Hunter Industries Debuts New Central Control System

Hunter Industries introduced a new central control software program for golf course irrigation at the 2005 Golf Course Superintendent’s Association of America show in Orlando, Florida in February. Named “Surveyor,” the control system will be the irrigation manufacturer’s first all-new software platform since the introduction of their innovative Vista system in 2000.

Aimed at the mid-to-high end golf markets, Surveyor includes a variety of graphical options, flow optimization, automated ET adjustment with weather station input, and sophisticated scheduling options.

According to Hunter’s Central Control Product Manager, Dave Shoup, “Surveyor is a flexible new system that can grow in capability as a customer’s needs evolve.”

Surveyor includes graphical access to course irrigation areas and programming at various levels, including station-level programming and flow management.

“This is a control system that is ready to go, out of the box,” Shoup said. “No elaborate preparation is required, and built-in wizards can guide new users through initial set up of their own system hardware and programming.” Surveyor can also import CAD record drawings, aerial photos, and graphical scans to serve as backgrounds for the hydraulic system. It even has proprietary built-in drawing tools of its own.

“In fact, Surveyor is fully functional with no graphics at all,” Shoup stated. Market research among superintendents and consultants revealed a desire for simpler, more intuitive programming, with less dependency on graphical “tricks.”

“Superintendents want a system that can operate large numbers of rotors, level load the flow across the pipe network, and tell them what’s going on, without becoming computer professionals,” Shoup said. “That’s what we set out to do, with the latest software tools on the market.”

Surveyor is designed to operate in Microsoft® Windows 2000 or XP, and provides two-way control for Hunter’s premium “VSX” series of satellite controllers. Communications can be radio or hardwired, or both. The system will continue a Hunter tradition with StraightTalk™ Maintenance Radio remote control for remote operation of satellites.

“Surveyor will also operate Hunter’s VSX decoder controllers,” said Shoup. “In fact, you can mix ‘conventional’ and decoder controllers in the same system.” Shoup notes that decoder systems are the fastest growing segment of the company’s golf controller business.

The Surveyor software program includes detailed hydraulic modeling of pipes, and can include “layers” for other information, such as drainage or electrical data, that the course may wish to switch on and off as needed.

Surveyor also includes a powerful Task Scheduling function, which can do far more than just water the grass. The Task Scheduler is an interactive calendar that lets a busy superintendent enter application schedules, maintenance tasks, and even appointments.

“Task Scheduler extends the irrigation control system into a true management tool,” says Shoup. “It can be programmed to download different seasonal instructions, automatically retrieve reports, and even pop up reminders of birthdays and appointments.” The Task Scheduler can be set to download totally different schedules in the same night, or months in advance. “You might want one kind of irrigation until three in the morning, and something totally different to happen from three until five. Or, you might want to schedule something in April, that won’t actually happen until July,” said Shoup.

Surveyor will also provide a selection of different report types, including a filtered “Morning Report” each day. “The superintendent can have this report waiting for him at the office every morning,” said Shoup. “The report will summarize anything that might have gone wrong during the night, or items needing attention in the field.” The superintendent only needs to print out the report for maintenance personnel.

Surveyor will be a truly international system, with full metric and language capabilities.

Surveyor will be available through certified Hunter distributors mid-Spring 2005 and is currently operating in test environments.

About Hunter Industries: Hunter is a full-line irrigation manufacturer, and the world’s largest manufacturer of gear drive rotors. Founded in 1981 by industry legend Ed Hunter, the American-owned worldwide company has four manufacturing facilities (headquartered in San Marcos, California), and includes a permanent Software Development staff in their San Marcos location. Hunter is a leader in design and production of irrigation products, including controllers, valves, rotors, sprays, and accessories.