Start Times

[xuv224]

I have a 7 zone sprinkler system. I want each of the 7 zones to start 3 times each on the watering day (So, 21 activations per day. The reason for running each zone 3 times in one day is to allow water to soak into the thick clay soil before continuing to water). Maybe I have overlooked a setting, but it appears there are just 4 start times (A to D) to start any zone. Since it appears those 4 times are the same for all zones and the purpose of having zones is to not run more than 1 zone at a time, how can I set the times? It would appear that with the current options, I couldn't even set each zone to run just once per day as there would have to options for at least 7 start times? An example would be at 03:00 zone 1 for 20 minutes, then 03:30 zone 2 for 20 minutes.... continuing to zone 7. Then from 07:00 back to zone 1 for 20 minutes, zone 2, etc..

[Support]

Hi,

You can accomplish this with 1 program and 3 start times. I think the thing you are missing is that at a single start time ALL of the zones selected for that Start Time run sequentially. I have attached a screen shot of an example for you for your desired behavior. This will run zones 1 thru 7 sequentially 3 times per day for 5 minutes each starting at 8AM ending at 8:35, starting again at 12PM ending at 12:35PM and one again at 4PM ending at 4:35PM. Pick your duration as needed, I just used the example of 5 minutes each zone. Just be sure your start and end times are at least one minute later than the previous end time.

Let me know if this answers your question.

[xuv224]

Thanks Brooks,

yes that explains it. I wasn't aware that the zones automatically run in sequence.

One more question: With the watering restrictions in my city, my address is allowed to water on the 9th and 23rd of each month only. The days of the week those dates fall on are different every month and the only setting I see is to select day of the week. Is there any way I can program to water only on selected dates of any month?

[Support]

Hi,

That seems to be an unusual limitation....I am afraid that while you can set HF to water on ODD or EVEN Days you currently can't specify the week of the of the month or exact calender date. Let me look in to this and see if there is something we can do about that.

Can you share your location and watering restrictions to give us a better idea as to the scope of the restriction? This would be helpful.

We are currently updating the HF software so perhaps this is something we can add to the to do list.

Thanks,

[Support]

Hi,

After some discussion here we have a solution that could be used to solve your (and perhaps others) specific watering requirements. Recently we have added some 'Insteon scene' scripting that could easily be enhanced to add a script to support watering. In its simplest form you would simply enter your desired watering program via the normal settings, but do not enable any start times on the program page.

Then we could create a script entry for the Insteon Scene Program's page that would activate any program manually at the desire day and time. The format might look something like:
KEYWORD, ACTION, DAY; DAY; DAY...., PROGRAM_NUMBER and Entered like
WATERCYCLE, RUN, 7; 15; 21; 1 --Which would start program 1 on the 7th, 15th and 21st of the Month.

The script would be scheduled to run via the Insteon Scene Programs page setting the scene to run every day of the week at the desired time you want to water. When the script is executed it will ONLY run the watering program on the days in the script line.

This would be a simple but powerful tool to allow all kinds of customized watering schedules for those that need customization. For instance you could have almost unlimited start times for new lawns or custom cycle and soak routines.

Feedback please.

Thanks,

[xuv224]

Yes, that would be perfect. I live in Rowlett, TX 75089. The city allows twice monthly watering, the day is determined by the last digit in the house address, 0 in my case, resulting in days 9 and 23.

Has the firmware update to reflect these scene settings been released or is it still in progress? And how do I write and upload this specific script?

[Support]

The firmware is scheduled to be posted to the forum by Monday the 7th or earlier.

You will be able to conveniently create or edit scene macros using the web page interface.

We are also adding a "Run Every " option to the Scene start time option that will repeat a given script every X minutes (1 min to 24 hours) and we are including the additional time Criteria in the watering script command.
For example:

WATERCYCLE, RUN, +SR00:15\-SS0:00, ODDDAYS, 1 -- Runs Program 1 on odd days but only between the hours of 15 min after Sunrise and before Sunset.
This can be used with the "RunEvery" option to repeat the Watering Cycle every X minutes between the allowed times in the Macro Script.

For your specific requirements:
WATERCYCLE, RUN, NONE, 9;23, 1 -- Runs Program 1 on the 7th and the 23rd days based on the Scene Start Time. (NONE in the Conditional time field)

Hope this gives you an idea of how the feature works.

[xuv224]

Great!, looking forward to the update

[skerr1999]

Hello, I am also in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and have the same 2 days a month restriction. For Richardson, the restriction is I can only water on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month for my address.

I see the anydays, odddays, evendays, day but there is not anything yet for the day of the week specific to the month. Is there an unlisted command I can use to program this?

[Support]

Hi,

To accomplish this you will need to create set up your Watering program as you desire except you can ignore setting the days of the week and do not enable any start times. Just enter the run times for each station and make sure each station's Enabled check box is checked. I am going to show you a complete example below for your specific needs.

So I'll use Watering Program 4 for this example. See screen shot below. As you can see there are 6 stations with run times and their enabled check boxes checked. See Below.

Watering Program.jpg (187.28 KiB) Viewed 15335 times

After configuring a single program for your desired valve run times you will then create a Watering Scene using the Insteon Programs 'Edit Scene' link. Simply create a new scene by entering a meaningful name and click the Create Scene Button. In this example we are naming it 'Watering Scene' Then Load this scene using the pull down selection and clicking the Load Scene button. The text field will be blank. Enter the following scene text:

WATERCYCLE,RUN,NONE,1;2;3;4;5;6;7;15;16;17;18;19;20;21,4

Click Save Changes.

This will create a scene that will run Program 4 on the calender days shown in the list. Note that the days in the scene are 1-7 and 15-21 which will cover the first and third week of each month. The last number is the program number. NOTE THAT THE DAYS ARE SEPARATED BY SEMICOLONS and not COMMAS. See below.

Watering Scene.jpg (135.95 KiB) Viewed 15335 times

Now using the Insteon Programs, Scene Programs link, Select the scene name you created in the previous step using the pull down list, enter the desired start time and select Sunday as the Day to Run the scene. Be sure to also check the Enabled check box. See below.

Watering Scene Program.jpg (139.56 KiB) Viewed 15335 times

Here is the resulting effect.
Every Sunday the scene will be run, but in the scene file it will verify that it is only a Sunday that falls on the 1st through the 7th OR the 15th through the 21st and if so it will run the watering program, limiting watering to the 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month.

Don't forget you can also stipulate an Execution time other than a specific time of day using the After Sunrise option vs a fixed time of day to run as indicated by the red arrow. This was added as an example of another option you might want to implement vs the specific time of day. You would only pick one or the other of course. See the Edit Scenes page for details on all the other options and examples.

Please be sure to let us know how it worked out. Also if you need one-on-one help send support an email and we can get together with you on the phone if needed.

HydroFLASH Team