GOLF IRRIGATION                                                                                        January 2007 This has been an exciting year in golf irrigation.  The market is changing and Rain Bird is leading the way with exciting new products.  Most people know that Rain Bird manufactures their own pump stations.  Fewer people understand how this can be such an important part of making their system run efficiently.  Rain Bird uses a powerful software program called Smart Pump™ to communicate to the pump station through Stratus II, Nimbus II, or the Cirrus central control computer.  This software links your pump station to the central control software, providing real time communication and optimizing your irrigation cycle.  Smart Pump has the ability to monitor and react to changes in station capacity.  Should the pump station capacity increase or decrease, the software adjusts the irrigation system demand based on this change. Rain Bird Decoders are another exciting product.  Although decoders are not new, there are over 3800 Rain Bird decoder systems world wide, they are somewhat “new” to the sun-belt states.  The earlier systems did not have the capacity for larger systems until recently.  Rain Bird Decoders eliminate the need for high voltage wire as the power and communication is carried on the maxi 2-wire path at 38 volts.  These units are stored underground, usually at the isolation valve, so there are no more maintenance issues associated with satellite pedestals.  Field watering is accomplished with the use of Rain Bird’s Freedom System, an easy to use hand-held radio.  Currently, Sierra Pacific has decoder systems at five golf courses with more courses beginning as this is written.  The first person to call me and name the three golf courses wins a prize.  Sorry, Sierra Pacific and Rain Bird personnel are not eligible. Tom Jackson Golf Irrigation Mgr. (408) 640-8237