Installation

1. The sensor should receive at least one hour of sunlight everyday on average to maintain its battery level. 2. The soil around the sensor should be tight, otherwise the moisture reading will be too low and it will be difficult to train the sensor to understand the soil 3. Make sure the sensor is not placed at a low point of the ground to avoid water damage 4. If the sensor is to monitor a zone that receives rainfall, the sensor should be in a position that the rain can reach 5. If the sensor is paired with a watering controller or timer, make sure the sensor can be reached by the sprinkler so that it can correctly learn the characteristics of the sprinklers
You will need to press the button 5-6 times to reset the sensor: 1. Press the power button once to turn on the sensor. If the sensor is already on, turn it off first by pressing the power button once. 2. Turn the sensor off quickly (in 1.5 seconds) before the LED light changes its color from white 3. Press the button to turn on the sensor. Turn the sensor off quickly (in 1.5 seconds) before the LED light changes its color from yellow 4. Press the button again to turn on the sensor. The LED should start to blink in white color. Here is a demo video: https://youtu.be/Vl-VlTkcaJE

Wi-Fi Connection

1. Press the power button once to turn on the sensor. If the sensor is already on, turn it off first by pressing the power button once 2. The sensor will try to connect to the router 3. Wait for 15-30 seconds 4. If the connection is successful, the sensor will blink twice 5. If the connection is unsuccessful, the LED will turn red for 1.5 seconds. You might need to move closer to the router
The sensor will not be able to report the data to the Netro server. However, the sensor will keep collecting the data and store the data in its memory (up to 100 samples). When the sensor is back online, it will send all the stored data to the Netro server.

Sensor Data

By default, the sensor measures and reports the data once every hour. If the sunlight condition is poor, for reducing power consumption, you can lower the report frequency in the Netro app. You can also optionally enable the dynamic reporting in the Netro app (only available for version 2.0 and above). When dynamic reporting is enabled, the sensor will report data immediately when the moisture level changes significantly. This feature helps detect unexpected rain and watering events but it also increases power consumption by around 50%.
Whenever the sensor tries to report data (automatic or manual), the LED light will turn on in white, after 2 seconds it will show the selected color(green, blue, purple …) while trying to connect to the WiFi router. 1. For hourly reporting, when the sensor completes a report, the light will flash and then turn off. The sensor will go to sleep mode. 2. For manual reporting, when the sensor completes a report, the light will stay on. The sensor will also stay connected for 3 minutes. This is for the continuous realtime reporting in the Netro app 3. Under some circumstances, it is possible for the light on the sensor to stay on after the reporting. Please see question “When will the light stay on?”
1. The sunlight data and temperature data are used to estimate the evaporation rate which determines how fast the soil loses water. 2. The sensor measures the moisture level of the topsoil. When the moisture level is high, watering schedule will be skipped. You can optionally enable the system to add additional watering schedules when moisture level is low.

General

When the battery level is low( less than 15%), the sensor will stop sending data to the server. It will automatically resume reporting when the battery is charged to 20%. If you pressed the button when the battery level is low (the light will flash red and then turn off), you will need to manually restart the sensor (press the button again) after the battery is charged.
1. If the sensor is powered on (the light is on), press the button once to turn it off 2. If the sensor is sleeping (it will wake up repeating to report data), press the button once to manually wake it up, wait for 2-10 seconds, press the button again to turn it off. 3. After that, the sensor will stay off and will not wake up repeating to report data
After reporting the data, normally the light on the sensor will turn off shortly. However, the light will stay on if all the following 3 conditions are met: 1. You have selected automatic for light mode in the Netro app 2. The sensor battery level is high (larger than 90%) 3. The sensor is in dark or almost dark
Generally you can leave the sensor outside in the winter. However, if the temperature goes below 0°F(-18°C ), you should consider taking the sensor inside. Please turn off the sensor before storing it. If you place the sensor in a place without any sunlight, after a few months you might need to charge the sensor for a few days before it can turn on.