Hi Everyone,
I finally pulled the trigger and I have time now to start with agopengps. I would love to have a system running by middle of April 2023. I am located in south western Ontario, Canada.
Looking at buying a tablet first, so I can start playing around with the software (currently have only mac).
Looks like the Panasonic toughpad cf-d1 is preferred by many here. Any suggestions?
If someone out there has parts to build a system (or part of a system), please let me know. I plan to build the system on a Fendt 512 S4 Profi. For now I plan on using a motor on the steering wheel and RTK.
Any advise is welcome.
That’s it for now.
Reinhard
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If you already have a tablet in mind, check the amount of NITZ, then you can buy the F9P, you can start using it and get acquainted with the system. If you are from Canada, you can buy flywheel motor directly from phidgets. In between, you should have more access to ArduSimple. BNO/Teensy would also be a good initial investment as they are rare, with late delivery and expensive prices. A PCB would also be interesting. It would be nice to buy what you already have close to home, and with a delay in delivery. I would save pcboards for last, or wait a little longer, as there will be fixes, if your goal is to use Panda.
Hello Reinhard.
I’m just NW of London Ontario and also want to be running April 2023. Where are you?
I’ve been reading for a few months and have the systems planned and a bunch of components ordered, but not much time to do anything than read until we get the season wrapped up.
The Getac f110 is also well liked, it’s similar to the toughpad.
Trying simulator mode on a Windows machine is a great idea. Reading the discourse and telegram group for awhile helped me get familiar with all the lingo and different boards.
Big bright screen is #1 800nits or more, the program works so much better when you can see it easily.
The Panasonic tough tablets have this brightness rating, Getac F110 also has 800nits I really like the G3’s.
Also put some time into planning your base station location and RTCM3 correction transmission method.
Friend has the CF-D1, it’s pretty smart. Go for an SSD rather than HDD (128gb is fine, don’t get hung up on needing terabytes, you won’t use a lot for AOG and Windows). They can come with different options, you should look for ethernet for sure, and maybe also a SIM card slot (save you tethering to phone, tho that’s no big deal of course).
Isn’t a Profi model steer ready? Not familiar myself but seems there are good CAN bus solutions for a Fendt.
Hi Jesse,
Thx for your reply. A few questions:
F9P, that’s the RTK reciever, right?
Flywheel motor, do you mean the steeringwheel motor?
Could you maybe give me an overview of the parts I need to order soon because of long delivery times?
Thx again for willing to help,
Reinhard
Hi there,
Thx for your reply, I live close to Plattsville
I’ll check out the Getac as well.
Reinhard
Hi there,
yep, the RTK signal transmission is one of the things I still see as a problem/challenge. Radio seems to be the easiest, but I won’t have always clear line of sight and the distance might be to big as well on some fields. Is there another way, except the one over the internet?
Thx
Reinhard
Hi,
Profi Plus is guidance ready, not Profi. But yes, hooking up to the CAN bus is something I consider later on in the project, for headland automation or so…
I just wonder if my tractor has a wheel angle sensor already that is used for the automatic functions for 4wd and diff lock. Still have to figure that out.
Reinhard
If you have decent cell reception, Cellular using your phones hot spot is the easiest and cheapest.
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hi.
Yes, steeringwheel.
manufacturing and long delivery times: BNO085, Teensy 4.1, Pcboards.
On the website of ardusimple they sell kits with to receivers and radio communication between the 2. Yep, it’s not the cheapest but then I don’t relay on the internet… they claim 50km line of sight. I don’t need that distance, 20km is lots for me, but since it’s hilly here, the radio’s won’t ‘see’ each other. Any thoughts or experience on this?
Most are running cellular Ntrip because it is the easiest.
The only reason to use radios is if there is no cell reception. 20km is very far for Lora, you can always set up the base on the side of the field.
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No one can really predict how well radio will work at your location if you don’t have line of sight. If the XLR doesn’t work then I don’t think any diy radio will work in a single shot.
If you want to use Radio you could maybe consider a portable base station. It wouldn’t be very hard to make a base station that’s powered by a large USB battery bank that can hold 2-3 days worth of charge. You could add a solar panel if you wanted for indefinite operation. Or power it off a 12v vehicle battery. Lots of options. Then you can bring the base from field to field with you, or set it up at 2-3 key locations.
The reference point becomes tricky if you want perfectly repeatability. You could setup the base days ahead of time and let it survey in each time you move it. You can program in survey points and setup the antenna in exactly the same spots every time. You can give up on perfect reference and use a short survey.
You could also consider using a radio that is capable of using digimesh, a mesh network protocol. Then you could have a permanent base and (portable?) radio repeaters to reach problem areas. I don’t know if anyone here is doing that but it’s technically possible.
Most people use corrections over internet, ntrip. Hotspot your phone in the cab and use your home internet for the base station.
Of course we have that lovely Robelus oligopoly that overcharges us for lack of reliability and lack of infrastructure, so I completely understand your hesitancy to relying on internet. Both rural internet and cellular internet in Canada aren’t great compared to the rest of the world.
You could do a hybrid system. Make a portable base that uses both radio and internet. Set it up at your house and use ntrip. If Rogers goes down again you can pickup the base, move it to the side of the field, and use radio. You could use less expensive lower powered radios for that. Lots and lots of options.
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Thx for all the answers.
Looks like the connection over the internet seems to be the way to go for now.
I thought I saw a complete starters kit on ardusimple before (rover and base station parts all in one kit) but can’t seem to find it anymore… or do I just better order 2 simpleRTK2B starter kits?
Another question: I find some talk here on the forum about panda, seems to improve the autosteer, can anyone explain me what’s it all about?
Found that one, but I think I better go with RTK over an internet connection, since I won’t have line of sight all the time, but sure, I would prefer radio and be independent of internet if that was possible