Which controller

Other Devices & Integrations Water, Pool & Irrigation
#1

I’ve got an existing orbit controller that is manually controlled via buttons and an LCD display. It seams to me that I can upgrade to the Eitherrain8 for about $175usd. Integration with vera should be a snap, and I think it makes great sense.

My only concern is that I’ll loose the ability to manually control the system with the manual controls on the controller. I am wondering if there is a controller that can be both manually controlled and controlled through Vera?

#2

You would lose the built-in buttons, but you could install/use any scene or zone controller somewhere to start manual waterings.
If you use a VRCZ4, that gives you essentially 8 buttons, so you could trigger any of the 8 stations, or start a scene however you see fit.
VRCS4/Monster scene controllers (4 buttons) could be used to, but you only have 4 buttons.

I might even have some of the Monster controllers to part with.

#3

[quote=“kermit88, post:1, topic:181112”]I’ve got an existing orbit controller that is manually controlled via buttons and an LCD display. It seams to me that I can upgrade to the Eitherrain8 for about $175usd. Integration with vera should be a snap, and I think it makes great sense.

My only concern is that I’ll loose the ability to manually control the system with the manual controls on the controller. I am wondering if there is a controller that can be both manually controlled and controlled through Vera?[/quote]

I have the EtherRain8 it is very nice and easy to install, configure, etc. I recommend it to any vera user looking to automate existing valves.

For ‘manual’ operation, I just use my iPhone to drive one of a few scenes I set up (e.g. a zone that hits some potted plants, they tend to dry out quicker).