Patent ID: 8271144

Claim:
An expandable irrigation controller for controlling a plurality of watering stations in an irrigation system comprises: a removable front panel, the removable front panel comprising: a plurality of manual controls operable to input instructions for a watering program; a memory operable to store the input instructions; and a controller operable to execute the watering an inner housing, connected to the front panel, the inner housing including: a circuit board connected electrically to the controller, wherein the circuit board includes two electrical conductors extending across the inner housing, wherein control information from the controller is encoded for transmission on the two electrical conductors; and a station module operable to provide an ON/OFF signal to at least one watering station of the irrigation system, wherein the station module is electrically connected to the two electrical conductors and the ON/OFF signal is provided based on the control information from the controller in accordance with the watering program, and wherein the station module connects to the two electrical conductors at substantially any desired location along the conductors, the station module further including: a control contact operable to electrically connect the station module to the two electrical conductors; a decoder circuit operable to decode the control information from the controller sent to the station module by the two electrical conductors; a switching circuit operable to provide the ON/OFF signal for the watering station based on the decoded information; a terminal connected the watering station to send the ON/OFF signal to the watering station, and a setting dial rotatable between a plurality of positions, wherein a specific position of the setting dial indicates the watering station controlled by the station module and whether the station module is positioned in the external housing.