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    #31
    V2.6.166 added a new page that shows the enabled zones in order of projected irrigation time. This provides a quick view to see what is comming up next. It is a compact view that is oriented to dealing with larger sites.

    This version also integrates the same-pc monitored backup capability, but is not available for execution as a homeseer plugin. The readme.txt file in the update zip identifies the two files that are not used with the homeseer configuration.
    Attached Files

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      #32
      Michael,

      Where do I get new versions? In particular, I believe in one post you indicated you had changed some stuff to be compatible with the day-to-date ET reporting mode of the Vantage Pro. But I don't see any obvious way to get anything newer than v129 which is on the Homeseer updater.

      Thanks,
      Pete

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        #33
        At the top of this thread there is a link to the latest version. I also keep links to other recent incremental versions. Look toward the bottom of the first post immediately after the revision comments.

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          #34
          The abilty to accumulate water utilization has been added in V2.6.170. Each zone on the Zone Setup now has an entry for the water use rate when the zone is ON. The cumulative water use is shown in a status device and can be viewed by day via calendar or hourly with detail popup from calendar.

          The Zone Setup UI for Syringing is included, but no control support for it yet exists
          Attached Files

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            #35
            Syringing control has been implemented in V2.6.179 with basic testing performred. For those that do not need it I suggest leaving it disabled until more thorough testing is performed.
            Attached Files

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              #36
              Love all those new features but not sure what the purpose of Syringing is for? Can you explain how it should be used?

              Thanks,
              Rick

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                #37
                This is Bunkers request that was described at http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=113696

                The idea is to give the foilage a short burst of water to cool it down and reduce the effects of the heat in the middle of the day.

                It is implemented as a single manual control cycle of syring-specified duration that is automatically initiated based upon a time, temp, or hourly ET. The restrictions are still enforced except those related to the between hours restrictions. The control strategy is not involved so it will occur every unrestricted day when the time or heat level threshold is reached.

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                  #38
                  The topic of syringing is also somewhat controversial and not so well researched or understood.

                  Most of the best maintained yards and golf courses in the world utilize hand watering and/or syringing. It is not a favorite job of groundskeepers, but a very important one, to maintain high quality turf in certain locations.

                  Some call "hand watering" syringing ... some do not. Most that truly understand the difference do not consider them to be the same thing. Syringing is often performed in an automated manner, but not always. Manual syringing would always be better, if you had the man power to implement it.

                  The main difference between these two supplemental watering techniques is that hand watering involves larger volumes of water and syringing involves small volumes or water. Syringing can be done manually, but if you hand syringed, you might spend 1 minutes on a trouble spot, whereas handwatering that same trouble spot would involve 10-15 minutes of watering. Syringing lends itself towards automation, whereas hand watering does not. Hand watering is usually deals with irrigation system deficiencies.

                  The act of syringing is not intended to provide enough water to replace the regular watering cycles, but instead acts as a temporary cooling mechanism and its beneficial effects are not well understood at this time. The volume of water is often very low and the cycle usually is oly 1-3 minutes at the most per zone.

                  The limited studies that have been done to date have shown that syringing lowers the canopy temperatures for about 10-30 minutes, but that in itself is not what makes syringed turf healthier than non-syringed turf.

                  [ "Turf quality in both syringed and hand-watered plots was significantly and visibly better than that of the control plots" ]

                  These limited studies concluded that maintaining an extended cooling (> 30 minutes) of the canopy "is not the primary means by which syringing improves turf performance".

                  It is not the supplemental water, because a 1-3 minute cycle doesn't provide enough water to do much if anything. But bottom line, in certain situations, the experts agree "it works" ... they just don't fully understand "why". They have found that syringing produces similar results to the far more difficult practice of hand watering. They have shown that it increases "leaf-water" potential well beyond the 30 minute time frame.

                  Popular myths are that syringing can burn your grass by magnifying the sun onto the blades of grass ... but for every person I've seen preaching that theory, I've seen 2-3 others which swear it works and that the burn thing is not true.

                  Other information I have come across indicate that Syringing also washes sugars, amino acids and other plant compounds extruded from the plant during stress periods from the surface of the leaf. Washing these materials from the leaf can be particularly useful in preventing high-temperature diseases such as Pythiumblight from attacking the turf.

                  In an Alabama study, they concluded that Syringing applied under wilting conditions has a dramatic effect on canopy temperature. Under nonlimiting soil moisture conditions, syringing has little to minor impact on lowering canopy temperature. However, as ambient temperatures increase, the effects of syringing increase. The most dramatic improvements come when temperatues are 90 or above.

                  This is why I requested this capability and why syringing can be triggered under mcs sprinklers by a temperature threshold, to keep its use limited and only when beneficial.

                  I currently have mine set for 95 F, and run my full circles for 3 minutes (1 full rotation, maybe a bit more), and the 1/2 circle zones for 2 minutes, which is a little more than one pass per head using Hunter PGP rotors. It hasn't kicked in yet, but thats good, as I only want to use it on the very hottest days.
                  Last edited by bunkers; July 18, 2006, 12:29 PM.

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                    #39
                    small problem with new calendar view

                    dont see anything from et, uv, etc
                    Attached Files

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                      #40
                      I know when I installed the latest version, that it took over an hour to start seeing come of the history calendars. Thats just what it seemed like happened. You might want to make sure they are still missing.

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                        #41
                        Stand Alone

                        I now have the stand alone version. Not to sound too obvious but are all of the newest updates under "Stand Alone" version or would the other updates work? Where would I find the latest update I could use?

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                          #42
                          The updates that are posted at http://mcsSprinklers.com contain the latest updates for both versions. The difference between the two is mcsSprinklers.exe is the main program vs. Homeseer.exe is the main program. All the logic, except registration and tray icon management, is contained in the hspi_mcsSprinklers.ocx which is common to both versions.

                          The version status device (now 92) will contain the latest version posted. It will be at http://mcsSprinklers.com/setup.exe or in the Homeseer updater. The interim beta releases that contain newest features and problem fixes will be posted at the top of this thread on this message board with a link to the download file on mcsSprinklers.com.

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                            #43
                            Standalone

                            My confusion comes from where it says to click here for standalone version. There is nothing saying what version it is or if it is a newer update. The stand alone version for example comes out as ver .141 yet the individual updates are at .161. By the way when you follow your link to mcsprinkler.com it says that web site is not set up. Should I be using the individual updates at the beginning of this post or continue to go only to the "Standalone" version link you have?

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                              #44
                              mcsSprinklers.com is setup to only be a repository to support downloads and does not have a "home page". All updates to mcsSprinklers can be used with either version. For interim updates the links to the file will be contained at the top of this thread along with a one-line description of each change.

                              In your specific case you can download the files that are referenced at the top of this thread to get interim updates for the standalone version. They will be in zip file format and installed by unzipping while maintaining the folder structure.

                              Today V2.6.262 was put to release status at http://mcsSprinklers.com/setup.exe. It has also bee submitted for inclusion in the HS Updater. It has the same functional capability as the last version linked at the top of this thread.

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                                #45
                                Fertigation/Rain8UPB/Touchscreen Support

                                Version 2.6.269 contains new features that will not be immediately usable, but I wanted to introduce them now so a single source code base can be maintained. I've been running several days with this configuration with no ill-effects expected or observed. The one area where independent evaluation is desired is for those that use the rain8net valves under Homeseer rather than mcsSprinklers control. Some changes to support the Rain8UPB involved code changes that is related to this area.

                                Two new scripting methods are added to support alternate user interfaces such as may be developed for a touchscreen-like UI.

                                Minutes = RemainingMinutes(DC)
                                Minutes = ScheduledMinutes(DC)

                                where access is something like

                                set mcs = hs.GetPlugins("mcsSprinklers")
                                Minutes = mcs.RemainingMinutes("#3")

                                The DeviceCode DC can be any zone DC, Area Status, or Site Status device. The functions will take into consideration manual vs. auto for the currently active mode and the percentage run time for an area with multiple start times.

                                The DeviceValue for the Area and Site status device has been changed from water consumption value to remaining minutes value. This will be the same value obtained from the RemainingMinutes function but is access via hs.DeviceValue.

                                The DeviceString for Zone/Area/Site is now multiplexed with different content based upon the ON/OFF status of the device. This is shown in the attachment. When ON the DeviceString will show the remaining minutes and when OFF it will show zone moisture level or Area/Site water consumption.
                                Attached Files

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