Rain8Net New Interface Options?

[gbdesai]

My Rain8 setup section in the latest version of mcsSprinklers (grabbed from updater) has a slightly different dialog related to the Rain8Net interface... Here is the image from the current documentation that only has a spot for Internal COM port.

http://homeseer/Help/mcsSprinklers/m...s/image010.jpg

My version also includes an IP box. What is that for? I am curious because I will be doing the RS232 interface with my Lantronix MSS4 through a Network<->Serial redirector. I also have an available GC100 serial port, but I can't find a suitable COM port redirector for it. Is the IP text box related to these in any way?

[gbdesai]

Nevermind, I thought I was looking at the latest docs, but I wasn't it appears as though there is a description of the IP box there. Sorry.

[Michael McSharry]

There are versions of the Rain8 that have been produced with voltage compatibilty with the Lantronix IP/Serial units. It is also possible to get the simple mod that can be applied yourself or sent back to WGL where they will make it for you.

Both the original and the low-voltage capable units are avaialble when ordering, but unless specified the standard one will be shipped.

I run my Rain8 through a Lantronix EPS4 with a direct IP connection rather than via the Redirector. I have found the redirector to generally work fine, but on some of my computers it will blue-screen at times when I use it.

[gbdesai]

Cool. I think the MSS4 uses similar if not the same protocol as the EPS4. I will try the direct connection and see how it goes, I get the Rain8Net today or tomorrow.

So do I need the mod to be able to do the direct IP connection through my MSS4? If not, when would you need the modification?

[Michael McSharry]

If you ordered the standard one without indicating that you will be running it behind the Lantronix then you will need the mod or will need to swap before it will be seen. The voltage provided by the Lantronix is in the low 3V range and is just below what the standard Rain8 is expecting.

You still need to administer the Lantronix to define the baud rate and define a service. The port you will want to use is 3001 to 3004 to establish a raw data a tunnel. The is a document that I posted called lanports.doc that describes how I set mine up. Depending upon your experience level with the Lantronix this may or may not be of value to you.

[gbdesai]

Just to complete this thread, the standard model of the Rain8Net worked great with my Lantronix MSS4 without modification. And mcsSprinklers works great to with the direct RAW communication directly to the device IP address and port. Thanks for the great solution!

[Michael McSharry]

Great, keep your eye on it since you likely do not have much margin unless the MSS4 has more juice than the EPS series.