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“Rain, rain, go away” - - - so, I can water my yard today.
You’ll definitely want to - - - water your yard, that is - - - if you have WGL's Rain8 – X10 Sprinkler Controller installed and supported with the various pre-written scripts found on the Perceptive Automation (Indigo) site. These AppleScripts, of course, work with Indigo, which hopefully is your Mac home automation software.
The Rain8 is a full featured, 8 zone irrigation controller to help keep your yard lush and green. You can even link multiple Rain8MB’s to reach a maximum of 256 zones of operation. Of course, that’s not a yard. That’s a pasture!
Initial Configuration
The Rain8 with its special Mac friendly firmware eliminates the need for a USB to serial adapter when using the Rain8 in Computer Controlled Mode as described below. It accepts house code initialization commands (using the PSC05 interface) via an Indigo script.
Two Operational Modes
- Rain8 Programmed Controller Mode
The time and duration commands for each of the 8 zones comes from a program you have entered into the Rain8 Controller itself. This programming can ONLY be done via a serial port interface so you would need either a PC or a Keyspan USB Adapter . Once you have programmed the configuration from the computer, you are then able to trigger the execution of this internal to the Rain8 Controller program via the transmission of a single X10 command from your home automation software (like Indigo).
- Computer Controlled Mode
This method of control doesn’t require a serial port interface. Indigo has built a built in user interface that handles the scheduling and control of each Rain8 sprinkler zone. Therefore, the control is kept at your fingertips. You will have to keep your computer on and Indigo running to take advantage of this built in UI.
An intelligent home automation program like Indigo provides an easy means of adjusting run times for seasonal irrigation changes. As a safeguard, the Rain8 has a maximum “valve on” time for each zone of 240 minutes. Users with a serial adapter can even use the configuration software to manually adjust each maximum zone duration to any value down to 1 minute.
REMEMBER:
- You do NOT need a serial connection to initialize the Rain8 and use it in Computer Controlled Mode.
- But . . . you will need the serial port connection if you desire to program the internal memory of the Rain8.
Got the picture?
Each Rain8 package contains the following:
- Rain8 X10 Sprinkler Controller
- 24v AC 300ma Transformer
- RS232 cable (for connecting the Rain8 to computer)
- Data cable to connect PSC05 to Rain8
- PSCO5 Power Line Interface (receives X10 commands from power line)
Just Need to Add 8 More Zones?
If you already have the Rain8, but you need to add 1-8 more zones, the Rain8 Expansion Module is what you will need. Be sure and pick the appropriate option at the bottom of the screen. The Rain8 Expansion Module is $19.95 less than your original Rain8M. The Rain 8 Expansion Module contains the following which will allows you to quickly add those 8 additional zones.
- Rain8 X10 Sprinkler Controller
- Modular splitter
- Data cable to connect PSC05 to Rain8
- Diagram on how to connect the two Rain8 modules together
Here is a useful App that will assist you in setting the X10 House Code for using the Rain8 within Indigo:
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