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Maxicom User Manual Addendum

1. 48 IRRIGATION PROPERTIES IN 48 Crop Coeficiente Ste cata Sea aun al esa paa 48 Soil Moisture Holding Capacityu uu nde iy eei eei Hl e e EO a 48 Soil Infiltration Rates uy ua t n a HE EDO CES EO EC FEE TER URS CLER ESTER Landscape Coefficient Cycle Soak ie mes t uM ML ML M Ud MM LUI MAXICOM ICON RIGHT CLICK OPTIONS eene tenentes ttt seet rtk sst n EEEE Serr e aese 52 MAXICOM WARNING SYSTEM a entente bett ttes EA ESSEE EEA tenete sette eese 52 RAN SHUT 52 RUNTIME ROSTER NUMBER COLORS sre Fe cci pu edo agp ea eee e Hei ec E cada EE rich 53 EXPLANATION OF STATUS u iecore cede esee Ec ip cci bo acp e voe Pe pde ver acad Eo yasa 53 MAXIMUM DAILY ET VALUE iine emendet ences 54 ET STACKING 5186 c MED M E 54 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MINIMUM MAXIMUM AND IRRIGATION EL nennen nennen 56 WEATHER STATION CONTACTS AND ET DATA 57 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 2 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum SITE RAIN CAN ACCOUNTING IN IRRIGATION 57 EFFECT OF R
2. 70 FREEDOM COMMANDS 70 BREEDOM SYSTEM RESPONSES naucis 71 FREEDOM RUN TIME VERSUS CONTROLLER STATION a 71 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 3 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum MAXICOM SYSTEM OVERVIEW is a hardware and software package that offers genuine central management of irrigation Systems manages irrigation systems by sending out instructions schedules and by constantly monitoring feedback to verify the instructions are carried out Maxicom can monitor current flow check for breaks or leaks and turn off the offending zone or main line Maxicom manages flow throughout the entire system to take maximum advantage of available water and to prevent mainlines from exceeding their capacities can also control and monitor lights fountains security systems etc The immediate savings are in water and labor Most controller run sites are over watered can use evapotranspiration ET based scheduling to replace only the amount of water lost through evaporation and transpiration or plant use It is not unusual for new users to reduce water usage by 25 40 in the first year Labor costs are reduced because physically monitoring a site for breaks stuck valves or missing nozzles is no longer necessary The long term benefit is a healthier more att
3. medium to high Reference ET e Ahigh Minimum ET Asmalldifference between Minimum and Maximum ET e Aninfrequent start day pattern e g a Monday Thursday schedule Recommendations to help minimize these effects include reducing Minimum ET adding more start days and investigate increasing Maximum ET Weather Station Contacts and ET Data Typically Maxicom users will set their weather station contact for as soon before their auto send contacts as they can But we have recently seen confusion regarding how current the data that uses is For Maxicor Versions 1 10 2 1 When the ET data is received from the Weather Station Maxicom will look at the last full hour of data and then use the data up until one hour before that in order to calculate the irrigation ET For example if the weather station contact was at 3 30 PM the last full hour of data ended at 3 PM so Maxicom will use the data up until 2 PM for that night s ET calculation Because of this if it rains at 2 30 PM that rainfall will not be considered until the following night For Maxicor Version 3 0 When the ET data is received from the Weather Station will look at the last full hour of data and use that data For example if the weather station contact was at 3 30 PM the last full hour of data ended at 3 PM so Maxicom will use the data up until 3 PM for that night s ET calculation Note If the weather station contact is soo
4. Schedule Rain Watch Site Example Schedule Number 810 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 START IF CHANNEL 03 OFF FOR 15 SECONDS 002 PULSE COUNTDOWN CHANNEL 03 WAIT 005 PULSES 003 LINK INTERRUPT Schedule s 105 004 PAUSE FOR 15 SECONDS 005 LINK START Schedule s 811 006 PAUSE FOR 120 SECONDS 007 RESUME Schedule s 105 008 LINK CANCEL Schedule s 811 NOTE Regarding the START IF CHANNEL 03 OFF FOR 15 SECONDS command the beginning of a Rain Watch schedule This command line is there to 1 ensure the schedule is sent to the CCU every day and 2 ensure the schedule is always running looking to count pulses However if you have Link Satellites or Site Sats you may have encountered that a Rain Gauge may be indicating ON or OFF when in a steady state non rainfall condition This is due to elements of the sensor inputs and the Rain Gauge state at time of hookup If using a Rain Watch schedule with a Link Satellite or Site Sat you should include two Start If commands if you do not want to go through the trouble of determining the state and then changing your schedule to match it This would appear in the schedule like 001 START IF CHANNEL 01a ON FOR 15 SECONDS 002 START IF CHANNEL 01a OFF FOR 15 SECONDS 002
5. fthe behind the scenes counter exceeds Minimum ET before the next scheduled irrigation occurs this value is added to the Irrigation ET So anytime before the next scheduled irrigation that this behind the scenes counter exceeds the Minimum ET threshold the amount on the counter is added to the Irrigation ET value and the counter restarts 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 56 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum e When the scheduled irrigation day comes Maxicom uses the value that is shown as the Irrigation ET Any balance in the behind the scenes counter is not used on that scheduled day Instead this amount becomes the start to the tally for the following scheduled irrigation day This is why some customers perceive Maxicom to be a couple days behind in ET f at any time the sum being used for Irrigation ET exceeds Maximum ET then the value for Maximum ET is used the next scheduled irrigation day The amount that the sum exceeded Maximum ET is then carried over to the next scheduled irrigation day However if the user has infrequent start days during hot months this may cause Maxicom to fall behind on ET The adverse effects of the behind the scenes counter needing to reach Minimum ET prior to adding to the value used for Irrigation ET and the effects of that Irrigation ET sum exceeding Maximum ET are most readily apparent in Sites with the following
6. This warning system is most frequently seen with the Are you sure you want to exit Maxicom dialog box when a user goes to shut down the user interface This warning system can be turned on and off If the user goes to System gt Properties gt Preference tab he she will see a check box for Enable Warning System If this box is not checked the warning dialog boxes will not appear It is recommended that users leave these warnings enabled to prevent accidentally deleting sites etc Rain Shut Down The Maxicom Rain Shut Down feature was designed to allow a user initiated shutdown of a site s non protected irrigation While originally designed and named for rain events this feature is often used as an emergency shutdown for a site As such it is necessary to ensure proper understanding of the functionality of a Rain Shut Down The Rain Shut Down feature allows a user to turn off all currently scheduled non protected irrigation for a site When a Rain Shut Down is initiated the Central Controller does a one time cancel and delete of all non protected schedules in the CCU and then prevents all automatic send contacts of the site until the Rain Shut Down is cancelled That a site is in the state of Rain Shut Down does not mean that irrigation will not occur since protected schedules will still run used by some locations for lighting etc Also even though a site is in Rain Shut Down a CCU can
7. optional time The condition set must exist for at least the time period specified Can be set for 1 99 seconds or minutes Example CANCEL IF Channel 09 ON for 10 minutes Note e This will cancel only the current schedule If you want to cancel multiple schedules or channels use the LINK CANCEL instruction Sensor ADVANCE Command ADVANCE IF Channel Channel Condition for time seconds minutes delay for time seconds minutes or hours The Sensor ADVANCE instruction allows a schedule to advance one step in its program when a specified sensor condition has been met An optional sensitivity and delay time can be added The sensitivity time is the length of time the condition must exist before triggering this advance instruction The delay time is the minimum length of time that must pass between advance instructions Argument Explanation Channel Sets which channel number to monitor for the desired condition Condition Sets the condition to look for ON is a sensor closed or on condition OFF is a sensor open or off condition optional time The condition set must exist for at least the time period specified Can be set for 1 99 seconds or minutes optional delay for time The delay time is the minimum interval between advances Can be set for 0 to 99 seconds or minutes or 0 9 9 hours prevents rapid advancing due to a single prolonged condition Exa
8. Channel s 01 02 07 10 Notes 1 IMPORTANT To cancel Flo Managed schedules currently running the Channel will need to be cancelled Once stations and runtimes are posted to the runtime Roster when schedule starts canceling the schedule will not cancel those times When the user LINK CANCELs a channel the CCU clears the runtime roster for that channel all currently running Flo Managed schedules on that channel But it does not do anything to cancel schedules that have not yet started or currently running step schedules which aren t in the roster To cancel a currently running step schedule the user needs to link cancel the schedule itself To ensure nothing else starts for a day etc the user can REPEAT the LINK CANCEL command or repeat the schedule 2 This instruction has a variety of applications For instance it can be used in conjunction with a Sensor instruction to activate LINK CANCEL based on a sensor condition LINK ADVANCE Command LINK ADVANCE Schedule s schedule The LINK ADVANCE instruction activates the advancing of another schedule or group of schedules When a schedule is advanced it stops the step in progress and begins executing the next step in the schedule Flow managed operation cannot be advanced Argument Explanation schedule Sets the schedule number s to advance Up to six schedules can be entered per line Multiple lines can be placed in a single schedule Schedule
9. Control Schedules STEP SCHEDULE SKIP DAYS MASTER SLAVE SCHEDULES MULTIPLE STATION OPERATION COMPLEX SCEDULES MASTER VALVE CONTROL CONTROL OF FOUNTAINS AND OTHER NON IRRIGATION DEVICES Monitoring Schedules RAIN WATCH RAIN CANCEL WIND WATCH FREEZE WATCH LOG FLOW LOW FLOW SEEF SEEF Normally Open Master Valve 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 25 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Note Comments in Maxicom Schedules When programming schedules in it is possible to place a comment in the schedule to explain a step etc by placing an asterisk before the comment Remember however that comments are not supposed to be on the same line as instructions Maxicom does not prevent this like MAXICOM for DOS did so users may assume it is okay Comments should always be on a separate line Incorrect Station 07 060 Minutes Blue flowers by east door Correct Station 07 060 Minutes Blue flowers by east door If the comment is written on the same line Maxicom2 may interpret it as some form of command depending on what characters are used e g an x on the same line as the command above is believed to cancel the runtime and make the command ET adjusted Note Design of Schedule Examples to Follow The schedule examples that follow are examples of way to do things They are not meant as the only way to do
10. turn on channel CC stations SS through SS for time TT minutes The normal use of the command is as shown below 05 21 2004 01 36 58 PM 3 1 1 6 15 05 21 2004 01 36 58 PM Turn On Site 3 Freedom Channel 1 Station 1 through 6 for 15 minute s 05 21 2004 01 37 39 3 4 5 10 30 05 21 2004 01 37 39 Turn On Site 3 Freedom Channel 4 Station 5 through 10 for 30 minute s As a workaround to this issue we can enter the same Station Number twice and there is no restriction on the time entered apart from the fact that it must be between 1 and 99 05 21 2004 01 40 16 PM 3 1 6 6 20 05 21 2004 01 40 16 PM Turn On Site 3 Freedom Channel 1 Station 6 for 20 minute s 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 72 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird User Manual Addendum Blank Page 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 73
11. 0 FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected YES Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 FLO WATCH Zone Monitor 01 Channel 04 04 002 SEEF 1 2 times projected Settle 3 minutes 1 Eliminate 003 M4se Satellite CHANNEL 02 004 Station 24 12 hours 005 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 47 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum MAXICOM INDICATIONS AND OPERATIONS Irrigation Properties in Maxicom Maxicom has a number of settings on both the site specific and station specific levels that allow you to set up your system to compensate for the irrigation requirements and restrictions of varying soil and plant types Descriptions of these different settings are detailed below along with guidelines to help the Water Manager determine the proper settings for his or her system Level Site Specific Station Specific Location Site Properties Setup gt Irrigation Tab CCU Properties gt Station Properties Settings Crop Coefficient 0 00 9 99 Landscape Coefficient 0 999 Soil Moisture Holding Capacity inches Cycle Time minutes Soil Infiltration Rate inches hr Soak Time mintues Crop Coefficient The crop coefficient is the evapotranspiration ET adjustment factor for the type of plant at the site This adjustment factor is necessary because certain types of plants require more w
12. Loam Soil 60 min Cycle 30 min Cycle 20 min Cycle 15 min Cycle 12 min Cycle 5 896 Slope 0 min Soak 30 min Soak 40 min Soak 45 min Soak 48 min Soak Loam Soil 50 min Cycle 24 min Cycle 16 min Cycle 12 min Cycle 10 min Cycle 8 12 Slope 10 min Soak 36 min Soak 44 min Soak 48 min Soak 50 min Soak Loam Soil 36 min Cycle 18 min Cycle 12 min Cycle 8 min Cycle 6 min Cycle 12 Slope 24 min Soak 42 min Soak 48 min Soak 52 min Soak 54 min Soak Silt Soil 36 min Cycle 18 min Cycle 12 min Cycle 8 min Cycle 6 min Cycle 0 5 Slope 24 min Soak 42 min Soak 48 min Soak 52 min Soak 54 min Soak Silt Soil 30 min Cycle 15 min Cycle 10 min Cycle 8 min Cycle 6 min Cycle 5 896 Slope 30 min Soak 45 min Soak 50 min Soak 52 min Soak 54 min Soak Silt Soil 18 min Cycle 9 min Cycle 6 min Cycle 5 min Cycle 4 min Cycle 8 12 Slope 42 min Soak 51 min Soak 54 min Soak 55 min Soak 56 min Soak Silt Soil 12 min Cycle 6 min Cycle 4 min Cycle 3 min Cycle 2 min Cycle 12964 Slope 48 min Soak 54 min Soak 56 min Soak 57 min Soak 58 min Soak Clay Soil 18 min Cycle 9 min Cycle 6 min Cycle 5 min Cycle 4 min Cycle 0 596 Slope 42 min Soak 54 min Soak 54 min Soak 55 min Soak 56 min Soak Clay Soil 12 min Cycle 6 min Cycle 4 min Cycle 3 min Cycle 2 min Cycle 5 896 Slope 48 min Soak 54 min Soak 56 min Soak 57 min Soak 58 min Soak Clay Soil 10 min Cycle 5 min Cycle 3 min Cycle 2 min Cycle 1 min Cycle 8 12 Sl
13. No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 SKIP DAYS 02 Starting On 10 1 02 002 START AT 06 50AM 003 PAUSE FOR 02 minutes 004 M4se Satellite CHANNEL 01 005 Station 04 010 minutes 006 Station 05 010 minutes 007 Station 06 010 minutes Schedule Cancel Specific Day Site Example Schedule Number 016 Programmed Repeats Continuously FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected Runtime Adjustment Site ET Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 START ON SUNDAY 002 START AT 12 00AM 003 LINK CANCEL Schedule s 015 004 PAUSE FOR 01 minutes 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 32 Install Confidence _ Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Schedule Cancel Day Cancel Site Example Schedule Number 017 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 START ON SUNDAY 002 START AT 11 55PM 003 LINK CANCEL Schedule s 016 004 005 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 33 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Master Valve Control Purpose To turn on a Master Valve whenever a selected satellite listed is on Hardware Normally Closed Master Valve Program Station 24 of the lowest channel number in the Flow Zone of the master valve Channel 2 in example below must be blank
14. data from the live Maxicom Database While it may be possible to have other applications accessing the database concurrently with Maxicom it cannot be guaranteed and in some cases the associated application may interfere with operations of the Central Control system We recommend that customers do not attempt to pull real time data from the live Maxicom Database Maxicom has been set up with an Export Database to allow use of data in other applications It should be noted however that the Export Database is not a real time representation of data Since Rain Bird Corporation can not guarantee operation of Maxicom in conjunction with another application accessing the live database any attempt at such integration will void the Maxicom Warranty and any guarantee of support should the customer be a Support Plan subscriber Using a CD Burner for Database Backup The following is a description of how to use a CD Burner now shipping on Rain Bird Central Controllers for Database Backup Please note You should have Roxio Easy CD Creator software equivalent e g Sonic DLA etc on the computer ships with the Maxicom Central Controllers The process to Backup to CD is as follows using Roxio Easy CD Creator as example 1 Place a blank CD in the CD drive burner You want to navigate to the Roxio Project Selector program but this should automatically start when a blank CD is put into the drive Otherwise it should be fo
15. Channel 28 On the second row the configuration is shown CCU type and device type on each channel An explanation of the remaining data is as follows Column 1 has a header for each row as Log 1 Log 2 Log 24 These headers are a representation of the data set and their meaning depends on what column you are in The CCU column is hourly data for the day selected so Log 1 is 12 01 AM 01 00 AM The Channel columns are representations of contacts where Maxicom receives logs from the CCU Auto Send or Auto Receive contact or Manual contact where user gets logs So Log 1 is the first contact of that day etc This is important because it means the data in the Channel columns has no relation to the data in the CCU column on the same row CCU Column The CCU column has four data measures Null Busy Free Link This data is measured in 10ths of seconds in the hour 1 hour 60 minutes 3600 seconds 36 000 tenths of seconds so there are 36 000 data points This is because the CCU checks the radio Carrier Detect CD signal 10 times every second The Null value will always be zero Busy represents the amount where the CD is active but the CCU is not sending or expecting to receive an answer from a Satellite This helps determine if the frequency being used is noisy or used by another entity Free represents the amount where the CD is inactive nothing on the frequency Link represents the amount where the C
16. Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 41 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Freeze Watch reaction to temperature at the site Purpose FREEZE WATCH causes active channels listed on the schedule to interrupt when a freeze sensor drops below its set point Channel activity resumes once temperature rises above the set point Hardware Switch Type Freeze Sensor similar to Glen Hilton Freeze Clik Model 401 Rain Bird Sensor Decoder DECSEN M51300 Program The FREEZE WATCH function is accomplished using three separate schedules The primary schedule 906 contains a START IF instruction to monitor the temperature sensor to trigger the INTERRUPT instruction A PAUSE instruction on the next line allows time for the prior instruction to be carried out The LINK START instruction is then used to start a secondary schedule The secondary schedule 907 begins with a PAUSE then cycles continuously over the LINK RESUME PAUSE and LINK START until the freeze sensor reports temperatures above the threshold condition Temperatures above freezing will cause the primary schedule to switch OFF and the secondary schedule to execute the three steps it has been skipping over LINK RESUME PAUSE and LINK START the final schedule The final schedule 908 uses PAUSE and LINK CANCEL to stop the cycling of the secondary schedule These schedules must be Step Type Schedule Irrigation Example Site
17. Drip System Schedules 401 to 428 Series Schedules Tree irrigation Schedules 501 to 528 Series Schedules Miscellaneous Schedules Lighting fountains etc 601 to 628 Series Schedules Sensor Schedules 701 to 728 Series Schedules Rain Watch Schedules 801 to 828 Series Schedules Flow watch Schedules 901 to 928 Series Schedules Emergency Schedules Master Schedule Numbering Master Schedules can start other secondary schedules that have common control instructions This numbering scheme allows the user to control a number of schedules from one master schedule The user can set the start time s day s to operate and other control instructions in one location for a number of schedules For example a Monday master schedule will Link Start all schedules which are to operate on Mondays If the user desires to not allow irrigation on Mondays all that is required is to turn off the Monday master schedule Cyclical scheduling sensor starts and other types of controls can also be utilized from master schedules This numbering system can be integrated with other numbering schemes such as cyclical or horticultural to provide a complete systematic numbering strategy The example below integrates a horticultural based numbering scheme with a master schedule system 001 to 028 Series Schedules Turf Area Schedules 100 Master Schedule for s
18. ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ener nsss rs ae or esa E iai reao AE ae T AEs EEA TE Ssa AE a are 8 DATABASE INTEGRATION sic u au u nus un eE E EAA E EE E NETA NEES 8 USING A CD BURNER FOR DATABASE BACKUP ccscscessecssseseeeseeeeeseeesseecsseeseseecesecesseessaeessseeeeaeceeseeesaeessseeeeneeesgs 8 CENTRAL CONTROLLER TO CCU CONNECTION SPEED nennen 9 NUMBERING SCHEDULES uU aaa E 10 SIMPLISTIC TO COMPLEX SCHEDULE 10 CYCLIC WATERING PATTERN SCHEDULE NUMBERING a 10 HORTICULTURAL BASED SCHEDULE NUMBERING 11 MASTER SCHEDULE NUMBBERING SL NAMING SCHEDULES COMMAND EXAMPIDIBS CC 066 BASIC COMMANDS IN SCHEDULES LINK COMMANDS IN SCHEDULES SENSOR COMMANDS IN SCHEDULES u ratto rario m enero Vn ve pea o a S cx e
19. Multiple Satellite sites requiring Park automatic shutdown Maxicom schedules Fail Safe Fails closed if power is out and mainline Fails open if power is out and mainline Mode breaks breaks One Master Valve with Multiple Satellites There are 3 basic options for controlling a Master Valve with multiple Maxicom Satellites Option One Wire the normally closed master valve to each Satellite Controllers pump start master valve circuit isolating them with relays The triac output on the ESP SAT does not like to see incoming voltage from another controller The detail on how to do this is on the Rain Bird web site Be sure to use the wiring option to have multiple controllers working at the same time Be sure to select the Maintain Normally Open Master Valve option in the Flo Watch Schedule Good points This option works with Maxicom or without you can get water even if the CCU is not working Bad points If the Satellite Controllers are a long ways apart this option could require a lot of wire Requires extra wiring amp relays Option Two Wire the normally closed master valve to Satellite Controller 1 pump start master valve circuit This option will require unused station on Satellite Controller 1 B A Maxicom Schedule to turn on this spare station if Satellite Controller 2 3 etc is active C Use of the Station Park command to coordinate spare station activity with normal irrigation activity D Se
20. Open SEEF Results Search and Eliminate possible results e Main Line Break e False Alarm e Faulty Station e Fall Through e Alarms but no action taken User should always place a Link Cancel command at the end of a SEEF instruction ensuring all channels in the Flow Zone are canceled following a main line break These schedules must be Step Type no Runtime Adjustment Schedule SEEF Flow Watch Zone 1 Site Example Schedule Number 902 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected NO Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 FLO WATCH Zone Monitor 01 Channel 04 04 002 SEEF 1 3 times projected Settle 3 minutes 1 Eliminate m Maintain normally closed 003 LINK CANCEL Channel s 04 05 07 10 004 005 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 46 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird User Manual Addendum SEEF Normally Open Master Valve Purpose Perform SEEF if using a Normally Open Master Valve power to close Hardware Rain Bird Flow Sensor Pulse Transmitter 2 wire pulse decoder Normally Open Master Valve Program The master valve is parked on a Satellite station Station must be on for valve to be closed Allow enough time for user to return and see alarm condition Schedule SEEF Norm Open MV Site Example Schedule Number 905 Programmed Repeats
21. PULSE COUNTDOWN CHANNEL 01a WAIT 005 PULSES Schedule Rain Count Site Example Schedule Number 811 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 PULSE COUNTDOWN Channel 03 WAIT 005 Pulses 002 LINK START Schedule s 812 003 004 005 NOTE Regarding the LINK CANCEL command line at the end of the RAIN WATCH Schedule This command is to cancel the RAIN COUNT schedule reset the counter Schedule 810 has a PAUSE FOR 02 MINUTES command on line 006 This pause gives schedule 811 time to count and start schedule 812 to cancel irrigation if it is raining hard However if that PAUSE expires longer than 2 minutes schedule 105 resumes AND schedule 811 continues counting So if the system received 4 pulses during the 2 minutes and 12 an hour later received one more pulse then 812 would be started and the Rain Inhibit would occur This allows the rain inhibit to occur based on an amount of rain no matter how long it takes If the user prefers the Rain Count schedule to reset after the pause a LINK CANCEL Schedule s 811 command line would need added at the end of schedule 810 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 37 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Schedule Rain Inhibit Site Example Schedule Number 812 Pro
22. Printer Symanec PCAnywhere version 10 5 at least software Uninterruptible Power Supply UPS Port s Connector Type RJ11 USB Power Provided 650 VA 360 Watts Output Connector s 8 Outlets with Surge Protection 4 Outlets provide battery backup 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 7 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird User Manual Addendum Environmental Conditions Based on the policies of the computer manufacturer the recommended environmental conditions for the Maxicom Central Controller Temperature Operating 10 to 35 C 50 to 95 F Non operating 40 to 65 C 40 to 149 F Relative Humidity 20 to 80 non condensing While these are the specified environmental conditions the customer should be aware that they are not a guarantee of proper operation The computer manufacturer holds that as the extremes are approached performance will degrade and possibly lead to a system shutdown Adverse environmental conditions may also lead to an increase in deterioration rate of system components It is the recommendation of Rain Bird Corporation that Maxicom customers house their Central Controller in a controlled environment indoors air conditioned in order to optimize system performance and maximize lifespan of system components Database Integration It is the current policy of Rain Bird Corporation to discourage the practice of integration with or pulling
23. SEEF operation This threshold is stated as a multiplier to be used for the data table entries The deviation must be between 1 1 110 threshold and 9 9 990 threshold Most settings are between 1 1 and 1 8 Settling time This is the amount of time the condition must exist before starting the SEEF process This can be set between 1 minute and 9 minutes Next action Sets the next action to be taken when a SEEF condition is found The two choices are 1 Eliminate will search for and stop the operation of the problem valve or component 0 Fall thru will immediately go to and perform the next step instruction optional MV m is an optional parameter for master valve systems This alerts the CCU to open a option normally closed master valve during the SEEF operation This option requires that an unused station on the lowest channel satellite controller in the FLO WATCH zone be used to operate the master valve Example SEEF 1 5 times projected Settle 4 minutes 1 Eliminate m Maintain normally closed master valve Notes e The FLO WATCH Zone Monitor instruction must immediately precede this command 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 24 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird User Manual Addendum SCHEDULE EXAMPLES Purpose Information provided in this section offers practical examples of typical Maxicom Central Control schedules The software is designed to be a
24. Zone Log On at 12 00AM Off at 11 00PM Sample every 7 minutes Note e The log period and sample interval determine the amount of CCU memory used Since the total memory allocated for logging is limited to approximately 10 000 samples you should plan for efficient usage The total sample area is capable of holding approximately 7 full 24 hour logs at one minute intervals 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 22 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum LOW FLOW Command LOW FLOW deviation times projected settle settling time minutes Fall Through optional Command LOW FLOW Detect ZERO flow only settle settling time minutes Fall Through optional LOW FLOW provides alarms and fall through actions when actual flow is less than expected LOW FLOW will operate based on information entered into the FLO WATCH data table in the Site Properties the Flow Rate and FLO WATCH Zone data tables located in the CCU Properties and information entered by a preceding FLO WATCH Zone Monitor instruction LOW FLOW will monitor the flow in a Flo Zone and alarm if flow less than expected dues to stuck valves plugged heads etc is detected The user can define the percentage of flow above normal projected flow that the system will react to and define a settling time before alarm occurs The user may also optional define fall through actions to occur in the event of an
25. a percentage of the messages the CCU sent in that period After the CCU logs the data into it clears them from memory and starts logging again Some customers have encountered issues interpreting this because MR and MA do not always match up due to the logging format A good example and one often encountered is if you have the Auto Receive and the Auto Send in the same hour top of the hour the CCU gets the MR number from the Satellite Some time later at T1 the Auto Receive contact is made and the CCU sends all data to let s say this data shows up as Log 1 and then clears it s memory and starts logging again Atsome time later T2 in the same hour the Auto Send contact is made The CCU once again sends the wireless data to Maxicom and this will show up as Log 2 Log 2 represents the time period between T1 and T2 Since we did not hit the top of the hour in this period the CCU did not get any MR data from the satellite so MR would be zero Assuming the CCU did send messages during this time though there will be an MA value Because the is zero the block will be flagged red even if MA is 100 You can also see how if there is yet another contact in the day there could be more Messages Received than the CCU sent Those messages received by the satellite between the top of the hour and T2 will not be logged in the CCU until the top of the next hour However the number of messages se
26. a user has put a LINK START instruction at the end of such a schedule their intent was that it should not link start until after all the cycles have been run NOT after each cycle or pass through the schedule When we first came out with cycle and soak such a schedule would execute ALL instructions for each cycle of runtimes Now it waits to execute LINK STARTS until all cycles are executed LINK CANCEL Command LINK CANCEL cancel item of item to cancel The LINK CANCEL instruction cancels the operation of another schedule or group of schedules for the irrigation day Argument Explanation cancel item Sets the item to cancel Channel s to cancel a channel or group of channels Schedule s to cancel a step schedule or group of step schedules of item to Sets the channel or schedule number s to cancel Up to six schedules can be entered cancel per line Multiple lines can be placed in a single schedule For schedules enter schedule numbers separated by commas Schedule numbers for a range can be entered by using a hyphen as is possible with channels For channel numbers enter channel numbers separated by commas for single channel notation or with dashes to select a group of channels i e 7 10 selects channels 7 8 9 and 10 Using a combination of comma separations and ranges hyphens is allowable for channels but not schedules Example LINK CANCEL Schedule s 002 003 005 200 LINK CANCEL
27. and omits desired non water days using the Event Calendar will not accumulate ET or Rainfall for that schedule during the omit days Note This feature may not be available in the future due to changes required in the Event Calendar to enable Odd Even scheduling planned post 2 1 NOTE These guidelines and the following examples are based on a single Master schedule per Slave design Scheduling methods that include two or more Master schedules that link start the same Slave schedule or nested Slave designs do not react the same Examples SCHEDULE START DAYS Master MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN Slave Result Irrigation on each day only includes that day s ET Note Because the Slave has no start days ET accumulation is based on the Master schedule SCHEDULE START DAYS Master MON WED FRI Slave MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN Result Irrigation on each Master start day only includes that day s ET 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 54 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum SCHEDULE START DAYS Master MON WED FRI Slave Result Irrig
28. any irrigation demand when it energizes the station What stations need to be left blank depend on the number of stations channels used by the controller One caveat If the satellite is being used in multi station mode where Maxicom uses the 6 packs to turn on multiple valves at once the CCU always sees the satellite as 24 stations In single station mode turns on one station at a time it sees a sat as either a 12 or 24 Please reference the following chart Station to leave blank for SEEF Number of If operated as single station Sat If operated as multi station Sat Stations on SAT leave following blank leave following blank 12 12 None uses 24 16 None uses 24 None uses 24 24 24 24 28 24 uses 36 on Channel 2 24 uses 48 on Channel 2 32 24 uses 36 on Channel 2 24 uses 48 on Channel 2 36 24 36 24 uses 48 on Channel 2 40 24 uses 48 on Channel 2 24 uses 48 on Channel 2 Stations Running while SEEF Actions are occurring In order to clarity some misconceptions When the CCU is actively seeking the cause of excessive flow it does not quarantine the Flow Zone prevent anything else from running SEEF interrupts current active stations in the flow zone where excessive flow is detected and it prevents other stations in the same hydraulic groups as those that were active from running The hydraulic groups are the series of every six station
29. being less than expected The user can set a threshold of 10 90 of expected in 10 increments or set it to alarm only if there is Zero No Flow The user also has the option to take Fall Through actions in the event of alarm cancel schedules etc Hardware Rain Bird Flow Sensor Pulse Transmitter 2 wire pulse decoder CCU EPROM Chip Version 6 00R or later Program LOW FLOW alarms for flow less than expected LOW FLOW Parameters e Allowable Threshold 0 1 0 9x theoretical normal for what is running Settling Time How long threshold must be exceeded before alarm Fall Through optional e Proceed to and carry out the next step command in the schedule Upon Alarm e Analarm will be posted to the Event Log stating the alarm date and time alarm type Low or Zero Flow the Flow Watch Zone and for the first five alarms the stations running at the time of the alarm e lfaLow Flow condition turns into a Zero Flow condition a second alarm will be posted for the Zero Flow Upon Alarm Clear flow returns above threshold Awarning will be posted to the Event Log stating the warning date and time and Low or Zero Flow Alarm Clear e f a Low Flow condition becomes Zero Flow condition this supercedes the Low Flow state When the condition clears only a Zero Flow Alarm Clear warning will be posted but both alarms will be reset These schedules must be Step Type no Runtime Adjustment Schedule LOW FLOW Flow
30. day is odd or even Hardware No special hardware required Version 3 0 required Program For odd even patterns the START DAYS will be designated as ODD Days EVEN Days or ODD31 Days odd days with the exception of the 31 in 31 day months These schedules also have an option to exclude days of the week Excluded days are set either in the Start Days wizard in Schedule Editor or on the Schedule Properties Tab in Schedule Editor This feature allows Start Days to be set as for example Odd Days with the exception of Sunday Do not water on Sunday even if it is an odd day Schedule Odd31 Days Site Example Schedule Number 020 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER YES Automatic Send YES Protected Runtime Adjustment Site ET Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 START ON ODD31 Days 002 START AT 12 00AM 003 Ms4 Satellite CHANNEL 01 004 Station 01 Calculated 005 Station 05 Calculated NOTE In Schedule Monitoring of the Manual Site Operations screen when manually contacting a CCU an Odd Even Odd31 schedule will display the start days for the next seven days as days of the week Monday Tuesday etc Because of the way displays Start Days these days will not be in chronological order for the next seven days but listed based on a SUMTUWThFSa ordering For Example if it is Thursday and Start Days in the next seven days are Friday tomorrow and Tuesday of n
31. for activation We typically use alarm system auto dialers that can be purchased at Radio Shack or another alarm equipment dealer 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 60 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird User Manual Addendum CCU OPERATIONS Sending Configuration changes to the CCU The configuration is automatically sent to the CCU during an automatic send contact and also whenever at least one schedule is sent manually The Send Configuration function was added in Maxicom2 to allow it to be sent to the CCU after configuration CCU Properties changes are made without having to send a schedule or wait until the auto send time in order to update the CCU The configuration does not need to be manually sent only after CCU Properties are changed and it is advantageous to send the changes before the next scheduled auto send contact For example If a new flow sensor or satellite has been configured and the configuration is not sent to the CCU then there won t be any log for that device until the configuration gets sent to the CCU Or for instance the setting for a flow sensor is changed from 10 gallons per pulse to 20 gallons per pulse then the new value won t be logged by the CCU until the configuration is sent CCU Polling of Radio Link Satellites The CCU polls Radio Link Satellite channels as follows e Immediately following a station output command any change to station output including c
32. i e No valve decoder etc connected to it and the Normally Closed Master Valve wired to the Master Valve Circuit of that channels Satellite Controller Master Valve On 903 START IF schedule to open Master Valve for selected satellite in example below the Master Valve on channel 2 also provides water for channel 4 stations Provide enough time to avoid cycling Master Valve Off 904 Cancels Master Valve On schedule whenever selected satellites are off START IF command starts schedule if the selected channels are off PAUSE command to avoid turning off Master Valve too soon LINK CANCEL command cancels Master Valve On schedule turns off Master Valve since all satellites are off Caution should be used with these schedules Timing used here may not be best for all systems User should test and adjust to their equipment Schedule Master Valve On Site Example Schedule Number 903 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected NO Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 START IF Channel 04 ON for 2 seconds 002 Ms4 Satellite CHANNEL 02 003 Station 24 12 hours Park 004 005 Schedule Master Valve Off Site Example Schedule Number 904 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected NO Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 START IF Channel 04 OFF for 10 seconds 002 PAUSE FOR 05 seconds 003 LI
33. more complete listing and explanation or commands and operation Command Action 1 Turn on site s station 2 Turn off site s station 3 Turn block of stations 4 Advance channel 6 Temporarily open or close Freedom Window 8 Hang up current site and begin with another site 9 Stay on line with current site after Freedom hang up 51 Turn on a single station 52 Turn off a single station from 51 command 55 Pause a single station from 51 command 56 Resume a single station from 55 command 71 Turn on a schedule 72 Turn off a schedule 74 Advance a schedule 75 Pause a schedule 76 Resume a schedule Command Format Examples Command Action H 1 CCH SS TT Turn on channel CC station SS for time TT minutes 1 555 555 555 Turn on site to auto contact mode 2 Turn off all channels on site 2 CC Turn off only channel 55 55 Turn on channel stations SS through SS for TT minutes THIAMECCHHE Advance channel CC 51 CC SS Turn on channel CC station SS 52 Turn off station turned on with 51 command 55 Pause station turned on with 51 command 56 Resume station paused with 55 command 71 SCH Turn on schedule SCH 72 5 Turn off sche
34. numbers for a range can 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 17 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum be entered by using a hyphen Example LINK ADVANCE Schedule s 002 003 005 200 Note This instruction has a variety of applications For instance it can be used in conjunction with a Sensor instruction to activate LINK ADVANCE based on a sensor condition LINK INTERRUPT Command LINK INTERRUPT interrupt item of item to interrupt LINK INTERRUPT instruction activates the interruption of another schedule or group of schedules When a schedule is interrupted it ceases to operate until a LINK UN INTERRUPT instruction is executed for the schedule Argument Explanation interrupt item Sets the item to interrupt Channel s to interrupt a channel or group of channels Schedule s to interrupt a schedule or group of schedules of item to interrupt Sets the channel or schedule number s to interrupt Up to six schedules can be entered per line Multiple lines can be placed in a single schedule For schedules enter schedule numbers separated by commas Schedule numbers for a range can be entered by using a hyphen as is possible with channels For channel numbers enter channel numbers separated by commas for single channel notation or with dashes to select a group of channels i e 7 10 selects channel
35. off If the flow sensor registers no flow the excessive flow is assumed to have come from downstream of a valve Each station that was operating at the time SEEF was activated is turned back on one at a time Actual flow FLO WATCH Zone Monitor is compared to projected flow Flow Rate data table until the problem station is found An alarm message is logged and the valve is shut down for the remainder of that schedule s running If SEEF is activated and the flow sensor registers flow with all participating stations turned off the problem is on the mainline An alarm message is logged and the system proceeds to the next instruction in the schedule This instruction causes whatever action may be called for Cancel all irrigation schedules and close the system master valve for example Detect excessive flow then proceed immediately to the next instruction in the schedule This is known as Fall through When excessive flow is found the system logs an alarm message and proceeds to the next instruction in the schedule it does not take action to seek out the problem station This instruction causes whatever action may be called for such as cancel all irrigation schedules and close the system master valve for example User should always place a Link Cancel command after a SEEF instruction ensuring all channels in the Flow Zone are canceled following a main line break Argument Explanation Deviation Sets the threshold for starting the
36. operating on Does the name tell which stations are going to run Does the name tell which types of devices are going to run Does the name start with a common word for schedule listing When sorting schedules Maxicom can sort by schedule names This allows the user to select only the schedules in a certain group or range by listing all schedules with a common letter or word For example you can name all schedules used for Rain Watch beginning with the word RAIN When you sort schedules you can select all schedules starting with Rain in order to list only those schedules for Rain Watch Naming by which location will operate Shrubs NE Shrubs NW Turf Areas Soccer Field Baseball Field Naming by what is being controlled Monday Sprays Nighttime Rotors Landscape Drip Soccer Lights Main Fountain Master Pump Naming by device type e ESP12SAT A Shrubs e RAIN WATCH RAINGAUGE 2 Naming by channel and station Name What Operates 3 1 5 8 21 Operates Channel 3 Stations 1 through 5 8 and 21 5 4 7 9 15 Operates Channel 5 Stations 4 7 9 and 15 15 1 8 Operates Channel 15 Stations 1 through 8 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 12 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird User Manual Addendum COMMAND EXAMPLES Purpose Information provided in this section offers practical examples of typical Maxicom Central Control schedule commands Overview Sch
37. the following minimum requirements Intel Pentium 166 MHz or faster processor 32 megabytes RAM Standard SVGA monitor 800 x 600 256 colors Mouse 101 key standard keyboard 2 GB hard disk drive 3 5 inch floppy disk drive CD ROM drive One free serial port for communication with Rain Bird Cluster Control Units CCUs Windows 98SE or NT software Printer Maxicom does not require more than 100 megabytes of hard disk space above the operating system for a full installation Actual disk space requirements may be greater with use depending upon the amount of logged historical data and the number of sites Maxicom is not designed to operate on a computer with a non Intel Pentium based microprocessor for the primary central processing unit Recommended Hardware and Software Requirements The current specifications of the Rain Bird Maxicom Central Controller and the recommended requirements for existing software only users for running Maxicom Pentium IV 2 8 GHz or faster processor 512 megabytes RAM 17 Visible Flat Panel monitor 101 key standard AT keyboard 40 GB 7200 RPM hard disk drive 3 5 inch floppy disk drive 48X CD RW drive with Roxio Easy CD Creator software 2 button Mouse with scroll U S Robotics 56K V 92 External Faxmodem two DIGI ClassicBoard four serial ports WindowsXP Professional Operating System SP1 minimum NTFS Integrated Video Sound card and speakers
38. things Most of the examples show status for Flo Manager ET Water Budget Runtime Adjustment etc These variables are user set and what is listed in the example is not always required For example many users do not Flo Manage Link Schedules because they are building their own Flo Management routine using multiple Link Schedules However many of the examples show Link Schedules as Flo Managed Where a setting is required there should be a note in the Program section of the example summary 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 26 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird User Manual Addendum CONTROL SCHEDULES Step Schedule Execution Purpose To operate a schedule in the sequence programmed STEP EXECUTED scheduling is utilized The full function of Maxicom can best be achieved by utilizing FLO MANAGED schedules for all irrigation schedules and using STEP EXECUTED schedules for monitoring functions master schedules and non irrigation schedules It is important to note that STEP schedules take priority over FLO MANAGED schedules Hardware No special hardware required Program Programming a STEP schedule simply requires making the schedule NOT FLO MANAGED Irrigation Scheduling by Odd Even patterns Purpose Irrigation sometimes requires the use of a Odd or Even day pattern Scheduling by Odd Even allows the system to decide which days to water on based on whether the calendar
39. when the designated volume was reached Because only accepts up to a four digit number for pulses to count up to 9999 some water managers use a REPEAT LOOP command to achieve higher levels 20 000 pulses etc While using the REPEAT will work in this instance there is an easier way In the schedule you can put multiple PULSE countdown command lines one after the other The way looks at it it will see the command to count say 9000 pulses It will do that and then go to the next line which will tell it to count 9000 pulses etc etc etc The total for the multiple lines just needs to add up to what the Water Manager needs for an amount This also provides for easier visual queue As an example if the user needs to count 15 000 pulses on a Site Sat connected flow sensor Sensor A and then cancel Schedules 002 and 005 it could look like 003 PULSE countdown Channel 01A Wait 5000 pulses 004 PULSE countdown Channel 01A Wait 5000 pulses 005 PULSE countdown Channel 01A Wait 5000 pulses 006 LINK CANCEL Schedule s 002 005 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 21 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum FLO WATCH Zone Monitor Command FLO WATCH Zone Monitor Flo zone Channel Channel z s Condition Channel 5 The FLO WATCH Zone Monitor instruction is used monitor total water flo
40. 00 PM Day 1 Auto Send contact with new runtimes 6 00 AM Day 2 Auto Receive previous night s irrigation data including Rain Amount X logged on Day 1 6 00 PM Day 2 Auto send contact with new runtimes that include adjustment for Rain Amount X Effect of Rain on Irrigation ET schedules that do not run every day In relation to Min Max and Irrigation ET Accepted Rainfall is added into the ET Checkbook as part of the process to adjust the daily balances and determine Irrigation ET However for schedules that do not run every day there is an algorithm that Maxicom uses as part of the process to count rainfall for adjusting the associated runtimes If a site receives rain that is larger than the Reference ET for that 24 hour period then Maxicom will cancel all previously accumulated irrigation ET for that schedule This in effect zeroes out the Irrigation ET counter erasing irrigation ET not yet applied and any on the behind the Scenes counter This portion of the algorithm was a change that occurred in 1999 Theoretically it may not seem right but it was designed to prevent irrigation on a day where ample rainfall has occurred such that the soil may be temporarily saturated and water would be wasted Also it addresses the situations where carrying over the irrigation ET on schedules with infrequent start days has the potential to create a never catch up scenario NOTE As stated above this case only relates
41. AIN ON IRRIGATION ET SCHEDULES THAT DO NOT RUN EVERY 58 RUNNING STATIONS FOR SECONDS L aun a to hee coe e eue EON Eu nee Dee beo seo se eee eoe auo Deve cese Dues 58 USING A PAGER WITH MAXICOM 59 ACTIVATING DOOR LOCKS WITH MAXICOM ccccsessssssesesesesesesssscscscscecssucucacseacatscsuseusasscsescacscsususacassescstststesaeees 60 5 61 SENDING CONFIGURATION CHANGES TO THE CCU 61 CCU POLLING OF RADIO LINK 61 WIRELESS DIAGNOSTIGS 2 cesi deo eo corteo eco saco o doe eoe evo aepo eu eo Eo velo ea eo dos beg 62 FLOW METER SETTINGS GALLONS PER PULSE a 63 FLOW LOGGING AND PULSE DECODER LIMITS 63 BEO MANAGER 65 STATIONS 12 OR 24 AVAILABLE FOR SEEF OPERATIONS 65 STATIONS RUNNING WHILE SEEF ACTIONS ARE OCCURRING a aaa 66 MASTER VALVE OPTIONS 67 NORMALLY CLOSED MASTER 67 NORMALLY OPEN MASTER VADNVB 67 ONE MASTER VALVE WITH MULTIPLE SATELLITES 68 FREEDOM FOR MAXICOMA
42. ANNEL 01 004 Station 01 075 seconds This WILL pass the schedule auditor NOTE If this is to be used on a sports field artificial grass it would probably be with rotors The time needs to be long enough for the rotors to make at least one cycle in that case and take into account valve opening time Using a Pager with It is possible to receive notification by pager in the event of certain alarms This functionality has been accomplished in some locations through the use of a Radio Shack auto dialer and schedules in Schedules used can range from a step at the end of a SEEF schedule to steps following a rain event wind event etc The auto dialer is triggered by simply turning on a dry contact relay 24 VAC off a spare station Needs 1 Auto dialer Radio Shack Catalog 8980 0582 2 Dry Contact Relay Typical 24VAC dry contact relay manufacturers vary Most Maxicom distributors should know where to find this 3 Spare station 4 Phone line to the auto dialer can be split off the CCU line This is a Site feature not a Central feature The auto dialer is used to make outbound alarm phone calls from the CCU s phone line These auto dialers are commonly used in the residential amp commercial alarm system business This unit can send a number alarm message based on the site number or user recorded voice message You can program the unit to make a single or multiple calls Use a spare Satellit
43. CU is sending to satellites or receiving messages back from satellites Remember These are hourly logs from midnight to midnight for the day selected Channel Column The Channel column is what often causes the most confusion Each Log represents the time period between contacts where Maxicom gets logs from the CCU Auto Send Receive or Manual with get logs So Log 1 is for the first contact of that day and displays the data since the previous contact Log 2 is the second contact and displays data since the contact represented in Log 1 If you only have one Auto Receive and one Auto Send with no manual contacts where you get logs you will only have data in two boxes in the column Data is represented in two categories Messages Answered MA and Messages Received MR Both are shown as a percentage of the messages sent by the CCU to the device on that channel are logged by the satellite so number displayed is the messages the Satellite received from the CCU as a percentage of the messages the CCU sent in that period The CCU gets the MR number 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 62 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum from the satellite every hour on the hour After the CCU gets the data from the satellite the satellite clears them from memory are logged by the CCU so number displayed is the messages the CCU receives acknowledgement for from the Satellite as
44. Example Schedule Number 106 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER No Automatic Send YES Protected NO Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 START ON MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY 002 START AT 12 30AM 003 Ms4 Satellite Channel 06 004 Station 05 020 minutes 005 Schedule Freeze Watch Site Example Schedule Number 906 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 START IF CHANNEL 04 ON FOR 30 SECONDS 002 LINK INTERRUPT Schedule s 106 003 PAUSE FOR 15 seconds 004 LINK START Schedule s 907 005 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 42 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Schedule Freeze Reset Site Example Schedule Number 907 Programmed Repeats Continuous FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 SKIP next 03 Steps Channel 04 ON 002 RESUME Schedule s 106 003 PAUSE FOR 15 seconds 004 LINK START Schedule s 908 005 PAUSE FOR 59 seconds NOTE Schedule 907 FREEZE RESET is programmed for continuous repeats So if Channel 04 is on it will skip the next three commands and PAUSE FOR 59 seconds and then check again This allows the schedule to
45. Flow condition a new alarm will be posted to the event log for the Zero Flow However when that Zero Flow condition clears only a Zero Flow Clear warning will be posted to the event log This is because the condition is seen by the CCU as either a low flow state or a zero flow state not both simultaneously The Zero Flow supercedes the Low Flow because it is more serious 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 23 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum SEEF Command SEEF deviation times projected Settle settling time minutes next action MV option SEEF stands for Search and Eliminate Excessive Flow SEEF will operate based on information entered into the FLO WATCH data table in the Site Properties the Flow Rate and FLO WATCH Zone data tables located in the CCU Properties and information entered by a preceding FLO WATCH Zone Monitor instruction SEEF will monitor the flow in a Flo Zone and automatically take action if excessive flow is detected You can define the percentage of flow above normal projected flow that the system will react to and define a settling time before action is taken When an excessive flow is detected for the defined settling time SEEF will take one of the following actions Search and eliminate excessive flow When SEEF is activated due to excessive flow all stations in the affected FLO WATCH zone operating at that time are shut
46. NK CANCEL Schedule s 903 004 005 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 34 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Control of Fountains and Other Non Irrigation Devices Purpose can control fountains security gates or other non irrigation devices with some simple programming The user can also program other monitoring functions to turn on or off these peripheral devices The method used allows a satellite controller to operate a 24VAC relay with the station output from the satellite Multiple station operation is required for this scenario to work with non irrigation devices which need to operate simultaneously with other activities Hardware Satellite controller with available stations to control the relay Relay 24 VAC Holding coil 0 15 amp maximum Program Two schedules are used to turn the lights on off Schedules to control non irrigation devices should be step schedules with no Runtime Adjustment Schedule Lights On Site Ballfield Schedule Number 601 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected YES Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 START ON MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY 002 START AT 06 00PM 003 4 Satellite CHANNEL 01 004 Station 01 001 minutes 005 Schedule Lights Off Site Ballfield Schedule N
47. PAN 3 9 93 SPRINKLERS 14428 RAIN WIND Rain Bird se 50116 SLOPE HUMIDITY COMMUNICATION A max ic om a YU NS SOLAR REPORTS RADIATION ALARMS PLANTS SCHED ULING Maxicom User Manual Addendum Rain Bird Corporation Rain Bird Corporation Rain Bird International Inc Contractor Division Commercial Division 145 North Grand Avenue 970 West Sierra Madre Avenue 6991 East Southpoint Road Glendora CA 91741 Azusa CA 91702 Tucson AZ 85706 Phone 626 963 9311 Phone 626 963 9311 Phone 520 741 6100 Fax 626 963 4287 Fax 626 812 3411 Fax 520 741 6522 Specification Hotline Rain Bird Technical Services www rainbird com 800 458 3005 U S amp Canada only 1 866 477 9778 U S amp Canada only centralcontrol rainbird com Registered Trademark of Rain Bird Corporation 2005 Rain Bird Corporation 4 05 Install Confidence _ Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum INDEX SYSTEM OVERVIEW 4 SYSTEM HARDWARE REQUIREMENI S 7 MINIMUM HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS 7 RECOMMENDED HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE 7
48. Purpose Master schedules allow the user to control the operation of a large number of schedules by changing only the master schedules Hardware No special hardware required Program Master schedules contain the control instructions common to a number of link started schedules Master schedules can be set up a number of ways Master schedules can start schedules by day of the week by day cycle and by start time as well as by sensor input Programming Master schedules requires the user to determine what type of control instructions trigger the Master schedule The Master schedule s are programmed to start according to the control functions desired day of the week day cycle start time etc and the LINK START command is used to start the secondary schedules Note When a master schedule is created BEFORE the link schedule that it link starts AND the schedule auditor warnings are ignored AND the schedule is saved as is THEN the link schedule that it link starts is NOT selected to be sent to the CCU NOTE Flo Management is always user defined Many users do not Flo Manage Link Schedules because they are building their own FM using multiple Link Schedules Schedule Weekday Master Site Example Schedule Number 400 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected NO Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 START ON MONDAY WEDNESDAY FRIDAY 002 START AT 02 00AM 003 LINK START S
49. Structures and paved areas typical of urban areas greatly affect these conditions The microclimate factor is relatively easy to establish An average microclimate condition is one in which buildings pavements slopes shade and reflection do not influence the site and therefore Kmc 1 0 or 100 if based on a percentage system A high microclimate condition is one in which the landscape is surrounded by high heat absorbing surfaces heat reflecting surfaces and or high wind conditions so Kmc might equal 1 4 for a certain situation A low microclimate is one in which the plantings are shaded or protected from the wind so Kmc might equal 0 5 Cycle Soak The Rain Bird Cycle Soak water management feature matches sprinkler drip application rates to soil slope infiltration rates Puddling and run off can occur when water is applied faster than the soil slope can except it Irrigation applied to sandy soils can run past the plant root zone if applied too fast or in a single application Once programmed Cycle Soak automatically divides each stations total run time into a maximum cycle time the soil plant can accept If more than one cycle is required a minimum soak in time is inserted between cycles While a station is soaking another station is cycled preventing controller down time Cycle Soak spoon feeds the soil until the total run time has been fulfilled by all stations When the irrigation requirement changes the s
50. The START AT instruction is used to indicate the time s at which a schedule starts is to take place The start times entered apply to the days defined in the START ON or SKIP DAYS instruction Argument Explanation Time s Lists what time or times the schedule will start Up to 6 start times per line can be programmed Multiple lines can be placed in a schedule There must be at least one time listed for the instruction to work Times must be in the XX XX AM or PM format for US settings 24 hour clock times are supported such as 21 00 for computer systems that are set to a 24 hour clock only Example START AT 6 30AM 4 25PM Note To enter different START AT times for different START ON Days or SKIP DAYS enter each day on a separate line with the related START TIMES on the line immediately following Repeat this process for as many days as necessary e Enter the START AT instruction immediately following this instruction in a schedule to define the start times for the days you have selected e No instructions can occur between START ON or SKIP DAYS instructions and START instructions Caution e Each day begins at 12 00 a m For example if you leave work on Wednesday at 5 00 p m and expect Maxicom to run your schedule at 1 00 a m that is 1 00 a m Thursday you must include Thursday in the START ON instruction e f no START ON instruction is included in a schedule with a START AT instruction
51. Watch Zone 1 Site Example Schedule Number 502 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected NO Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 FLO WATCH Zone Monitor 01 Channel 06 002 LOW FLOW 0 6 times projected Settle 5 minutes 003 Schedule ZERO FLOW Flow Watch Zone 1 Site Example Schedule Number 501 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected NO Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 FLO WATCH Zone Monitor 01 Channel 20 002 LOW FLOW Detect ZERO flow only Settle 5 minutes Fall through 003 LINK CANCEL Schedule s 001 101 102 103 105 004 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 45 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Flo Watch SEEF Purpose SEEF Seek amp Eliminate Excessive Flow takes action to find the location of the cause of excessive flows Valve stuck open broken main and acts to isolate the problem Hardware Rain Bird Flow Sensor Pulse Transmitter 2 wire pulse decoder Program SEEF FLOW WATCH takes action for excessive flow SEEF Parameters e Allowable Threshold 1 1 1 9x theoretical normal for what is running Settling Time How long threshold must be exceeded before action e of Action e Search and Eliminate Fall Through Alarm but no action e Normally Closed Master Valve vs Normally
52. YS instructions and START instructions e f a schedule has a start time with no START ON instruction it will not be automatically sent to the CCU However if it is sent manually it will run every day SKIP DAYS Command SKIP DAYS Skip Days Starting on MM DD YYYY The SKIP DAYS instruction is used to define start days in a cyclic day pattern rather than weekly odd or even day pattern This instruction defines the days between start days Argument Explanation Skip Days Set how many days the system will wait before starting the schedule By skipping one day the schedule will operate every other day You can have up to 99 skip days This instruction is fully independent and mutually exclusive of the START DAYS instruction Starting on Set the first scheduled start day Example SKIP DAYS 04 Starting on 09 16 1998 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 14 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Note This can be useful in areas where for example irrigation is allowed every third day that is Skip Days 2 e Enter the START AT instruction immediately following this instruction in a schedule to define the start times for the days you have selected e No instructions can occur between START ON Days or SKIP DAYS instructions and START AT TIMES instructions START AT Command START AT Time s
53. alarm e g cancel all schedules to turn off a pump The User can select to alarm at a threshold below expected flow or only if Zero Flow no flow If the user selects a threshold they will also receive an alarm if the flow decreases to zero flow Argument Explanation Deviation Sets the threshold for starting the LOW FLOW operation This threshold is stated as a multiplier to be used for the data table entries The deviation must be between 0 1 1096 threshold and 0 9 9096 threshold Settling time This is the amount of time the condition must exist before alarm This can be set between 1 minute and 9 minutes Fall Through Sets the next action to be taken when a LOW FLOW condition is found optional Fall Through will immediately go to and perform the next step instructions in the schedule Example LOW FLOW 0 6 times projected Settle 5 minutes Fall through Example LOW FLOW Detect ZERO flow only Settle 5 minutes Fall through Notes e The FLO WATCH Zone Monitor instruction must immediately precede this command e The Low Flow Alarm in the Event Log will include indication of active stations stations running at the time of the alarm for the first five alarms e When the Low Flow condition clears flow returns to a expected rate above threshold a warning will be posted to the event log stating that the Low Flow Alarm Cleared Important If a Low Flow condition subsequently turns into a Zero
54. ancel each affected channel is polled e Every channel that is configured with sensor input s is polled at least once every two minutes e Every channel with active sensor input is polled every minute Active sensor input is one that registered at least one pulse during the previous poll e All other satellite channels are polled at a rate of up to four channels every minute At the minimum polling rate of four channels per minute the greatest possible interval between polls for any individual satellite channel is 7 minutes This could occur only if more than 24 channels are configured there are no station output commands for the channel and the channel is not configured for sensor input 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 61 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Wireless Diagnostics For Link Radio Sites CCUs if you go to Site on the upper menu bar you will see an option for Wireless Diagnostics This option opens a dialog window that displays the Wireless Diagnostics information for the current site only This item will not be available if a two wire CCU or Site Sat has been selected The dialog window displays information in the following format CCU Channel 1 Channel 2 DEVICE 01 M4se MA N A 9 MR N A MA N A Fog MR N A On the top row you have labeled columns for the CCU and then each channel on that CCU Channel 1
55. and cancels irrigation if this speed is sustained Prevents wasted water due to improper distribution misting etc Hardware Anemometer Wind Speed Sensor Rain Bird Model ANEMOMETER Pulse Transmitter PT322 or PT1502 Rain Bird Pulse Decoder DECPUL M51200 Unless Link Satellite Program The WIND WATCH function is accomplished using three separate schedules WIND WATCH schedule monitors the Anemometer to trigger the INTERRUPT instruction A PAUSE instruction allows for the INTERRUPT to be carried out The LINK START is used to start a secondary schedule The secondary schedule WIND COUNT begins with a PULSE COUNTDOWN to determine if Wind Speed is sustained If desired count is attained within the time allotted by WIND WATCH schedule PAUSE FOR instruction then the tertiary schedule WIND INHIBIT is started to cancel irrigation Otherwise WIND WATCH will resume irrigation and cancel the WIND COUNT schedule resets the counting These schedules must be Step Type The following instruction explains how to properly program a Pulse Transmitter and the Maxicom Software in order to use an Anemometer Wind Speed Sensor to inhibit cancel irrigation due to high winds For the Pulse Transmitter PT322 or PT1502 Programming 1 Select Wind Speed Sensor WSS as your Irrigation Sensor Type 2 Leave the K and Offset values as the software shows as well as what the pulse width indicates These values are K Factor 1 696500 Of
56. ater than other types The default crop coefficient is 100 and is usually left at this value due to diverse plant types across one site Station specific adjustments are more common see Species Factor for Landscape Coefficient Soil Moisture Holding Capacity How to determine SMHC using the chart 1 Select the type of soil you are analyzing 2 Determine the depth of the root zone in inches for the plant material grown in this soil type Turf normally requires a root zone of 6 inches 3 Multiply the root zone depth by the soil moisture holding capacity of the soil type selected in 1 4 The result is the total soil moisture holding capacity for this soil profile This can be entered in the Site Properties Irrigation Tab Basic Soil Moisture Table Soil Class Soil Moisture Holding Capacity inches of water per inch of soil Very course gravely and course sand oe Course sand fine sand loamy course sand da Moderately course 0 104 loamy fine sand sandy loam fine sandy loam Medium and fine 0 146 very fine sandy loam silt loam sandy clay Moderately fine 0 175 sandy clay loam clay loam silty clay loam 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 48 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Advanced Soil Moisture Table Soil Type Root Field Moisture Held Moisture Net Inches to Apply per Zone Moi
57. ating at the same time Schedule Annuals Site Example Schedule Number 540 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected Runtime Adjustment Site ET Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 START ON MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY 002 START AT 10 30PM 003 M4se Satellite CHANNEL 04 004 Station 01 Calculated 005 Schedule Perennials Site Example Schedule Number 541 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected Runtime Adjustment Site ET Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 002 003 004 005 START ON MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY START AT 10 30PM M4se Satellite CHANNEL 04 Station 02 Calculated 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 30 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Schedule Shrubs Site Example Schedule Number 542 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected Runtime Adjustment Site ET Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 START MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY 002 START AT 10 30PM 003 M4se Satellite CHANNEL 04 004 Station 03 Calculated 005 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 31 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Complex Schedule Cycles Every Thir
58. ation on each Master start day includes ET accumulated since the last Master start day e g Monday includes ET accumulated Saturday through Monday SCHEDULE START DAYS Master MON Slave Result Irrigation on Monday includes ET accumulated Tuesday through Monday Note Because the Slave has no start days ET accumulation is based on the Master schedule SCHEDULE START DAYS Master MON Slave MON TUE Result Irrigation on Monday includes only Monday s ET refer to guideline 4 SCHEDULE START DAYS Master MON Slave TUE Result Irrigation on Monday includes ET accumulated Wednesday to Monday SCHEDULE START DAYS Master MON Slave MON THU Result Irrigation on Monday includes ET accumulated Friday to Monday SCHEDULE START DAYS Master MON FRI Slave MON FRI Result Irrigation on Monday includes ET accumulated Saturday to Monday Irrigation on Friday includes ET accumulated Tuesday to Friday SCHEDULE START DAYS Master MON FRI Slave TUE Result Irrigation on Monday includes ET accumulated Saturday to Monday Irrigation on Friday includes ET accumulated Wednesday to Friday Note Even though the Slave does not have a Friday start day when ET is calculated it looks back no farther than the last Master start day 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 55 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Relationship between Minimum Maximum and Irrigation ET There have been some reports of confusion regard
59. be sent schedules through manual contact only automatic contacts are prevented And those irrigation schedules will run The ability to send schedules by manual contact and have them run while the site is in Rain Shut Down is intended to provide users a means to accomplish any irrigation tasks not covered by their normally protected schedules including but not limited to system test schedules troubleshooting etc Once the Rain Shut Down is cancelled ET Stacking for the next scheduled irrigation day will be based on the irrigation day pattern of the schedule No additional irrigation will occur to make up for scheduled days missed while in Rain Shut Down 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 52 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird User Manual Addendum Runtime Roster Number Colors Red or black numbers or dashes are shown in Runtime Roster so that the user knows if there is a discrepancy between the actual and projected runtimes Following are reasons why you would either see Red or Black numbers or dashes Black number This denotes that the station associated with the black number was supposed to run and did It also shows that the actual and projected durations match each other within this time range You may see black numbers that do not match each other depending on the Runtime Roster Variance Threshold setting located in System Properties on the Preference tab Black zero in the Project
60. ber of time to repeat the loop up to 99 times repeat Example REPEAT LOOP Repeat from Schedule Step Number 16 for 06 times LINK COMMANDS IN SCHEDULES There are five basic LINK commands for use with schedules that help accomplish a desired function These commands are LINK START Will start the listed schedule s LINK CANCEL Will cancel the operation of the listed schedule s or channel s Schedule numbers for a range can be entered by using a hyphen as is possible with channels LINK ADVANCE Will advance one step instruction of the listed schedule s Schedule numbers for a range can be entered by using a hyphen LINK INTERRUPT Will interrupt pause the listed schedule s or channel s Schedule numbers for a range can be entered by using a hyphen as is possible with channels LINK RESUME Will resume operation of the listed schedule s or channel s normally following a LINK INTERRUPT command Schedule numbers for a range can be entered by using a hyphen as is possible with channels LINK START Command LINK START Schedule s schedule The LINK START instruction activates the start of another schedule or group of schedules Schedules that are link started do not require their own Start WEEK or Days SKIP Days or Start TIME instructions Argument Explanation schedule Sets the schedule number s to start Up to six schedules can be entered per line Multiple lines can be p
61. cel the channel that was running when the break was detected It does not cancel the other channel if it did not have any stations running As a precaution it is highly recommended that users place a Link Cancel command at the end of a SEEF instruction ensuring all channels in the Flow Watch Zone are canceled following a main line break 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 66 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird User Manual Addendum MASTER VALVE OPTIONS Maxicom is typically used with a Normally Closed Master Valve NCMV However should needs dictate it is possible to use a Normally Open Master Valve NOMV Use of a NOMV is useful in situations where site personnel frequently manually bleed a NCMV on to get water for manual operations Manually bleeding a NCMV can result in the master valve being left open without the knowledge of the System Operator If a mainline break or stuck valve occurred while in this state the mainline could not be shut off A NOMV is open continuously allowing manual watering while keeping the Master Valve operational for emergency shutdown The downside is if there is both a mainline break and a power outage simultaneously you would have a run away mainline Details of Master Valve options follow Normally Closed Master Valve The NCMV is used in conjunction with a flow sensor at the point of connection of water to the Maxicom controlled irrigation Syst
62. chedule s 101 105 004 005 Schedule Slave Turf Site Example Schedule Number 101 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER YES Automatic Send YES Protected Runtime Adjustment Site ET Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 M4se Satellite CHANNEL 04 002 Station 01 Calculated 003 Station 02 Calculated 004 Station 03 Calculated 005 Station 04 Calculated 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 29 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird User Manual Addendum Multiple Station Control Purpose MULTIPLE STATION operation allows the user with large hydraulic capacity to operate one to four stations simultaneously on the same satellite controller This is a benefit if there is a short time window to irrigate Hardware Satellite must be capable of Multiple Station operation Program MULTIPLE STATION operation is accomplished by programming schedules to operate the same satellite channel at the same time This allows up to four stations to operate on the same satellite at the same time FLO MANAGER facilitates multi station operation by grouping stations on satellite in groups of 6 1 6 7 12 etc and then allowing one station from each group to be running for a maximum of 99 minutes at the same time up to 4 total stations per channel By using separate step schedules to accomplish MULTIPLE STATION operation the user can have any 4 stations oper
63. chedules to irrigate on Monday 101 to 128 Series Schedules Shrub Area Schedules 200 Master Schedule for schedules to irrigate on Tuesday 201 to 228 Series Schedules Annual Flower Area Schedules 300 Master Schedule for schedules to irrigate on Wednesday 301 to 328 Series Schedules Drip System Schedules 400 Master Schedule for schedules to irrigate on Thursday 401 to 428 Series Schedules Tree irrigation Schedules 500 Master Schedule for schedules to irrigate on Friday 501 to 528 Series Schedules Miscellaneous Schedules Lighting fountains etc 600 Master Schedule for schedules to irrigate on Saturday 601 to 628 Series Schedules Sensor Schedules 700 Master Schedule for schedules to irrigate on Sunday 701 to 728 Series Schedules Rain Watch Schedules 801 to 828 Series Schedules Flow watch Schedules 901 to 928 Series Schedules Emergency Schedules 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 11 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum NAMING SCHEDULES Properly naming schedules is just as important as properly numbering schedules There are no cut amp dry rules for naming schedules only that the name makes it easy to understand what the schedule does Users are limited to 32 characters when naming schedules All characters are allowed in schedule names Some things to consider when naming schedules Does the name tell what the schedule does Does the name tell which channel it is
64. d Day Excluding Sundays Purpose A combination of schedules can allow a user to irrigate complex cycles otherwise impossible with a simple SKIP DAYS command An example would be irrigating every third day with the exception of Sundays Hardware No special hardware required Program Third day irrigation with the exception of Sundays is accomplished with a combination of schedules SKIP DAYS 015 A typical irrigation schedule set for a SKIP DAYS cycle In order to cancel this schedule on Sundays and make sure that no irrigation occurs the PAUSE FOR 02 Minutes command must be entered prior to the channel and station instructions CANCEL SPECIFIC DAY 016 A schedule to cancel the SKIP DAYS schedule on Sundays This schedule must be set to run continuously in the schedule properties You must have all schedules that would possibly run entered into the LINK CANCEL command example 015 If the schedule you are canceling is Flo Managed you must cancel the channel cancelling the schedule will not cancel times posted to the runtime roster CANCEL DAY CANCEL 017 A schedule to cancel the first LINK CANCEL schedule at the end of Sunday Since schedule 016 is set for continuous operation you must have a second schedule that will stop cancel schedule 016 at the end of Sunday Schedule Skip Days Site Example Schedule Number 015 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected NO Runtime Adjustment
65. daptable for user programming flexibility The user may discover multiple ways to accomplish the same goal The examples provided attempt to introduce the user to some established methods Overview Example schedules in this section are based on the full function of the Maxicom system The schedules are programmed around specific types of tasks You will find that schedules generally fall into one of two categories CONTROL functions and MONITORING functions Explanations of the schedules include a description of the schedule s purpose a list of any required hardware necessary to accomplish the schedule s function and an example of the program which controls the schedule Scheduling should be done using the most efficient method for the particular task with concern for how the particular schedule interacts with other schedules performing different tasks simultaneously It is critical to develop a schedule numbering and naming method which will easily allow you the user to understand schedule purposes without having to read through the program Throughout the examples be sure to note the schedule s header including MODE TYPE and REPEAT Most irrigation controlling schedule examples are FLOW MANAGED to allow execution based upon the limits of the water supply and not to force steps to be executed in sequence sequencing is accomplished by the CCU Monitoring schedule examples are STEP EXECUTED to give priority to their activity at the SITE
66. difference exceeds Minimum ET Schedules Running Every Day So for schedules that run every day of the week Maxicom will on a daily basis take the previous day s balance subtract the Reference ET add back accepted rainfall and compare this balance to the limit of the Soil Moisture Refill Percentage SMRP times the Soil Moisture Holding Capacity SMHC e If the balance is at or above the product of SMRP X SMHC irrigation will not occur e If the balance is below the product of SMRP X SMHC but the difference is less than Minimum ET irrigation will not occur e If the balance is below the product of SMRP X SMHC and the difference is greater than or equal to Minimum ET but less than Maximum ET irrigation will occur And Irrigation ET will be set at this difference e If the balance is below the product of SMRP X SMHC and the difference is more than Maximum irrigation will occur And Irrigation ET will be set at the value of Maximum ET Schedules with Start Day Patterns Other than Every Day The confusion occurs with schedules that do not run every day because Maxicom does something that is not immediately intuitive e As soon as the value of the difference between the ET balance and the product of SMRP X SMHC exceeds the Minimum ET Irrigation ET is set at this value to be used during the next scheduled irrigation Maxicom then starts a behind the scenes counter adding up ET that accumulates beyond this first amount
67. dule SCH H74 SCH Advance schedule SCH H 75 SCH Pause schedule SCH H 76 SCH Resume Schedule SCH 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 70 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird User Manual Addendum Definitions CC Channel Number ss Station Number sss Site Number TT Run Time minutes SCH Schedule Number Command Delimiter before amp after Data Separator Acquire Dial Tone radio system only Freedom System Responses As you enter commands into the phone or radio Maxicom will respond with beeps to indicate whether or not there were any errors The following is a list of the possible Freedom System responses No response No contact has been made with the Freedom System base unit One short beep The leading had been received off line with CCU Two short beeps The leading has been received on line with CCU Four short beeps OK the command you entered is being executed and is ready to receive another command One long beep Error reenter the command Many short beeps Wait Maxicom is contacting the site you requested or is hanging up e Many long beeps Busy signal Maxicom is already on line with a site or a local user at terminated your contact Error beep busy signal The Freedom Time Window is closed e Wait beep erro
68. e Controller Station to start the auto dialer using the 24VAC output and a dry contact relay Add the Channel amp Station number of the auto dialer output after the SEEF line in the Flo Watch Schedule The auto dialer will then only call out if a mainline break has been detected Associated detail drawing is Detail Drawing 410 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 59 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird User Manual Addendum Activating Door Locks with Over the years we have had several customers controlling restroom door locks with Maxicom While most of you may not have this need some of you may run into customers who desire it Here are some of the lessons learned from other users 1 Control the door locks with a controller station s not output decoders used previously in central control systems Output decoders have DC output and often require a relay interface to control the door locks Utilize 24VAC latching solenoid door locks that do not require continuous power to control the state open or closed These are available in single pole requiring one controller station to operate or double pole requiring two controller stations to operate This is a big plus when using multi station operation amp Flo Manager for irrigation on the same controller that controls the door locks We have found several lock manufacturers that have this feature Be sure to i
69. ec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 49 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum overall landscape coefficient can be made The following equation can be used to calculate the landscape coefficient KI Ks X Kd X Kmc Where Landscape coefficient Ks Species factor Crop Coefficient Kd Density factor Kmc Microclimate factor Species Factor Ks The evapotranspiration rate of different plants vary considerably Some transpire large amounts of water while others transpire very little A factor can be related to various plant species to estimate water requirements of each plant type The Species factor is also known as the crop coefficient This factor can many times be obtained through local sources such as Agriculture Extension services Density Factor Kd Landscapes can vary greatly in plant density especially with shrub and groundcover plantings Newly planted or sparsely planted areas often have less leaf surface area than mature dense landscape plantings Even though individual plants in a sparsely planted area may lose more water for a given leaf area the total water loss from a dense planting will be higher due to the greater total leaf surface area for the site A density factor Kd of some sort is needed to account for these differences in water loss Microclimate Factor Kmc Environmental conditions may also vary significantly within a single landscaped site
70. ed view This station was not projected to run and did not actually run in this time range Black dash in the Actual view This station was not supposed to run and did not actually run in this time range Red number You will see this in both the Actual and Projected views whenever the station runtime does not match within the selected time range Reasons may include but are not limited to A station is run manually from the Central Control OMSC or FREEDOM Satellite failure CCU to satellite communication problems Communication between the CCU and Central Control is interrupted and an automatic Send contact is missed Red zero in the Projected view Nothing was projected to run but this station did run This will oftentimes occur when a station is run manually from the Central Control OMSC or FREEDOM Red dash in the Actual view This station was projected to run but did not actually run Example situations when this may occur include when a schedule is not successfully sent to the CCU or irrigation is cancelled by a real time sensor event CANCEL IF LINK CANCEL or SEEF such as rain or a schedule is manually cancelled by OMSC or FREEDOM Explanation of ET Status To reduce confusion in ET Checkbook a new ET status of Updated was added in Version 2 0 The symbolic display is an exclamation mark If a Weather Source is contacted after a failed attempt and irrigation has already occurred then 1 the ET values will be
71. edule commands in this section are based on the full function of the system The commands are used as part of schedules to carry out specific functions The commands described here can be broken down into three sections BASIC COMMANDS LINK COMMANDS and SENSOR COMMANDS Explanations of the commands include a description of the command s purpose an explanation of the parts of the command and example of the command and any notes or cautions to remember The commands listed and described here are not all inclusive for a Maxicom system but include some of the more frequently used commands in schedules Many of these commands are used in the schedule examples in the next section The Help System included the Maxicom Software can provide more examples and explanations of schedule commands Basic Commands START ON SKIP DAYS STARTAT PAUSE FOR REPEAT LOOP Link Commands LINK START LINK CANCEL LINK ADVANCE LINK INTERRUPT LINK RESUME Sensor Commands Sensor START Sensor INTERRUPT Sensor CANCEL Sensor ADVANCE PULSE Count Down FLO WATCH Zone Monitor Flo Zone LOG SEEF 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 13 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum BASIC COMMANDS IN SCHEDULES There are five basic commands for use with schedules that help determine when and how a schedule will run START ON When days of the week the schedule will sta
72. edules which skip 1 day between watering 201 to 228 Series Schedules Schedules which skip 2 days between watering 301 to 328 Series Schedules Schedules which skip 3 days between watering 401 to 428 Series Schedules Schedules which skip 4 days between watering 501 to 528 Series Schedules Schedules which skip 5 days between watering 601 to 628 Series Schedules Schedules which skip 6 days between watering 701 to 728 Series Schedules Schedules which skip 7 days between watering 801 to 828 Series Schedules Schedules which skip 8 days between watering 901 to 928 Series Schedules Schedules which skip 9 days between watering 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 10 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Horticultural Based Schedule Numbering Numbering schedules to correspond with the type of plant material and irrigation system components is another type of numbering system Each series of schedules designates the type of plant material being watered with the tens and ones digits designating the channel number being used by the schedule If additional schedules are required for schedules not aligned with a channel number schedule numbers X29 and above can be utilized for this purpose 001 to 028 Series Schedules Turf Area Schedules 101 to 128 Series Schedules Shrub Area Schedules 201 to 228 Series Schedules Annual Flower Area Schedules 301 to 328 Series Schedules
73. em The NCMV is wired to the Master Valve Circuit of the sites Satellite Controller The NCMV normal state is closed Whenever a station is operated from the Satellite the Master Valve circuit is also energized with 24 output This 24 output opens the NCMV to allow water into the irrigation mainline for irrigation operation The NCMV remains off during hours of non irrigation operation If 2 or more Satellite Controllers are utilized on a site additional Schedules will need to be written to insure the NCMV is open to supply water to valves wired to Satellite Controllers which do not control the NCMV If manual watering is common on the site a blank station will be required to fool the Satellite Controller into opening the NCMV to get access to water If manual watering is frequent and not on a fixed schedule this blank station will need to operate for long hours to keep the NCMV open If this is the case a continuous use solenoid coil is required If a power outage occurs the NCMV returns to its normal state which is closed Normally Open Master Valve The is used in conjunction with a flow sensor at the point of connection of water to the Maxicom controlled irrigation system The NOMV is wired to a station on the Satellite Controller The NOMV normal state is open A 24VAC output from the assigned Satellite Controller station is supplied whenever the valve needs to close This 24VAC output closes the NOMV shutting off the flo
74. ext week you will see it listed in Schedule Monitoring as 001 START ON TUESDAY FRIDAY 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 27 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird User Manual Addendum Irrigation Scheduling by Day Cycles Purpose Irrigation often requires the use of a cyclic pattern Scheduling by 24 hour cycle s allows a schedule to operate on a fixed cycle regardless of the day Schedules can operate every 24 hour period every other 24 hour period every third 24 hour period etc up to once every 99 days Hardware No special hardware required Program For cyclic patterns a schedule will use a SKIP DAYS instruction allowing the user to determine the number of days between schedule operation days For example a 3 day skip cycle will start every four days example below would run on 9 10 9 14 9 18 Schedule Skip Days Site Example Schedule Number 015 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER YES Automatic Send YES Protected Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 SKIP DAYS 03 Starting On 09 10 02 002 START AT 06 52AM 003 M4se Satellite CHANNEL 01 004 Station 04 010 minutes 005 Station 05 010 minutes 006 Station 06 010 minutes 007 008 009 010 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 28 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird User Manual Addendum Master Schedules
75. fset 0 059000 Pulse width 100ms 3 Setthe Units of measure as miles hr or km hr metric The rest of this guide references miles per hour 4 Forthe pulse equivalent setting the following is an example of what the setting means 1 Pulse 1 000000 PPM per mile hour This means 1 Pulse output by the Pulse Transmitter e g PT322 is the equivalent of 1 000000 Pulse Per Minute PPM for every 1 mile hr wind speed That is if the CCU receives 1 pulse in 1 minute the wind speed is 1 mile hr If it receives 2 pulses in 1 minute it is 2 miles hr For the Sensor Settings in CCU Properties miles per pulse This setting has no effect on WIND WATCH programming It is a setting more appropriate for Wind Logging For Wind Watch the CCU is counting pulses So set this variable as 1 mile pulse and ignore it for the purposes of Wind Watch NOTE If you will be doing wind logging it must be noted that there is an inability to set a value less than 0 5 miles per pulse for Two Wire pulse decoders and the setting will be rounded to a whole number when it is sent to the CCU So for Wind Logging it is recommended that the user set the PT322 to a value that is a whole number of PPM per mile hr 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 39 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum When writing the Wind Watch schedule set the PAUSE FOR long enough to get enough pulses to be equivalent to your Wind Set
76. function is accomplished using three separate schedules RAIN WATCH schedule monitors the Rain Gauge to trigger the INTERRUPT instruction The LINK START is used to start a Secondary schedule The example below is based on a Two Wire system Because of Satellite Polling functions in a MAXILink System the for 15 seconds caveat in the START IF command would not be used The secondary schedule RAIN COUNT begins with a PULSE COUNTDOWN to determine if enough rainfall occurs to cancel irrigation If desired count is attained within the time allotted by RAIN WATCH schedule PAUSE FOR instruction then the tertiary schedule RAIN INHIBIT is started to cancel irrigation runs continuously Otherwise RAIN WATCH will resume irrigation If Rain Watch is to interrupt a Flo Managed schedule the command must interrupt the channel If it is a step schedule as per below example then you would affect the schedule Schedule Irrigation Example Step Schedule Site Example Schedule Number 105 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER No Automatic Send YES Protected Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 START ON MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY 002 START AT 12 30AM 003 Ms4 Satellite Channel 05 004 Station 01 020 minutes 005 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 36 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum
77. grammed Repeats Continuous FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 LINK CANCEL Schedule s 105 810 002 LINK Cancel Channel s 05 003 PAUSE FOR 59 seconds 004 005 NOTE This RAIN INHIBIT program uses continuous repeats and a 59 second pause to ensure that is anything starts it is cancelled within 1 minute after start Rain Cancel Cancel irrigation if rain detected Purpose RAIN CANCEL stops irrigation if a rain shut off device is used instead of a Rain Gauge which can measure rainfall amount Hardware Switch Type Rain Sensor Rain Bird Sensor Decoder DECSEN M51300 If Two Wire system Program The RAIN CANCEL function is accomplished using a LINK CANCEL if rain is detected Schedule Rain Cancel Site Example Schedule Number 701 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected YES Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 START IF CHANNEL 03 OFF FOR 30 SECONDS 002 LINK CANCEL Channel s 01 003 LINK CANCEL Schedule s 100 004 005 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 38 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Wind Watch reaction to wind at the site Purpose WIND WATCH causes active channels listed on the schedule to interrupt if wind reached a pre determined speed
78. hes day and your schedule waters less frequently than every day if the Irrigation ET stacks greater than 0 50 inches between irrigation days the system will still only irrigate a max of 0 50 inches on its scheduled day ET Stacking In Maxicom ET based scheduling allows the ET for non water days to be stacked accumulated in order to be replenished on irrigation days Some sites will desire to not have the ET stacked from non water days or to stack a different period or frequency than what is represented by the irrigation schedule This can be addressed in a Master Slave schedule format using different combinations of START DAY instructions in the Master and the Slave schedules However there are a couple guidelines to be considered in this process 1 The Slave schedule should contain a Start Days instruction without a Start Time instruction 2 ET will be accumulated no farther back than the last Master start day or the last Slave start day whichever is closer to the current irrigation day 3 Ifthe Slave schedule has START ON all 7 days irrigation will occur on the start days in the Master schedule without any ET accumulation for the non water days 4 Important If the Slave Schedule has the Master start day as well as the day after the Master start day THEN only one day of ET is applied on that Master start day ET is not stacked or accumulated since the previous start day 5 If the user writes an ET based Schedule
79. his will allow the user to sort and list only the schedules in this group for easier identification 2 5 Below are some examples of how some Maxicom users have formulated numbering systems to fit their needs Simplistic to Complex Schedule Numbering This type of numbering system is very vague and open The user starts with the lower numbers in the first attempt to program schedules As the user becomes more familiar with programming the larger numbers are used for more complex programs The tens and ones digits are used to designate the channel number operated by the schedule Users requiring additional schedules outside the numbering scheme listed below can use the schedule numbers above X28 for additional scheduling if necessary 001 to 128 Series Schedules Simplest Schedules 201 to 628 Series schedules Intermediate Schedules 701 to 928 Series Schedules Complex Schedules Cyclic Watering Pattern Schedule Numbering This type of schedule numbering pattern is used to identify the type of day pattern used in each schedule The schedule series denotes the watering day pattern while the tens and ones designate the channel number used for each schedule If additional schedules are required for schedules not aligned with a channel schedule numbers X29 and above can be utilized for this purpose 001 to 028 Series Schedules Schedules which water everyday 101 to 128 Series Schedules Sch
80. ing 100 total pulses in the event a poll is missed Actual numbers will be dependent on how stable robust link communications are In summary this DOESN T mean you should run out change your flow sensor configurations if they are currently working to your satisfaction However any new installations should take these guidelines into consideration 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 64 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Flow Logs during a Rain Shut Down In Maxicom2 a Rain Shut Down does NOT clear existing flow log data like in MAXICOM for DOS If flow log schedules are not protected then the Rain Shut Down will delete the schedules The flow data in the CCU will therefore not be overwritten with the current day s data The data is only time stamped and not date stamped So if in Site Properties Contact tab Automatically Retrieve Logs During Rain Shutdown is selected the same data will be received from the CCU repeatedly The auto send contact is the ONLY thing short of clearing the CCU RAM that clears flow log data in the CCU Protecting flow log schedules prevents this problem because the flow log schedule will continue to overwrite the previous day s flow data with the current day s data during the Rain Shut Down Flo Manager The following is a brief description to clarify some of the capabilities of Flo Manager 1 Flo Manager is designed to be a Flow Management too
81. ing ET accumulation and Irrigation ET in that it sometimes seems like Maxicom is a couple days behind in what it is using for Irrigation ET An explanation of this process follows The ET Checkbook operates by first subtracting the current Reference ET calculated from the Weather Station data from the previous day s balance It then adds in any Accepted Rainfall It then compares this new balance to the product of Soil Moisture Refill Percentage times the Soil Moisture Holding Capacity SMRP X SMHC Irrigation ET is the amount in inches that ET based schedules are set to irrigate for in order to refill the soil profile to the Soil Moisture Refill amount Maxicom always uses Irrigation ET not Reference to determine what ET to be used to adjust schedule runtimes When Irrigation ET is calculated there are two user set limits on it 1 Maximum ET corresponds to the maximum amount of ET in inches that irrigation will make up for in one day If the difference between the checkbook balance and the product of SMRP X SMHC exceeds the value for Maximum ET Maxicom will set the Irrigation ET to the value of Maximum ET 2 Minimum ET corresponds to the minimum amount of ET in inches that irrigation will make up for If the difference between the checkbook balance and the product of SMRP X SMHC is less than the value set for Minimum ET irrigation will not occur So in the ET checkbook Irrigation ET will show 0 until the
82. ing a combination of comma separations and ranges hyphens is allowable for channels but not schedules Example LINK RESUME Schedule 002 003 005 200 LINK RESUME Channel 01 02 07 10 Note This instruction has a variety of applications For instance it can be used in conjunction with a Sensor instruction to activate LINK RESUME based on a sensor condition 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 18 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum SENSOR COMMANDS IN SCHEDULES There are eight commands used with sensors described in this section These commands are Sensor START Will start the schedule if a specified sensor condition is met Sensor INTERRUPT Will interrupt pause operation while a specified sensor condition is met Sensor CANCEL Will cancel the operation of a schedule when a specified sensor condition has been met Sensor ADVANCE Will advance a schedule one step when a specified sensor condition has been met PULSE Count Down Will cause a schedule to wait for a certain number of pulses received on the specified channel before proceeding on to the next line of the schedule FLO WATCH Zone Monitor Will monitor total water flow rate into a specific flow zone Flo Zone LOG Will cause the actual flow of water to be recorded and charted LOW FLOW Will alarm if flow less than expected is detected SEEF Will alarm and take action if Excessi
83. ion when the condition no longer exists and will begin from the point at which it was originally interrupted An optional sensitivity can be added The sensitivity time is the length of time the condition must exist before triggering this interrupt instruction Argument Explanation Channel Sets which channel number to monitor for the desired condition Condition Sets the condition to look for ON is a sensor closed or on condition OFF is a sensor open or off condition optional time The condition set must exist for at least the time period specified Can be set for 1 99 seconds or minutes Example INTERRUPT WHILE Channel 09 ON for 10 minutes Note e This will interrupt only the current schedule Sensor CANCEL Command CANCEL IF Channel Channel 7 Condition for time seconds minutes Sensor CANCEL is an instruction for a schedule to be canceled when a specified sensor condition has been met For instance you may use this instruction to cancel an irrigation schedule if the rain sensor condition has been met An optional sensitivity can be added The sensitivity time is the length of time the condition must exist before triggering this cancel instruction Argument Explanation Channel Sets which channel number to monitor for the desired condition Condition Sets the condition to look for ON is a sensor closed or on condition OFF is a sensor open or off condition
84. ke in water at a slower rate than flat areas Utilizing Rain Bird s Cycle Soak makes scheduling these low infiltration rate areas much easier Maxicom uses soil infiltration rates to determine how much rainfall was actually absorbed by the soil This information is very useful for determining the water content of the irrigated soil profile The following chart shows representative infiltration rates for different soil textures Soil Texture Inches hr cm hr Sand course 1 00 8 00 2 50 20 00 Sand very fine 0 50 3 10 1 25 8 00 Sandy loam 0 40 2 60 1 00 6 50 Loam 0 08 1 00 0 20 2 50 Clay loam 0 04 0 60 0 10 1 50 Clay 0 01 0 10 0 02 0 25 These values are approximate Infiltration rates can vary widely depending on surface conditions and Soil water content Landscape Coefficient In determining the irrigation runtimes for landscaped areas many factors need to be considered in order to account for differences in environment planting density etc The combination of these factors gives us the landscape coefficient When the landscape coefficient is used in combination with a reference ET a specific localized ET can be calculated for very small microclimate areas The ET for a landscape varies as a function of the mix of plant species the density of planting and the effects of a microclimate By evaluating each factor and assigning it a numeric value an estimate of the 21 D
85. l not a Flow Optimization tool It aids in ensuring the flow capacities of the pipes leading to stations are not exceeded While Flo Manager can reduce total runtimes it cannot be guaranteed to shorten your watering window and may possibly extend it 2 Flo Manager works with theoretical flows the flow rate entered in the database not a real time measured flow While Flo Manager gets executed every second the Flo Manager procedure is called by the CCU it calculates current flow based on what is running and its theoretical flow as entered in the database 3 There is a 99 minute limitation for runtime in the Flo Manager roster This means that each station can only run a maximum 99 minutes in Flo Manager So even if a drip system is being used that is supposed to run 4 5 hours it will only run 99 minutes Similarly if you have a Cycle amp Soak with 10 minute cycles it would run 9 cycles and the 10 would only be 9 minutes long 4 If Flo Manager is running and a Step Schedule starts the Step Schedule takes priority over schedules in the Flo Manager If Flo Manager is running on the same group of 6 stations the Flo Managed station stops and the remaining time returns to the roster If Flo Manager is running in other groups of 6 stations in the Flow Zone it will not turn off stations in those other groups to account for the start of the Step Schedule However this capacity will be accounted for by Flo Manager before any other sta
86. l solar radiation and humidity data At a user entered time Maxicom contacts the Weather Station and downloads the data usually just before the irrigation cycle Maxicom converts the data to an ET figure which is used to fine tune the runtimes of all irrigation schedules In this way replaces precisely the water lost during the previous day to evaporation and transpiration If schedules are not written to run every day keeps a running total of and replaces the total since the last day the schedule Freedom System The Freedom System allows remote access to the Maxicom Central Controller through either a radio or a phone The operator can start stop pause and advance schedules or stations from the field using the keypad of the radio or phone 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 6 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum SYSTEM HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS In order to run the Maxicom software your Central Controller computer system must meet certain requirements Below is a list of minimum hardware and software requirements The recommended hardware and software requirements also listed here will maximize the speed of your software Minimum Hardware and Software Requirements For customers who purchased Maxicom Software ONLY pre 1999 the Central Controller you use to run the software must meet or exceed
87. laced in a single schedule Example LINK START Schedule s 002 003 005 200 Note This instruction can be used effectively to meet a variety of irrigation needs For instance by positioning this instruction at the end of a schedule you can eliminate overlap and gaps between schedules for better flow balance and management This instruction is also commonly used following a Sensor instruction to activate LINK START based on a sensor condition LINK STARTS as part of a REPEAT LOOP 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 16 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum In regards to the REPEAT LOOP instruction which is in a schedule and repeats a section of a schedule Use of this command repeats ALL instructions in the selected section and they are definitely executed each time the loop is repeated However a LINK START of a schedule that is already ON or paused interrupted doesn t actually do anything A LINK START of a flo managed schedule probably WILL start it again because it will probably be OFF after depositing its runtimes into the flow roster If the water manager uses Schedule Repeats rather than the REPEAT LOOP instruction then there is a nuance to be aware of The behavior is the same as described above with one additional special behavior that we added in response to user feedback In a step schedule not flo managed cycle and soak is executed in the schedule If
88. lect the Maintain Normally Closed Master Valve option in the Flo Watch Schedule Good points No additional wiring or relays Bad points This option only works if the CCU is operational and programmed correctly no water for Satellite Controllers 2 3 etc without the 21 Dec 05 Copyright O 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 68 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Option Three Use a normally open master valve in lieu of a normally closed master valve It would be wired to a Station on one of the Satellite Controllers instead of the pump start master valve circuit This option would require the addition of the CCU Channel amp Satellite Controller Station to be identified in the Flo Watch Schedule Good points The master valve is open all the time until Maxicom closes it to shut down a mainline break You have water with or without Maxicom Bad points The Normally Open Master Valve will fail open if you have a mainline break amp a power outage simultaneously If you have a mainline break when the CCU is off line it will run 24 7 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 69 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum FREEDOM FOR MAXICOM FREEDOM Commands The following command examples for the FREEDOM System are provided as a basic guide They are not an all inclusive list of command possibilities Please refer to your FREEDOM Manual for a
89. more than 10 000 data points is the thumbrule 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 63 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum So options may include 1 14 Flow sensors being logged every 2 minutes for 24 hours 2 14 Flow sensors logging every minute for 8 hours e g 10 PM to 6 AM when you water and then logging once every 3 minutes the rest of the day The CCU actually calculates a flow rate for every sensor every minute even if the flow logging isn t configured to SAVE that much data The CCU still calculates it for use by SEEF or to be viewed during manual operations but that data is only stored how the flow log is set up to store it Pulse Decoders Flow Sensors Two Wire For Pulse Decoder limits it s a matter of timing Theoretically with 6 Pulse Decoders each at a rate of 10 ppm we won t miss a pulse on the Two Wire system because something else is going on This is the GUARANTEED worst case rate regardless of conditions You can get more PPM and or more decoders under more favorable conditions but it will never be worse no matter what else is happening on the two wire path You can calculate different allowed combinations using the following formula where N is the maximum number of pulse decoders and PPM is the maximum guaranteed rate of pulses per minute lt means less than or equal to N 60 PPM 4 1 0 3 For example solving for the maximum n
90. mple ADVANCE IF Channel 12 ON for 45 seconds Note e This will advance only the current schedule 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 20 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird User Manual Addendum PULSE Countdown Command PULSE countdown Channel channel Wait of pulses pulses The PULSE countdown instruction causes the schedule to wait for a certain number of pulses received on the specified channel before proceeding on to the next line of the schedule To execute this instruction the CCU or SITE SAT counts down a specified number of pulses from a specified device channel leaving the schedule output conditions as they are for the duration of the pulse count down This instruction is used in conjunction with a pulse decoder or Link SAT or SITE SAT sensor input Argument Explanation Channel Sets the channel number of the pulse decoder to monitor of pulses Sets the number of pulses to count down Example PULSE countdown Channel 18 Wait 0200 pulses Note These pulses may represent flow for volumetric duration or rainfall for Rain Watch application Some water managers use the PULSE countdown command to control the amount of water provided to a downstream user To do this the water manager uses the PULSE countdown command to measure how much water is provided and then shut the valve cancel schedules
91. n after the top of the hour it is possible that the Weather Station may not have tabulated all data for that previous hour yet In that case Maxicom will use up to the prior hour s data It is possible however that on the following day all the data is tabulated by the contact time and Maxicom will pull 25 hours of data This could cause 2 to readjust the previous day s ET Checkbook number While the ET will be compensated for it may appear that did not irrigate what it was supposed to on the adjusted day For this reason it is recommended that weather station contacts do not occur right after the top of the hour Site Rain Can Accounting in Irrigation ET Accumulated rainfall from a Site Rain Can SRC RainGauge used as a Site Weather Source not solely for Rain Watch does go into the Irrigation ET calculation but it is accounted for as part of the day following the day it is received The CCU does not do ET calculations So any rainfall received at a SRC has to wait until the next Auto Receive contact time before it makes it into the Maxicom database and is accounted for in Irrigation ET calculations 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 57 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Example Timeline 6 00 AM Day 1 Auto Receive previous night s irrigation data 12 30 PM Day 1 Rain Amount X received at SRC and logged in CCU 6
92. nstall a lock that has an internal manual override incase someone is in the restroom when the door is locked The Maxicom schedule to operate the locks with a latching solenoid is fairly straightforward Write a schedule for the controller station that operates the door lock for 1 minute to lock the door at the desired day amp time Include a pause for X hours the desired time to keep the door locked Then turn on the same station for 1 more minute to open the door lock For monitoring door state We do not know of a latching door lock with a built in sensor for open close verification There might be one on the market but we have not seen If you can t find one we would look to the alarm industry for a magnetic door sensor that will confirm the door is in the closed position The door alarm circuit would need to interface with a sensor decoder or satellite sensor input to tell Maxicom if the door was open or closed Depending on the sensor this may require a relay to interface the door sensor to separate schedule be written to monitor the position with the door sensor If the door should be locked but the door is open you can interface an onsite alarm light or activate an auto dialer to place a call through a phone line can share the CCU phone line This alarm phone call can be to a phone number voice message or pager cell phone number numeric page This auto dialer requires another controller station
93. nt in that time and the MA number was cleared from the CCU at the T2 contact So MR may show up as gt 1 00 The Wireless Diagnostics were meant to be a tool used by Rain Bird technical personnel While they can be helpful for catching radio issues etc please be aware of potential false discrepancies in the data as described above Flow Meter Settings Gallons per Pulse When setting gallons per pulse for a flow meter CCU Properties Sensor Properties the User Interface allows you to input non integer values decimal places However Maxicom will only use whole numbers when monitoring flow and will round the value to the nearest whole number any value less than 1 will be rounded up to 1 For Example if you enter 1 7 Gallons Pulse Maxicom will count flow as 2 Gallons Pulse Likewise 6 3 would be rounded down to 6 Flow Logging and Pulse Decoder Limits For CCU operations the published limit on flow sensor logging is a max of 7 flow sensors and the limit for pulse decoders at 10 pulses min ppm is six per CCU on the Two Wire path Both of these limits are worst case scenarios and may be adapted depending on a site s needs Flow Logging The actual limitation in the CCU is that it can only hold up to 7 full 24 hour 1 minute resolution flow logs This means a CCU can only log data for the equivalent of 7 sensors logging every minute for 24 hours I E the CCU can log 10 080 data points in 24 hours so no
94. oders are used only in Two Wire systems in Link Radio systems or Site Satellites sensors are wired directly into the Satellite or Site Satellite Flow Sensors and Master Valves Flow Sensors and Master Valves are installed at each point of connection in an irrigation system controlled by The sensor reports current flow to the CCU or Site Satellite through an output transmitter and a Pulse Decoder when a Two Wire path is used The CCU or Site Satellite compares actual flow to projected theoretical flow When an excess flow condition occurs Maxicom can isolate the problem to one zone or the entire system and shut off the offending zone valve or master valve Flow Sensors are also useful for logging water usage in a zone or an entire site 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 5 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird User Manual Addendum Site Rain Gauge The Site Rain Gauge measures rainfall over time in hundredths of an inch and reports that information to the Cluster Control Unit or Site Satellite Monitoring schedules pause or interrupt irrigation schedules using user entered thresholds Systems with multiple sites can have Site Rain Gauges at each site for maximum accuracy Site rainfall data can also be used to fine tune ET for a site when its associated weather station is at a remote site Weather Station The Weather Station gathers minimum and maximum temperatures wind speed rainfal
95. ope 50 min Soak 55 min Soak 57 min Soak 58 min Soak 59 min Soak Clay Soil 7 min Cycle 4 min Cycle 3 min Cycle 2 min Cycle min Cycle 12964 Slope 53 min Soak 56 min Soak 58 min Soak 58 min Soak 59 min Soak 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 51 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Maxicom Icon Right Click Options The Maxicom icon bird that appears in the system tray allows a number of options when a user right clicks on it These options differ depending on whether the user interface is open or closed the user interface is open when you right click on the Bird in the tray the two options available to you are Bring to Front and Disable Auto Contacting the User interface is closed when you right click on the Bird in the tray the three options available to you are Launch Maxicom Disable Auto Contacting and Exit Maxicom Control Engine It is important to realize these different options exist otherwise a user may accidentally disable auto contacting instead of exiting the control engine prior to rebooting the computer etc Maxicom Warning System Maxicom is designed with a warning system to help prevent users from accidentally performing action like deleting sites etc This warning system appears as a dialog box that will ask the user a question like Are you sure you want to delete this site
96. order to achieve 2400 bps the CCU also needs the most recent modem board You can identify the most recent modem boards by the fact that the phone connection AND the RS232 Direct Connect ports are all on the lower edge of the board Another identifying attribute is the Cermetek Modem Module on the board 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 9 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum NUMBERING SCHEDULES Numbering schedules can play an important part how easy is to use Maxicom allows you to set up any type of numbering system you desire The most important aspects of deciding how to number your schedules is 1 that it is easy for you to use and 2 that the system can expand in the future if your Site grows With all the following examples there is one common factor This factor is that the tens and ones digits designate the channel number with which a schedule works An example would be Schedule number 413 is a 400 series schedule operating channel number 13 Since there are a maximum of 28 channels available on a CCU numbers 1 to 28 are used for this designation Numbers above 28 can be used for linked schedules or miscellaneous schedules Maxicom can also sort schedules by numbers This allows the user to list only those schedules in a certain group or range When numbering schedules you can group schedules of common usage or function with the same first digit s T
97. point based on what you set in the PT322 and then count this number of pulses in the Wind Count schedule For Example Wind Inhibit at 60 miles hr IF you set 1 Pulse 0 050000 PPM per mile hr in the PT322 AND you want the Wind Inhibit activated at 60 miles hr THEN you could PAUSE FOR 300 Seconds and PULSE COUNTDOWN 15 pulses 0 050000 PPM mile hr Desired speed TIME FOR pulsecountdown 0 050000 Pulses hour 60 miles 5 minutes 15 pulses 1 Minute 1 mile hour So adjust these variables until you get what you want It is recommended that the user sets a TIME FOR setting of a couple minutes in order to ensure that canceling irrigation is due to sustained winds and not just reaction to a gust The following schedule examples assume these same settings Schedule Wind Watch Site Example Schedule Number 801 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected NO Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 START IF CHANNEL 03 OFF FOR 5 seconds 002 PULSE COUNTDOWN CHANNEL 03 WAIT 006 pulses 003 LINK INTERRUPT Schedule s 101 102 103 201 202 203 004 PAUSE FOR 05 seconds 005 LINK START schedule s 802 006 PAUSE FOR 300 seconds 007 RESUME schedule s 101 102 103 201 202 203 008 LINK CANCEL schedule s 802 009 NOTE It is recommended that the PAUSE FOR commands
98. r beep busy signal The site you requested did not respond to the Maxicom system call Freedom Run Time versus Controller Station Count Users should note that there is an issue with Freedom where the system will not run a station longer than the satellite station count 12 minutes max for a 12 station sat etc The following is from a Freedom Log which illustrates the problem Channel 1 has 12 stations and Channel 4 has 24 stations For Channel 1 runtime the maximum value that can be entered is 12 minutes and for Channel 4 24 minutes Anything greater invalidates the command as shown below 05 20 2004 02 52 14 PM 1 01 12 15 05 20 2004 02 52 14 Invalid Site command 01 05 20 2004 02 52 49 PM 1401301422344 05 20 2004 02 52 49 PM Invalid Site command 01 05 20 2004 06 11 56 PM 1 4 5 24 05 20 2004 06 11 56 Turn On Site 3 Freedom Channel 4 Station 5 for 24 minute s 05 20 2004 06 12 08 PM 4 144482483034 05 20 2004 06 12 08 PM Invalid Site command 4 The above command is of the format 1 CC SS TT H turn on channel CC station SS for time TT minutes 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 71 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum We have the following workaround for the above problem Instead of using the command format mentioned above we can use the following command format 3 CCHSS SSH T T
99. ractive landscape at a reduced maintenance cost This is accomplished by automatically applying the proper amount of water at the proper time Many of the more visibly troubling aspects of an irrigation system such as watering in the rain broken heads and watering at inconvenient times are eliminated Over watering and it s resulting problems such as increased susceptibility to disease and decreased playability on sports fields are reduced The major components of a System are Central Controller Maxicom is shipped pre installed in a Gold Desktop or Laptop Dell Computer package The Central Controller should be located the Water Manager s office and should be dedicated only to Maxicom The computer may be accessed from a remote computer with PCAnywhere software which is also pre installed The software has password protection that allows users at remote locations to access only their sites to input data or make changes A master password gives the Water Manager access to all sites Cluster Control Unit The Cluster Control Unit is a computer without a keyboard or screen and is the middle manager between the software and the field devices at each site It controls and monitors groups or clusters of field satellites and other devices such as flow and rain sensors Schedules are automatically downloaded from the Central Controller to the Cluster Control Unit at a user entered time usually late a night j
100. repeat at a frequency less than one minute Once the freeze condition is clear schedule 908 cancels the repeating cycle of the FREEZE RESET Schedule Freeze Clear Site Example Schedule Number 908 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected NO Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 PAUSE FOR 15 seconds 002 LINK CANCEL Schedule s 907 003 004 005 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 43 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird User Manual Addendum Flo Watch Log Flow Purpose FLO WATCH monitors and logs flow on the site Hardware Rain Bird Flow Sensor Pulse Transmitter 2 wire pulse decoder Program The LOG FLOW WATCH program logs flow for a ZONE on an assigned interval These schedules must be Step Type no Runtime Adjustment Schedule Log Flow Watch Zone 1 Site Example Schedule Number 901 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected NO Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 FLO WATCH Zone Monitor 01 Channel 04 04 002 FLO WATCH Zone Log On at 12 00AM Off at 12 00AM Sample every 1 minutes 003 004 005 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 44 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird User Manual Addendum Flo Watch LOW FLOW Purpose LOW FLOW alarms in the event of actual flow
101. rs The Site Satellite is available in twelve sixteen twenty four thirty two and forty station configurations in wall mount cabinets and stainless steel pedestals It is ideal for smaller sites with forty or fewer zones and one point of connection Communication Path There are two significant communication paths in Maxicom systems The Central Controller data path and the Satellite data path The Central Controller data path is from the Central Controller to the CCU or Site Satellite and can be hardwire telephone modem or radio The Satellite data path is from the CCU to the Satellites and can be hardwire Two Wire or radio Link A Site Satellite has no satellite data path since the CCU portion communicates only with the Satellite and Sensor Inputs inside the same cabinet Decoders Like Satellites Decoders are field devices they are wired into the Maxicom Two Wire path and use a channel on the CCU Decoders bring inputs into decoding the input device language There are two types of decoders pulse and sensor Pulse Decoders monitor pulses created by sensing devices such as flow sensors Pulse Decoders are used with inputs measured over time such as gallons per minute or miles per hour Sensor Decoders monitor on off devices such as freeze or moisture sensors Monitoring schedules are written that allow the irrigation schedules to react to field conditions recorded in the CCU by the Decoders Dec
102. rt SKIP DAYS When periodicity a cyclic every X days schedule will start START AT When time of day the schedule will start PAUSE FOR Will pause a schedule from carrying out the next command for a specified time REPEAT LOOP Will allow you to return the schedule to a specified previous step and repeat the succeeding steps START ON Command START ON DAY S The purpose of the START ON instruction is to designate the days of the week that a schedule is to start if the schedule is based on a seven day calendar or it may designate Even or Odd Days based on the monthly numerical Calendar Argument Explanation Day s Lists which weekdays the schedule will start There must be at least one day listed for Weekdays the instruction to work Example START ON MONDAY WEDNESDAY FRIDAY Day s Lists which days the schedule will start as ODD Days or EVEN Days determined by Odd Even whether the calendar day is odd 1 3 5 7 or even 2 4 6 8 There is also option for ODD31 which is odd days except the 31 of 31 day months or the 29 day of February in leap years because it is followed by the 1 of the next month another odd day Example START ON 00031 Days Note e Enter the START AT time instruction immediately following this instruction in a schedule to define the start times for the days you have selected e No instructions can occur between START ON or SKIP DA
103. s 7 8 9 and 10 Using a combination of comma separations and ranges hyphens is allowable for channels but not schedules Example LINK INTERRUPT Schedule s 002 003 005 200 LINK INTERRUPT Channel s 01 02 07 10 Note This instruction has a variety of applications For instance it can be used in conjunction with a Sensor instruction to activate LINK INTERRUPT based on a sensor condition LINK RESUME Command LINK RESUME un interrupt item of item to un interrupt The LINK RESUME un interrupt instruction activates the resumption of an interrupted schedule or group of schedules When a schedule is interrupted it ceases to operate until a LINK UN INTERRUPT instruction is executed for the schedule Argument Explanation resume item Sets the item to resume Channel s to resume a channel or group of channels Schedule s to resume a schedule or group of schedules of item to Sets the channel or schedule number s to un interrupt Up to six schedules can be resume entered per line Multiple lines can be placed in a single schedule For schedules enter schedule numbers separated by commas Schedule numbers for a range can be entered by using a hyphen as is possible with channels For channel numbers enter channel numbers separated by commas for single channel notation or with dashes to select a group of channels i e 7 10 selects channels 7 8 9 and 10 Us
104. s on a satellite 1 6 7 12 13 18 19 24 An exception is made for SEEF itself running station 24 for checking a main line with a NC master valve SEEF does not prevent operation of other stations not in hydraulic groups of those that were interrupted It is possible that another station whatever is next in line will turn on while SEEF actions are occurring The system was designed to allow this in order to minimize the effect of interrupting irrigation on the total system runtime Allowing a new station to come on during a main line check does not prevent SEEF from detecting a main line break There could potentially be a problem if the new station also causes excessive flow actual flow greater than the station properties flow rate in addition to the original excessive flow Such a situation could lead SEEF to conclude that there is a main line break when there really isn t If the new station does not in itself have excessive flow then SEEF will function normally and find the original problem whether a main line break or a faulty station As a Note The CCU does not recognize when a controller is 2 channels more than 24 stations SEEF acts as if all controllers are only one channel When the CCU goes to cancel the channel that a Main Line Break is on it only cancels that channel The quickest explanation is that if it is a controller gt 24 stations the CCU views it as two controllers on two channels It will only go and can
105. sture at Wilting Point Available Irrigation for Various Depth Capacity for Plant Use Feet Inches 26 Inches Inches 67 50 33 Light Sandy 1 0 1 25 20 0 25 1 00 0 33 0 50 0 67 1 5 1 88 0 38 1 50 0 50 0 75 1 00 2 0 2 50 0 50 2 00 0 66 1 00 1 33 Heavy 1 0 2 25 25 0 56 1 69 0 57 0 85 1 13 1 5 3 38 0 85 2 53 0 84 1 26 1 70 2 0 4 50 1 12 3 38 1 11 1 69 2 26 Medium 1 0 3 67 35 1 28 2 39 0 79 1 20 1 59 1 5 5 50 1 92 3 58 1 18 1 79 2 38 2 0 7 34 2 56 4 78 1 58 2 39 3 25 Soil Infiltration Rate Soil infiltration rate SIR is how fast water moves into a soil Infiltration rates are expressed in inches or millimeters of water per hour Infiltration rates play an important role in the management of landscape soils because they influence how rapidly water can be applied without having runoff Compacted soils thick thatch and slopes all work to create low infiltration rates Soil infiltration rates vary with soil texture They also decline with time during an irrigation application There are many conditions that affect soil infiltration rates such as soil surface conditions soil texture structure slope and soil water content Thatch layers in turfgrass can cause slowing of infiltration rates and should be watched Sandy soils will generally take in water very quickly usually more than 1 0 inch 2 5 cm per hour Clay soils take in water very slowly generally less than 0 1 inches 0 02 cm per hour Slopes will ta
106. the schedule will not be automatically sent to the CCU However if it is manually sent to the CCU it will start every day PAUSE FOR Command PAUSE FOR time hours minutes or seconds The PAUSE FOR instruction counts down a specified time interval leaving the schedule output conditions as they are for the duration of the specified PAUSE FOR time This command is often used to leave the possibility of the schedule being canceled because of conditions met in another schedule Argument Explanation Time Sets the amount of time Time can be set in seconds 1 to 60 minutes 1 to 60 or hours 0 1 to 9 9 Example PAUSE FOR 25 minutes Note PAUSE FOR instruction is not adjustable by the water budget factor 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 15 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum REPEAT LOOP Command REPEAT LOOP Repeat from Schedule Step Number step for of times to repeat times The REPEAT LOOP instruction allows you to return the schedule to a specified previous step and repeat the succeeding steps until reaching the REPEAT LOOP instruction again This process is repeated a specified number of times before proceeding on to the next instruction after the REPEAT LOOP Argument Explanation step Sets the step number the REPEAT LOOP will return to of times to Sets the num
107. tion in the Flow Zone is started Stations 12 or 24 available for SEEF Operations When conducting SEEF operations the CCU needs to energize a station in order to open the Master Valve to check for a main line break To do this the CCU turns on the last station of the lowest numbered active channel if a channel has a station parked that is considered active by the CCU The CCU has absolutely no understanding of controllers with other than 12 or 24 stations so it deals with each channel as such anything more than 12 stations on a channel is considered a 24 For any multi station satellite 28 32 36 or 40 the CCU always views the second channel as a 24 station controller i e a 36 station controller is treated as two 24 station controllers in this instance not as a 24 station and a 12 station This can cause some confusion when users are watching the manual operations screen while running a test of SEEF For example an ESP 36SAT may show as energizing station 48 instead of station 24 The reason for this indication would be because the lowest numbered active in the FW zone channel at the time of the SEEF is Channel 2 stations 25 40 If Channel 1 had been active station 24 would have been energized 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 65 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum It is important to leave the necessary stations blank so the CCU does not create
108. to schedules that do not run every day Running Stations for Seconds Typically when setting up non ET adjusted schedules users will set runtimes in minutes However for some applications nurseries wetting down sports fields it is desired to run station in increments of seconds It is possible to program station runtimes in seconds However the user may run into limitations because of the opening closing time of valves so extremely short runtimes are not recommended and all schedules should be adequately tested on the system IMPORTANT 1 This will need to be a step schedule not flo managed 2 The Runtime Roster WILL have red numbers since logging is only in minutes Since these schedules are typically be used to wet something down rather than as part of the typical irrigation by ET it is believed those caveats are acceptable How to write the schedule Write a normal non adjusted step schedule When you set station times using the wizard consider hours as minutes and minutes as seconds Once you are back to the editor change the word minutes in the schedule to seconds For example to run a station for 1 Minute 15 Seconds the schedule looks like 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 58 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum 001 START ON MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY 002 START AT 03 15PM 003 M4se Satellite CH
109. umber 602 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected YES Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 START ON MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY 002 START AT 10 30PM 003 4 Satellite CHANNEL 01 004 Station 02 001 minutes 005 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 35 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird User Manual Addendum MONITORING SCHEDULES For weather sensor schedules Rain Watch Wind Watch etc the schedule can be written to Interrupt Resume or Cancel either schedules or channels affects all irrigation for the Satellite assigned to that channel of the CCU The INTERRUPT command will pause irrigation on the indicated schedule or channel usually to wait and see if the weather condition persists The RESUME command will restart irrigation usually if the condition does not persist The CANCEL command will completely cancel irrigation for the designated schedule or channel for the rest of the irrigation day It does not allow irrigation to RESUME Rain Watch reaction to rain at the site Purpose RAIN WATCH causes active channels listed in the schedule to interrupt if rainfall occurs and cancels irrigation if it reaches a pre determined amount Hardware Rainfall Gauge Rain Bird Model RAINGAUGE Pulse Decoder DECPUL if Two Wire System Program The RAIN WATCH
110. umber of decoders guaranteed to log up to 10 PPM without missing any pulses N 60 10 4 1 0 3 N 1 9 0 3 lt 6 17 Therefore more 6 pulse decoders can guaranteed to log at up to 10 To solve for Pulses Minute guaranteed based on number of decoders PPM lt 60 0 3N 4 1 Then If you needed 12 Pulse Decoders 12 Flow Sensors you can be guaranteed to receive at least 7 PPM PPM 7 79 This means that compared to 6 Pulse Decoders you need to drop the resolution per pulse If you were 10 gallons per pulse with 6 Decoders resolution should be about 15 gallons per pulse with 12 Decoders Pulses Flow Sensors Link For pulse limits on a Link system the sensor inputs on Link MIBs do not require external pulse decoders the general thumbrule is that the ESP SAT Link can store a total of 100 pulses per sensor input between CCU polls The CCU on a Link system is not limited by timing as is a Two Wire system it polls the running satellites every minute Therefore the CCU sensor limit is actually set by the number of sensor inputs on ESP Satellites There are 2 sensor inputs per Link Satellite So theoretically a fully loaded CCU28 can have up to 56 flow sensors each with a 100 ppm rate limit NOTE Achieving this limit would require perfect radio communications sites will need a lower number of flow sensors and lower ppm rates to allow multiple minute data collection without exceed
111. und under Start Programs Roxio Easy CD Creator 2 When the Project Selector starts hover the mouse over the Make a Data CD option 3 Three new options will appear to the right but the bottom most option will be grayed out The top option is the Direct CD option which allows you to set up a CD to drag and drop files from Windows Explorer 4 Once Direct CD is chosen the user will be taken to a new screen This will be the Direct CD Format Utility This screen will have a button right in the middle of the page that says Format CD 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 8 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Pressing this will start the CD formatting which will take about 15 minutes When it completes you should be able to select the CD drive as a backup option in MC2 Central Controller to CCU Connection Speed Regarding CCU Or ESP SITE Satellite to Central Controller modem connection rates Prior to version 5 70R the CCU was capable of 300 or 1200 bps some older CCUs are only capable of 300 bps Version 5 70R and later are capable of 300 1200 2400 bps When a site is created in MC2 the speed is set by default to 1200 bps To get 2400 bps this speed must be changed in Site Properties Site Properties Contact Tab Communication Port Settings The speed options in the Communication Port Settings also lists 9600 bps This speed is currently not achievable In
112. updated and 2 an exclamation mark and the word Updated will be displayed next to the values in the ET Checkbook The most common reason for seeing this status is when a Weather Source contact fails If there is no Weather Source contact by the time that the Site auto send contact occurs then the Reference ET from the previous day is used in determining the Irrigation ET If it has been 2 or more days without Weather Source contact Maxicom2 will then use the default ET The next time that the Weather Source is successfully contacted MC2 gets the actual ET data that it previously missed and updates previous day s Reference ET and Rain This places a discontinuity in the Balance column since the Irrigation ET does NOT change after it has been sent to the CCU The Updated status is to alert the user of the reason for this apparent discontinuity 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 53 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Maximum Daily ET Value There has been confusion among some customers recently regarding the effect that Maximum Daily ET Value has on irrigation The Maximum Daily ET Value is set for a site in the Irrigation tab of Site Properties This value in inches per day etc is the maximum amount the system will irrigate on one day for ET based schedules to replace water lost by evapo transpiration For example say the Maximum Daily ET Value is set at 0 50 inc
113. use seconds instead of minutes to ensure a full counting period once the WIND COUNT schedule is started Schedule Wind Count Site Example Schedule Number 802 Programmed Repeats 0 FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected NO Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 PULSE COUNTDOWN Channel 03 WAIT 015 Pulses 002 LINK START SCHEDULE S 803 003 004 005 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 40 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Schedule Wind Inhibit Site Example Schedule Number 803 Programmed Repeats Continuous FLO MANAGER NO Automatic Send YES Protected Runtime Adjustment No Adjustment Nominal ET 0 10 in d 001 LINK CANCEL Channel s 01 04 05 002 LINK CANCEL Schedule s 101 102 103 201 202 203 003 LINK CANCEL Schedule s 801 004 PAUSE FOR 59 seconds 005 NOTE Setting the programmed repeats as Continuous and having a PAUSE FOR 59 seconds ensures no schedules will run for the irrigation evening Any new schedules would try to start at the top of a minute and the WIND INHIBIT schedule is repeatedly canceling everything at a frequency less than a minute NOTE If you do not want irrigation cancelled for the rest of the irrigation day you will need to set up a different schedule format than the continuous repeat format of 803 21
114. ust before the irrigation cycle begins Schedules are then sent from the CCU to the appropriate satellites The CCU monitors site conditions constantly the results are automatically uploaded to the Central Controller at a user entered time usually after the irrigation cycle is complete The CCU28 can control and monitor twenty eight devices or channels the CCU6 can control can monitor six One Central Controller can monitor an unlimited number of Cluster Control Units at distant sites Cluster Control Units are available in wall mount cabinets and stainless steel pedestals 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 4 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Satellites In a Maxicom system satellites replace traditional field controllers A satellite contains an interface board which allows communication between the CCU and the satellite The most common satellite is the ESP SAT The ESP SAT is a very user friendly hybrid satellite using both solid state and electro mechanical components Itis available in twelve sixteen twenty four thirty two and forty station configurations in wall mount cabinets and stainless steel pedestals Site Satellite The Site Satellite combines an ESP SAT and many of the functions of a Cluster Control Unit in one cabinet The CCU portion of the Site Satellite controls and monitors that one satellite and up to two sensor inputs without the use of Decode
115. v adven ena ae vp SCHEDULE EXAMPLES rc M CONTROL SCHEDULES uuu xe estes tete hu ha Quya kaq au a Sasa Step Schedule Irrigation Scheduling by Odd Even patterns Irrigation Scheduling by Day Cycles see Master Multiple Station Control essere Complex Schedule Cycles Every Third Day Excluding Sundays eere 32 Master Valve X asa u ttti torte tra ur e 34 Control of Fountains and Other Non Irrigation Devices n ener etre 35 MONITORING SCHEDULES ul u Rain Watch reaction to rain at the site Rain Cancel Cancel irrigation if rain detected Wind Watch reaction to wind at the site Freeze Watch reaction to temperature at the site Log al ony oen m Odette ua eee ite eei e re en PORTER Blo Watch LOW FLOW E ETE ERE CRE Fe PEN CENE VERE EAS EENREEVERERS ERES VR E Y CERE TREE EROE TESTES EPE E ra Flo Watch SEEP enne nnne nnne SEEF Normally Open Master Valve INDICATIONS AND OPERATIONS
116. ve Flow is detected Sensor START Command START IF Channel Channel Condition for time seconds minutes The Sensor START instruction allows you to begin operation of a schedule when a specified sensor condition has been met An optional sensitivity time can be added This is the length of time the condition must exist before triggering this start instruction Argument Explanation Channel Sets which channel number to monitor for the desired condition Condition Sets the condition to look for ON is a sensor closed or on condition OFF is a sensor open or off condition optional time The condition set must exist for at least the time period specified Can be set for 1 99 seconds or minutes Example START IF Channel 07 ON for 15 seconds Note e For instance this instruction may be helpful to start an irrigation schedule for a planting area if a moisture sensor condition is met e This will start only the current schedule If you want to start multiple schedules use the LINK START instruction 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 19 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Sensor INTERRUPT Command INTERRUPT WHILE Channel Channel Condition for time seconds minutes The Sensor INTERRUPT instruction is used to cease operation while a specified sensor condition is met The schedule will resume operat
117. w of water into the irrigation mainline The NOMV remains open at all times so no additional programming is required for sites with 2 or more Satellite Controllers or for manual watering If a power outage occurs in conjunction with a mainline break the NOMV will remain open 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 67 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird Maxicom User Manual Addendum Valve Type Normally Closed NCMV Normally Open NOMV Normal State Closed Powered to open Open Powered to close Availability Rain Bird valves are available in plastic amp Rain Bird does not offer a normally open brass sizes 3 4 to 3 flow rates from 10 valve at this time Contact your Maxicom to 300 GPM Distributor for information Connected Master Valve Circuit of the site s Satellite Satellite Controller station to Controller Multiple Requires spare station amp Park MV No special requirements Controllers schedules Manual Requires spare station amp schedules No special requirements Operation Manual w o Manual controller operation or manually No special requirements Maxicom bleed valve Continuous Requires special solenoid No special requirements Operation SEEF Maintain NCMV setting amp spare station Add Satellite Controller Channel amp Station Schedule after SEEF command Operation Works without Maxicom except for Works without Maxicom except for w o
118. w rate into a specific flow zone One or multiple flow meters can be used Flow meters are identified here by their channel number Argument Explanation Flo zone Sets which Flo zone this combination of flow meters is monitoring Channel Sets which channel number the flow meter is connected to Condition Sets the condition of additional flow meters indicates the additional meter s flow into the flow zone indicates the additional meter s flow out of the flow zone Example FLO WATCH Zone Monitor 01 Channel 18 22 Note e Incases where a point of connection may have flow in one direction or the other depending on system activity a bi directional component may be defined as Channel of forward into the zone flow meter Channel of backward out of the zone flow meter FLO WATCH Zone Log Command FLO WATCH Zone Log On at On Time Off at Off Time Sample every Sample Time minutes The FLO WATCH Zone Log instruction is used to chart and record the actual flow of water measured by a preceding FLO WATCH Zone Monitor instruction during a designated period of time FLO WATCH Zone Log information includes log on log off time and intervals between log samples Argument Explanation On Time Sets the time to open the log window Off Time Sets the time to close the log window Sample Time Sets the sampling time in minutes 9 minutes maximum Example FLO WATCH
119. ystem operator can use the water budget feature to adjust the percent of change desired for each program Cycle Soak does the rest of the work for you The attached chart shows examples of how to utilize Cycle Soak for various soil slope conditions with various sprinkler precipitation rates The chart assumes a pre wetted soil condition 21 Dec 05 Copyright 2005 Rain Bird Corporation Page 50 Install Confidence Install Rain Bird User Manual Addendum Suggested Cycle Soak Times Precip Rate 0 1 0 5 0 5 1 0 1 0 1 5 2 2102 2 BSS In Per Hour Micro Rotors Rotors Rotors Sprays Sprays Sprays Sandy Soil 60 min Cycle 60 min Cycle 60 min Cycle 60 min Cycle 45 min Cycle 0 5 Slope 0 min Soak 0 min Soak 0 min Soak 0 min Soak 15 min Soak Sandy Soil 60 min Cycle 60 min Cycle 60 min Cycle 45 min Cycle 30 min Cycle 5 896 Slope 0 min Soak 0 min Soak 0 min Soak 15 min Soak 30 min Soak Sandy Soil 60 min Cycle 60 min Cycle 45 min Cycle 30 min Cycle 12 min Cycle 8 12 Slope 0 min Soak 0 min Soak 15 min Soak 30 min Soak 48 min Soak Sandy Soil 60 min Cycle 30 min Cycle 20 min Cycle 15 min Cycle 12 min Cycle 12964 Slope 0 min Soak 30 min Soak 40 min Soak 45 min Soak 48 min Soak Loam Soil 60 min Cycle 45 min Cycle 30 min Cycle 24 min Cycle 20 min Cycle 0 5 Slope 0 min Soak 15 min Soak 30 min Soak 36 min Soak 40 min Soak

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