NeutralAxis

The new Irritrol PC Control software (v 2.0.37 beta) has been running smoothly all week.  I’ve discovered a couple of minor bugs and one big disappointment in that it won’t run via Wine on Linux.

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Finally, Irritrol has put out an update to their out of date PC Control software for control of irrigation and lighting systems. I’ve just installed it today and like it much better, but it remains to be seen if it is less buggy than their previous software. After running it for a few weeks I’ll do a full review. The current beta version is 2.0.37. You can see my review of the original software here. Also, I plan to test it to see if the software will run on my always-on Linux server using Wine.

An interesting project I hope to be involved in has crossed my desk.  Its not every day around here where somebody wants to build a 12,000 sq.ft. home, yet an email arrived from a German architectural firm looking for someone local to perform structural and MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) engineering on such a home.  I won’t be posting any images of the real thing, and I don’t yet know who the owner is, but the photo is similar to the style and here are the specs.

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[Update 07/18/09: Weather information is working again.  I presume weather.com didn't change things back, so I'm guessing Irritrol was working as a middleman taking weather.com info and packaging it for their program when it calls back to HQ.  Originally I had thought the program contacted weather.com directly but it looks like that's not the case.  As long as Irritrol is around and supporting this program, that should mean the program can always access the data with the exception of short windows around when weather.com changes their system.  That was a smart design decision.] (continue reading…)

I thought I’d do a little review of the Irritrol lawn irrigation controller they call, unimaginatively, PC-Control.  Its a hardware package with a Windows software module that provides for detailed scheduling and smart operation of a lawn irrigation system.  [Updated July 10, 2009 with information about program errors.][New version 2.0.37 beta software is available and hopefully will be more stable. Screenshot of new software below.] (continue reading…)

For one of my commercial clients, I’ve been looking at ways to save water, and thus money.  The figures for water savings are eye opening. (continue reading…)