melev

For months, hobbyists have clamoured for Fusion. We learned about it in 2013, and by MACNA it was showcased to excited attendees. I attended the special Apex class Friday morning with about 75 others, and we loved what we were hearing. No more fighting network protocols, no port forwarding, no DYNDNS redirects, no email address workarounds. Fusion solved all that, and we just had to wait until November for the release.

It took longer naturally. December rolled around and a handful of beta testers got to try it out. January added a few more. I threw my name in the hat, but wasn't chosen. That's okay, because I don't control my tank like some others do. I need the basics, and they needed some people that would put it through hardcore testing. Yesterday I got my invite. Even then, the software is still technically in Beta, but I believe that is mostly to make sure the servers can handle the load as more and more users are added. At this point, I'm less concerned it will fail my system because many months have gone by with software updates applied as needed.

I went to the Apex Fusion page, and read their quick installation guide first. On my iMac, which is connected via WIFI. It stated that the Apex needs to be wired to your network, which is how mine is installed. I went to my PC, which is also wired to the network. That way no loss of connectivity could happen during the upgrade process.

Still, I know how this typically goes. It's never easy, and doesn't just work right out of the gate. Here's the realistic overview of how it went:

1) Went to the official landing page for Fusion
2) Read the quick install notes first
3) Used my PC that is wired to the router, and downloaded the firmware update to my computer.
4) My Apex is wired to the router, not a WIFI Gaming Adapter (so I didn't have to run a cable as directed because it's already wired that way)
5) Loaded the firmware update software on the PC.
6) Click the Search button to find my Apex's IP Address, and it populated the appropriate fields.
7) Entered the username & password (which are not the default ones, btw - always use your own).
8) Updated firmware; 30 seconds later it confirmed the update was complete. The Apex began the alarm chiming because it rebooted (essentially reporting a power failure scenario due to the reboot).
9) Updated the Web Pages software, but it failed on first attempt.
10) Updated the Web Pages software again to successful completion - took about 60 seconds.
11) Logged into the Fusion Webpage in one tab, and opened up the Dashboard Apex in another tab. Found the temporary code on the Dashboard Apex (visible after clicking on EDIT), and tried to enter the short code into Fusion unsuccessfully several times. After I got my third code (they change every 10 minutes, but it seemed more like 5 minutes), it accepted it.
12) Created a username and password on the Fusion Webpage. Done.
13) Logged into the Apex to enable Fusion and rebooted once more.

I think the entire process took me about 20 minutes from the point I sat down to do it.

Everything is working as it should. I didn't have any strange surprises, and haven't lost any programming. My Apex App still works, the normal Apex dashboard works, and now the Fusion dashboard gives me another method of access. As I got familiar with the new look and feel, I referred to the installation guide several times. It was only about four pages long, easy to understand and absorb.

Here's the Apex Dashboard at the time of this writing:

And here's the Fusion Dashboard:

The primary benefit of Fusion is that it is cloud based. You can remotely log in from any device that uses a browser. If you can remember apexfusion.com , your username and password, you'll be able to access your tank. If you switch from iOS to Android, you don't have to learn a new application because Fusion looks the same on either. If you need help with your Apex, another person can be given permission to look at, look at and edit, and even get admin rights if necessary.

The graphs are really nice, compared to what we had before. You can zoom in, and add overlapping info if desired.

Here's the temperature graph, overlapped with the power consumption of the EB-8 that powers all the lighting over the reef. As you can see the lighting period (Amp_5) is what brought the tank temperature up (left side of this graph from yesterday) and how it cooled off while the lights were off overnight.

This is what Fusion looks like on the iPhone in part - I can't show it all to you because it scrolls up and down via touch, and there are many menus.

Overall, the installation was painless and the best part was no ugly surprises. I've already sent myself a test text message and a test email message successfully. I'm looking forward to seeing how it works in the coming months, and how the notifications keep me informed when traveling.