[Ray]

Looks like both the MC34063 switching regulator and MCP1700 linear regulator are damaged. Not sure why that happened. I do have some spare parts I can send you. It will be on the way tomorrow. This will include the two regulators, inductor, and two diodes (R3000 and 1N5819). My suspicion is that you probably only need to replace the two regulators. For diodes, use your multimeter to check the forward drop voltage: R3000 should be around 1.5V to 2V, and 1N5819 should be around 0.2V. If not, replace the diodes as well.

Be careful desoldering components off PCB: probably the safe way is to clip the leads off the component body first, then you can desolder each lead one by one, or in some cases directly solder a new component on the leftovers of old leads. Do not use too much strength to pull out leads, or you may damage the PCB trace.

[Ray]

Unfortunately since each firmware upgrade often increases the number of options and changes the format of the program data structure, it’s difficult to automatically save and restore these data on the microcontroller. But these data structures are starting to stabilize and the firmware has remained the same for the past few months, so hopefully users don’t have to do this often.

[Ray]

Yes, that’s on my todo list. It’s pretty easy to add an additional option that selects the last field of the MAC. For now, if you need, you can modify the source code and re-flash. The MAC address is specified close to the top of interval_program.pde. Also, in the past I was able to use multiple controllers (with the same MAC) on the same network by using static ip (each controller is given a different ip). This might depend on your router, but I was able to access each individual controller without a problem.

[Ray]

@Homerih: in case you haven’t checked it already, all information about OpenSprinkler can be found at http://www.opensprinkler.com. It runs an ATmega328 microcontroller itself so you don’t need to attach it to any arduino. The microtronoller runs a full-featured program which serves the webpage, and carries out the water schedules. The webpage requires some Javascripts that are currently hosted on rayshobby.net server. Dan’s Raspi scripts are designed to offload these Javascripts to a Pi server, as well as to log the sprinkler status (which the controller doesn’t do itself). Also, using a Pi to interface with OpenSprinkler makes it easy to introduce weather-based features and anything that requires computation beyond what a simple microcontroller can do.

[Ray]

There is actually a simple way to do this. Please take a look at this blog post:
http://rayshobby.net/?p=5066

[Ray]

That’s normal. The switching regulator and the Ethernet controller both dissipate considerable amount of power during operation, so they will feel noticeably warm.

[Ray]

That’s not supported currently. It’s a very good suggestion. I know some people are making use of opensprinkler to control other devices like home lighting, which should be exempt from rain sensor/delay settings. I will put this feature in todo list. Thanks for making the suggestion.

[Ray]

Cool, glad that you found it. Just be careful desoldering components.

[Ray]

The ring colors of a 100 ohm resistor should be brown-black-brown. Sorry if it’s missing from your kit. What you have soldered onto RLED right now is one of the two 1 ohm resistors. These two 1 ohm resistors are supposed to go to Rsc (but as explained in the instructions, one of them is optional). Please double check the Rsc resistors: if you have soldered both, I am pretty sure one of them is the 100 ohm you are looking for. If it’s not there, I am happy to send you one tomorrow.

[Ray]

Make sure your RLED is 100 ohm. There many resistors in the kit but there is only one that’s 100 ohm. If it’s correct, please measure the voltage between LCD’s VO pin (3rd pin from the left) and GND (1st pin). Let me know the voltage reading.

[Ray]

1. The front looks ok. Could you also post an image of the back of the PCB so I can see the solder joints?
2. Could you use a multimeter to check the AC (not DC) voltage of your sprinkler transformer? What’s the reading?

[Ray]

From your voltage testing, it looks like the 24VAC -> 5V conversion and 5V -> 3.3V conversion have failed, This could be caused by any of a number of potential issues, including whether diodes D1, D2, and inductor L1 are soldered correctly, MC34063 inserted correctly, and also the 24VAC transformer outputs a voltage that’s over-spec. I suspect the MC34063 switching regulator and MCP1700-33 linear regulator are damaged. Hopefully you haven’t inserted the other ICs and the LCD — in which case MC34063 and MCP1700-33 are the only ICs you need to replace. In case you have inserted everything, I am afraid the DS1307 and the LCD are also damaged, which you need to replace as well. Do please check your 24VAC transformer output before any further experiment.

[Ray]

There are several possibilities, but I think most likely it’s caused by an unreliable solder joint. I know you’ve checked the triac, but you should also check the joints on the resistor array and the 74HC595 shift register. A lower voltage probably means the triac is not turned on fully. This could be because the connection from the resistor or the shift register pin is loose. So check those solder joints and see if anything changes.

[Ray]

If you have a web server, you can easily copy the Javascripts (they are all checked in to the GitHub repository) to an accessible path on your server, and then you need to modify the OpenSprinkler source code to point to your server. The path is defined in this source file:
https://github.com/rayshobby/opensprinkler/blob/master/OpenSprinkler%20Controller/software/libraries/OpenSprinkler/examples/interval_program/interval_program.pde
notte the JAVASCRIPT_PATH variable on the top. This should be a simple change, but it does require re-compiling the source code.

I will consider adding an configurable path in the options in the future. At the moment it’s tricky to add because the current program has pretty much maximized the program memory space.

[Ray]

You are right, it’s ATmega328. If you have a DIY version, simply pry out the old one and insert a new one. If you don’t have one at hand, buy it on Digikey.com for a few dollars. If you have a surface mount version, you need to use a hot air gun to take off the old chip and solder on a new chip.

[Ray]

Because the rain sensor port is connected directly to a digital pin on the microcontroller, if you connect 24V to the rain sensor port, the microcontroller will be damaged, at least partially. So the first thing I suggest is to replace the microcontroller.

[Ray]

Hi Dan, thanks for sharing.

Regarding your question

if it would be possible to add a field to OpenSprinkler’s Preferences page to switch between default behavior (using rayshobby server) and another URL (e.g. the server on the raspi)?

this can be done by adding an string option that stores the prefix to the Javascript path.

If you have a write-up, I would be happy to post it on my blog. Is it possible to share just the changes/files you made, instead of the entire linux image file? I assume a user would want to install the default Raspi image first, and then follow the change you made.

[Ray]

I am not sure, you should check GitHub. But I believe you can do a ‘git checkout’ followed by the commit hash code (the number shown on each commit record, such as 63d40b62c5).

[Ray]

Sure, we’ve just started working on this using the weather API provided by Wunderground. Hopefully we can release the work in progress soon. There are still a lot of unknowns we need to experiment with. Any help would be appreciated.

[Ray]

GitHub keeps the entire commit history. You can go to the history list and download a previous version of the repository. Here is the direct link:
https://github.com/rayshobby/opensprinkler/commits/master/OpenSprinkler%20Controller/software
I think the version committed on June 19, 2012 should still work with FTDI programmer. However, since you have an ISP programmer, I would recommend you to upgrade to the latest firmware (1.8.2). You need to solder a 2×3 pin header to your v1.0 board, and then you can upload a .hex file using your ISP programmer.

[Ray]

The LCD module can be turned off in software, but the backlight is hard wired and cannot be turned off in software. To turn off the backlight would require an additional microcontroller pin. This will certainly be considered for the next hardware upgrade.

[Ray]

You are right, it should be d, not day. Fixed now. Thanks for pointing it out.

[Ray]

Thanks for sharing, Dan. It’s great to know that you modified OpenSprinkler firmware to work with Raspi. I’ve got my first Pi recently and am very happy with it. I think a lot of home automation projects will move towards embedded linux in the future. It will lower the programming barrier for users who are less familiar with microcontroller programs but more familiar with script languages. Keep us updated on your progress. Thanks.

[Author]

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