How to automate lighting cycles?

I am not aware of any cycle timers that are adjustable in hourly increments. Are these timers available? If not how else Can I automate an 18/6 light cycle?

yea theyr out there i got 1 that goes in 15 min incraments, lil notchs that go up for on and down fer off

i'd have thought every electrical shop or even supermarkets in the country etc would sell these timers. as said, they are 24 hour timers, which work in small 15 minute or so inscrememnts and cost around £5, bought one just yesterday from bnq for my veg light.

You get what you pay for with timers. Buying a good one will last for years. I have heard horror stories about $5.00 timers failing with HID lights. They are probably fine for flouros & cfls.

well in that case mine would be a $10 timer

and i know what you mean about getting what you pay for, i wouldn't skimp on a ballast etc, but my timer has been going strong for 4 months now with a 400w HPS attached

950$ will get you one of the best lighting control panels money can buy.
its all how YOU design the system though.
I can do the same thing as the 950$ panel with about 100 bux worth of relays and timers, but it will take up more space and be uglier.
the thing with timers or any automation system is identifying what you need it to control
if your just switching one or two small lights and a fan via a power strip, then a simple outdoor garden timer rated for inductive loads will do the trick just fine
now if your running say a hydroponic setup with liquid cooled HID lamps and a few ebb and flow trays then the timers get complicated and you end up doing some serious planning and spending

You must not have looked very hard because they are easy to find. Get the kind with the round dial with pegs on it, not the digital kind. Digitals tend to malfunction, especially with CFLs. I had two of them permanently stick in the on position. It still made the on/off clicking sound but the lights stayed on all the time. The dial type can't do that.

Any big box store has them.

Lowes and Home Depot will have a bigger selection than you need. They will be in or near the lighting section.

Make sure you look at the timers rated amps. Some of the cheaper ones are rated for very few amps so make sure you look on the package to see what you are buying because if you get a real cheap one that can't handle the amps you are throwing at it you will be in for some trouble.