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I'd also be fascinated to read some of your wiki once you publish it. In the interim, I'm very curious on two specific things. The LoRa / arduino controlled i

by Jedd 5y ago

I'd also be fascinated to read some of your wiki once you publish it. In the interim, I'm very curious on two specific things. The LoRa / arduino controlled irrigation valves - it sounds like you're doing exclusively gravity fed, and this has been a stumbling block for me. Mechanical ball valves are not too expensive, but appear to fail way too often, and in non-safe ways, to rely on. Both non-latching and latching solenoids seem to want more pressure than I can muster (perhaps 10 metres static head). What are you doing, and would you recommend it? Second - fruit fly control for quinces and other orchard plants?

madaxe_again 5y ago
Ball valves for us - I’ve used off-the-shelf agricultural valves and a little wooden mount (for now - want to replace them with something more robust) with a solenoid and rod to open and shut them. Means I can also just do it manually if I want to. So far, so good, and if something fails open, I’ve an alarm set in openhab if there’s an unexpected delta in tank levels. Hasn’t happened yet, and losing all of our water isn’t too big a deal in winter - that’s happened a few times due to burst pipes, as it’s brutally cold here at the moment, and I haven’t buried everything yet - hundreds of meters over inhospitable terrain. We’re at 7 bar - 70 meters - so when something goes, oh boy does it go. Fruit fly control - nothing. We’ve enough that we can share with the bugs and the birds, although fruit flies don’t seem to be a problem for us, as I think they’re getting parasitised by native ophid wasps. We also don’t have too many of the same type of tree near each other, which likely also helps inhibit pest spread.
- Jedd 5y ago
  Thanks for that. I need to brush up on how to get solar + battery units attached to a nylon ball valve, with lora,to do something like this. We get to -5 periodically through winter, so not as problematic as you have to design for. We're 250km north west of Sydney, AU - so otherwise probably comparable climate. Guess the cold keeps your medfly in check too.

by Jedd 5y ago

madaxe_again 5y ago

Ball valves for us - I’ve used off-the-shelf agricultural valves and a little wooden mount (for now - want to replace them with something more robust) with a solenoid and rod to open and shut them. Means I can also just do it manually if I want to. So far, so good, and if something fails open, I’ve an alarm set in openhab if there’s an unexpected delta in tank levels. Hasn’t happened yet, and losing all of our water isn’t too big a deal in winter - that’s happened a few times due to burst pipes, as it’s brutally cold here at the moment, and I haven’t buried everything yet - hundreds of meters over inhospitable terrain. We’re at 7 bar - 70 meters - so when something goes, oh boy does it go. Fruit fly control - nothing. We’ve enough that we can share with the bugs and the birds, although fruit flies don’t seem to be a problem for us, as I think they’re getting parasitised by native ophid wasps. We also don’t have too many of the same type of tree near each other, which likely also helps inhibit pest spread.

Jedd 5y ago
Thanks for that. I need to brush up on how to get solar + battery units attached to a nylon ball valve, with lora,to do something like this. We get to -5 periodically through winter, so not as problematic as you have to design for. We're 250km north west of Sydney, AU - so otherwise probably comparable climate. Guess the cold keeps your medfly in check too.