Virtual Rain Sensor

[pomonabill221]

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...

[reskin]

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

[pomonabill221]

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?

[reskin]

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!

[pomonabill221]

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

[reskin]

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

[pomonabill221]

WOW!!!  TIRCKY!!!   
I didn't know these existed!
Thanks for the info...

[pomonabill221]

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?

[reskin]

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!

[pomonabill221]

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!

[reskin]

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.

[pomonabill221]

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...

[pomonabill221]

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!

[pomonabill221]

BTW... am I the only person that is trying your service???  Doesn't seem like alot of other folks are responding.

[pomonabill221]

BTW... am I the only person that is trying your service???  Doesn't seem like alot of other folks are responding.

Anyone??