Hello guys, me, like many others, i’m new to agopengps and don’t know where to start.
I know i need a lot of pieces, but i don’t know where to buy them.
I was thinking that you can help me with some advice, and also some links to pieces i need.
I want to say that i am from Romania, Eastern Europe, and don’t know what markets are available for me.
Hope to make this out and get a GPS cheaper than the dillers offer.
Some reading material for you. You can buy almost everything off aliexpress and ebay just search. You can buy a rtk board at ardusimple.
For a basic system you need:
-Base station (you can build one or find the closest one to you, highly recommend build your own)
-RTK gps board (Ardusimple simpleRTK board)
-Tablet (windows 10, recommend bright screen)
-Motor controller (There are two: IBT2 or Cytron MD13)
-Motor (24V motor)
-PCB for autosteer (For beginner use official V2 board or Kapoui, you can find the files in the support folder) with the PCB you also need resistors, capacitors, diodes, arduino nano, ADS 16bit
-Wheel angle sensor (Delphi ER10031 or rqh100030 are the most common)
-BNO0800, CMPS14 or another RTK board for heading and roll
-Step up converters, i use one for stepping up the voltage for the motor and depending on what tablet you buy, you can use a step up or step down converter to charge the tablet
Some links for shopping (These are all free shipping to my country, fell free to search for youself)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000237581796.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.21ef1802szU7CE
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32944652001.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.21ef1802szU7CE
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Ok, i’ll buy the components, but i want to know if running an RTK base station is necessary.
I know that in my country, there is a special caster, but i have to pay for it a yearly/montly subscription.
Pls help
Without RTK, autosteer is useless. I build mine for 400€ with a ardusimple board, esp32 and esprtk firmware but i would recommend buying a raspberry pi or orange pi and using that for your base. For casters you can use rtk2go.com, emlid caster or centipede caster. This way you have your personal base and as long there is power to it and a internet connection you have RTK and 1cm precisaion, perfect for seeding. Also for base station i would recommend this antenna for the base station.
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I have two RTK base stations and all auto-steer tractors use RTK but I wouldn’t say auto-steer is useless without RTK. It all depends on the tasks the tractor performs. A lot of discussions on the forum about this. Just make sure to buy RTK capable hardware, may start without RTK and add a base later if the need for RTK accuracy and most of all repeatability is not obvious.
The way to deliver RTK corrections is also very dependent on local conditions. Radio is a must for some, NTRIP (over cellular internet) is the only way for some. If a public IP address is available, a private caster would be the most robust solution for the latter. Stefal’s RTK base on RPi one option, other options can easily be found from the forum.
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I think that is better for me, eventually, to buy a substription, on the Romanian service of rtk positioning, because there is a base 20km away from me, and i think it will do the job for me.
Now i’m searching other usefull information about the PCB that i have to use, and the components that i need for it.
Get the basic system going without rtk first. Then once you understand how the system works you can decide on an rtk setup. I personally recommend the Ardusimple f9p as it is very well supported in this group. Single gps will give you straight lines they just drift over time. I also built my initial setup with no roll compensation and no IMU, just so I could get things going and learn the Dos and Donts of AOG. I ran the most basic setup the first year on tillage and it works perfectly fine for us. Then later built a NTRIP base using a desktop computer, f9p, and rtk2go.com. The hardest part for us was physical mounting the WAS and the steering motor and gear drive on our steering wheels.
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How much do they charge you for the RTK correction signal? Are you going to use it for one tractor only?
Some EU countries provide RTK corrections for free. On some others one has to pay a ridiculous yearly fee, and it is for each receiver. A private base may be a lot less expensive but you can always start with a paid service first.
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I was looking to use autosteer for one tractor, yes, the one that i spray and plant with.
Maybe, if wanted, i’ll buy an auxiliary set of cables, just to make changing the gps to other vehicles easyer.
The fee is’t that much, 20.26$ monthly, or 202$ a year, i think it makes sense.
Maybe, after i’ll get used to it, i’ll make a base to.
Fun fact, i found a man from my contry that sells autosteer systems useing AGO for… 4500$…
That’s actually a lot, for what he gives you, like, the asembly he made looked ridiculous for that money
2500-3000 would it be resonable, but that was to much, so i decided to make it myself.
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I build two full autosteer systems with a base station for 1600€. There are people in my contry that build Aog autosteer systems for 4000-4500€.
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I said useless because most people want autosteer for planting. Of course you can use it without RTK but as you said the ab line will drift which for some jobs is okay.
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My first basic AOG setup 3 years ago cost me about 780 dollars US. Unfortunately prices for certain parts have skyrocketed since then.
Ok, now i am wondering what should i start with?
Buying the ardusimple RTK receiver and the antena?
And one more question
if i would conect it direct to the tablet, would it give me the posibility to use the gps without the pcb and autosteering unit?
Once you go RTK, you cannot go back, its that good.
I would start just by downloading the software on whatever computer you have and starting to play with it in simulator mode.
Getting a good tablet with a bright screen, 800nits and up is next. This is where most of the cost of AOG usually ends up. Panasonic and Getac used rugged tablets are a popular choice, though many use Microsoft surface as well.
Connecting a gps to the tablet gives you a light bar, but I highly recommend building the full autosteer.
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ok, i’m gonna start searching for a tablet
(it is a logical thing that i wan’t autosteer, but till than, i want to make a step by step thing… i don’t know how to say it
thank you very much, i’ll be back as soon as i have some good news 
My friend is using Agopengps as a light bar with my base station and he is very happy with it. He bought a bright tablet (some Dell tablet) and one ardusimple simplertk2b kit (board and the little black antenna) and placed the antenna on the hood.
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That would be a light bar with extraordinary accuracy. Popular (relatively) cheap commercial light bars have only SBAS capable receivers. AOG with F9P and a tablet computer would beat those even without RTK.
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You can get the tablet and the f9p first. Then build the pcb of your choice…V2 and kapoui pcbs are the first basic ones…panda and dual are the later more involved setups…Get all the components together WAS, steer motor, tablet, pcb, and hook it all up on the bench. Its much easier to understand when its all directly in front of your eyes. Once you can get it all hooked up and working then you can install it on the tractor. I personally built my PCB V2 with WAS and steer motor on the bench before I even bought a GPS unit. If you would like a V2 pcb I will ship you one of my extras for free if you want to pay the shipping cost, otherwise you can have them made with the gerber files provided on github.
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If you are beginning a build just go straight to PANDA, the performance justifies it.
If you do have a V2 board panda can be used as an add on. I use my V2 board as an input/output card for PANDA.
Hello
I have another question, what tipe of RTK corections does AgOpenGps need?
My RTK positioning service can provide me this kind: ETRS89