X10 Community Forum
🖥️ActiveHome Pro => SDK => Third Party Add-Ons & Software => Topic started by: reskin on May 17, 2011, 02:17:01 PM
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I chose to NOT go with a rain sensor. Instead I made a program which pulls the weather observations and runs the CIMIS calculations on transpiration and evaporation to figure out how much rain we need. It then deducts any rain we actually received and converts the solution to a runtime for the valve to be on by utilizing inexpensive X10 parts and the X10 API. Let me know if you are interested in trying this service free of charge (beta program) at reskin@virtualrainsensor.com
http://orpex.blogspot.com/2011/05/virtual-rain-sensor.html
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Let me know if you are interested in trying this service
http://orpex.blogspot.com/2011/05/virtual-rain-sensor.html
So your program would work with AHP (or at least the CM15A) and use online data downloaded from your server. Cool idea!
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your program looks very cool. This is a great add on for those of us running irrigation systems. I sent ya an email about the beta version I would like a download and will assist with beta testing if needed. >!
KenRad
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The idea of this is good however I've never had much luck with web forecasts and rain.
Something simular could be set up using Weather Exchange from Ambent Weather (http://www.ambientweather.com/weex1.html)
Weather Exchange could supply the info from a number of weather stations in your area, possibly making your program more accurate.
>!
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Hey T,
It this something that could be set up with weather watch? I was thinking that might be an option as well to have weather watch cancel sprinkler operations if there it rain, I currently trigger other x10 devices based on tempterature with ambient weather could this be set up for rain as well and will weather watch recognize a measurement of less than "1" such as decimals.
Thanks KenRad -:)
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Hey T,
It this something that could be set up with weather watch? I was thinking that might be an option as well to have weather watch cancel sprinkler operations if there it rain, I currently trigger other x10 devices based on tempterature with ambient weather could this be set up for rain as well and will weather watch recognize a measurement of less than "1" such as decimals.
Thanks KenRad -:)
Yes weather watch will do this however it also uses info from the web unless you have a personal weather station.
You can only configure it to watch whole digits but it will recognize 0.9 is less then 1
The virtual rain sensor certainly takes more variables into account.
It would be nice to see it utilize info from a personal weather station as well ;)
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Yes weather watch will do this however it also uses info from the web unless you have a personal weather station.
You can only configure it to watch whole digits but it will recognize 0.9 is less then 1
The virtual rain sensor certainly takes more variables into account.
It would be nice to see it utilize info from a personal weather station as well ;)
I now have it set up (with kenrad's help) to download directly from the site. There still are some issues with the service installation for some users. I am extending lifetime gratis accounts to anyone interested in the beta program at this point.
http://www.virtualrainsensor.com
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Can virtual rain sensor use data from my person weather station? I have a Davis Vantage Pro2 and am using Virtual Weather Station to save/send my station data to Weather Underground.
VWS creates CSV files also and I know that PCCompanion can use the data to announce and control X10.
Thanks...
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Can virtual rain sensor use data from my person weather station? I have a Davis Vantage Pro2 and am using Virtual Weather Station to save/send my station data to Weather Underground.
VWS creates CSV files also and I know that PCCompanion can use the data to announce and control X10.
Thanks...
Absolutely! Your station should come up automatically when you enter your postal code on the account settings page (http://www.virtualrainsensor.com/Dashboard/General.aspx).
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GREAT!!!
I will give it a try!
Thanks alot!
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GREAT!!!
I will give it a try!
Thanks alot!
Actually I should have checked (bear with me) - the Vantage Pro2 doesn't have solar radiation... that is one of the variables we use for the evapotransipration calculations. Is the "Plus" something you can upgrade to? Otherwise I will have you submit a ticket (http://virtualrainsensor.fogbugz.com/default.asp?pg=pgPublicEdit) to allow you to use that station without the solar radiation information.
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I made my own solar and uv radiation sensor (Davis's are BIG $$$), and I am getting that data.
Even if I didn't have the actual data, could I just create "fake" data by simulating a sensor. I know that evaportr. would be very wrong though, and any control would not work, but to try it out....
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I would be interested in this. I currently have a RainBird timer running 4 zones with a rain sensor mounted to my rain gutter. I have witnessed first hand the unreliability of the rain sensor, though it does work some times. With this I could connect a universal module in place of my rain sensor, or even keep the rain sensor in series with the UM for a secondary fail safe mechanism. I do plan to get a Rain8 or other controller to fully automate my sprinklers, but this would be an intro to X10 for my irrigation system.
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I would be interested in this. I currently have a RainBird timer running 4 zones with a rain sensor mounted to my rain gutter. I have witnessed first hand the unreliability of the rain sensor, though it does work some times. With this I could connect a universal module in place of my rain sensor, or even keep the rain sensor in series with the UM for a secondary fail safe mechanism. I do plan to get a Rain8 or other controller to fully automate my sprinklers, but this would be an intro to X10 for my irrigation system.
The universal module would replace the RainBird timer in this case. Yes, you could run the rain sensor in series as a backup mechanism but from what I have experienced in the past month it is pretty solid and you get a complete history of what the system has done from the website. You would need a 24VAC power supply to run to the valves and the universal module is in series with that. If you wanted to still use your rain sensor as a backup it would have to be in series with a common lead return from all the valves.
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No, at present, because I have 4 zones I would still need the RainBird timer to switch between the individual zones. One universal module would not switch between my 4 zones and activate my pump start relay. The universal module would just connect to the rain sensor connections on the timer to cut the power if rain is sensed. My RainBird timer has the 24VAC transformer for the valves. And yes, using the current rain sensor as a backup, it would be connected in series. I do understand the logic of how this is all going to work.
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No, at present, because I have 4 zones I would still need the RainBird timer to switch between the individual zones. One universal module would not switch between my 4 zones and activate my pump start relay. The universal module would just connect to the rain sensor connections on the timer to cut the power if rain is sensed. My RainBird timer has the 24VAC transformer for the valves. And yes, using the current rain sensor as a backup, it would be connected in series. I do understand the logic of how this is all going to work.
It is probably my fault for naming it as such... this is really more of a complete X10 irrigation solution. The timer is just as flawed as the traditional rain sensor... the timer will run the same duration each time. Our computations run each zone based on the amount of deficit rainfall and the efficiency of the sprinklers on that zone. I recommend registering for an account and playing with the interface - it should be more apparent that this is more powerful than what the name suggests. It is like Rain8 but web-based interface (instead of Windows Forms based) and it uses a nearby weather station instead of a puny rain sensor.
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I'll take a look at it.
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Downloaded and signed up....shuld be fun to play with and add to my HA system.
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reskin,
are you getting any of my emails I have been trying to contact you for over a month with no response The event manager is telling me that it can't connect on your end any ideas
Thanks KenRad
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reskin,
whats the deal did you abandon the project on what I have attempted to contact you many times about the setup and trying to get it completed with no reply so whats going on. :-\ kenrad
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reskin,
whats the deal did you abandon the project on what I have attempted to contact you many times about the setup and trying to get it completed with no reply so whats going on. :-\ kenrad
Sorry man, this thread completely dropped off my radar!
We are all ramped up for a new season of savings. I would try to download the latest version of the service application:
http://www.virtualrainsensor.com/Download.aspx
We teamed up with Weather Underground to provide the data (legitimately this time :-*) and have a number of bugfixes and enhancements including sunlight percentage modulation per zone, rainfall deficit tracking (so if we see the forecast is 1 inch and we don't get the inch we expected we will make up for that inch in the next run).
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reskin,
are you getting any of my emails I have been trying to contact you for over a month with no response The event manager is telling me that it can't connect on your end any ideas
Thanks KenRad
You are clicking the 'email' button on this forum? Or PM? I don't see anything and I stopped getting notice of responses on this thread! I will check my settings but you can always create a ticket and track the status at http://virtualrainsensor.fogbugz.com
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So how do we use it?
Any setup instructions anywhere?
I installed it, the service is running, I have created an account on you website, I have created appliance modules in AHP, so now what?
How do we test it?
Just went to my account to try and edit an existing zone, and it did not open that zone, but created a new one.
How do we edit an existing zone?
Part of developing an application is the help and usage information... where is it?
Very little information...... not too good.
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reskin,
whats the deal did you abandon the project on what I have attempted to contact you many times about the setup and trying to get it completed with no reply so whats going on. :-\ kenrad
Sorry man, this thread completely dropped off my radar!
We are all ramped up for a new season of savings. I would try to download the latest version of the service application:
http://www.virtualrainsensor.com/Download.aspx
We teamed up with Weather Underground to provide the data (legitimately this time :-*) and have a number of bugfixes and enhancements including sunlight percentage modulation per zone, rainfall deficit tracking (so if we see the forecast is 1 inch and we don't get the inch we expected we will make up for that inch in the next run).
Reskin, I tried the new installer and I get a 1001 error every time it will not let me install any ideas. I would really like to see this service work it would really help with my watering situation
Thansk Kenrad
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Reskin, I tried the new installer and I get a 1001 error every time it will not let me install any ideas. I would really like to see this service work it would really help with my watering situation
Thansk Kenrad
Can you please download it again now? The service itself hasn't changed but the installation package around it uses the ClickOnce security stuff now with a certificate signing, etc.
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So how do we use it?
Any setup instructions anywhere?
I installed it, the service is running, I have created an account on you website, I have created appliance modules in AHP, so now what?
How do we test it?
Just went to my account to try and edit an existing zone, and it did not open that zone, but created a new one.
How do we edit an existing zone?
Part of developing an application is the help and usage information... where is it?
Very little information...... not too good.
Did you try clicking the little "gear" icon next to the zone in question? It should bring up a form similar to that when you add a new zone but with the existing information prepopulated.
I have started -some- documentation on the wiki but I realize it is lacking. I can concentrate my efforts on that for a while (one-man show here) if we can get kenrad up and running ???
https://virtualrainsensor.fogbugz.com/default.asp?W7
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Yes I clicked on the gear icon and the form came up blank with A1 as the module address.
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Yes I clicked on the gear icon and the form came up blank with A1 as the module address.
I just fixed this for IE8 and know it works in Chrome 18... which browser and version are you using?
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Yes I clicked on the gear icon and the form came up blank with A1 as the module address.
I just fixed this for IE8 and know it works in Chrome 18... which browser and version are you using?
I am using mozilla firefox but I also have IE on my pc, I can see my account online but it wont let me install the service
>! Ken
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Yes I clicked on the gear icon and the form came up blank with A1 as the module address.
I just fixed this for IE8 and know it works in Chrome 18... which browser and version are you using?
I am using mozilla firefox but I also have IE on my pc, I can see my account online but it wont let me install the service
>! Ken
Just pushed a fix out for FireFox for the zone editing. For those of you who do javascript coding apparently IE and FF don't see eye to eye on this textContent vs. innerText property, Chrome doesn't care either way. http://geekswithblogs.net/TimH/archive/2006/01/19/66383.aspx
Did you download again since the post from yesterday kenrad? I changed the permissions wrapper so that you may not get the 1001 error.
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Yes I clicked on the gear icon and the form came up blank with A1 as the module address.
I just fixed this for IE8 and know it works in Chrome 18... which browser and version are you using?
I am using FF 11.0.
I will give it another try!
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Any news? :'
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The only clue that something is happening is that in event viewer (windows xp pro), I have two entries under applications that say:
polling
and
got result
I looked in AHP for activity for the appliance modules that I have setup for my sprinklers, and there hasn't been any activity at all, so I don't know if anything is happening. B:( B:( B:(
I sure would like to be able to test this, and a little documentation is needed. I would have thought that documentation should have been provided along with the software. :'
Remember, users don't have a clue as to what to expect so something should be written, and to be able to create some sort of test to see if AHP is getting the commands to do something.
I guess that I will just stick to my standalone controller for now. :-\
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The only clue that something is happening is that in event viewer (windows xp pro), I have two entries under applications that say:
polling
and
got result
You should be able to correlate those entries with the "History" and "Service" tabs on your dashboard. You won't see any AHP activity unless the program asserts that it actually needs to run a zone you have configured.
http://www.virtualrainsensor.com/Dashboard/History.aspx
http://www.virtualrainsensor.com/Dashboard/Service.aspx
I have started some documentation at...
https://virtualrainsensor.fogbugz.com/default.asp?W1
The documentation is community driven right now because I am the inventor, developer, marketer, QA, troubleshooter, technical writer, etc. And it is a free service. :angel:
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The only clue that something is happening is that in event viewer (windows xp pro), I have two entries under applications that say:
polling
and
got result
You should be able to correlate those entries with the "History" and "Service" tabs on your dashboard. You won't see any AHP activity unless the program asserts that it actually needs to run a zone you have configured.
I took a look at my account and there is nothing in the history or service tabs.
Since I am uploading solar radiation to wunderground (although not really calibrated), all the data is available.
Here is the link to my weather station:
http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KCAPOMON3
Thanks...
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I took a look at my account and there is nothing in the history or service tabs.
Since I am uploading solar radiation to wunderground (although not really calibrated), all the data is available.
Here is the link to my weather station:
http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KCAPOMON3
Thanks...
It appears your account is set up correctly using your weather station. I see you have three (3) zones set up.
I do not, however, show that the service installed correctly or has not successfully started on your machine. It also may be that it hasn't been able to communicate. If you can look at your Event Viewer (Windows Control Panel) and filter on "Virtual Rain Sensor" it may give us some insight as to why the application failed, etc.
Or you can try downloading and installing the service application again to get the very latest version:
http://www.virtualrainsensor.com/Download.aspx
Once the installation is complete you should be able to see that the service connected under your Service tab on the website:
http://www.virtualrainsensor.com/Dashboard/Service.aspx
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I took a look at my account and there is nothing in the history or service tabs.
Since I am uploading solar radiation to wunderground (although not really calibrated), all the data is available.
Here is the link to my weather station:
http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KCAPOMON3
Thanks...
It appears your account is set up correctly using your weather station. I see you have three (3) zones set up.
I do not, however, show that the service installed correctly or has not successfully started on your machine. It also may be that it hasn't been able to communicate. If you can look at your Event Viewer (Windows Control Panel) and filter on "Virtual Rain Sensor" it may give us some insight as to why the application failed, etc.
Or you can try downloading and installing the service application again to get the very latest version:
http://www.virtualrainsensor.com/Download.aspx
Once the installation is complete you should be able to see that the service connected under your Service tab on the website:
http://www.virtualrainsensor.com/Dashboard/Service.aspx
Here is a partial of my event viewer attached. The only entry that has any data from "got result" is 4/22 at 04:25:08, all others are blank.
The service does appear to start ok, and polls ok.
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I went to the site, downloaded the installer, saved it, uninstalled the version that I had, reinstalled the downloaded version.
I checked event viewer and it indicated that the service installed and started ok with no errors.
We'll see what happens!
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Here is a partial of my event viewer attached. The only entry that has any data from "got result" is 4/22 at 04:25:08, all others are blank.
The service does appear to start ok, and polls ok.
W00t! It looks like the download did the trick...
timestamp username Event extra
2012-04-23 12:17:17.387 pomonabill221 Connected Service started...
So now we need to wait until your next poll time and you should see some zones evaluated. >!
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Here is a partial of my event viewer attached. The only entry that has any data from "got result" is 4/22 at 04:25:08, all others are blank.
The service does appear to start ok, and polls ok.
W00t! It looks like the download did the trick...
timestamp username Event extra
2012-04-23 12:17:17.387 pomonabill221 Connected Service started...
So now we need to wait until your next poll time and you should see some zones evaluated. >!
Actually, the events that I attached happened before I did the download and uninstall/reinstall today, and yes we will see what happens.
Wonder why this didn't happen the first time???
The zones that I setup are test zones (they are there, just not being controlled by AHP YET). I wanted to see how things worked first.
Will I see activity in AHP's log for the zones that I setup on my local computer and AHP?
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Actually, the events that I attached happened before I did the download and uninstall/reinstall today, and yes we will see what happens.
Wonder why this didn't happen the first time???
The zones that I setup are test zones (they are there, just not being controlled by AHP YET). I wanted to see how things worked first.
Will I see activity in AHP's log for the zones that I setup on my local computer and AHP?
There have been several bug fixes and enhancements... it is hard to say but we had a few instances where the program wasn't installing correctly and narrowed those down.
So now what happens the service on your machine will poll once a day to determine if a zone is ready to run, pull the forecasts and historical observations originating from your weather station. If we actually send an ON or OFF you will see it in the history in AHP and you will see it in the History tab for the zone. Note: A module with the code for each zone has to exist in AHP to see the history and to keep it from detecting it as another computer (in case you are using bogus X10 codes for testing purposes).
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I have setup modules in AHP that match my VRS account, so I should see activity on these modules.
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still wish I could get the service to install B:(
>! Ken
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I finally have some activity on my AHP and dummy modules!!!!
Just one question.... on my account page/history, the column labeled "needed" shows a -0.05, yet the "sprinklers" still ran.
Is the needed in inches? Why is it negative yet my sprinklers still ran?
Also on the account main page, there is a check box labeled repeat. I checked it but there is NO mention as to what this is for?
It would be great if there was something that mentioned what the settings do, and what the history columns mean.
I know some are obvious, but not all.
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I finally have some activity on my AHP and dummy modules!!!!
Just one question.... on my account page/history, the column labeled "needed" shows a -0.05, yet the "sprinklers" still ran.
Is the needed in inches? Why is it negative yet my sprinklers still ran?
Also on the account main page, there is a check box labeled repeat. I checked it but there is NO mention as to what this is for?
It would be great if there was something that mentioned what the settings do, and what the history columns mean.
I know some are obvious, but not all.
All three of your zones have a "minimum on time" configured. Probably my fault because there is no documentation but it means that the zone will run for at least that long, regardless of how much water you need. This is for "indexing valves". I have confused people on this - most interpret it to mean "if the zone goes on, I don't want it to run for less than this amount of time" which there may be a need for a separate parameter for if you can explain why you wanted times in there.
Everything is in "inches" unless you have the "metric" checkbox enabled.
The "repeat" is the same function as in AHP - it sends the on and off signal multiple times to ensure that the message gets through (dirty power, RF noise, etc).
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I finally have some activity on my AHP and dummy modules!!!!
Just one question.... on my account page/history, the column labeled "needed" shows a -0.05, yet the "sprinklers" still ran.
Is the needed in inches? Why is it negative yet my sprinklers still ran?
Also on the account main page, there is a check box labeled repeat. I checked it but there is NO mention as to what this is for?
It would be great if there was something that mentioned what the settings do, and what the history columns mean.
I know some are obvious, but not all.
All three of your zones have a "minimum on time" configured. Yes I thought this is what that meant... is it required to have a time set? Probably my fault because there is no documentation but it means that the zone will run for at least that long, regardless of how much water you need. This is for "indexing valves". I have confused people on this - most interpret it to mean "if the zone goes on, I don't want it to run for less than this amount of time" which there may be a need for a separate parameter for if you can explain why you wanted times in there.
Everything is in "inches" unless you have the "metric" checkbox enabled. ok great!
The "repeat" is the same function as in AHP - it sends the on and off signal multiple times to ensure that the message gets through (dirty power, RF noise, etc). Ah yes... I didn't know if it meant to repeat the cycle or just run once...
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I finally have some activity on my AHP and dummy modules!!!!
Just one question.... on my account page/history, the column labeled "needed" shows a -0.05, yet the "sprinklers" still ran.
Is the needed in inches? Why is it negative yet my sprinklers still ran?
Also on the account main page, there is a check box labeled repeat. I checked it but there is NO mention as to what this is for?
It would be great if there was something that mentioned what the settings do, and what the history columns mean.
I know some are obvious, but not all.
All three of your zones have a "minimum on time" configured. Yes I thought this is what that meant... is it required to have a time set? Probably my fault because there is no documentation but it means that the zone will run for at least that long, regardless of how much water you need. This is for "indexing valves". I have confused people on this - most interpret it to mean "if the zone goes on, I don't want it to run for less than this amount of time" which there may be a need for a separate parameter for if you can explain why you wanted times in there.
Everything is in "inches" unless you have the "metric" checkbox enabled. ok great!
The "repeat" is the same function as in AHP - it sends the on and off signal multiple times to ensure that the message gets through (dirty power, RF noise, etc). Ah yes... I didn't know if it meant to repeat the cycle or just run once...
I updated the online help starting with that "Repeat" function. You should see a little "help" icon there which pops up the community help. If you find that helpful I will wire up everything on the "History" grid and "Zones" that way.
http://www.virtualrainsensor.com/Dashboard/General.aspx
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Yes the "tool tips" (balloon popups) is very helpful! That way, if there is a doubt as to what the column means, rather than searching through the "manual", you just hover over the question mark... handy!
Thanks!
Also, I am seeing activity in AHP!!!! Looks like things are working, although the timing for watering times I haven't measured yet, so the on times are not really correct, but that is a minor thing... just making sure things are working is step one, now I can take measurements!
We had a little rain and it has been reflected in the dashboard! GREAT!
I would still like to know what the "needed" column means. On 4/24, the value was -0.50 and I still got a watering BUT at that time I had a minimum set. IF there is a minimum time set, AND the needed value is 0 or negative, will the zone STILL get the minimum water?
Looks that way, and I change the min to 0 and it seems to be following that logic.
Thanks for a handy app! Any way this could be made for a local application using my local weather station's data?
WWOOPSS... is this a bug??? I have my account set for 2 pm time slot, and the service indicates 2 AM, and my event viewer shows VRS polling at midnight... what's going on?
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Yes the "tool tips" (balloon popups) is very helpful! That way, if there is a doubt as to what the column means, rather than searching through the "manual", you just hover over the question mark... handy!
Thanks!
Also, I am seeing activity in AHP!!!! Looks like things are working, although the timing for watering times I haven't measured yet, so the on times are not really correct, but that is a minor thing... just making sure things are working is step one, now I can take measurements!
We had a little rain and it has been reflected in the dashboard! GREAT!
I would still like to know what the "needed" column means. On 4/24, the value was -0.50 and I still got a watering BUT at that time I had a minimum set. IF there is a minimum time set, AND the needed value is 0 or negative, will the zone STILL get the minimum water?
Looks that way, and I change the min to 0 and it seems to be following that logic.
Thanks for a handy app! Any way this could be made for a local application using my local weather station's data?
WWOOPSS... is this a bug??? I have my account set for 2 pm time slot, and the service indicates 2 AM, and my event viewer shows VRS polling at midnight... what's going on?
That is a lot of good news for my Thursday! You are correct in your assertions about the minimum time. All that minimum time is really for is indexing valves, which if you don't have one, should be all set to 0. The "needed" column is what we actually need to deliver (deficit + PET - forecast = needed).
That is a bug, apparently the service must be restarted if you change your delivery time... I will address this in the service application and post here when a new one is ready for download. Sorry about that... it isn't something I recommend changing a lot because, for example, if you change it from 1am to 12:30am it won't see the update until the planned poll time at 1am. Lots of different scenarios I haven't covered related to changing that time. Thanks for reporting that one!
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Glad I was able to brighten your day!
Thanks for the explanation about the "needed"... the formula makes sense and explains it.
I will stop and restart the service and see what happens.
As far as indexing valves... I don't understand what you are referring to? I really have 9 valves, and from what I can tell from your website, they will run in sequence anyway (I think), so why what needs to be indexed?
Thanks
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Glad I was able to brighten your day!
Thanks for the explanation about the "needed"... the formula makes sense and explains it.
I will stop and restart the service and see what happens.
As far as indexing valves... I don't understand what you are referring to? I really have 9 valves, and from what I can tell from your website, they will run in sequence anyway (I think), so why what needs to be indexed?
Thanks
This is what I have so far...
https://virtualrainsensor.fogbugz.com/default.asp?W21
They have a nice animation of the valve. Basically it uses water pressure and one solenoid to run 4 zones given that only one zone can/should be on at a time. It is pretty genius.
http://www.fimcomfg.com/flash/howItWorksIrrFinal.swf
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WOW!!! TIRCKY!!! -:) -:)
I didn't know these existed!
Thanks for the info...
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Another "problem".
I noticed there is a 2 hour time difference on the "service" tab on the website.
I stopped the service on my computer at 1100 hrs., and the website indicated 1300 hrs., a two hour time difference.
I have my zipcode set correctly, and my weather station is set correctly.
Is this due to the time zone the website is in?
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Another "problem".
I noticed there is a 2 hour time difference on the "service" tab on the website.
I stopped the service on my computer at 1100 hrs., and the website indicated 1300 hrs., a two hour time difference.
I have my zipcode set correctly, and my weather station is set correctly.
Is this due to the time zone the website is in?
Just pushed out a fix for that. You should now see "Times are shown in GMT -700." up at the top for your account on the "Services" tab. There are probably some other areas where the time zone offset hasn't been applied... I have a larger ticket to address it system-wide. So keep a look-out for me! Thanks for the report!
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Thanks for the update!
I have been testing with all 10 zones, and it seems to be working great! I haven't actually setup any modules/valves to the system yet, just making sure that things are working, and they appear to be!
Another question....
IF I wanted to change to a different weather station site, how would I go about that?
Just to be clear....
If I didn't want to use my station's data, and wanted to use a different reporting station, how would I change it in my account? (or is that possible?). This might be a option for me as I am not totally sure that my ET values are correct (sunlight sensor data).
Thanks!
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Thanks for the update!
I have been testing with all 10 zones, and it seems to be working great! I haven't actually setup any modules/valves to the system yet, just making sure that things are working, and they appear to be!
Another question....
IF I wanted to change to a different weather station site, how would I go about that?
Just to be clear....
If I didn't want to use my station's data, and wanted to use a different reporting station, how would I change it in my account? (or is that possible?). This might be a option for me as I am not totally sure that my ET values are correct (sunlight sensor data).
Thanks!
Good question! Right now for basic users we take your postal code and look for the nearest suitable station. I can put a different station in for you manually but I will go open a new issue to give advanced users the option to configure the weather station identifier.
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Thanks for the update!
I have been testing with all 10 zones, and it seems to be working great! I haven't actually setup any modules/valves to the system yet, just making sure that things are working, and they appear to be!
Another question....
IF I wanted to change to a different weather station site, how would I go about that?
Just to be clear....
If I didn't want to use my station's data, and wanted to use a different reporting station, how would I change it in my account? (or is that possible?). This might be a option for me as I am not totally sure that my ET values are correct (sunlight sensor data).
Thanks!
Good question! Right now for basic users we take your postal code and look for the nearest suitable station. I can put a different station in for you manually but I will go open a new issue to give advanced users the option to configure the weather station identifier.
No you don't have to do that for me, I was just wondering how (if it was possible) to do this, IF I needed to.
thanks...
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I have been running this in a test setup.
I have noticed that if a zone doesn't require any watering, and I have a minimum time set at zero, the zone still turns on for 1 second even though in the history it shows 0 seconds.
A possible bug? or am I missing something?
Thanks!
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BTW... am I the only person that is trying your service??? Doesn't seem like alot of other folks are responding.
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BTW... am I the only person that is trying your service??? Doesn't seem like alot of other folks are responding.
Anyone?????
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Another question....
When VRS does it's polling, I see in event viewer:
Got result: J1=3518454=0,J2=703690=0,J3=469127=0,J5=702415=0,J6=803853=0,J7=602434=0,J8=439009=0,J9=1640669=0,J10=1125395=0
I realize the J1(2)(3).... are the zones that I have defined, and 3518454 (for J1) is 3518 seconds (what is the 454).
Is =0 the minimum on time?
Where are the on times stored? I believe the values are stored on my local harddrive when VRS service polls my account, but how are these values entered into AHP for the zone control?
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reskin,
Is it possible to add code to send a windows command as a option instead of a X10 command?
Sure this can be done with AHP but it would allow it to communicate directly to other programs and allow users with different protocols (other then X10) to use Virtual Rain Sensor.
This would also allow users to send commands over their network to another machine using PC Companion, iHouse or other software with commandline argument possibilities.
I understand some users are having issues running this on some windows platforms this may help with this issue.
>!
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BTW... am I the only person that is trying your service??? Doesn't seem like alot of other folks are responding.
I recently got the service installed and I am working on setting it up as we speak
>! Ken
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Another question....
When VRS does it's polling, I see in event viewer:
Got result: J1=3518454=0,J2=703690=0,J3=469127=0,J5=702415=0,J6=803853=0,J7=602434=0,J8=439009=0,J9=1640669=0,J10=1125395=0
I realize the J1(2)(3).... are the zones that I have defined, and 3518454 (for J1) is 3518 seconds (what is the 454).
Is =0 the minimum on time?
Where are the on times stored? I believe the values are stored on my local harddrive when VRS service polls my account, but how are these values entered into AHP for the zone control?
The times are in MS so the 454 is just a less than 1/2 fraction of a second. The =0 that follows is the "delay to next zone". All that is sent through the ActiveHomeScript DLL which is then sent to the CM15A. Nothing is stored on your local hardware except in memory until the run is done.
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reskin,
Is it possible to add code to send a windows command as a option instead of a X10 command?
Sure this can be done with AHP but it would allow it to communicate directly to other programs and allow users with different protocols (other then X10) to use Virtual Rain Sensor.
This would also allow users to send commands over their network to another machine using PC Companion, iHouse or other software with commandline argument possibilities.
I understand some users are having issues running this on some windows platforms this may help with this issue.
>!
This is a good question and we have had a couple of integration inquiries. So basically the local service application would execute a command-line application instead of sending the X10 codes? That doesn't sound too bad. Can you give me more specifications? You would just need to program the name of the EXE, and then the parameter name and value in seconds/milliseconds/decimal minutes? I will see if I can put something together for you and down the road we will make it more configurable, etc.
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Another question....
When VRS does it's polling, I see in event viewer:
Got result: J1=3518454=0,J2=703690=0,J3=469127=0,J5=702415=0,J6=803853=0,J7=602434=0,J8=439009=0,J9=1640669=0,J10=1125395=0
I realize the J1(2)(3).... are the zones that I have defined, and 3518454 (for J1) is 3518 seconds (what is the 454).
Is =0 the minimum on time?
Where are the on times stored? I believe the values are stored on my local harddrive when VRS service polls my account, but how are these values entered into AHP for the zone control?
The times are in MS so the 454 is just a less than 1/2 fraction of a second. The =0 that follows is the "delay to next zone". All that is sent through the ActiveHomeScript DLL which is then sent to the CM15A. Nothing is stored on your local hardware except in memory until the run is done.
Ok, I kinda thought the times were in ms resolution and the =0 is the delay variable, just wanted to confirm, thanks!
So essentially, your website is directly controlling the zones through AHP. I see. thanks again!
So IF AHP crashes, or network/DSL goes down, or windows crashes, the zone that is on would not shut off?
I know that AHP is certainly NOT 100% stable (as well as windows) and other things can happen, but a local failsafe (like a hardware timer) could be integrated with the valve control so that IF a failure were to happen and the command from the X10 module was still on, the most problem would be an over watering.
The valve(s) would be closed by the failsafe timer rather than AHP.
I was thinking along the lines of a modified X10 appliance module to control the valves (a dry contact relay), or if I can find a cheap 8 channel X10 relay board.
The website seems to be working great, but AHP crashed for no apparent reason the other night, so this is what prompted me even more to consider a failsafe backup for the valve control.
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BTW... am I the only person that is trying your service??? Doesn't seem like alot of other folks are responding.
I recently got the service installed and I am working on setting it up as we speak
>! Ken
Hi Ken!
Glad to see there are others trying this out!
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reskin,
Is it possible to add code to send a windows command as a option instead of a X10 command?
Sure this can be done with AHP but it would allow it to communicate directly to other programs and allow users with different protocols (other then X10) to use Virtual Rain Sensor.
This would also allow users to send commands over their network to another machine using PC Companion, iHouse or other software with commandline argument possibilities.
I understand some users are having issues running this on some windows platforms this may help with this issue.
>!
This is a good question and we have had a couple of integration inquiries. So basically the local service application would execute a command-line application instead of sending the X10 codes?
Yep!
You could add the option to send either a x10 or a windows command or both. Many don't use AHP but rather a thirdparty software.
Can you give me more specifications? You would just need to program the name of the EXE, and then the parameter name and value in seconds/milliseconds/decimal minutes?
I think simply being able to send program exe and the peramiters is all that would be needed.
I don't see the option to send values in seconds/miliseconds/decimal minites needed however those maybe nice to have down the road for some.
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I think simply being able to send program exe and the peramiters is all that would be needed.
I don't see the option to send values in seconds/miliseconds/decimal minites needed however those maybe nice to have down the road for some.
Thanks for the suggestion. I have added this to my development queue. https://virtualrainsensor.fogbugz.com/default.asp?155