Toro SENTINEL CENTRAL CONTROL Sprinkler Irrigation Owners Manual

SENTINEL® CENTRAL CONTROL Product Guide The Toro Company Irrigation Division 5825 Jasmine Street Riverside, CA 92504 Technical Support: 1-877-345-TORO (8676) Toro NSN® Sentinel Support: 1-800-ASK TORO (275-8676) SENTINEL® CENTRAL CONTROL PRODUCT GUIDE SENTINEL® CENTRAL CONTROL PRODUCT GUIDE Sentinel Central Control System The dictionary defines Sentinel [sn’t-nl] as “a soldier stationed as a guard to challenge all comers and prevent a surprise attack: to stand sentinel.

” Its roots are found in the Old Latin word “sentina ” which means “vigilance. ” Toro defines Sentinel as a product that will watch over your irrigation system and safeguard it against potential problems resulting from excess flow, incorrect programming, varying weather and many other conditions. As a result, the intrinsic value of the landscape is protected, and water waste is minimized or eliminated. The term “Central Control ” identifies Sentinel’s ability to watch over a single site or multiple sites in a localized area or across a broad geographic area from one location (computer). Whether it’s a stand-alone controller or a large centrally based system, the Sentinel product line offers numerous features that address a broad array of customer needs. Two words. Reliability & Confidence Toro customers expect control products to work continually in harsh environmental conditions and to last for many years. Unrelenting sunlight and heat, followed by cool nights and humidity, lightning ground strikes and other electric surges, constant updating of programs dictated by constant weather changes, ants and or vermin who make enclosures their home, dusty conditions, and temporary power are just some of the conditions that can impact controller operation. Customers want a product they can install and depend upon for reliable performance, not one that must be constantly disassembled and sent in for repair. Toro’s development focus for the Sentinel Central Control System was to create the most fullfeatured, easy-to-use, and reliable product possible. A closed-case controller module design provides protection against many environmental variables that might negatively impact functionality, but allows easy troubleshooting in the field. Options for multiple enclosure types and multiple levels of surge protection ensure regional and customer-specific durability needs are met. We didn’t stop there. We backed this product up with Toro NSN® support to provide your customer with 24/7 telephone support for computer system components or software-related problems. Although competitors may claim to have a similar service, NSN is recognized worldwide as the premier organization for irrigation central control issues. As with other Toro control systems, NSN takes a proactive approach by assembling and configuring the Sentinel central computer and software for maximum performance and reliability in less-than-favorable environments. Don’t forget about Toro distribution. Toro distributors are recognized wherever they operate as being customer-focused companies with well-trained staff members that are there for their customers. Trained and supported by the best Field Service Managers in the industry, Sentinel distributors must be certified to sell and service this product. Their skills are continually enhanced in service schools that are part of the mandatory curriculum at Toro University. SENTINEL® CENTRAL CONTROL PRODUCT GUIDE The Challenge: Effective Water Management Putting together an efficient irrigation system is no small task. Concerns such as watering precision, broken pipes and mainlines, or dealing with electrical shorts and power outages have been problematic for landscape managers for decades. These along with increased competition for water supplies, scarcity of resources, and recent irrigation mandates have left those in irrigation management roles searching for the most efficient, yet simple, way of combating all of these issues. The Solution: Sentinel Central Control The Toro Sentinel System was introduced in 2002 and has established itself in the marketplaces as one of the leaders in wireless communication for central control systems. Sentinel allows the user to communicate to up to 999 satellite controllers wirelessly rather than forcing the customer to install lengthy wire runs that tie field controllers together. Sentinel provides a variety of Central Computer to Satellite communication options, including radio, Ethernet, telephone, cellular, and others, so you can choose the one that best meets your site-specific needs or mixand-match across multiple sites. Multiple Site Applications: Sentinel provides the ability to program, control, and monitor multiple remote controllers from one location. Whether controlling one large, contiguous site like a sports complex or housing association, or multiple remote sites like a school district or parks & recreation department, a central control system provides easy, rapid access to the irrigation system from a computer. System Control: Sentinel allows all irrigation control actions to be carried out easily and efficiently from a central location. Control actions such as adjusting runtimes to changing weather conditions or stopping irrigation in the event of rain or high wind can be automatically accomplished without requiring a technician to visit individual controllers. However, if a technician is on-site and sees a need for programming changes, like shortening runtimes after a grow-in period, true two-way communications allow changes to the program at the field controller on-site and can also be uploaded to the central computer. Sensor Integration: Sentinel can incorporate many different sensors, including flow sensors, tipping rain cans, wind sensors, freeze sensors, and full weather-stations. These sensors and instruments monitor site and climatic conditions and report to the central computer. Runtime adjustments are automatically made based on these inputs and combined with information on plant material and soil types. Sentinel Satellites can react automatically to readings outside of pre-defined limits set by the system operator, like isolating stations when excessive flow indicates a piping break. Multiple Communication Options: A Sentinel system consists of a central computer, irrigation controllers, sensors, weather stations, and a communication system that ties it all together. No matter whether the central computer is located onsite or at a remote location, communication options like radio, telephone, cellular, and Ethernet can be mixed and matched to meet system needs. SENTINEL® CENTRAL CONTROL PRODUCT GUIDE Simplicity As a Microsoft® Windows-based software, Sentinel is easy-to-use and intuitive, and it’s one of the most powerful irrigation control systems ever offered. Information is graphically displayed– so it’s easy to see and use. And, all similar functions are grouped together making it simple to find information quickly. Plus, the customer uses only the features they need. Basic features or advanced functionality; the choice is yours. Sentinel Master Control Panel: Provides easy access to all programming functions– no keystrokes or sequences required, and no need to go searching for functions. Automatic Operations: Daily operations and scheduling are made quick and easy. All essential programming information is contained in one window so it’s easy to understand and manage. Easy Navigation ­ Full Featured: Expandable/collapsible navigation tree that puts all the data for individual field controllers one click away. Tabbed Access to what you need to work with: Satellites (Units): Individual Field Controllers within the Sentinel System. Capable of, up to, 999 individual controllers numbered 001 .999. Systems: Groups of controllers that share operating parameters. Organizing these controllers into Systems enables edits, operational status checks, and reporting (total Water Use) to be performed on multiple satellites simultaneously. Weather Sources: Weather Sources provide weather-related data to the Sentinel WMS software. This information can be used by the satellites to automatically adjust run times based on ET demand and rainfall activity. Sentinel WMS can also monitor weather parameters and react at preset thresholds. For example, monitoring rainfall to automatically shut down a satellite System when measured rainfall reaches a predefined amount. SENTINEL® CENTRAL CONTROL PRODUCT GUIDE Effective Water Management Water Savings Use of a weather station, providing effective Evapo-Transpiration (ET) based system management can lead to water savings of 25% to 35% per year. Depending on current management practices, water savings may be greater, or in the case of extremely well managed stand alone systems, somewhat lower. As an additional source of savings, pipeline breaks, malfunctioning valves, and missing heads are automatically detected and shut down, preventing excessive water loss. Flow Optimization Start times of programs can be automatically optimized to maintain system demand at the optimum level, ensuring demand does not exceed preset limits while maximizing efficiency in systems with pumps. Flow optimization also shortens water windows. And, many more customer-driven features that optimize water management. Theoretical (predictive) Flow Graphs Set control parameters for each station View water usage and compare to historical Extensive alarm and reporting capabilities Map-based feedback of system operation Intuitive visual cues and operator aids SENTINEL® CENTRAL CONTROL PRODUCT GUIDE Flexibility – Making Sentinel Work for You The Toro Sentinel System has established itself in the marketplaces as one of the leaders in wireless communication for central control systems. Sentinel allows the user to communicate to up to 999 satellite controllers wirelessly, rather than forcing the customer to install lengthy wire runs that tie field controllers together. Sentinel provides a variety of Central Computer to Satellite communication options, so you can choose the one that best meets your site-specific needs or mix-and-match across multiple sites including: Radio Communications – Radio communication from the Central Computer to Sentinel Satellites allows you to install Sentinel at sites with little or no disruption of existing landscapes and is ideal for single-site installations. Sentinel can also utilize radio protocols to communicate with MapTo Satellites, maximizing system capabilities.

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Toro Company Web Site: www.toro.com