There are many agricultural irrigation controllers available that can help you run your orchard's irrigation system and it can be difficult to work out which controller would be best suited to your needs and your budget.
A new controller on the market is the Toro Micro-Master® Touch controller.
The Micro-Master range of controllers has a long history in Australia, they are designed and manufactured in Adelaide and are specifically suited to Australian conditions.
The newest addition to the range, the Micro-Master Touch, was redesigned from the ground up and is a powerful but simple to use irrigation controller that can be controlled by modern day communication options.
Price competitive
A big advantage of the Micro-Master Touch is that it is very price competitive, especially when you consider how feature packed it is: expandable station counts, support for chemical injection, multiple pump sets and filter banks.
It will easily upgrade your existing system and support wireless communication with field based units—this means there is no trenching and no wires needed, saving you time and money.
User friendly
The controller is very user friendly and easy to program.
It has a large LCD touch screen to help you navigate your way around and includes a stylus for ease of use.
Flexibility
Designed with flexibility in mind, the master controller is supplied with one 8–station module as standard and is expandable up to 32 stations.
Each master unit is capable of communicating with up to four remote units meaning your irrigation system can have up to 160 stations.
The concurrent program operation is a great feature with all 32 multi-station programs being able to run concurrently.
Up to three remote units, each with a maximum line of sight range of 7 km, and able to hop sequentially, can increase the overall wireless communication range to 21 km.
Units can be powered by either 240 VAC or 12 VDC. This makes the controller great for larger orchards.
The Micro-Master Touch comes with a USB port, which allows for controller firmware upgrades, storing programs for future use and for controller activity logging.
Flow monitoring
Flow monitoring lets you know if the system is running according to the design parameters.
Flow meters are connected to the controller and monitor over and under flow. When limits are exceeded a fault report is generated and a message will show on the controller's screen.
For example, the system will let you know if a valve did not come on or close, or if there is a burst in the main line.
For more information contact Toro's customer service department on 1300 130 898 or go to www.toro.com.au
