John,
Most Jandy equipment is not covered under warranty when not installed by one of their authorized dealers.
Assuming your main pump is a VS pump, then the pump needs constant AC power from a circuit breaker in the load center of the automation.
Then the automation's com port must be connected to the pump. The automation needs to be programmed with the speeds and schedules you want the equipment to run.
If you have a Spa, the you will have at least two actuators that mount on top of Jandy valves. The Jandy valves control where the water goes and the actuators electrically move the valves.. As a minimum, you will have an Intake and Return valve actuators which have a simple 3-wire connector the gets connected into the automation.
Most gas heaters do not get turned on and off.. They get put in a standby-like mode, which allows the automation to control when the heater heats and when it does not based upon the water temperature. For this to happen a temp probe has to be installed in the plumbing and then connected to the automation.
If you have any additional water features then they may or may not need Jandy valves to control them. Maybe additional actuators.
Any pool and spa light need to be connected to the automation.. Assuming that lights are low voltage LED color lights, your automation will need at least one relay and one step down transformer. If you want to have individual control over each light, you will need a relay and transformer for each light that you independently want to control.
If you are going to have a saltwater pool with a SWCG, it will have to we wired through the pump/filter relay.
It is never a good idea to mix and match on equipment.. But.. if your second pump is a single speed or 2-speed pump then any pump would work with any automation. Keep in mind that a single speed pump will need a relay and any two speed pump will need a special 2-speed relay.
******
Automation can be installed later, but you need to know what you want up front.. As an example.. Without automation you will need some way to turn the pool light on and off. If you put the switch in the wrong spot, you might have to dig up 25' of new deck to get the wires from where they are, and into the automation.
Without an automation system, you would manually control the heater from the heater itself.. You would tell the heater to heat to say 100 degrees. The heater would measure the water temp that it sees and stop heating when it senses a water temp of 100 degrees. The only difference with an automation system is that the automation takes over the heater and tells it when to heat based on the input you give it via your phone or PC or whatever control system your automation system has.
VS pumps have a built in control system where you can manually enter a schedule for when the pump runs and at what speed.. An automation system takes over the pump and allows you to do all that from inside your house.
Let me put it to you this way.. If I gave you an automation system to use for 30 days.. When I came to take it back, you would beat me with a stick...
I know if is easy for me to spend your money, but a pool in general is a huge expense.. A long time ago, my father taught me that is better to cry once when you buy a quality tool rather than to cry every time you use a cheap tool..
Thanks,
Jim R.