Maximum Number of Zones

[dan]

It is probably best to not connect the relay power supply to the breadboard. Use that to power the relay boards only.

Do I need to connect the other GND next to IN1 on each of the RELAY MODULES to the - on the BREAD BOARD?
Yes. That completes the circuit with the bread board.

At this point I am confusing myself.

I have a power supply connected to the BREAD BOARD.

I then run a ground (-) and positive from the BREAD BOARD to each of the RELAY MODULES.

I connect the ground to the GND and the positive to the JD_VSS which are both located at the corner of the RELAY MODULE.

Do I still need to connect the GND next to IN1 on the RELAY MODULE to the GND (-) on the BREAD BOARD?
The power connections for the relay boards should be separate from the connections from the Pi except the ground from the Pi/shift registers should go to the ground next to IN1. You can use one set of power rails on the bread board for the relay board power as long as it is kept separate from connections from the Pi.

Is there a way to test this prior to installing the wires to the irrigation valves?
You should be able to hear the relays click and there is usually a LED that lights when a relay is on. This happend withour any connection to the irrigation valves.

To further confuse myself do I install the RELAY BOARD plugin? If so do I set the RELAY CHANNELS to equal the number of RELAY BOARDS.  For example do I set it to 2 for (2) RELAY BOARDS with 16 total modules?
No, you do not need to use a relay board plugin when using the shift registers. There a couple of types of relay board depending on weather they are "high level trigger" or "low level trigger" If they are low level trigger there is a setting in SIP under Options > Station handling > Ascive-low relay which is specific for using low level trigger relay boards with the shift registers.

Regarding the 10k Ohm resistor do I insert it BELOW the PURPLE wire and any jumpers going to that ROW or does it even matter?
Anywhere on that row is OK.

Thanks Again.