MCS Documentation

[frobnitz]

Hi, sorry for asking something that looks obvious, but I can't seem to find the answer searching through the forum. That is, where can I get a copy of the documentation for this plug in before buying it? I'm a little confused about the capabilities of this system and would like a concise description of what it does.

Thanks,
Frob

[Michael McSharry]

It is a free download from the updater. Bill Walton coauthored to make it more user friendly. What you will find is that there are many features and options which can be overwhelming for the novice. I suspect 90% of the setup defaults are what most run with. Many of the options are a result of user requests during the version 3 development period.

[bdingle]

I just want some clarification:

to use the rain8 control software requires the purchase of the temperature software on the Updater ? correct ?? thanks ....

Bob Dingle

[Michael McSharry]

If you want to run mcsControlSystems, for which the first element is an integrated sprinkler control system, then you need to have mcsTemperature installed. If you are looking for just a replacement to timed-controllers there are several scripts available including one provided by the Rain8 supplier.

What the sprinker controller in mcsControlSystems provides is a mechanism by which to control the watering based upon either a timed mechanism or by moisture contents in each specific zone being watered. Moisture content can be either measured or calculated based upon measurements of solar intensity, humidity, and temperature and drainage factors for your soil.

It also considers the forecast for rain and used previously collected rain data to predict the amount of rain that will fall to assess the amount of watering that will be needed. There are several other factors that can be selected to limit the watering to only desired or allowed times.

The control actions taken are collected and available for presentation with other environmental data. There are so many dependencies on the capabilites that mcsTemperature provides that it cannot be run standalone.