Hi, contractor here. In the past we have always had R serise tractors with autotrac. Some are done through the tractors command center and some through 2600 screen all running basic sf1. When choosing our 6195m we were faced with the option autotrac ready or front brakes. We opted for the brakes. I’m looking at getting this system up and running before maize ground prep in march. However the tractor is also due to arrive at the beginning of march so I want all the stuff in place ready to fit when the tractor get here which makes planning it a little harder not seeing what iv got.
My build plan:
I was planning on building a rtk base station and running a hot spot from my phone in the tractor cab to download correction signals, is this a good idea? If it worked well I would invest in a simcard router.
I was thinking twin recievers, I often loose signal on the headland runs under trees and was hoping this would help. Also reccomendations on the best antenna, I don’t mind spending abit of money if the products right, after all im used to spending John Deere type of money.
I was wondering what the best roll correction card is.
I was wondering what sort of accuracy and reliability can actually be achieved, I get around 10-5cm from my current John Deere setup and it works 90% of the time. I don’t need repeatability yet… Although might end up hoeing maize in a few years time.
Lastly I have the problem of steering control. I do heaps of road work, about 1200hrs a year on the road so I need a safe reliable method of steering. I might add the current John Deere setup isn’t as safe as you all might think, a driver once hit the autotrac button on the road and clipped the bank with the front mower. I initially thought about having the motors, but then realistically do I want noisy motors which produce heat. At least two days a year I’m without air con, or so it seems. Also when on silage trailers and rough jobs I’m worried you’ll be hitting your knees no it ect. I want something that can be built and left. So that brought me onto hydraulic steering. But it must be reliable, I have had sticky valves ect before on a quickkie loader and it’s not fun. I was wondering if someone had a schematic of how they installed there’s. I was thinking I need an isolation switch to turn it of so the valves remain normally off, that way in an electric fault it will not effect steering. Looking forward to hearing your guys responses.
Using your phone as a modem works, I do this with an iPhone 12 without issue and save the cost of an extra sim. But also can be glitchy like with my iPhone 8, but I did find a workaround for it disconnecting, listen to web radio. You will not know for sure until you try. If multiple or non tech savvy people are using the tractor a standalone hub might be a better choice.
Two receivers will not make signal outages any better, you will just simultaneously lose signal on two receivers. With the F9P try a helical style antenna for very challenging conditions. Also with the F9P being dual band as well as a four constellation GNSS receiver you will notice much improved performance regardless.
bno085 is a great imu… if you can get your hands on one currently.
Accuracy and repeatability are absolutely fabulous, I use ag open for mowing with 10cm overlap and leave no strips at all. The closer to the base station the better the accuracy of course. I think the greatest error would be from loose steering components, AOG controls the steering nice and smooth. Check out AOG videos on youtube, there are lots of ridiculously straight rows. 
Steering setup is a personal choice, there are many methods outlined in detail on this forum. I use steering motors because they are they are straightforward and most cost effective. My motor does not seem to get hot using steering gears.
AOG is a fun project and very cost effective. Just try not to be too cheap if you want it to be comparable to a commercial system. My parts costs for AOG were $3k Cdn, but there is no component that I feel is substandard to a commercial system. Half that cost was just the tablet and dock, try to find a tablet with a very bright screen.
Have you tried pulling the phone to 3g? It also forces a signal from 3g when it cannot receive 4g or 5g images. When the phone is shooting 3g, you can do your job without losing the signal. I am using a 4g modem. I fixed the modem in 3g, my RTK problem is gone
Are there any tablets you reccomend? I was also thinking a tablet with wireless charging so I don’t have leads which can fall out. That way I can glue or some how permanently fix the lead to the holder
The problem with the iphone 8 was too low of a data rate, the phone would disconnect from the tablet. Listening to radio increased the data enough to stay connected to the tablet.
Be careful with this type of advice, do you know where the OP is located? It all depends on the location/country and their networks. At my place we hardly have any 3G coverage any more, 4G is perfect, also 2G perfect for NTRIP, 5G just coming.
I agree. We also have a SBG geostar 200 system. It has a 2G 3G modem, but the auto switch mode is not able to shift properly between 2G 3G. There is one problem field where at one end 2G is available and the other end 1000 m away only 3G. I know that is the problem because in DK we have a homepage showing which mobile masts have 2 3 4 or 5 G. Some have several types at same spot. But not around that field. Another tractor run AOG with 4G from phone hotspot without any problems at that field.
Problem not big enough to pay 250 euros for new SBG modem.
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A used panasonic, getac or dell rugged tablet if you can find one for a good price.
They all come with at least 800nits bright display, usually are already ssd, and have plenty of commercial mounting solutions.
They have usb, and some have ethernet ports. Or docks that have all the ports. Also power supplies meant for 12V already exist for them.
I use a used getac f11 g3, no complaints. My first ali express tablet was bare minimum, and soon became a frustration.