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I’ve just bought a Rain Bird SST-600i controller and am trying to put it through its paces. When it’s on “Auto Run” and Zone 1 has been completed, evidently it won’t automatically go to Zone 2 until the starting time for that Zone that I’ve set up. In other words, if Zone 1 starts at 8:00 am and runs 60 minutes, and Zone 2 is set to start at 10:00 am, it won’t go to Zone 2 right after finishing Zone 1, but not until 10:00 am. That means I have to set each zone to start at the specific time the previous zone finishes on “Auto Run.” Is this correct? If so that’s ridiculous!

Quoted from "mrfixit"

Try setting all the zones to 8 am then they'll run in sequence.
Why would zone 2 come on at 9 am when you've told it to come on at 10 am?

Well, start times have to be specified for each zone separately, and I thought maybe on "Auto Run" it would over-ride the set times so all zones run sequentially. Thus I wouldn't have to set each zone separately if I wanted to change the cycle to start at a different time (Zone 1 setting). I need to do this periodically, and my old controller required only a single change to run all the zones sequentially. Too bad the SST doesn't have an option to run all zones sequentially no matter what the initial cycle start time is. Thanks for the tip on setting all zones to start at the same time. (But I'd still have to set each zone separately if I need to change the cycle starting time.)

Another item: On the box for the SST it says, "No need to reprogram after a power outage. All timer settings are stored in memory indefinitely. No backup battery needed." But I find that if there is a power outage for more than a very few minutes the clock setting is lost. And that effectively stops everything else no matter what. If I'm out of town and the power goes out for even a very brief time, my lawn will not be watered because of this. Am I missing something? Do you know of any controllers that keep ALL the settings, INCLUDING the clock and date, in permanent (or at least long-term) memory?

Thanks for the recommendation of the Hunter XC 600 controller. I see, though, that the XC models are discontinued, and replaced by the X-core models. Do you know if these still have the battery backup as you've described? http://www.hunterindustries.com/irrigation-product/discontinued-models/xc

Thank you for your information. Looks like a good choice.

Good idea,
scercpio, but I'm afraid I wouldn't begin to have the smarts to make it
work. Besides, my present internet provider isn't reliable enough to
depend on for consistent service.

Incidentally, do you (or anyone
else reading this) happen to know why controllers that have a
non-volatile memory for program settings, don't have it for the clock
and date too? Is there some kind of digital problem that way?