Netro Whisperer, the ideal sensor to take care of your garden

One of the areas where home automation devices make the most sense is in garden care. In the rest of the house they offer comfort, some energy savings, or security in the case of cameras. But those who have helped me the most without any doubt have been those who are oriented to the care of the garden. What used to be a very frustrating task because it never achieved an optimal result, is now much easier and with much less effort.

Devices such as Netro Sprite are in charge of controlling the irrigation of your garden and adapting it to the weather conditions, achieving maximum efficiency in watering it. Today we tested an accessory for this smart irrigation controller: Netro Whisperer, which measures soil moisture conditions, sun exposure and temperature in real time, data that will further improve irrigation efficiency.

Features

It is a small, completely wireless device that works nailed directly to the ground, from where it collects data. It works through 2,4GHz WiFi connectivity, connecting to the same network as your Netro Sprite, the main controller, to which it sends all the collected data. It works with a full battery that gives it an autonomy of 2 to 4 weeks, depending on the configuration you have adjusted, But you don't have to worry about recharging thanks to the fact that it incorporates a solar panel with which it recharges itself.. A full day of sunlight is good for those 2-4 weeks of autonomy, you just have to worry about placing it in a place well exposed to the sun.

Available a humidity sensor, placed in the metal part that is inserted into the earth, a light sensor that indicates exposure to the sun and a temperature sensor in the body. With these three sensors, it collects fundamental information to know the state of the land and to know what is the amount of water your land needs for optimal irrigation. Without this sensor, Netro Sprite has to estimate this data, and the truth is that so far it has done very well, but it will always be better to have real data and in real time. In addition to these sensors, it has a front LED that indicates the status of the device and has a decorative light.

Operation

The configuration process is very simple, and you can see it in detail in the video that accompanies the article. Once linked to Netro Sprite just a couple of Netro Whisperer parameters need to be configured that affect battery life: front LED activation and update frequency. Once this is done, you can forget that you have a sensor, because it is all completely automatic, without the user having to intervene other than to review the data it collects out of mere curiosity.

That sensor will act on that irrigation zone to which you have associated it, so it is best to place as many sensors as you have irrigation zones, and of course put them in the corresponding irrigation zone. If the sensor sees that the humidity of the ground allows avoiding watering, it will do so, or it will adjust the irrigation times. Having the real data is a huge advantage, because not all irrigation heads are the same or not all areas of your garden have the same exposure to the sun.

Editor's opinion

Taking care of the garden can be a very thankless and very delicate task, in which your 15 days of vacation away from home can throw away all the effort of a year. Netro Whisperer is a wireless sensor that measures the real conditions of your land and sends that information to Netro Sprite, the central irrigation controller, to ensure that the irrigation of your garden is optimal at all times and in each area. With a very simple configuration and a totally transparent operation for the user, it is a highly recommended accessory to complete your irrigation system. Its price is $ 49,99 in the official Netro store (link), at the moment the only place where you can get it.