Dan,

Not my words but from the Internet.

System is 24V to the valves
20-60 ohms = normal
Less than 10 = short(cut wire)
Greater than 60 but less than 150 = bad splice (partial open)
Greater than 150 = broken wire (open)

Follow these steps:
Check to make sure there is a display and that there appears to be power.
Check the programming to make sure there is a start time, run-time and watering days selected for the zones in question. Make sure the water percent adjust key is not set to zero (by program and globally).
Make sure the rain switch is not activated.
Using a volt meter, set it to AC voltage and check each station by turning it on manually and touch the leads to the common post and the hot wire for the valve in question. You should read 24 volts. As a double check take a valve solenoid with a captured solenoid and touch it off to the same hot a common wires. It should "click" audibly.
If all these check out, your controller is fine.

Almost all of your diagnosis should be done from the controller, not from the field. From the controller you can, of course, check out the controller, but you can also check out the field wire and solenoid. Use your volt meter to check out the controller and your Ohm meter to check out the field wire and solenoids. First turn off the controller. Never Check Resistance Through a Live Circuit. Place one lead on the common terminal (COM) and one lead on the zone terminal in question.Even though your leads are technically in the controller when you are doing an Ohm check, when you touch them to the terminal strip with field wires hooked up, you are not checking out the controller, you are checking out the field wires and solenoid.
there is a specific sequence to troubleshooting. If you follow that sequence each and every time, your troubleshooting will go much smoother and quicker and you will not have to run new wire. In general, you should always do the following in order:

Check the controller
Field wiring
Solenoids

Hope this helps. Sounded good to me. Aloha