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The user manual online is outdated (based on firmware 1.8). We will be releasing an updated user manual for firmware 2.1.0 very soon within a couple of days.
This depends on the electric spec of the lights. Just quickly glancing over the link you provided, it seems this is using E12 light bulb, and I suppose it means it requires 110V powerline voltage, so you can’t directly light it up with OSPi, because OSPi outputs 24V AC which is far below 110V. There are several options
1. use OSPi to drive a relay and use relay to switch the lights. OSPi does have a built-in relay, but that’s only rated 3 Amp contact current, so likely you need an external relay.
2. use OSPi combined with an RF remote power socket to switch powerline devices. I have a blog post about it: http://rayshobby.net/?p=3381 (note that the blog post uses OpenSprinkler as example, but the same functionality can be implemented for OSPi).
3. instead of using 110V light bulb, use 12V LED lights. 12V LED lights can be directly connected to 24V AC output (because LED is intrinsically diode, it blocks half of the AC waves, making the effective voltage 12V).Yes, development is under way to enable cloud-based management. This is likely going to take a while until we figure out all the technical details in the firmware. I can’t provide an accurate estimate of when this will be available, but we are definitely working towards it.
Is there any reason you want to use ULN2803 to drive the triac? The triac functions like a transistor (except it’s switching AC current instead of DC). It can be switched by logic level signals. If you want isolation you can use an opto-isolator, but I don’t know why you need ULN2803 (which is typically used to drive steppers and motors) to drive it.
Fair enough, advice taken. Note has been added to the assembly instructions. To be honest, I think you really screwed it too tight. Obviously this is an issue I didn’t anticipate before.
@rwp: First of all, please, when posting multiple questions, split them in bullets so it’s easy for us to track all the questions you asked. Putting all questions in one paragraph with no space in between makes it really hard to keep track.
how can I specify what weather station to use?
You can specify a Wunderground PWS station as your location. For example, the one closest to me is pws:KMAAMHER2. For specifics, please check Wunderground.com.
Is there any way to know if the api is using specific data?
Whichever location you set in OpenSprinkler, you can type in the same location in Wunderground.com and you will see the data it’s using. Also, in the web interface, on the side bar (click on the upper-left corner icon will bring out the side bar), ‘Wunderground Diagnostics’ tells you the data it’s using.
Is the weather adjustment off in manual mode?
Yes, weather adjustment is always ignored in manual or run-once program, because you typically want to specify the exact amount of water time in manual and run-once program mode.
Extra start times is unusual compared to industry standards most all controllers have 3 to 8 start times numbered and set by time like open’s first start time
I do not understand what you mean. This firmware allows up to 4 start times. In addition, you can specify repeating start times, which is similar to the ‘interval’ start times in the old firmware. Would you like more start times or less start times?
Thanks for the update still looking for a run once button for any scheduled program.
There is a run-once program button right on the homepage.
It’s in the OpenSprinkler Github repository: https://github.com/rayshobby/opensprinkler/tree/master/OpenSprinkler%20Pi/hardware
The PCB design has a top keepout layer around the support pillars, but I think forgot to add bottom keepout, so there are traces running close by the hole on the bottom side. This normally isn’t an issue, unless perhaps you screwed it too tight?
Also I can’t get out of boston in location
Can you provide more specifics? Do you mean you can’t change the location?
I am pretty sure this is not a firmware problem — I have a test OS 2.2u with firmware 2.1.0 beta, and I can enter Setup Options by pressing B3 on start. So it has to be either a soldering issue or a component problem with your button B3.
Thanks for sharing the tip. Sorry to hear that the system was not reliable before. Out of curiosity: do you have a microcontroller-based OpenSprinkler or OpenSprinkler Pi?
Please follow the steps:
1. Turn of controller
2. Press and hold B3 while turning the controller on (just keep pressing B3 until you see the LCD displays something)
Let me know if you still can’t get into setup options.@sprinklesprinklelittlestar: I found the problem: when WUnderground API key is not provided, the firmware is looking for weather0.py, which is a symbolic link. During the server migration a few days ago, the symbolic link was lost so weather0.py did not exist any more. It’s now added back and should work now.
OK, so clearly the time zone is not being set for some reason. I will need to investigate further to see if this is 2.2 specific. For now you can use the buttons to go to Setup Options, and change the time zone manually. To do so, turn off controller, press and hold button B3 while turning the controller on. You will see Setup Options. Then click B3 until you are at the TZone option, and use B1 and B2 to adjust the time zone, finally press and hold B3 again to save the changes.
@sprinklesprinklelittlestar: can you open a browser and type in http://x.x.x.x/jo?pw=**** where x.x.x.x is your OpenSprinkler’s IP address and **** is your password. Check the value of ‘tz’ and see if it’s 20 or 32?
The firmware update instructions now include a video tutorial:
https://opensprinkler.freshdesk.com/solution/categories/5000022938/folders/5000083380/articles/5000123042-how-to-upgrade-opensprinkler
In particular the second half of the video is about how to install USBasp driver on Windows 8.1.@sprinklesprinklelittlestar: the time update relies on NTP sync. If you turned NTP sync off, or for some reason it’s taking a long time to sync, then it may cause the issue you are seeing. Can you try to restart the controller and see if the time gets synced correctly?
You are right — with hardware 2.2 it’s now easier to upgrade 644 to 1284, because Optiboot for 1284 already exists. At the moment we are not planning to upgrade to 1284 yet, partly because we still have existing stock of 644, and partly because the current firmware, which is 54KB in size, is not approaching the limit of the program memory size yet.
Cool, very excited to see the new development. The plugins, especially the pressure plugin, are very interesting and I will be checking out them soon. Thanks for the great work!
@Phil: are you sure you are measuring AC voltage? If you are using a multimeter, make sure you are using the AC level, and not DC, otherwise your measurement will come close to 0 as you observed.
Dan is right that the master zone is electrically the same as any other zone: it outputs 24V AC (or whatever voltage your transformer outputs) when it’s turned on. Normally if you want to use it to turn on a pump you can get a pump start relay, which takes 24V AC as input, and can switch a pump at powerline voltage.
You mentioned ‘AC/DC Converter to convert what I thought would be AC25V to DC12V which is the input for the next component in the sequence a solid state relay’. Could it be that the AC/DC converter is doing something strange that makes the voltage show up as only 1.5V?
I’d like to add to Samer’s reply that if you use the OpenSprinkler mobile app (the native apps), you do NOT need Internet connection. Those apps have the Javascripts built-in. You only need Internet connection if you are trying to directly access OpenSprinkler in a web browser (i.e. not using apps).
Keep in mind that if you don’t have Internet connection, features like weather-based control and automatic time zone / DST detection will not work. You also can’t access the controller remotely if you are traveling away. For most users, these are the most valuable features of OpenSprinkler.
Similarly, I would argue that to control the device through an USB cable defeats the purpose of having a web-based sprinkler controller.
What’s included or not included in the package is CLEARLY indicated on the product webpage:
http://rayshobby.net/cart/os
I am sorry if you missed those when you made the purchase. One reason that transformers are not included (as specified on the product page), is that you likely already have a sprinkler controller and you can reuse the transformer because all sprinkler systems have the same electric spec. Also, it’s difficult for us to stock transformers for different countries that have different mains voltage.I don’t think it’s surprising that ‘router is not included’ — how would you expect the controller to get connected to the web, if you don’t have a router? You might even argue that we should include sprinkler valves, but I think it’s common sense that these are provided by you. OpenSprinkler is just a controller (like a thermostat is just a controller for HVAC system), it doesn’t include the whole system.
v1.0 and v1.1 are basically the same, the main differences are:
– v1.1 uses the OpenSprinkler (injection-molded) enclosure, while v1.0 uses an off-the-shelf enclosure with custom cutouts.
– v1.1 uses a slightly bigger relay while v1.0 uses a smaller relay (the relay is not used for sprinkler control, it’s there for extra, like switching garage doors and so on).Other than these, the circuit design is the same. Because the OpenSprinkler enclosure was not design particularly for OSBo, to fit everything, on version 1.1 you can see from the pictures that BBB has to be plugged in at an angle. A few users didn’t like this and actually preferred v1.0. In any case, we don’t have v1.0 any more, only OpenLab still has a few left in stock.
