Step-by-Step Guide

Understanding App Manager vs. BaseManager vs. Mobile Access

Before diving into mobile access, it's important to understand how the different tools relate to each other. App Manager is a suite of tools used for irrigation management. Within App Manager, you'll find BaseManager, PipeView (for viewing hydraulics of your system structure), and administration tools for adding new controllers.

BaseManager is where you'll do most of your heavy lifting for programming controllers. This includes setting up maps, accessing the QuickView dashboard, setting up schedules, naming devices, and configuring flow setup. This is typically where you'll do most of your work from your office or home.

Mobile Access is a slimmed-down version of BaseManager specifically designed for use in the field on smaller screens. It provides the critical functions you need when you're away from your desktop or laptop, such as during seasonal blowouts or testing. The work you do in BaseManager—including adding descriptions and naming zones or control points—will automatically show up and reflect with the same descriptions in Mobile Access.

Accessing Mobile Access on Your Phone

1. Navigate to baselineapps.net in your mobile web browser (Safari, Chrome, or Internet Explorer).

2. For convenience, create a bookmark on your phone's home screen. This makes Mobile Access appear like an app icon, even though it's actually a website optimized for mobile screens. Tutorial videos for creating home screen bookmarks on iOS and Android devices are available on the Baseline Web Training YouTube channel.

3. Save your login credentials in your browser to speed up the login process each time you access the system.

4. Once logged in, you'll see the App Manager suite with all its different components, including BaseManager, Mobile Access, PipeView, and others.

5. Click on Mobile Access to enter the mobile-optimized interface.

Key Differences in the Mobile Access Interface

When you first enter Mobile Access, you'll notice that the map view is not available. This is intentional—on a small phone screen, maps become difficult to use effectively. If you need to access maps on a mobile device, you can switch to BaseManager, but the tiny screen makes this challenging, especially as you get older or have difficulty seeing small details.

Mobile Access is specifically designed as a slimmed-down version that makes sense for small screens. You cannot do everything you can do in BaseManager, but you can perform all the critical functions needed while out in the field.

Manually Running Zones

1. From the Mobile Access main screen, select Manually Run Zone.

2. Scroll through all your available zones. The custom zone names you created in BaseManager will appear here, making it much easier to identify which zone you need to operate.

3. Select the zone you want to run. The default runtime is 10 minutes, but you can change this to whatever time you need.

4. Click Start. You'll see a message that the command has been sent, and the system will begin counting down. The zone indicator will change color to blue to show it's watering.

5. If you have multiple flow meters (for example, if you have two sources feeding your main line), you'll see flow displayed for each sensor. This allows you to see which source is providing water and how much flow is coming from each.

Advancing Through Multiple Zones

1. While a zone is running, you can easily advance to the next zone without returning to the main menu.

2. Use the arrow buttons to scroll to the next zone you want to run (for example, from zone 5 to zone 6 or zone 7).

3. Set the runtime for the next zone and click Start.

4. Continue this process for every zone you want to run sequentially. This scrolling method provides a quick way to run through multiple zones without navigating back and forth through menus.

Starting and Stopping Programs

1. From the Mobile Access main screen, select Start/Stop Programs.

2. Note that you cannot create new programs through Mobile Access—this must be done through BaseManager. However, you can start any existing program.

3. Scroll through your available programs. This is particularly valuable for special programs like system blowouts (often set as program 99) or test programs that you only run once a year.

4. Select the program you want to run and click Start.

This functionality highlights the value of taking advantage of the 99 programs available on a BaseStation 3200. Instead of reprogramming the same seasonal tasks every year, you can create dedicated programs for blowouts, tests, or other special operations and simply activate them when needed.

Testing Devices

1. From the Mobile Access main screen, select Test Devices.

2. Select the device you want to test, such as a moisture sensor.

3. The test will show you whether the device is actually working and provide electrical results.

4. For moisture sensors specifically, you'll see the current moisture content and current soil temperature.

5. You can perform these tests even in the off-season, as long as the controller is still powered up. This allows you to check whether soil is starting to thaw out or monitor conditions without being on-site.

Some users prefer to collect data from moisture sensors without running in full automation mode. These users often record field capacity in the sensor name field. When they test the sensor, they can see how wet the soil is compared to field capacity (full saturation), allowing them to make better manual watering decisions without having to visit the site and take core samples.

Checking Flow Status

1. From the Mobile Access main screen, select Flow Status.

2. View the current flow readings from your flow sensors.

3. On larger sites with multiple water sources or multiple main lines, you can see which water source is feeding which zones.

4. When you turn on a zone, you can observe which water source it's drawing from. Depending on where the zone is located on the main line, one source may be producing 80% of the water while another produces 20%, simply due to the location in the piping system.

Setting a Rain Delay

From the Mobile Access main screen, select Rain Delay to postpone irrigation schedules. This allows you to quickly respond to weather conditions without having to access the full BaseManager interface.

Using Geolocate Device to Create Zone Maps

The Geolocate Device feature is a convenient way to create the map that appears in BaseManager. This map displays color-coded pins or icons at different locations around your site. Many users log into controllers that haven't had maps set up, which is disappointing because the map is a wonderful tool for seeing what's happening on your site and serves as an effective zone map.

Creating zone maps manually can be time-consuming, but with Geolocate, you can walk the site and place pins on the map in real time. Many facility or municipal users with large sports complexes walk their sites using this feature, then later refine the map appearance from the office by moving pins around to make them look more organized.

1. From the Mobile Access main screen, select Geolocate Device.

2. Select the zone number you want to mark (for example, zone 6).

3. Check the accuracy reading displayed on the screen. Accuracy typically ranges from 8 to 30 feet, depending on your location. Inside concrete buildings, you may see 30-foot accuracy, while open areas often provide better accuracy. The system uses the GPS chip in your phone and cell tower triangulation (as well as WiFi when available) to determine location.

4. Click Mark Device. You'll see the latitude and longitude coordinates appear on the screen, and the zone marker will be placed on the map at your current location.

5. Walk or drive to the next zone location. Use the arrow buttons to advance to the next zone number (for example, from zone 6 to zone 7).

6. When standing at the valve box or zone location, click Mark Device again. The new zone marker is placed on the map in real time.

7. Continue this process for all zones you want to map. For efficiency, one person can drive a cart or truck while a passenger marks zones from valve box to valve box.

Adjusting Geolocated Pins for Accuracy

The Geolocate feature is designed for convenience and time-saving, not for exact GPS precision. If you walk a site, drop a pin, and later notice the pin appears 8 to 16 feet away from where you want it on the map, you can easily correct this.

1. Return to the desktop view of BaseManager.

2. Click on the pin you want to adjust on the map.

3. Drag the pin to the exact location where you know the valve box or zone actually is (for example, right underneath a specific oak tree).

This allows you to correct for any GPS inaccuracy after the initial field measurement.

Alternative Approaches to Zone Mapping

Instead of marking individual valve boxes, you can mark general areas. For example, you might mark the center of an area that's irrigated, such as the center field, infield, or outfield. This approach means that 8 to 16 feet of accuracy (or even 30 feet) doesn't matter—you're simply identifying which general area corresponds to which zone number.

Different users have different preferences for how they want their maps to look. Irrigation technicians may prefer precise valve box locations, while water managers may prefer area representations. Additionally, when you have manifolds with two, three, or four valves in one box, or four boxes side by side, you physically cannot stack pins on top of each other, so representing areas becomes more practical.

Creating Custom Location Markers

1. From the Geolocate Device screen, you can locate any device that appears in the system, including flow sensors, event switches, and temperature sensors.

2. You can also create custom location markers for items that don't have unique Baseline serial numbers, such as pump stations, water meters, or backflow preventers.

3. Select the option to create a custom marker and provide a name for the location.

4. Mark the location just as you would for a zone, and the custom marker will appear on your map.

Choosing the Right Device for Mobile Access

While phones are a convenient way to access Mobile Access, they're not the only option. Phones work well for the Mobile Access interface, but accessing BaseManager on a phone can be problematic and won't provide as smooth an experience.

Tablets offer an excellent compromise between phones and desktop computers. A tablet can have a cellular data card installed or use WiFi, giving you connectivity options in the field. On a tablet, you can use BaseManager to bring up the full map view, then switch to Mobile Access when you need the simplified remote control interface. You get the best of both worlds.

The map view on a tablet may be slightly compressed or have some elements chopped off compared to a desktop view, but you can still use it as a visual remote control. You can touch zone icons directly on the map to turn zones on or test them, rather than scrolling through numbered lists.

Design Philosophy Behind Mobile Access

Mobile Access was designed to serve as a remote control—specifically to replace the old walkie-talkie radio remotes that connected directly to controllers. The current version is essentially version one (with new devices added over time), and it was intentionally designed to provide manual control in the field rather than to be a full App Manager suite in mobile form.

The days of carrying big, bulky remotes in Otterbox waterproof cases are becoming archaic, though they're still used in some places. Mobile Access needed to work on anybody's phone, including the least expensive phones with basic browsers, because field personnel and maintenance personnel working for county parks or municipalities don't always have the latest, most advanced smartphones. By making Mobile Access browser-based, it works on any phone—iPhone, Android, or otherwise.

Using Mobile Access with Multiple Properties

Maps in Mobile Access and BaseManager are associated with specific controllers. If you want to add a site or company to an existing account that doesn't have a controller on it, this may not be possible within the current system structure. Contact Baseline support if you have specific questions about mapping non-Baseline sites.

Viewing Totalized Flow Data

In the controller view, each flow sensor records its own flow independently. You can see flow by individual sensor. To see totalized usage for an entire site, you'll need to access the reporting section of App Manager, where flow data from multiple sensors can be combined and analyzed. This totalized view is not available in the controller view or Mobile Access interface.

Improving GPS Accuracy

The GPS accuracy you experience when using Geolocate depends on cell tower triangulation and WiFi availability. Users have reported accuracy as good as 8 feet in optimal conditions, though 10 to 16 feet is more common, and 30 feet can occur in challenging locations like inside concrete buildings.

As additional 5G towers are erected, GPS accuracy may continue to improve. The system uses cell towers to locate your phone rather than dedicated GPS satellite locating equipment, so accuracy will vary based on your local infrastructure.

Video Walkthrough

Video originally published February 2021.

If you have questions, here are 3 ways to get answers:

1. Search within this Baseline knowledgebase

2. Visit the Baseline support page

3. Call 866-294-5847 or email support@baselinesystems.com, hours are from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm Eastern Time or 4:00 am to 5:00 pm Pacific Time.