Baseline Systems BaseStation 6000 - Manual (Page 35)

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3 – INITIAL PROGRAMMING
Quick Start / First Watering
To quickly configure the BaseStation 6000 Site Controller software and start watering, refer to the Quick Start Guide. This
manual gives more detail for configuring the system and fine tuning the programming.
IMPORTANT NOTE: After you have the BaseStation 6000 Site Controller software configured for watering, leave both the
software and the computer running at all times. If you shut down the BaseStation 6000 Site Controller software and/or the
computer, your irrigation system will stop watering.
Planning Your Programming
Before you start programming your system, you need to have the following components installed:
• Your BaseStation 6000 Site Controller computer
• At least one Remote Base Unit
• One biCoder (Baseline’s smart, two-wire decoder)
You need to know the serial numbers of your Remote Base Units and valve biCoders. It is also helpful to have a map or drawing
of your irrigation system so you know where your zones are located.
Take Advantage of the Powerful Features in the BaseStation 6000
When you are considering how to program your BaseStation 6000, make sure that you plan to use these powerful features that
will help you get the most out of your system:
• Smart Watering
In the industry, “smart watering” usually refers to irrigation controllers that automatically adjust the irrigation schedule
based on local weather and/or site conditions. While the BaseStation 6000 supports those smart watering features, it can
also make other “smart watering” decisions. For example, if a program start time is reached while another program is
active, the controller will reset the run times for all unfinished zones run those zones before any other zones.
• Hydrozones, Primary Zones, and Scheduling Groups
A hydrozone is a grouping of plants that have similar water requirements and can be watered the same. Areas that require
dissimilar water or scheduling requirements would be placed in separate hydrozones.
Before you configure your Baseline system, identify the various hydrozones in your landscaping, and then identify the
irrigation zones that are associated with those hydrozones. For the zones associated with a specific hydrozone, designate
one zone as the primary zone, and then link the other zones to that primary zone – creating what is known as a scheduling
group.
The primary zone must have the following characteristics:
 It is configured in the BaseStation 6000 system at an address with a lower number than the other zones within the
same scheduling group. For example, if zones 1 – 50 are in one scheduling group, zone 1 would be the primary zone.