Anyone tried the eFarmer FieldBEE

[Dave488]

Hi I farm approximately 800 acres of mainly cereals in County Durham and I currently use a MF7720 with full autosteer to drill with only using EGNOS at the moment, which is not good enough for the job.

So I am looking at either upgrading my Autoguide 3000 system to RTK for drilling, which I believe will cost £4.5k for the two snap ins required and then between £750 to £1000 to subscribe to the signal via the mobile phone network as the only base station nearby is a Trimble one and correctly if I'm wrong, but I've been told the Autoguide 3000 will not communicate with it, as its locked to Trimble products only. Or alternatively I put up my own base station, which is not cheap.

So I was interested to read the article in the Farmers Weekly this week about budget GPS, where it is claimed you can buy the eFarmer FieldBee and portable base station for just over £1500!

This is obviously a lot cheaper than most other systems (not sure if its too good to be true) and I was basically wondering if anyone on here had either used one or know anyone who has?

 

[Northern farmer]

Have not used FieldBee but I hate it when they do not give accurate specifications.

Looks like the RTK base (and their RTK receiver) is only GPS capable and working on a single frequency only. If dual/multiconstellation & dual frequency, why not state it clearly on the specifications.

May still be good value for the money but a bit more would give you a proper base. A few years ago I paid a bit more than 4000 € (VAT 0%) for a dual constellation, dual frequency base that provides proper coverage and availability. Could have been less but even with a couple of receivers only it pays itself pretty soon compared to commercial RTK correction signals.

 

[michael.efarmer]

Hi,

We have published the specification of the fieldbee on our website - https://storage.googleapis.com/stat...aa5e55-rtk-bee-station-datasheet_en.v.1.2.pdf

Unlike you mentioned, it has both GPS and GLONASS. It has coverage of 10-16km.

I will be happy to answer all your questions regarding our product.

-Michael.

 

[Ireland_mike]

I was one of the original user/investors in the first consignment in the Fieldbee GPS aerial and RTK base station system. i waited 10 months for it to be delivered due to problems with manufacture. When i plugged it in it did not work as the RTK and the Fieldbee could not communicate- so i contacted them. They said they knew that there was an issue and they were working on a "software fix for it". Left it for 6 months as i have no need for rtk system during the winter. In May of 2018 i tried again -it didnt work. Contacted their tech support - which is a sort of online written messaging system with a guy in Ukraine. I wasted 6 hours over the next 3 days online trying to get the RTK element to work and communicate with the Fieldbee unit to no avail, despite excellent Internet connections on my farm. Sick of wasting good spraying and spreading weather trying to get their system to work(which i have no proof works anywhere except in Belgium where there is national rtk state operated network) i resigned myself to fact that i had actually paid 1200 euro for a gps aerial that has a accuracy of 30 to 60 cm. However this was not the end of the saga ....the end can be seen on my fieldbee requiem video on YouTube

.

Have since invested in an British built Agricision onTrak Unit which i am very happy with.

 

[Pheasant Surprise]

However this was not the end of the saga ....the end can be seen on my fieldbee requiem video on YouTube

Awww man. The expectation was building up ....I thought you were going to mow over it or at least run over it with the tractor.

Kind of like the ag equivalent of will it blend!

 

[Robt]

Have you seriously gone from buying a cheap rtk system to buying a light bar and been excited? Or is this a promotion for said light bar? Why would you even consider rtk if all you actually need is a light bar?

 

[Pheasant Surprise]

Well I’ve seen some crappy bits of indirect advertising but if that was one then it deserves an award for extra crapiness.

 

[Ireland_mike]

Chill out lads. I suppose having worked in an AOL call center dealing with UK customers in my youth I should have known not to try to advise/counsel British people about anything! Especially if one is foolish enough to put Ireland in ones username.
Firstly it should be obvious from my YouTube channel that I am actually a Irish dairy Farmer not a marketeer for a British ag GPS company.
Secondly I chose to buy the Fieldbee RTK not because i absolutely needed it . Though it would be Handy for my Zocon Grass rake seeder which doesn't mark the ground too well by it's second or third run(not a plug before anyone starts......would go for a Guttler if I was purchasing again...... not a plug for guttler either!!!). No the reason I purchased the Fieldbee RTK system is because I believed that I would be getting a GPS guidance system with 0-4cm accuracy(which might or not be useful) for the same price i would have to pay to my local machinery dealership in Waterford for a system with 20cm accuracy.
Fieldbee makers seemed to know what they were about gps wise- they had a fairly popular app which looked good before they went into hardware sales.
Being a tech lover (have HDip in Advanced Networks from the Open University) I would have loved to see the underdog efarmer achieve against the likes of Topcom and am a little peed off that they didn't deliver.
Finally the Fieldbee did blend (kind of) with a mower blade have partly chopped the PCB ... probably not obvious on video. Hence the need to cough up €1300, if you include the price of the iPad, to replace the my failed adventure with Fieldbee.

 

[Pheasant Surprise]

Chill out lads. I suppose having worked in an AOL call center dealing with UK customers in my youth I should have known not to try to advise/counsel British people about anything! Especially if one is foolish enough to put Ireland in ones username.
Firstly it should be obvious from my YouTube channel that I am actually a Irish dairy Farmer not a marketeer for a British ag GPS company.
Secondly I chose to buy the Fieldbee RTK not because i absolutely needed it . Though it would be Handy for my Zocon Grass rake seeder which doesn't mark the ground too well by it's second or third run(not a plug before anyone starts......would go for a Guttler if I was purchasing again...... not a plug for guttler either!!!). No the reason I purchased the Fieldbee RTK system is because I believed that I would be getting a GPS guidance system with 0-4cm accuracy(which might or not be useful) for the same price i would have to pay to my local machinery dealership in Waterford for a system with 20cm accuracy.
Fieldbee makers seemed to know what they were about gps wise- they had a fairly popular app which looked good before they went into hardware sales.
Being a tech lover (have HDip in Advanced Networks from the Open University) I would have loved to see the underdog efarmer achieve against the likes of Topcom and am a little peed off that they didn't deliver.
Finally the Fieldbee did blend (kind of) with a mower blade have partly chopped the PCB ... probably not obvious on video. Hence the need to cough up €1300, if you include the price of the iPad, to replace the my failed adventure with Fieldbee.

Welcome along @Ireland_mike. Please no need to take offence. I for one don’t mind where you’re from.

All welcome to the broad church that is TFF.

 

[Ireland_mike]

Just to update. In fairness to efarmer they ( and it has to be said in line with Benelux and German company cultural norms of not been fly by night operations) have not left me hanging there and sent out a replacement rtk base station and gps unit from there new electronic manufacturing partners. Have not had a chance to get it out of the packaging yet let alone field test it - but will update this space as soon as i get the time to put the replacement equipment through some testing

 

[GitFun]

Just to update. In fairness to efarmer they ( and it has to be said in line with Benelux and German company cultural norms of not been fly by night operations) have not left me hanging there and sent out a replacement rtk base station and gps unit from there new electronic manufacturing partners. Have not had a chance to get it out of the packaging yet let alone field test it - but will update this space as soon as i get the time to put the replacement equipment through some testing

Does the new equipment work?

 

[Ireland_mike]

I eventually decided, given the effort and many days wasted trying to get the first iteration of the Fieldbee equipment to work on my farm, that i couldn't face into all that hassle again and took a refund by sending the whole lot of this second effort at making working equipment back to them without taking it out of the packaging. i would advise looking for several testimonies from people successfully working in whatever country you live in before purchasing

 

[farmer1989]

Any one else tried field bee looks promising

 

[stablegirl]

I also like the look of Fieldbee. Maybe we should do there free trial ? What part of Cumbria are you north or south ?

 

[steveR]

I also like the look of Fieldbee. Maybe we should do there free trial ? What part of Cumbria are you north or south ?

Just use the free app to test it... The hardware is a different matter.

However, I am less than impressed at their customer service. I have asked twice now, for a quote on a system. All I have had is an autoresponse email each time, assuring me they are on the case.

I am pondering a £1600 spend and possibly a substantial subscription on the software and they are not interested.... Draw your onw conclusions.

 

[Fieldbee]

Just use the free app to test it... The hardware is a different matter.

However, I am less than impressed at their customer service. I have asked twice now, for a quote on a system. All I have had is an autoresponse email each time, assuring me they are on the case.

I am pondering a £1600 spend and possibly a substantial subscription on the software and they are not interested.... Draw your onw conclusions.

Dear Mr Steve, I am sorry, I have tried to answer your questions. But maybe our mails will end up in your spam box. You can reach me at [email protected] and I will be happy to help you further. Kind Regards, Inge Precision Specialist eFarmer

 

[steveR]

Dear Mr Steve, I am sorry, I have tried to answer your questions. But maybe our mails will end up in your spam box. You can reach me at [email protected] and I will be happy to help you further. Kind Regards, Inge Precision Specialist eFarmer

Nope, I don't use a spam filter other than on my machines and I have received an auto responseand one response from your colleagues. A single email from [email protected] regarding the subscription costs did arrive!!

I have emailed you direct with my request ... again!

 

[farmer1989]

I also like the look of Fieldbee. Maybe we should do there free trial ? What part of Cumbria are you north or south ?

I'm north cumbria what trial I's this iv tried the free app but with out demoing the hardware it's not much good also boss wont hand over ££££ to a company that is online only or in another country without either plenty independent reviews or a local rep

 

[Northern farmer]

I'm north cumbria what trial I's this iv tried the free app but with out demoing the hardware it's not much good also boss wont hand over ££££ to a company that is online only or in another country without either plenty independent reviews or a local rep

His choice and could be well justified but for this limited market the existence of a local distributor often means handing over a lot of ££££ to the men in the middle.

A fair prerequisite to expect independent, reliable reviews.

Or is it better to sell and purchase locally only now after the recent events?

 

[steveR]

His choice and could be well justified but for this limited market the existence of a local distributor often means handing over a lot of ££££ to the men in the middle.

A fair prerequisite to expect independent, reliable reviews.

Or is it better to sell and purchase locally only now after the recent events?

Said the same on your final point elsewhere here. With potentially no consumer protection for a purchase from the EU, I really am now a little twitchy.

I am unsure how many, if any, units have been sold here in the UK. The lack of a UK distributor could well be a serious issue going forward.