Anyone used agopen?

[Pedro-glebe]

Looking at AgOpen as an option for autosteer, will be used mainly for drilling. There's a chap in Austria who seems to sell a full system in kit form: https://www.autosteer.cc/produkt-kategorie/elektronik-teile/
Has anyone gone down this route? How technical do you need to be, whilst I have a basic understanding of computers I've never done any programming.

I have bought off Andreas- not really got it going yet but bought his ready to go kit - easy enough to get going it's the setting up and tuning that's proving difficult bit at moment cant stop it oscillating down the line - just need more time playing with it - but work keeps getting in the way !!!

 

[BBE]

I have bought off Andreas- not really got it going yet but bought his ready to go kit - easy enough to get going it's the setting up and tuning that's proving difficult bit at moment cant stop it oscillating down the line - just need more time playing with it - but work keeps getting in the way !!!

How do you get on for technical support, either from the AOG forum or direct from Andreas? Did you go for the RTK2B V3 upgrade?

 

[Stuart J]

[

I have bought off Andreas- not really got it going yet but bought his ready to go kit - easy enough to get going it's the setting up and tuning that's proving difficult bit at moment cant stop it oscillating down the line - just need more time playing with it - but work keeps getting in the way !!!

I can see that being the case.

I've decided to give myself the project and make up the PCB as per Brians v2 plans. I an foresee this being the easy part though and al the tinkering and calibration etc being the more difficult and tiresome part!
Nice winter job though!

 

[BBE]

[


I can see that being the case.

I've decided to give myself the project and make up the PCB as per Brians v2 plans. I an foresee this being the easy part though and al the tinkering and calibration etc being the more difficult and tiresome part!
Nice winter job though!

I'm still not sure which route to take. Buying from Andreas keeps it simple, on the other hand, would building the board help understand how it works when it comes to setting up and calibration.

 

[Northern farmer]

I don't think soldering components makes it easier to understand how the thing works. Ordering the board makes sense if one has no time for the assembly work, does not feel familiar with the components, identify polarity where needed etc. Soldering is not difficult for most farmers. Very good photos of installed boards are available for reference. Ordering the circuit board is a hassle, nothing too bad though. AOG wiki explains a lot even if a bit outdated. A good wiring diagram explains a lot. DIY saves a few pounds, not a lot.

Everyone will get help from the AOG forum, from this forum or directly from individual experts.

I've equipped an old 6X20 series JD with an electric steering wheel motor. A 24 V motor running from 12 V. Have the 24 V converter but did not install, no need on this tractor. I guess I was lucky because I've had no struggle with setting up the steering parameters. Not sure if it was because of the DOG inclination sensor and the tinkerforge brickV2 gyro on USB. No complicated dual GNSS receivers, just a few pounds more on the two sensors. Actually the wide spread of sensor options is sometimes a disadvantage because of different behaviour and issues etc.

Antenna at the top of the roof almost as the OEM JD antenna and the tractor drives pretty nicely at different conditions. I have to admit that most of the "real work" at the farm is done with other tractors with factory auto-steer equipment (all on RTK from our own base). The JD was equipped with AOG mainly out of interest on the topic, not so much for the need on this vehicle. Sometimes AOG is better, sometimes the OEM tools.

 

[Pedro-glebe]

How do you get on for technical support, either from the AOG forum or direct from Andreas? Did you go for the RTK2B V3 upgrade?

I've not tested Andreas for his backup as yet but the aog forum is very good I had help with setting up the base station but I believe Andrea's does all the programming before hand - hoping to use my correction in my claas oem unit to save 700 per year !

 

[BBE]

Trying to get my head round this! How close would I need to be to an NTRIP caster to use the signal and how do I find the location of casters?

 

[cquick]

20km is the rule of thumb for distance from a base station. Accuracy degrades ~1mm/km after that, and time to RTK fix may be longer and less robust under trees, etc.

Here is a list of casters on the RTK2Go service, with approximate location. http://rtk2go.com:2101
There's nothing stopping you making your own base station and uploading the data to this service if there's no casters close enough.

 

[BBE]

20km is the rule of thumb for distance from a base station. Accuracy degrades ~1mm/km after that, and time to RTK fix may be longer and less robust under trees, etc.

Here is a list of casters on the RTK2Go service, with approximate location. http://rtk2go.com:2101
There's nothing stopping you making your own base station and uploading the data to this service if there's no casters close enough.

Thanks. Was going to start with LR to see what coverage it gave and keep things simple. Would it be better to use NTRIP to begin with? Land is all within 2 miles of yard/ base but 1 field is over the crest of a small hill so may just lose line of sight.

 

[cquick]

I really struggled with radio links right from the start, in my opinion unless you are getting proper licensed gear then there's no point. The phone network is cheap, reliable and has excellent coverage, and if you ever go more than a few miles away for the odd contracting job or whatever, you can be sure it will all work as intended. You could also share your signal with nearby farmers if you get them on a similar system. So in my opinion save your money on radios for a decent phone modem and antenna. Examples below:

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www.aliexpress.com/item/32847058056.html

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[BBE]

I really struggled with radio links right from the start, in my opinion unless you are getting proper licensed gear then there's no point. The phone network is cheap, reliable and has excellent coverage, and if you ever go more than a few miles away for the odd contracting job or whatever, you can be sure it will all work as intended. You could also share your signal with nearby farmers if you get them on a similar system. So in my opinion save your money on radios for a decent phone modem and antenna. Examples below:

mc7710 for sale | eBay

Find great deals on eBay for mc7710. Shop with confidence.

www.ebay.co.uk

www.aliexpress.com/item/32847058056.html

Page Not Found - Aliexpress.com

1.86￡ 6% OFF|Sma To Smp Adapter|sma To Sma Pigtail Cable 5-pack, 1.13mm Rp-sma-ky, Teflon Insulation, 335v Max

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

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Thanks

 

[barleypicker1]

I really struggled with radio links right from the start, in my opinion unless you are getting proper licensed gear then there's no point. The phone network is cheap, reliable and has excellent coverage, and if you ever go more than a few miles away for the odd contracting job or whatever, you can be sure it will all work as intended. You could also share your signal with nearby farmers if you get them on a similar system. So in my opinion save your money on radios for a decent phone modem and antenna. Examples below:

mc7710 for sale | eBay

Find great deals on eBay for mc7710. Shop with confidence.

www.ebay.co.uk

www.aliexpress.com/item/32847058056.html

Page Not Found - Aliexpress.com

1.86￡ 6% OFF|Sma To Smp Adapter|sma To Sma Pigtail Cable 5-pack, 1.13mm Rp-sma-ky, Teflon Insulation, 335v Max

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

Does that non branded stuff work with trimble? Fair saving to be had there if it does? Then feed rtk corrections in via snip as long as the trimble is unlocked to rtk...

 

[cquick]

Does that non branded stuff work with trimble? Fair saving to be had there if it does? Then feed rtk corrections in via snip as long as the trimble is unlocked to rtk...

Yes, although Trimble is a little odd as it requires correction message 1008 (antenna descriptor) despite it not containing any useful data. I think using ESPRTK instead of SNIP allows you to insert this blank message and make everything work.

 

[barleypicker1]

Yes, although Trimble is a little odd as it requires correction message 1008 (antenna descriptor) despite it not containing any useful data. I think using ESPRTK instead of SNIP allows you to insert this blank message and make everything work.

Thanks,

Would a dual sim card like the attached picture be a better option for areas where signal coverage can be poor? Or does it not make any difference if its an any network simcard?

 

[cquick]

Would a dual sim card like the attached picture be a better option for areas where signal coverage can be poor? Or does it not make any difference if its an any network simcard?

Which end of the chain would that go? On the Trimble receiver or the base station?
The base station really needs to be connected to a landline broadband connection with a static IP address for best results.
A modem like that would not talk directly to the Trimble. If you need to feed it corrections over RS232, then you're best to use something like a Raspberry Pi running an NTRIP client and connected to a modem like the one you linked. This would then spit out corrections for your display to use.

 

[barleypicker1]

Which end of the chain would that go? On the Trimble receiver or the base station?
The base station really needs to be connected to a landline broadband connection with a static IP address for best results.
A modem like that would not talk directly to the Trimble. If you need to feed it corrections over RS232, then you're best to use something like a Raspberry Pi running an NTRIP client and connected to a modem like the one you linked. This would then spit out corrections for your display to use.

The trimble receiver end, yeah ive got a good broadband connection on the farm for the base station which i was toying with the idea of building an ardusimple setup or using an emlid m2 then to snip/rtk2go for trimble message corrections. I hadn’t heard of esprtk is that what you are using?

 

[cquick]

The trimble receiver end, yeah ive got a good broadband connection on the farm for the base station which i was toying with the idea of building an ardusimple setup or using an emlid m2 then to snip/rtk2go for trimble message corrections. I hadn’t heard of esprtk is that what you are using?

I use Snip as I am only supplying corrections to Ublox gear at the moment. But if I had to supply corrections to a Trimble I would probably switch to ESPRTK as it has the ability to add the 1008 message.

 

[Wil M]

Good to hear that many forum members are having success with AgOpenGPS- it certainly is an impressive project.
I have been keeping an eye on it for a couple of years, but have only just finally got round to start to build my own setup. I now have an Emlid Reach module setup as an RTK base using NTRIP with RTK2GO. The rover module is able to provide corrected position data to a cheap Chinese Windows tablet in my tractor with AgOpenGPS installed. Hasn't been used in anger for any real guidance yet, but receiver appears to be keeping a good position fix.
Next step for me will be to add tilt compensation to the position data, and then possibly move on to implementing autosteer, and eventually section control.
For those who have progressed further, have you arranged for production of PCB's yourself? Any suggestions of companies able to suppply 1 or 2 boards at economic price?
I have looked at the ready populated boards on Andreas' website, I dont think UK is one of the delivery option- maybe a consequence of Brexit which will remedy itself once trading arrangements become clearer?

 

[Stuart J]

Good to hear that many forum members are having success with AgOpenGPS- it certainly is an impressive project.
I have been keeping an eye on it for a couple of years, but have only just finally got round to start to build my own setup. I now have an Emlid Reach module setup as an RTK base using NTRIP with RTK2GO. The rover module is able to provide corrected position data to a cheap Chinese Windows tablet in my tractor with AgOpenGPS installed. Hasn't been used in anger for any real guidance yet, but receiver appears to be keeping a good position fix.
Next step for me will be to add tilt compensation to the position data, and then possibly move on to implementing autosteer, and eventually section control.
For those who have progressed further, have you arranged for production of PCB's yourself? Any suggestions of companies able to suppply 1 or 2 boards at economic price?
I have looked at the ready populated boards on Andreas' website, I dont think UK is one of the delivery option- maybe a consequence of Brexit which will remedy itself once trading arrangements become clearer?

Can you link to your tablet you bought?

 

[Kaupoi]

For those who have progressed further, have you arranged for production of PCB's yourself? Any suggestions of companies able to suppply 1 or 2 boards at economic price?

I have ordered empty PCB's from both of these manufacturers:
https://www.allpcb.com/

PCB Prototype & PCB Fabrication Manufacturer - JLCPCB

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Then just soldered parts on them my self.