options in sensors I chose the least expensive one I could find that would meet my desired parameters in terms of distance, simplicity and cost. I chose a LV-MaxSonar - EZ4 (Part #MB1040) from Sparkfun electronics. You can get is here… https://www.sparkfun.com/products/8504 if you'd like to try building a similar setup.
I tried mounted the sensor in various ways with respect to the barrel I'm using and found the signal noise within the barrel (lots of splashing from returning water lines) created too much distortion and I could not get stable readings. I ended up mitigating the problem by inserting a 2.5 foot long x 3 inch PVC pipe into the sump and mounted the sensor at the top facing into the tube. I then cut a piece of wood to match the inside of the pipe and have that floating on the surface within the pipe to give a more solid surface to reflect the ultrasonic sound waves more consistently.

Wiring the Chip: The sensor chip was extremely easy to wire up and worked immediately on my first attempt! :) For basic use anyways it only needs connections to the ground, power (~ 3-5 volts) and an analog line to take periodic readings. Analog readings were then cross-referenced against data collection from the sensor at different distances. From that I could apply a calculated coefficient factor to convert the analog reading to a distance.  For example… at 24 inches I obtained a reading of 41 so I simply multiply every reading ( $reading ) I obtain by 24/41 or 24 * $reading / 41 or simply multiplied my readings by 0.5854 to get a value in distance (inches). To get my actual depth reading I subtract my actual distance from the depth of the barrel (36 inches). I can then plot these on my temperature graph as well as run statistical analysis to determine correlational aspects of water use with temperature and light exposure.

So far I've been able to obtain consistent readings over the past week or so and have been able to re-install the center pedestal without considerations for having to move it regularly. :)

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