Rain8 Pro + Input Support?

[ClemsonJeeper]

I just bought the Rain8 Pro with an Input for rain sensor - does the Rain8Net plugin support the input sensor?

So in an event I can check the status of the rain sensor to see if I want to turn on valves?

Want to make sure before I buy it.

[ClemsonJeeper]

Is this plugin still supported?

[stevea]

There's more than one plug-in that supports this protocol. Homeseer Tech has one too. You may want to check that one out as well.

Steve

[Michael McSharry]

mcsSprinklers does support it, but I think it is only with the PRO version of the plugin. It is used for either a water usage counter or as an external inhibit discrete with mcsSprinklers.

[ClemsonJeeper]

There's more than one plug-in that supports this protocol. Homeseer Tech has one too. You may want to check that one out as well.

Steve

I tried the one that came with HSPRo (rainrelay8) but didn't see any input support on that either. Am I missing it somewhere?

[ClemsonJeeper]

mcsSprinklers does support it, but I think it is only with the PRO version of the plugin. It is used for either a water usage counter or as an external inhibit discrete with mcsSprinklers.

Yeah... I'm trying to avoid 150$ on an irrigation software controller... But if none of the other plugins support the input sensor on the pro unit, maybe ill have to bite the bullet.

[Michael McSharry]

You should assess why you want the rain sensor input. If all you are going to do is use it to inhibit the irrigation cycles when the sensor contains moisture then just connect the sensor to the 24VAC so the valves do not have any power when the sensor is wet.

Using weather information from the Web and an ET calculation will do a better job of determining when irrigatin should occur than a little sponge.

[stevea]

I tried the one that came with HSPRo (rainrelay8) but didn't see any input support on that either. Am I missing it somewhere?

I didn't mean to imply that either of the plug-ins support the sensor. I was just suggesting that you check them both out in case one did.

As it happens there has been a dialog in the Snevl Sprinklers thread about support for a rain sensor, and I'm adding that for the next version (hopefully out this week). Unfortunately, Snevl Sprinklers works *WITH* the Rain8Net plug-ins, so if the rain sensor isn't supported by them there's nothing I can do.

Also: I don't know if Larry ever fixed it, but his Rain8Net plug-in (the one this discussion thread is under) didn't used to support using HS device ON/OFF to turn valves ON and OFF. That prevents stuff like Snevl Sprinklers from working with it.

A couple of times I have thought about adding direct support for Rain8Net into Snevl Sprinklers. The protocol is pretty simple, so it wouldn't be difficult. Unfortunately, I don't have a Rain8Net myself to develop / test with. Since Snevl Sprinklers is free, I don't really have the cash flow to buy one that I won't be using myself. I'll think about it thought.

Steve

[lpitman]

I will look into your requests later next week. I am currently suffering the loss of my father.