Hunter Industries announced the release of the DUAL, a two-wire control system for its I-CORE controller platform. The release is the latest entry in the fast growing “decoder” or “two-wire” segment of the irrigation control market, and stands to be an extremely helpful piece of equipment for jobs both large and small.
Two-wire controls send both power and signal to multiple irrigation valves over a single pair of wires, with the ability to activate any individual valve. Due to their simplicity, ease of expansion, and long distance performance two-wire decoder systems have been making major inroads in the commercial control market. Until now, they had primarily been associated with higher-end, large-scale irrigation control systems.
Enter the DUAL. The DUAL plug-in for the I-CORE controller combines simplicity and economy to create a two-wire alternative for designers and installers who may have shied away from more exotic control systems. DUAL is presented with the tag line, “Connect and Go”.
A Two -Wire System for All
The DUAL product family is a new generation of Hunter designed control products, which target smaller systems and first-time installers of decoder technology. A DUAL output module can be inserted in the output slots of any I-CORE controller. The module then provides up to three two-wire paths to the field for two-wire valve control via individual decoders in the valve boxes.
The DUAL decoder module may even be combined in the same controller with conventionally wired valves.
The DUAL system can operate up to 48 zones via a single pair of wires, at distances up to 7500 feet (2.3 km). The 48 zones can all be installed on a single path, or divided over multiple paths to take advantage of pipe trenches.
“The DUAL system is designed to be more affordable and easier to understand than complex commercial systems.” said Jeff Kremicki, Senior Product Manager at Hunter Industries. “DUAL is also more forgiving of field wiring conditions.”
Kremicki explained that an I-CORE controller is priced in the upper residential controller range. “With the addition of a DUAL output module, we can offer a very full-featured two-wire controller at a truly affordable list price,” said Kremicki. “This puts it in the range of smaller projects without sacrificing the performance benefits of two-wire technology.”
Kremicki pointed out that this base package included capabilities to add “smart” climate-based irrigation, wireless remote control, real time flow monitoring, and includes multi-language capability.
The DUAL system includes the DUAL48M decoder output module, which is added to the I-CORE controller, plus two new field decoder modules (DUAL-1 and DUAL-2) and a surge suppression module (DUAL-S) for lightning protection. The decoder output module is also used to program the station numbers into field decoders.
Field decoder modules are completely waterproof and designed to survive in the same environment as the valves. “Everything was designed for plug and play, color-coded, plain language operation,” said Kremicki.
DUAL decoders are also compatible with Hunter’s patented ICD-HP wireless handheld programmer, which allows programming and diagnostics through the case of the decoder.
“Now you can program the decoders after you install them, and renumber them at any time,” said Dave Shoup, Product Manager for central systems at Hunter. “Without disconnecting a single waterproof connector, you can operate and diagnose the decoder and the solenoids.”
The products are part of the Hunter “Institutional” series and carry a 5-year warranty.