Can Opensprinkler be used to run landscape lighting as well ?

[Merkurmaniac]

Hi,

 

I am reworking my sprinkler that I put in 16 years ago.  It has a controller that I hate to work with.  I'd also like something that is smarter and can use some weather data to impact the schedule.  This device looks like just what I need.  I'll likely order one soon. 

 

I have six valves currently and I have no Malibu type low voltage lighting.  I am thinking about building an array of outdoor LEDs that will light up my landscaping.  Would it be possible to use the opensprinkler to control landscape lighting as well ?  I am planning on buildign the lights myself, using some cree led's that I have laying around.  The power supplies are run off 110V, but they have a 0-5V dc dimming circuit that could be used. 

 

I imagine that this question has been asked before, but I didn't find anything when I searched.

 

TIA,

Richard

 

[garygid]

If you use manual operation, and the appropriate relays,
it should work OK. However, when using program control,
the valves (relays or circuits) only come on one at a time,
sequentially, not two or more at the same time, even if
they are programmed to start at the same time.

At least I believe that this is true.

[Ray]

It can be used to control lighting. The specific method depends on the voltage of your lights. If the lights work with 24VAC, you don't need any change. If the lights work with DC, the simplest way is to replace the traics by transistors or mosfets. I have a couple of early examples you can find at:

http://rayshobby.net/?page_id=806

If the lights work with 110VAC power line, you should use a relay, or use a remote power socket.

[Ray]

Concurrent running of stations is supported in firmwares prior to 1.8. This has been discussed in a previous thread:

https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rayshobby/Ucm9aVYyhbI/discussion

[Merkurmaniac]

Ray, the word that I used was "Genius" , when I read your post about hacking the remote controls.  My wife said... "Are you kidding, or are you serious?"  I said that I was "Dead Serious!  This guy is a genius."  That work was amazing.  I am able to follow along in your methodology, but I am sure that I could not reproduce your techniques.  I am planning on ordering your assembled OpenSprkinler kit, but I would be very interested in the RF transmitter extension and the ability to control external sockets.  I can see lots of applications for it.

 

As far as my abilities go, I have never really soldered any electronics that small.  I have done stuff with LEDs and other basic circuits (I just soldered my sprinkler leads to the solenoids, e.g.) but never any chip level electronics.  This is why I'd like to order the Opensprinlker kit assembled, but want to know if I could pay extra to bennefit from your work with the remote controls.  I have not compliled an arduino program, but do plan to get into it with my son at some point.  If I bought the exact same remotes, could you offer a plug and play version that might work till I can get more into the arduino stuff ?

 

Thanks,

Richard

 

 

 

[Ray]

Hi Richard,

You can pay extra to buy an RF transmitter or RF transmitter/receiver pair. They are both available on Rayshobby Shop. I have example code available in my blog posts about how to use OpenSprinkler to interface with remote power sockets. I unfortunately don't have time to customize the software for each individual person. You need to modify the code yourself or find someone who has programming experience to work with you on it. 

[Merkurmaniac]

Ray,

 

I ordered a unit from you this morning.  Will it ship with the latest firmware ?  I can get some help from a local arduino fan that I know.  What I am looking to do is use a relay that has the ability to learn rf signals.  I could probably use the signals that you had detected, or even make up some to "create" a digital rf remote that the device could learn from.  I'd like to use it to switch on and off some lights like my fishtank lights.  I suppose that the open sprinkler device could handle quite a few "digital" RF "valves" as they do not require physical pins to turn on or off.

 

 

[Rayshobby]

Hi Richard,

Thanks for ordering. Yes the unit is flashed with the latest firmware
and it will be shipped tomorrow morning. I am happy to help you with
engineering questions. I suggest that you post questions on Rayshobby
forum, so that my answers will be seen by others, and also other users
can jump in and help you too.

One resource I'd like to point you to is the rcswitch Arduino library,
which I just discovered a few days ago:
http://code.google.com/p/rc-switch/
It has several example programs. One of the programs uses an RF
receiver to listen to your RF remote and decode the signal into a
sequence of binaries, and another program sends the decoded signal
through an RF transmitter to simulate the RF remote. This is actually
more convenient than my method because it uses an Arduino program to
decode the signal, so there is no need to manually parse the signals
on the screen. I thought this may be very useful for you.

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--
-Ray

[Richard Thompson]

I did a bunch of reading about that very thing today.

This is the device that I just ordered to play with it.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/100-NEW-High-power-85V-250V-RF-4-CH-Wide-Volt
age-Multi-Function-Waterproof-Wireless-Remote/631230358.html

It listed at least one chip in common with the device on the page that you
cited.

Thanks,
Richard

Btw, how many people are using your sprinkler, do you think ?

-----Original Message-----
From: rays...@googlegroups.com [mailto:rays...@googlegroups.com] On
Behalf Of Rayshobby
Sent: Monday, November 05, 2012 4:53 PM
To: rays...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [rayshobby] Re: Can Opensprinkler be used to run landscape
lighting as well ?

[Ray]

There are 550+ opensprinklers out there, including all versions from 1.0 to 1.4.