Step-by-Step Guide
Prerequisites
Before enabling weather-based watering on your BaseStation 1000, you must complete two setup tasks:
- Add a weather station to your BaseManager Plus account and assign that weather station to the controller
- Set up the zone properties for each zone so the system has all the information needed to calculate accurate ETc-based runtimes
Both of these prerequisite steps are covered in other videos available on the HydroPoint website.
Enabling Weather-Based Watering for a Program
1. Click on the Programs tab.
2. Select the program you want to edit.
3. Click the Edit button in the lower right-hand corner to start editing the program.
4. Check the box to enable weather-based watering for the program.
Understanding Program-Centric Weather-Based Watering
The BaseStation 1000 uses a program-centric programming model. When you enable weather-based watering for a program, every zone in that program will use weather-based watering. This is different from the BaseStation 3200, which is explained further in another video.
Once weather-based watering is enabled, you'll notice several changes to the program interface:
- A weather icon appears next to each zone's runtime
- The runtime boxes are grayed out and not editable, indicating that each zone's runtime is now being calculated based on weather data
Initial Runtime Behavior
When you first check the box to enable weather-based watering, the zone runtime will display as zero. This is because the system assumes a full glass (fully saturated soil) and will begin calculating runtimes based on estimated ET going forward.
If you were to view the program the next day and the system hadn't watered, you would be able to see a calculated runtime for each zone in the program based on the accumulated ET. The system continuously calculates runtimes based on accumulated evapotranspiration data for each zone.
Configuring Cycle and Soak Settings
By default, the BaseStation 1000 uses a program soak cycle method. This method divides each zone's runtime by the number of cycles specified in the program, then soaks between each zone based on the number of minutes entered.
Because zones in a program have the potential of having different zone properties and therefore different cycle and soak requirements that may vary between zones, you have the option of enabling zone soak cycles.
1. Select Zone Soak Cycles from the drop-down menu to allow each zone to have its own individual cycle and soak time.
2. When zone soak cycles are enabled, the system will automatically use the BaseStation's intelligent soak cycle feature. The system calculates a suggested cycle and soak time for each zone based on the zone properties you've set up.
3. To use the system-calculated cycle and soak time, click the icon next to the zone. The system will pull in the cycle and soak time based on that zone's properties.
4. To manually edit the cycle and soak time, highlight the number and change it to whatever value you'd like.
Configuring Program Start Conditions
The remainder of the program settings remain the same as standard programs. You'll still need to determine how and when to start the program.
Program start options include:
- A simple day and time schedule
- Soil moisture sensor-based start conditions
- Other available start conditions
More information about setting up soil moisture-based start conditions and other BaseStation 1000 program settings is available in other videos.
Saving Your Settings
1. When you're finished configuring all program settings, click the Save button in the lower right-hand corner to save your settings.
Video Walkthrough
If you have questions, here are 3 ways to get answers:
1. Search within this HydroPoint knowledgebase
2. Visit the HydroPoint support page
3. Call 800-362-8774 or email support@hydropoint.com, hours are Mon-Fri 3:00 AM – 6:00 PM PT and Sat 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM PT.