Re: [misterhouse-users] Weather forecast/irrigation script

[Rob W. <ro...@my...>]

On Fri, 2002-08-23 at 21:33, dea...@mc... wrote:
> Here is my take on the weather forecast/irrigation 
> problem.  Have fun.

Dean,

process_weather.pl looks at first glance like a great program, and I
can't wait to start using it here to control my watering system.

However, I have a few questions about using watering systems, and your
script.  The first question is about using watering systems and mh
together.  What hardware is the interface between mh and the irrigation
system?  What irrigation system are you using?  I have an old rain bird
system which is on its' last legs, and I have been putting off replacing
it with the first $40 box from Home Depot because I want to interface
with mh as well.  What do I need to look out for?

As for the script, the first question I have is about the seasons.  Why
do you use them?  I would think that they would introduce redundant data
to the algorithm, and sometimes that data wouldn't be useful at all. 
For instance, I am in the SF Bay area, CA, and we would like to water
during the winter.  My parents live in Yuma, AZ, and watering in the
winter is a must.

I also noted that you printed to log files text which described the
watering zones.  Would it be easier to make those variables which are
set at the beginning of the script?  Or maybe even an array, such as the
following:

sprinkler_num, sprinkler_text, sprinkler_percent_of_base

Thanks for the great script,
rob

ps.  do you think that "percent of base" watering time is as intuitive
as setting a number of minutes to water for each sprinkler?