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    Arduino and moisture soil level

    I would like to implement a moisture soil level for my grass, any suggestions on which sensor work the best using Arduino and connecting the values to mcsSprinklers?

    Thanks,
    Aldo

    #2
    I do not have specific recommendations. I had interfaced a low cost one from Vegetronix http://www.vegetronix.com/Products/VH400/ using WebControl's Analog input and it worked well in the AZ desert conditions, but totally ineffective in WA where the soil tended to retain moisture. There are more expensive ones such as those used with Davis Weather Station. For general use I suggest ET, but there could be special applications where direct measurement will serve better.

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      #3
      Thanks Michael, I saw it before but I do not remember where, it looks like to be indeed a good sensor, I'm wondering how it will work in Boston :-)
      If with the help of the Arduino forum I successfully implement it, how difficult would it be to read the values from this sensor in your app?

      Thanks,
      Aldo

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        #4
        You can use a HS virtual device with the analog value from arduino going into the DeviceValue. Should be pretty standard interface. No scaling is needed on the arduino side unless you wish. You will setup the min/max range expected and trigger middle point in mcsSprinklers.

        The sensor seems to be water volume oriented. If your soil is sandy then I expect little volume will be retained and the sensor will work well. If it retains water it will hard for the sensor to detect just the top that is dry while everything below remains full of water.

        In my dessert success I had the probe fully immersed and it was able to detect the change in moisture in the clay-like soil as the sun caused the moisture to slowly escape. It was a drip system so the moisture added was very localized and did not constitute much volume overall.

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          #5
          Thank you very much Micheal.

          Aldo

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