Why why why?

dz6t

dz6t

Acro Garden, BRS Sponsor
BRS Sponsor
BRS Member
Long story short, I got an PacSun t5.
My gut instinct told me DON"T do it, but I want to check it out any way.
So, here comes nightmares.
1. The lamp is connected to a laptop PC via Bluetooth, (not wifi) you have to get so close to it in order for it to connect.
It looses connection when I moved 2 feets away and the software hung.

2. The connection is not automatic and the manual was written for older generations of Windows (despite the software is the latest version downloaded directly from their website), the Windows 10 just don't have all they said in the manual. You have to see which COM port the lamp is on, and Windows 10 just refuse to tell you that.

3. After the lamp is connected, the software just don't work right, the lamp is not responding, the software just refuses to close and insists it stays on with a error message that won't go away. Don't go to moon light section and trying to set it, the software just crashes.

4. After reset the lamp (finally), the lamp just stop responding.

5. The 8 bulb t5 has 4 channel and not like ATI, it is not dimmable, all those fancy but faulty software control (which jacked up the price) just trying to duplicate a $10 homedepot timer, (ok, may be 4 timers) But I will take 4 timers over this piece of crap...

6. Now after spending hours, I concluded my Windows10 laptop just too advanced for this piece of crap t-5.

Sorry I have to vent, never see such a POS lighting ever! Thanks for reading this, anyone with an older Windows laptop want to give this POS a home?
 
lol dong just put it with my junk pile I will pick of your hands next time I'm over and disposed for you
 
Some people like it , I am not one of them lol. I tried a couple leds from them and had so many issues trying to connect to them I gave up and returned them
 
I was never impressed with them when I saw them over Archit's tanks. His tanks looked great but I couldn't find a reason they where so expensive. Glad I went with the ati t5 combo
 
I must be on an island I got one of the 36 in ones and I love it. I will toss this out that The folks at love the reef where I purchased the light were kind enough to set my laptop and software setting up initially. I. Have it working and it is pretty much plug and forget now. Occasionally I will fiddle with a setting or two and have turned up the birghtness since I picked it up. Never a problem since I have owned it
Wish you luck Dong it is a very good light
 
I've got the T-5 + LEDs PacSun(Hyperion something or other). My bluetooth range was somewhat better but not much. I have windows 10... the trick for me was to make sure I was close to the light during the install. Software still crashes and I can see that its a lack of error handling. I am not fully sure I trust what its sent/receiving either. I'll set things and then things aren't set in the UI. Probably defaults to displaying defaults not what's set in the light - or it's not working in some instances like the moon cycle / cloudy day stuff.

But in all fairness.. realistically I am <supposed> to have my light off because I am cycling :) I didn't really spend a ton of time on it.

I tried loading the Bali Sun program - and either that's some INSANE light cycle schedule +12 hrs or its mucked up.

Gads why this thing doesn't use ethernet is beyond me, I hate bluetooth with a passion and to rely on it for intermittently sending discrete chucks of configuration data...whoever made that decision needs to be flogged.

I wonder if anyone's ever hacked these things so they can communicate via ethernet. I'd be great to have this as part of my apex fusion page.
 
saw these Pac sun at one of the LFS a few times but something told me not to do it so I went with ATI last year. So glad I went with ATI
Giesemann also makes good T5/MH but MH is starting to disappear for good.
 
I have had mine for a few years now, pretty happy with it. The software works a lot better if you use a 3rd party Bluetooth adapter. Mine is currently over my frag tank. Display is using two ai hydra 26s...and I will be honest the AI software is complete garbage. It's almost impossible to set your values properly because their sliders are too sensitive. According to ai this is not a bug just 'how it works'

My point being I think many of the vendors in the mid/high end light market have a long way to go with their software.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
 
After painfully reset everything and forced reboot my laptop several times, I get the light schedule on with rest the functions all in limbo.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The bluetooth connection is terrible, I have to put the laptop next to the light for it to communicates.
Now with all 8 lamps on, the color and brightness is terrible. Now all these pacsun t5 lamps to going out and ATI lamps going in.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Can anyone tell me why the PacSun USA website is gone? The sponsor forum at Reefcentral is gone too.
 
dz6t said:
Can anyone tell me why the PacSun USA website is gone? The sponsor forum at Reefcentral is gone too.
Click to expand...

Pacsun USA website went down because the original USA rep stopped carrying it. There is a new official distributor but I can't remember the name. I tried ordering something from them and it was painful. I just use the direct pacific sun eu website. The sponsor forum has been gone for a while now on reef central.

I have the Hyperion for about 3 years now and overall I am happy with it but it isn't close to perfect. I have good growth with it on my sps With that being said the software is a big pain. Like someone else said, if you use a third party blue tooth adapter it's much better but if you are spending that kind of money you shouldn't have to buy another adapter in my opinion; when I bought mine I was given an adapter with it. The software is buggy no matter how you splice it and I hate the idea that pacific sun refuses to just make it wifi like every other light; seems backwards to me and others. With that being said I would give the fixture a 9/10 but the software a 1/10. Once one of the panels burns out I will replace with an AI or a radion. I see no reason to replace it now as it works good and have no reason to adjust it at this point so me using the software is minimal. Just my 2 cents.
 
Yes, the good thing is you don't have to deal with the software often.
Now what bugs me is that the manual on/off in the software is not working.
 
In one of the software tab, it has the function to allow you to turn each channel on or off manually, the light is not responding to it.
 
From my experience when the software isn't responding to it it means the connection is to weak. I haven't used the t5 software but the led one is usually like that. Do you have an external Bluetooth adapter you can use instead.
 
I am looking for an external bluetooth adapter on Amazon. It is hard to tell which one is the class 1 100mW version.
I think all laptop today has 1mW bluetooth which is fine for mouse and keyboard, but not for PacSun.
 
I might be rationalizing my cheaper A350 Kessil lights, but I enjoy only having to turn outlets on/off once I set the spectrum and intensity on the lights and not having to fiddle with ridiculous color settings and programming.

I enjoy programming in the Apex, but I would hate using the on-board controllers and UI in third party devices. Programming my doser is always the worst experience, since it requires pushing two buttons about one hundred times. I think it would be less button pushing if I were manually writing the software code with Morse code through the keyboards.
 
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