For customers that have chosen option #2 we are close to releasing a concept called PWS Healthchecks.
The first part of PWS “healthchecks” is that we will automatically email you if we identify a closer weather station come online then the current one you are using.
The second part of PWS “healthchecks” is that if we observe your chosen station offline for 3 consecutive days we will send an email and automatically change stations for you (the next closest online station)
That is a brilliant idea. As I live in Southern California, the weather can be different from one area to the next. It can literally rain 6 blocks away while the online data to the Unit may be picking up something from 20 blocks away.
At any rate, i still use an onsite rain sensor for pinpoint accuracy since some of the water districts around here will give fines for watering in or during 48 hours after a measurable rain.
@DLane likes to call the rain sensor belt and suspenders. I think they are a good idea to cancel ‘in progress’ waterings. At some point we will add a feature that continuously monitors in progress schedules for observed precipitation. We have the technology but it becomes a bigger burden on our system to monitor at that level.
I’m sure that your techs could come up with a wireless rain sensor for some of the unsecure individuals that feel that the extra redundancy would make them feel better.
I have all my trust in the unit. Some others out there are still skeptics.
