I assume he's using the hotplate as-is with a large pan of water on top and the thermostat controlling power to the hotplate and the temperature probe in the water.
If Steve could continue to be a Cool Guy (sorry!) and confirm that would be wonderful because I've just been to Amazon to try and create a similar set-up.
Another implementation question: does the pump need a pipe connected to it, or is it sufficient as-is?
Yes that's it, the hot plate is being used as a normal hot plate, but its power is being controlled by the thermocouple.
The pump is used as is, fully submersed in the water with no tubes. All it does is agitate the water to make the heating more evenly dispersed.
Your setup looks good, I was going to buy a similar control unit to yours until I found the Willhi version that just used regular outlets. The thing with this box is you have to do a little bit of wiring work to set it up. Turned out to be cheaper for me to buy the already assembled outlet version than the components for it.
I think you can already find tutorials online about people connecting this non-outlet style of thermocouple to a slow cooker to make a sous vide. That was my original plan until I sleuthed out this cheaper design. So check those tutorials out.
The best thing about sous vide is that you can "set it and forget it", you should thoroughly leave it unattended because it's so amazingly convenient.
If Steve could continue to be a Cool Guy (sorry!) and confirm that would be wonderful because I've just been to Amazon to try and create a similar set-up.
Another implementation question: does the pump need a pipe connected to it, or is it sufficient as-is?
For those in the UK, here's what I ordered: Pump - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BVK966C Thermostat - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BVYCZ84 Hot plate - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00A4DE35G
Yes, it is all frighteningly cheap and I'm not going to leave it running unattended!