RainCAD X Series

By Scott S. Weinberg, FASLA, professor and associate dean,
University of Georgia, College of Environment & Design

Scott S. Weinberg, FASLA
LASN?EUR??,,????'???s associate editor of digital information

For the past 10 years, I have received many requests for a recommendation regarding irrigation software.

A word of caution before you buy the software. You need to know all about irrigation and its components, and you need to know the manufacturer of the equipment that you will be using from sprinkler selection to pipe classes to backflow devices. In other words, this software will assist you in creating an irrigation plan, but you need to know the parts and steps involved.

 

With a few clicks of the mouse, the program will create a head spacing layout.

The documentation to guide you through the software?EUR??,,????'???s tutorials is well done and very specific. Each screen begins with the drawing you should have created in the previous lesson. That way you can be assured that the program will work and produce the desired outcome. Don?EUR??,,????'???t think that within a few minutes you will be dancing through the program and producing finished drawings. In some respects the program has a learning curve similar to AutoCAD. For a small program it will take about 10 hours to get comfortable. Once you go through all the tutorial you will have enough understanding to navigate through the program.

Defining a boundary for sprinkler head placement is as easy as drawing a line in AutoCAD.

RainCAD X Series works with AutoCAD to produce professional looking irrigation drawings. RainCAD works with AutoCAD 2000,2002 and 2004. A good working knowledge of AutoCAD is also necessary to navigate the program. Upon loading the program you should be able to immediately link to AutoCAD. The documentation states that if the link does not occur you may need to reload AutoCAD. I put the software on my office machine and the link did not happen. I did not try to reload AutoCAD on this machine because of how it is tied into other programs, so I loaded RainCAD on my home computer. Once loaded the link was made automatically and it was ready within a few seconds.

One of the best things about the software is the size of the taskbar that allows you to control the functions of the program. It is small and fits easily onto the AutoCAD screen.

The RainCAD taskbar sits atop the drawing and is small enough to move anywhere on the screen.

The taskbar has five active command prompts, not counting the help command and its tutorials. Once you get comfortable moving around in the program you won?EUR??,,????'???t be using the help area. Each of the selections, Drafting, Symbols, Calcs, Options/Info, and Database, has a pull down menu with additional selections for all the necessary information needed to produce the irrigation plan. The Drafting menu allows you to configure line types to create the basic elements of the plan, such as buildings, complete with doors and windows. The Symbols menu lets you select icons for sprinkler heads, controls valves, meters, backflow devices and other symbols needed to complete a drawing. Calcs will assist you in computing your psi, gpms and all the necessary calculations to complete the drawing. Options/Info is similar to the layer command in AutoCAD, allowing you to select line types, widths and colors for the various irrigation components, such as pipes and sprinklers.

You select heads for working out the various zones, automatically pipe the system and compute and draw everything needed for a complete irrigation plan. A subroutine lets you draw in a pipe ?EUR??,,????'??hop?EUR??,,????'?? or ?EUR??,,????'??jump line?EUR??,,????'?? to easily follow the flow of water through the pipes.

The Database contains information about the equipment you can select to use for any given plan.

One of the most tedious and difficult tasks of creating an irrigation plan is working with head spacing. RainCAD has taken all the difficulty out of head spacing with an automatic head layout routine. Once you assign a ?EUR??,,????'??boundary?EUR??,,????'?? to a given area the automatic head layout is done with a single click. In this case the head placement is determined and a graphic showing the water arcs displayed. Some cases may require minor, manual ?EUR??,,????'??tweaking,?EUR??,,????'?? but that is usually a small part of the overall process.

The Database is thorough and contains information that normally would appear only in manufacturers?EUR??,,????'??? specification catalogs.

The program will take the head spacing diagrams and allow you to select heads for working out the various zones, automatically pipe the system and compute and draw everything needed for a complete irrigation plan. It even contains a subroutine that allows you to draw in a pipe ?EUR??,,????'??hop?EUR??,,????'?? or ?EUR??,,????'??jump line.?EUR??,,????'??

You can get up-to-date information about RainCAD at www.raincad.com