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TPC0008 Season Simulator, Brief Description

The TPC0008 Season Simulator is in some ways the most exiting application of the TPC line of power management systems. It is an environmental controller designed to turn on and off (or modulate) any number of devices on a complicated schedule. Four microprocessors and an internal 24 hour clock/365 day calendar-almanac knows when the sun and moon rose, or will rise, and set for any given date, time and location on the surface of the earth. When connected to the appropriate lights, heaters/coolers, fans, dispensers, pumps, humidifiers, and sensors for PH, barometric pressure & moisture (etcetera, etcetera), this unit can orchestrate the natural habitat of any part of the world, and simulate any time of the year in that part of the world. Arabica coffees can be grown at sea level, deep sea fish can be kept at the proper depth-pressure, and rain forest orchids can be kept in the desert, or even at altitude. Undersea growing of trees, vegetables or experimental crops is possible with the pressure, temperature and moisture regulating ability of the TPC0008. The Season Simulator was intended for much simpler uses as well. It can be used to flower a four-chamber orchid factory once every three months, not unlike the firing order in a four-cylinder engine. Or, for an even simpler setup, just tell it how many hours per day each plant needs, and it will turn your lights on and off for you. A special “Flower Now” button immediately begins trimming time off of each day to simulate the end of Summer, and Fall. All of these timing profiles are easily programmable and can be displayed in graphical form on the remote front panel.

What differentiates the 0008 from it’s TPC cousins is mainly in the firmware. The TPC0008 is pre-programmed with a variety of routines and algorithms designed to simulate the environment of anywhere in the world at any time of the year. This is useful for keeping exotic fishes, reptiles or mammals as well as hard-to-grow plants like orchids. The TPC0008 can also maintain and regulate an hydroponic environment for organic tomatoes and other greenery.

The 0008 acts as an orchestrator for the heaters/coolers, water and fertilizer pumps, fans, subsonic stimulators and, most importantly, lights. By turning on the blue (mercury vapor) and full-spectrum aquarium lights first, then the halogen lights and finally sodium vapor lamps, the spectrum profile of a day outdoors can be simulated. By timing the start and stop of each light during the day, and the temperature, CO₂ , humidity levels and barometric pressure, the seasons of any part of the world can be simulated to match the natural habitat of almost any living thing. By simulating the conditions of the atmosphere early in the earths history, warmer, more CO₂ , higher pressure and humidity, vegetation rates as high as four times normal are achieved.

The season simulator comes standard with 4 variable and 1020 on/off channels, and an hp48 computer/data logger.

Season simulation implies computation and control for optimum daily and yearly profiles of:

soil temperature Barometric Pressure Atmospheric CO₂ concentration

air temperature Soil Salinity Velocity of water current

infrared light intensity Soil hygroscopic H₂0 Water Temperature, salinity and PH

red light intensity Soil and water PH Audible Sound levels (white noise)

green light intensity Velocity of air current Sub-audible vibrations (pulses)

yellow light intensity Frequency and magnitude of tides Geomagnetic Orientation

blue light intensity Atmosospheric moisture (humidity) Vertical Electrostatic Field

All these quantities are regulated to follow a daily and yearly cycle of variations, to mimic or enhance conditions in the wild.

The simulator can be set up to run methodical variations on each quantity to find the proper range for optimal results. Results such as leaf color and growth rate can be (semi)automatically monitored to allow the microprocessor to find the optimal values.

Since some lights such as fluorescents and metal vapor lamps cannot be dimmed effectively, several units of each light should be used. Energizing each identical unit one at a time can approximate the slow brightening of a new day. The reverse process is carried out at “dusk”.

Some plants fail to bloom if disturbed by light during the night-time portion of their daily cycle. Since green light is not used by plants, green light can be used to see where you are going while you move about the room, all without disturbing the plants night-time regeneration.

While doing it’s job, the TPC0008 can also keep track of overall energy usage, broken down by channel, and even print an electric bill!

Fully isolated environment’s like greenhouses require large amounts of energy and dissipate large amounts of heat. The best way to deal with both is to integrate the environments heat-pump with a swimming pool or spa. Heat from the environmental chamber is shunted to the pool or pumped into the spa, reducing it’s heating bill. With a properly insulated growing environment and heat pump, any cost for electricity used in the environment directly subtracts from the cost of heating the swimming pool. Such an installation will not change the energy usage profile for the home or the Infrared heat distribution pattern of the property, as long as it is an all-electric home and already uses a heated swimming pool.

The Season Simulator is intended as a single point controller for any artificial environment. Price depends on how complicated the growing environment is. All components are bought separately to avoid paying for something you don’t need. For more information, please write to sales@dcdimmer.com.