Rachio 3 and Australia - illegal!

You can use this power supply in Australia. The end fits directly into the Rachio 3.

That can literally be said for just about anything you buy. Irrigation controllers, home automation devices, phones, cars, electronics. You name it. Everything will be obsolete within a few years with a newer better option to replace it. I think coming into their community with a confrontational attitude trying bad mouth their product is pretty crappy.
Most companies develop for their target market, and offer different devices with different features for other markets based on local regulations. This is how companies have to compete in the global market place. Who knows, maybe someday they will offer an option that is geared toward Australia. I suspect the choice not to offer an Australian variant of the Gen3 likely means to do so was cost-prohibitive given the size of the market. It’s not their fault that the market won’t support the cost to bring the product to it.

Sorry, I don’t agree! I think a consumer has a right to expect a product to continue working, as is, and for it not be updated to make it unusable or obsolete - at any time that suits the manufacturer. Rachio have forced upon us an upgrade that removes the functionality that connects to Netatmo Weather Stations via PWS - a shame as I have not one but two Rachio 2’s that no longer benefit from accurate local weather data, so the main justification for buying Rachio units has just gone out of the window. Maybe I should just revert back to the old Hunter controllers and rain sensors?

I feel somewhat stitched up by Rachio because of this, the same way I felt when another US company SONOS told my 4 x old SONOS Play:5 speakers were in effect obsolete and I’d have to replace them. In contrast, my c.50 year old Quad 33/303 amplifier is still working fine…

Rachio Sales department have told me they are keen to explore new markets and encouraged me to buy units for use in Spain and UK. Rachio Support department then say their units are only designed to work in USA/Canada and are somewhat reluctant to help.

IMHO Rachio should show more respect to their clients, be more open and honest and clearly state that a Rachio 3 cannot be used in Australia (and where else?) because of the bandwidth they are using (but why this cannot be disabled in software or using a jumper or DIP switch, I cannot understand!). And what’s the point of paying extra for a Rachio 3 outside US or Canada as there is no historical weather data available? That last time I looked about 6 months ago, this info was still missing from their instructions and website so everyone trying to implement Seasonal Shift outside of US/Canada is just wasting their time :frowning:

Indeed. Whatever about missing out on upgrades, but losing functionality should not be possible. If a product operates in a particular way, you absolutely should and would expect this functionality to continue if the source of a 3rd party data was still available.

The only exception would be if the format of a 3rd party data changed, and additional engineering expertise was needed to revise the product to reconnect with that 3rd party data.

I’ve recently set up a Rachio 3 in Australia and made the above mentioned modifications to the power supply and antenna. Everything on the Rachio is working fine except for reporting rainfall amounts from different weather stations, it either reports zero rainfall or significantly under reports it (you can see my troubleshooting thread here). Do any other Australian Rachio 3 users have this issue?

Good news for Australia!

We have removed the LoRa module that was broadcasting on the 900Mhz channel. Any new Rachio Generation 3 units are not broadcasting on this channel anymore so are in compliance with Australian regulations.

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Great call out, Franz! I’ll add that specifically any Rachio 3 with a manufacture date of December 2021 and later will not have the LoRa module

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@franz was this module something related to the wireless flow meter?

Winner winner, chicken dinner!

So I guess that eliminates any chance of a triumphant return of a new flow meter or other wireless accessory?

Not so fast!

This is compatible with our system Model WM-1000: Wireless 1" Flow Meter – EveryDrop Technologies and there could be other hardware in the future :slight_smile:

But doesn’t that run on the same 900mhz module that was removed?

lol, just saw that. so feel free to use the WFM in US but not AU. The Rachio controller does not have that module.

That gets my curiosity up as to what might be coming

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I’m using a simple Hall Sensor Flow Meter, connected to a Raspberry Pi running Node-Red. It’s a 5v DC based pulses sensor.

It possibly depends what you want a flow sensor for, but I can use Node-Red to send me an email if it senses flow at an abnormal time. I can also use a ping node to check that my Rachio controller and my PWS are online too

Is there a timeline for a product built for the Australian market, e.g., suitable for Australian power supply?

Sorry we don’t have that, or if there will be anything more formal than what we have today.

But doesn’t that run on the same 900mhz module that was removed?

I’m just following up on this because it might not be clear to all readers. It doesn’t actually communicate to the Rachio with the 900mhz module that was removed. The Everydrop Wireless Flow Meter that Franz referenced has its own wireless 900mhz transmitter that connects to the sensor terminals on the controller. You can see this in Everydrop’s installation guide.

Hi. About to buy one shipped to Aus from the USA on eBay. Is there a way of knowing if it’s the newer disabled unit?

Do you have the serial number by chance?