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It is known that agronavigation gives a qualitative increase in the efficiency of agricultural machinery use. Additional 10-15% of saved resources allow investing them into the improvement of the fleet of machinery, its technical re-equipment or expansion of areas under crops.
The benefits of using agronavigation on a tractor or combine harvester are obvious, and no agrarian farmer denies it. However, when it comes to buying this useful gadget, the price factor is one of the crucial ones. It is especially sensitive for small farms with up to 200-300 acres of land. When resources are limited, the owner of a tractor or combine harvester considers budget segments of GPS/GNSS guidance systems that will satisfy in terms of accuracy and price.
What are low-cost tractor guidance systems and what is the difference between them?
Let's analyze what can reduce the price of the tractor guidance system and how a low-price one will differ from an expensive one.
It is desirable to carry out the comparative characteristics by similar parameters:
- Accuracy of driving from row to row on free and RTK signal
- Satellite systems support
- Number of satellites, that the navigator "sees" simultaneously
- Stability of signal retention
- Display size and parameters
- Receiver and display security (encloses reliability)
- Software functionality (operation modes, data processing, etc.
The price can be reduced by cutting the functionality, using less accurate and therefore cheaper GNSS receivers, by replacing expensive professional field computers with tablets.
How different tractor guidance systems manufacturers reduce the cost of their models
Each manufacturer goes its way to create a budget line of tractor guidance systems. This is why choosing the ideal cheap model for a tractor guidance systems is not a simple matter.
First, one of the most common options is the use of GNSS receivers or antennas of lower accuracy.
In this case, the device loses significantly not only in price but also in accuracy. It may be suitable for a limited number of technological operations in the field and its purchase makes sense if you need to buy a guidance system for one or two tractors involved in specialized operations, such as spreading fertilizer or plowing. If you need a universal agronomic, this solution will not be perfect.
The second most popular method of reducing the cost of navigation on agricultural machinery is the use of free applications and programs for agricultural navigation. Usually, these are free applications from Google Play Market or "cracked" versions of programs from well-known manufacturers. It should be noted that the use of software from unknown developers - is in most cases the lack of technical support, and development of the application, as well as a great risk of "catching" a virus and losing data on the work performed. In addition, most free applications for agronavigation have poorer functionality than professional applications from tractor guidance manufacturers. As for the use of pirated versions of the software, it is obvious that its use is illegal, such software is not updated and over time will stop working due to a lack of support from the developer.
The third way to reduce the cost is to replace part of the professional equipment with semi-professional, which respectively, is less expensive. This approach does not affect the functionality of the tractor guidance GNSS kit, it works almost as a professional, but costs less. This is achieved, for example, by using, instead of specialized expensive shockproof displays, ordinary tablets, which have a slightly lower level of protection against dust, dirt, and shock, but still perform 100% of their functions. The use of additional accessories, such as protective cases, and professional RAM can minimize the difference in the use of professional and semi-professional kits. At the same time, their cost will be 20-25% lower, which is significant for the budget of a small farmer.
What models of low price tractor guidance systems are worth considering
The principle of choosing a model of budget navigator for a tractor or combine harvester should be based on maximum accuracy and functionality at a reasonable price. Accordingly, such kits should have a professional GNSS receiver with support not only for GPS, but also an additional 2-3 satellite systems (Galileo, Glonass, Beidou), and also include professional licensed software from the developer with the possibility of updates and bug fixes if detected.
Of the series of parallel driving systems from Geometer, such parameters correspond to the model Geotrack Lite and Geotrack Lite GM Pro, which have full functionality of the professional model, and the price reduction is achieved by replacing the field professional display with a tablet. And this is the only difference from the professional model.
Manufacturer's models, which use GNSS receivers with lower accuracy or free applications of unknown origin can be cheaper, but accordingly, the quality of such a guidance system will not be satisfactory and even dangerous.
Agricultural guidance system geotrack Lite RTK L1/L2 is based on Samsung's 8.7-inch display with LTE, geotrack software and dual-frequency GM SMART receiver L1/L2. This is a low-cost agricultural guidance system with RTK that works with an accuracy of up to 2.5 cm. To get centimeter accuracy, you need RTK corrections or your own base station.
Agricultural guidance system geotrack Lite GM PRO is based on Samsung's 8.7-inch display, geotrack software and GM PRO receiver. The receiver has 14 channels to work with GPS, SBAS. Provides accuracy of tractor guidance, at the level of 15 cm from pass-to-pass. The GM PRO receiver has a special software GLIDE filter, which was developed for use in agriculture. Thanks to the smoothing mode feature high accuracy of parallel driving is provided.