Last update: 11 Dec 2002

Commands:

• all commands preceded by # and terminated with CR (ENTER)
• responses are terminated by CRLF
• Note: for power controlling commands, 0 = ON and 1 = OFF

NOTE: Controller always starts up RUNNING

C - Close inlet

• responds with 0
• Note: test with STAT command for completion

H - request HELP menu

K - Kill inlet motor enable

• responds with 1
• Note: stops the motor immediately

L - Display controller info

• responds with current address, serial number, software version, and setup date

M - Motor commands (direct control)

• note that MPWR controls supply power to the drop detector and the motor control IC; MEN controls the enable signal to the motor control IC which starts and stops the inlet motor).

• MEN[=0,1] - request current status or enable ON/OFF motor
  • eg: MEN=0 starts motor (if MPWR = 0)
  • returns current setting (i.e. 0 or 1) after request or set
• MDIR[=0,1] - request current status or set direction of motor
  • eg: MDIR=0 sets motor direction CW
  • returns current setting (i.e. 0 or 1) after request or set
• MLIM[0,1] - request current status of limit switch 0 or 1
  • eg: MLIM0 request limit switch 0 status (1 = activated, i.e. at limit)
  • switch 0 indicates inlet closed status, switch 1 indicates inlet open status
• MPWR[=0,1] - request current status or ON/OFF motor & drop detector power
  • eg: MPWR=0 starts motor (if MEN = 0) and turns ON drop detector power
  • returns current setting (i.e. 0 or 1) after request or set

O - Open inlet

• responds with 0
• Note: test with STAT command for completion

R - Check latest raindrop count on the fly

• responds with current drop count

STAT - request operating info plus Inlet HEX status byte

• returns RUN/TEST mode status, current OPERATING status (see table), INLET status (see status bits), current value of internal seconds counter

• Example: RUN 1 D8h 137
  • In RUN mode, looking for rain, inlet closed, 137 seconds elapsed in current op status

• RUN/TEST mode status:
  • RUN = "RUN"
  • TEST = "TEST"

• Operating status:
  • 1 = Looking for rain
  • 2 = NOT looking for rain
  • 3 = Got rain, in wash delay
  • 5 = Collecting
  • 7 = In inter-sample delay

• Inlet status bits:
  • bit 0 - Motor Direction - 0 = CW
  • bit 1 - Motor Enable - 0 = ON (limit switches overide in hardware)
  • bit 2 - Motor & Drop Detector Power - 0 = ON
  • bit 3 - unused - always 1
  • bit 4 - CW limit switch - 1 = activated (inlet closed)
  • bit 5 - CCW limit switch - 1 = activated (inlet open)
  • bit 6 - unused - always 1
  • bit 7 - unused - always 1

TEST - Toggle Test Mode (Controller always starts up RUNNING)

• responds with "Entering Test Mode" or "Entering Run Mode"
• re-reads RUN or TEST mode parameters as needed, zeroes raincount, and restarts from time 0 in new mode
• current mode reported by STAT command

UOK - handle EEPROM; check or update values

• Q - quit without update
• WOK - write new values to EEPROM then quit
• A[=addr] - request or set address (currently unused)
• D[=text] - request or set manufacturing date
• M[=text] - request or set model info
• S[=text] - request or set serial number

• RATE[#][=nnn] - request or set DROPRATE # in nnn per minute (see table below)
  • RATE0 - RUN mode DROPRATE
    (typical 5 per minute)
  • RATE1 - TEST mode DROPRATE
    (typical 5 per minute)

• RUN[#][=nnn] - request or set RUN mode parameter # in minutes (up to 1080 = 18 hours) except RUN2. RUN2 is specified in seconds. (Values greater than 1080 will be forced to 60 minutes)
  • RUN0 - DETECT_ONTIME (OK to look for rain)
    (typical 3 min)
  • RUN1 - DETECT_OFFTIME (NOT OK to look for rain)
    (typical 30 min)
  • RUN2 - STREAM_CHECK_INTERVAL (how often to check for steady stream)
    (typical 5 sec)
  • RUN3 - WASH_DELAY (after rain detect, wait ?? to open collector)
    (typical 30 min)
  • RUN4 - MAX_COLLECT_TIME (after opening, collect for this long)
    (typical 4 hours = 240 min)

• TEST[#][=nnn] - request or set TEST mode parameter # in minutes (up to 1080 = 18 hours) except TEST2. TEST2 is specified in seconds. (Values greater than 1080 will be forced to 60 minutes)
  • TEST0 - DETECT_ONTIME (OK to look for rain)
    (typical 3 min)
  • TEST1 - DETECT_OFFTIME (NOT OK to look for rain)
    (typical 5 min)
  • TEST2 - STREAM_CHECK_INTERVAL (how often to check for steady stream)
    (typical 5 sec)
  • TEST3 - WASH_DELAY (after rain detect, wait ?? to open collector)
    (typical 1 min)
  • TEST4 - MAX_COLLECT_TIME (after opening, collect for this long)
    (typical 4 min)

• ID[=nnn] - request or set inter-sample delay in minutes (up to 1080 = 18 hours). (Values greater than 1080 will be forced to 60 minutes)
  • Set to 0 (ZERO) to disable