Baseline Systems BaseStation 3200 - Manual (Page 42)

C h a p t e r 2 – B a s i c P r o g r a m m i n g
Page 40
Baseline 3200

Soak-cycles must be used with biSensors – besides allowing the applied
water to soak into the soil, soak-cycles allow time for the water to reach
the biSensor depth so the biSensor can be used to control the water cycle.
Lower Limit
This water strategy provides an excellent way to achieve healthy, deep-rooted grass. The lower
limit may be either set manually, or the limit may be calculated by having the controller perform
a calibration cycle. The lower limit needs to be set at the maximum allowable depletion moisture
level, before the lawn begins to stress or wilt.
The following summarizes the setting options for lower limit biSensor watering:
Water Strategy
Option
Manual Limit Adjust Calibrate
Lower (manual) User sets NA OFF
Lower (one
calibration cycle) Pending until after
calibration cycle
User can modify
NA Once
Lower Auto Locked After calibration
cycle, user can set an
adjustment to
calculated limit Next water cycle
First water cycle of
each month
These are the lower limit programming requirements:

Set zone run times to apply ½” of water

Set program to start every day of the week (biSensor will block watering until it is
needed)

Enable soak-cycles

Use default lower limit water strategy to begin with

The first calibration cycle will occur on the first start time after a bisensor
has been installed for at least 48 hours.

A calibration cycle will calculate limits 12 to 15 hours after watering is
complete on the primary zone.

A calibration cycle will extend the programmed zone water time if needed
to determine the soil saturation point - if the ground is very dry (or if the
run time is too short), the run time could extend to twice the programmed
time.

If a calibration cycle cannot determine the soil saturation point, the
calibration cycle will fail – posting an alert and setting a default limit.
Lower limit watering has the following behaviors:

It is uncertain which days of the week that watering will occur – use water windows to
specify a mow day.

The water run time for a program is fixed, so the end time is predictable to the extent
that multiple programs may all be trying to water on the same day