BaseStation 3200 User Manual - Baseline Systems

C h a p t e r 5 – R e f e r e n c eSelf-Test – Zone TestDoing a zone test will verify communicationbetween the controller and the valve biCoder,activate the solenoid and measure the currentand voltage, deactivate the solenoid, andmeasure the voltage drop between thecontroller and the valve biCoder. The results aredisplayed on the screen once the test iscomplete – see the sample screen to the right.In this example, the solenoid is drawing about0.18 amps and the two-wire voltage loss is 1.4volts. If this voltage loss increases over time,then the wire and connections are becoming more resistive and should be checked. When thevoltage loss get above 5 volts then communication problems can occur and steps need to betaken to find and repair poor connections and degrading wire.Self-Test – Test biSensorA soil moisture biSensor test will test thecommunication between the controller and thebiSensor and will return the current soil moistureand soil temperature. A sample screen is shownto the right. The biSensor reading line has boththe soil moisture percent value, as well as theraw reading from the bisensor (in parenthesis).The temperature readin is the soil temperaturefrom the sensor and is in degrees farenheite.The two-wire voltage loss is a meaure of the wirelength and quality between the controller andthe bisensor. Voltage drops above 5 volts shouldbe repaired.Self-Test – Test AllThis operation will test all the devices on thetwo-wire and will then display a test summaryscreen of the test results, as can be seen in thesample screen to the right.If there are errors with the devices, the errorcount will be listed for each device type. Thenumber of each device type is also given inparenthesis for each line. This test will verifycommunication and valve currents, biSensorreadings, and other device readings, but will notmake any repairs.Page 69Baseline 3200