The present invention provides a system and method for detecting and identifying power line carrier controlled devices within an irrigation system having a PLC BUS and a plurality of PLC powered devices. According to first preferred embodiment, the method preferably may include the steps of: initializing a controller； transmitted an identification signal onto the PLC BUS； receiving the transmitted identification signal by a first powered device in the transmission line； recording the signal strength of the received identification signal by the first powered device； reducing the level of the received identification signal by a given increment； receiving the transmitted identification signal by a second powered device in the transmission line； recording the signal strength of the received identification signal by the second powered device； reducing the level of the received identification signal by a given increment； receiving the transmitted identification signal at the controller； polling each powered device for the received strength of the identification signal at each device； creating a lookup table and assigning a system ID number to each powered device based on the reported signal levels received by each device； and sending communications signals to the first powered device based on the system assigned ID number indicated in the lookup table.
