Near Intersection of I-35 & I-90 Southern Mn. | Ron - I'm not completely sure about the Ag Leader 1000+'s cabling but it should meet your needs.
I believe you are under the impression that the Raven needs and uses GPS in this scenario. This is not the case. The PF3000 needs GPS. The Raven does need a speed source which could be radar, magnetic ground speed or simulated Radar from a GPS device. With many brands of GPS, a simulated Radar branch is available. Raven markets the same GPS that you have. In their case, they provide a simulated Radar branch for connection to their consoles which eliminates the need for a splitter cable. Again this is not GPS but a speed input source.
Raven advertises that the newer 440's are "GPS compatible". This does not mean that they use GPS directly but means they are able to work with other devices that do use GPS such as the PF3000. I have always thought that their use of the term GPS compatible is a bit misleading.
The Raven will be connected to the PF3000 via a somewhat special 9 pin cable made for this purpose. This cable goes from the 9 pin connector on the 440 to Port 3 on the PF3000. The purpose of this cable is for communication between the PF3000 and the Raven - not for GPS
In this setup, the two boxes talk back and forth over this cable. The 440 is still controlling the application but reporting its activities back to the PF3000 for logging/mapping. On the other hand the PF3000 can send a new rate to the Rate 1 register of the 440.
This means that if a change in rate is desired, the operator could manually enter in the new rate on the PF3000 and this rate will be sent to the Raven Rate 1 register as if the change was made at the Raven itself. Since the PF3000 can be setup to read an Rx file (.tgt), this process could be automated for map based VR.
In order for the above communication to take place between the two boxes, four items need to be set properly on the Raven 440. They are: BAUD rate - 9600, Trigger - 1, Unit - Seconds and Data Logger-ON. This means that you are telling the Raven to send back its data every 1 second @ 9600 BAUD.
As has been mentioned, the PF3000 must be loaded with the App Rate/Site firmware rather than the Grain Harvest/Site firmware. Both are at V 6 at the present time and available from agleader.com.
Once the setup is installed with the proper settings and cables, a little testing is in order. You need to test that communication can take place in both directions between the two boxes.
Setup the PF3000 with an application configuration that matches your equipment. Then display SWATH on the PF3000 screen. Turning ON/OFF the Master and Boom Switches on the Raven should cause the SWATH value on the PF3000 screen to change. The Raven does its width settings in inches while the PF3000 does this in feet. This test confirms whether proper communication from the Raven to the PF3000 is taking place.
Next, display the Target Rate on the PF3000. Have the Raven display Rate 1. Changing the TARGET RATE value on the PF3000 should result in a corresponding change on the Raven. Most Raven's will beep 4 times indicating that a new rate "came down the pipe". This Rate Change alarm can be disabled through a menu choice if desired. This confirms communication from the PF3000 to the Raven.
If either of these two way communication tests fail, don't bother to go to the field. These tests must work for success with this equipment.
Ron, I know you have an Insight also. You can do this type of thing with the Insight also. The Insight requires the App Rate module. The App Rate module for the Insight is your Gateway into that system. A cable goes from the App Rate module's communication port to the Raven's serial port. Again the Raven would need to be setup with the above BAUD rate etc.
I have done a lot of this type of activity with both the PF3000 and now the Insight. This works well but does require the correct combination of cabling and setup.
Both the PF3000, Advantage and Insight can communicate with other serial equipment such as Rawson and a variety of Spray controllers. The concept is the same but the cabling is sometimes different.
There are a variety of other combinations that can be done with the Ag Leader equipment. As has been stated the Direct command system allows the Insight to completely replace the Raven 440. This setup will work with Raven control valves, flowmeters etc. (as well as some other brands). I use this setup for spray and NH3.
Yet another scenario is to use the Insight with an App Rate Module to just monitor a product (not control it). For example on my corn planter with starter fertilizer, the fertilizer is delivered by (of, course) the L&D Delivery system. This is a ground driven pump. I have a Raven flowmeter in the fertilizer line which is connected to the App Rate Module. Thus I can log/map both varieties and fertilizer rate at the same time when planting. Prior to the Insight, I monitored the starter with a PF 3000.
They are many other applications situations that can be recorded/controlled with the Ag Leader products working alone or in conjunction with other equipment.
Edited by tedbear 3/19/2007 01:03
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GPS 1000+/Ravens440/PF3000???
