Precision Pays

WiFi in your tractor cab? The AutoFarm ParaDyme GPS system is the first to offer remote loading of software. And it can remotely connect to your dealer for help.

“AutoFarm is the only GPS steering provider currently offering this capability,” says John Bressler, Sr. Marketing Manager, AutoFarm. “The ParaDyme looks like a WiFi ‘hotspot’ to the user’s PC and once connected the software is quickly and easily uploaded.”

The WiFi connectivity to upload software, now enabled on version 1.2 of the ParaDyme Software allows users to remotely load software without the customary auxiliary cables or USB devices.

The ParaDyme System is the industry’s first single system solution to all facets of precision farming: planter control, application control, yield monitoring, data logging and management, plus hands-free GPS steering via WAAS, EGNOS, OmniSTAR HP/XP, and RTK. It is also GLONASS ready. With its unique factory-integrated wireless, ParaDyme offers a Remote Real-Time Service connection to the dealer in addition to optional RTK ReadyConnect that provides RTK correction without a base station. The newly enabled WiFi function is another expansion of an already feature-packed solution to virtually everything precision ag.

For more information on the AutoFarm ParaDyme system and WiFi capability, Remote Service, etc., visit www.gpsfarm.com.

Readers of PrecisionPays.com know the value of how satellites and accompanying technology has totally changed farming. And as a journalist who has covered the precision agriculture industry before it’s birth, I’m jealous of some technologies that I want for my car–like auto steering.

While that technology is a ways off into the future, Gearlog.com posted a recent piece on how unscrambled GPS has helped consumers. It listed a few benefits we’ll see before self-driving cars.

More efficient hybrids. A hybrid car is good for half a mile to two miles in EV (electric vehicle – only) mode but the car typically keeps the hybrid battery topped up as soon as it gets a chance. With a smarter GPS receiver that talks to the car’s navigation system and to the charging system, the GPS could advise the car it’s about to head down a long hill in a mile, but only after two hills. The car would use the electric motor on the hills, or whatever works best for efficiency, and arrive at the start of the downhill with the hybrid battery nearly depleted, then use the downhill to recharge the battery. The result would be improved economy.

Predictive swiveling headlamps. On higher-end cars, the headlamps swivel lift and right when you turn the wheel. With more accurate GPS, the car would start to turn the headlamps a second or two before the road curves. That adds a small measure of safety. Plus, on a dark country road at night, sometimes it’s hard to recognize if you’re seeing the road marking curve sharply to the right, or if that’s an angled white rail fence 20 yards off the highway. The headlamps could help show you the way.

Ultra-accurate speedometer. A GPS system also calculates your speed. Car speedometers are often inaccurate by a couple miles per hour, sometimes to insure that even if you use a slightly different diameter tire, you’re never going faster than the speedometer indicates. Some drivers like the insurance factor of a mechanical speedometer that reads high by a couple mph. Others may want to know that when the speedometer shows you’re doing 68 mph, you’re doing 68, not 65, 66, or 69. So you could use GPS to apply a correction factor to your speedometer. Or not. No doubt all these features would be ones you could enable or disable, at your discretion.

Read more details here.

Tomorrow, May 21, the first of 12 ‘next generation’ GPS satellites will head into space.

Boeing announced that the first of 12 Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF navigation spacecraft that the company is building for the U.S. Air Force has successfully completed prelaunch testing. The satellite, GPS IIF-1, is scheduled for a May 20 launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

GPS is a space-based, worldwide navigation system providing users with highly accurate, three-dimensional position, navigation and timing information 24 hours a day in all weather conditions. The 12 GPS IIF satellites feature stronger and more precise signals that will enhance the services that support U.S. warfighters, their allies, and civilian GPS users around the world.

“These next-generation satellites provide improved accuracy through advanced atomic clocks; a more jam-resistant military signal and a longer design life than earlier GPS satellites; and a new civil signal that benefits aviation safety and search-and-rescue efforts,” said Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager, Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. “GPS IIF is the culmination of our deep experience with 39 successful satellites from previous missions, representing more than 30 years of teamwork with the Air Force.”

“GPS is used by nearly a billion people worldwide for everything from farming and aviation to public safety, disaster relief and recreation, not to mention its military purpose of providing precision navigation and timing to combat forces,” said Air Force Col. David Madden, GPS Wing Commander. “GPS IIF will increase the signal power, precision and capacity of the system, and form the core of the GPS constellation for years to come.”

As the first spacecraft in the GPS IIF series, GPS IIF-1 underwent stringent and comprehensive testing following shipment to the launch site in February. Tests included verification of key satellite functions as well as end-to-end system testing to verify operations between the satellite and the Boeing-built ground control segment at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado. Commands were sent from Schriever to GPS IIF-1 at Cape Canaveral to turn on payloads, reprogram processors, and verify interoperability with user receivers and equipment, both civil and military.

In April, the Air Force and Boeing team completed a comprehensive series of prelaunch exercises. These included a mission dress rehearsal and two integrated crew exercises that involved all GPS IIF launch and missions operations crews, from controllers at Schriever to space vehicle engineers and range radar operators at Cape Canaveral to tracking stations around the world.

University of North Dakota students and faculty designed and built the ISSAC camera to watch growing crops from space beginning in 2011.

“ISSAC is a space-related research project that will result in the delivery of direct benefits from space to the general public,” said Doug Olsen, ISSAC project manager. “The ISSAC project is in the midst of developing an upgrade to its camera sensor, which is expected to be launched in April 2011. It will resume operations during the 2011 growing season.”

ISSAC is designed to take frequent images, in visible and infrared light, of vegetated areas on the Earth, principally of growing crops, rangeland, grasslands, forests, and wetlands in the northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States. Images will be delivered within two days directly to requesting farmers, ranchers, foresters, natural resource managers and tribal officials to help improve their environmental stewardship of the land. Images will also be shared with educators for classroom use.

The system allows users to select specific geographical areas of interest over which to request collection of imagery in both red and near-infrared bandpasses, and at medium-high spatial resolution. Farmers using variable-rate application and other precision agriculture techniques will be able to dynamically delineate management zones as the crop vegetation canopy changes during the growing season; this can result in more effective use of fertilizer and other chemical inputs and reduce negative environmental effects.

“The UND interdisciplinary effort that has produced this camera is a remarkable story,” said UND President Robert O. Kelley. “Faculty and students from several colleges and centers on campus have produced an instrument that will analyze the composition of agricultural and other natural resources on the surface of the earth from the International Space Station.”

“The consolidation of multiple technologies into a single instrument will add tremendous economic value to the agricultural industry in North Dakota and around the world,” Kelley said. “UND and NASA have forged a very productive partnership in this initiative.”

ISSAC is operated from the Science Operations Center (SOC) on the UND campus, staffed by students from across the campus, including from the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences and the School of Engineering and Mines. From the SOC, students will send commands to ISSAC to take images and transmit them to SOC, where they’ll be processed and delivered to end users. Images captured by the camera will be made available to the public through UMAC’s Web page (see http://www.umac.org/).

I have not met a grower involved in precision agriculture that doesn’t love, no crave, more information on the subject. To this end, check out the very good Precision Ag Blog, compiled and written by various extension pros in the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.

Recent blog posts talk about variable rate (VR) seeding, VR calibration, data management, data collection with cellular modems, the value of on-the-go nitrogen sensors, firmware upgrades and much more.

The blog site also categorizes posts into topics to help you sort for exactly the info you seek.

As planters continue to roll across the Midwest, most farmers are thinking about what’s next. One component of precision farming you may want to try is the use of crop sensing. Why? Because this is the future that will help overcome field variability–from helping create optimum field management zones to monitoring crops so growers can take action before yield-robbing stress occurs.

One good overview of this science, published in 2003 by USDA-ARS scientists from across the country, will help you grasp the realties and benefits that can be achieved. And the technology has dramatically improved since this was written.

One independent agronomic guru who is a favorite of mine (and I’ve quoted many over the years in farm magazine articles) in Tom McGraw, owner of Midwest Independent Soil Samplers (MISS). Tom calls a spade a spade, and offers some excellent advice, which he gives in his newsletter, on their website, and especially to customers.

Bottom line is you should consider examining one field, perhaps your toughest most variable ground, to see what you can learn and improve upon with this sensing technology. Talk to your local retailer to understand their capabilities, or contact one of the four MISS locations.

Agriculture.com, one of the longest running ag websites powered by Successful Farming, has a social network for young and beginning farmers called Farmers For The Future. One of the recent topics centered around precision farming talks about a move into RTK and the CORS network.

The challenge is dealing with all ages and different colors of equipment. Sam asks…We have three green combines 1 newer the 2nd is 10-11 years old and the other is a dinosaur and the newer one being the only one with yield mapping through waas signal using original brown box from JD ( never right ). Next we have 2 Planting tractors both have 20/20 seed sense systems from precision no GPS. Sprayer we have a XLRD 1000 Pull Type pulled by a JD 4430 with a INSight and an EZ-Guide 500 waas signal. Spreader truck we have a Insight along with EZ- Guide Plus. Now I must say that it looks like we just put a down payment on a 06 Apache with auto steer by Raven. Also a new red combine is probably coming this fall 8120 Case and we are talking about buying a new corn planter also.. we put a lot of tile in we bought a tile plow.. No GPS also we have a 8530 JD autosteer ready for doing a lot of tillage and side dressing corn with anhydrous. 9520 T John Deere does a good majority of the tillage and also runs the tile plow. Now you see my situation figure out a plan for that to move into RTK.

Several growers have responded here.  Take a visit and weigh in with your advice.

For US growers in nine states, Trimble launches its new VRS Now Ag service to deliver RTK sub-inch positioning via cellular communications–without the need for a local base station.

Growers in Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi and Nebraska can access VRS Now Ag. Additionally, European growers can receive correction services in Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, Czech Republic and Estonia. As with corrections supplied by conventional Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) radio towers, Trimble VRS network corrections provide sub-inch repeatable Global Positioning System (GPS) accuracy for precision farming operations such as tillage, planting, spraying and field preparation.

The Trimble VRS solution uses proprietary software to create correction models for regions covered by the network. The VRS service can provide growers with instant access to high-accuracy RTK positioning without the need for a local base station. VRS corrections are valuable in areas with natural obstructions such as trees and hilly terrain due to the fact that corrections are obtained by a cellular modem, rather than through the line-of-sight signals provided by an RTK tower.

Trimble pioneered RTK in the early 1990s as a means of delivering high-accuracy GPS positioning. Today, there are more than 750 million acres covered by Trimble agriculture RTK base stations. The VRS Now Ag service was developed to deliver high-accuracy positioning via cellular communications and provides more than 400 million acres of sub-inch accuracy.

“We are very pleased to provide Trimble VRS Now Ag service to nine U.S. states and five European countries,” said Erik Arvesen, vice president and general manager for Trimble’s Agriculture Division. “VRS Now Ag service provides an additional high-accuracy correction option for farmers who require reliable sub-inch positioning for their crucial field operations. Trimble VRS Now is fully supported and dedicated to the success of farmer field operations.”

A 12-month subscription will cost $1,200 or $1,500, depending on whether you want GPS only or access to GNSS. For more information visit www.trimble.com/agriculture/TrimbleVRSNowAg.aspx or contact your local Trimble dealer at www.trimble.com/locator.

During the recent Galileo Appreciation Days held in Brussels, the high degree of accuracy and precision that’s possible with EGNOS, Galileo and other GNSS technologies were celebrated, as reported by the European GNSS Supervisory Authority.

“EGNOS is already a success story in the agricultural sector,” said Aguilera. “It already has 50% market share, which is expected to reach 70% by 2010. The ultimate result will be increasing yields, conservation of resources and materials, and lower costs. The benefits are there, the EGNOS signal is already being exploited by farmers, and it is available free of charge.”

The Galileo Application Days ‘High Precision’ session highlighted a number of GNSS applications already being used in the agriculture sector.

Michael Quinckhardt of Claas Agrosystems outlined how his company is exploiting advanced GNSS-based applications. “Precision farming includes automatic steering for tractors and monitoring of all our machines,” he explained. “We can help farmers to know where their machines are and what they are doing at any given moment.”

Tracking and yield analysis can also help to optimise the use of fertilisers. “One can understand that different fields across a wide area will differ in terms of various qualities and in their abilities to support crops,” said Quinckhardt, “But the fact is there is a degree of variability in terms of soil quality even within a single field.”

By recording information from harvesters about what the soil is producing from one patch to the next within a field, and matching that information with precise GNSS-based location information, farmers can pinpoint very accurately where they need to apply more fertiliser and where they can save money by applying less.

Rob Kiernan of Leica Geosystems discussed the three phases of action in agriculture: planting, crop protection and harvest. “Maximising production in agriculture is all about doing the right thing at the right time in the right place,” he said. “Systems like Galileo and EGNOS tell us about place with a high degree of accuracy throughout the production cycle, and this is revolutionising the way we work.”

For more on this story…

Superior precision farming software is crucial in order to help growers maximize in-field efficiencies. Ag Leader Technology not only delivers excellent SMS Basic training for growers, it now offers a three-day Certified Training course for its SMS Advanced software users who want to go beyond the one-day training.

SMS Advanced software is geared toward crop consultants, agronomists or other co-op personnel, precision ag managers, GIS mapping specialists and other service providers who provide precision farming services to growers. “We’ve been providing software and one-day general training since the late 1990s. But this past year we expanded to an in-depth three-day training course for advanced users,” says Michael Vos, SMS Sales Manager for Ag Leader.

“New and existing SMS Advanced software customers wanted an in-depth level of training, so we created a Certified Training program, which includes 15 to 22 CCA credits. We offer an excellent trainer to student ratio, as we normally have two trainers and 8 students, in our new state-of-the-art Ag Leader Academy computer lab,” he says.

The three days are tailored to exactly what the individuals want to learn. “We make lists of topics and details that are desired so users get the exact training to fit their business model. Some of the popular topics requested include: how to write equations for prescriptions, how to use aerial imagery and read it to make fertilizer use and crop scouting decisions, how to build a customer soil fertility booklet and creating soil management zones from aerial imagery and numerous years of yield data,” Vos says.

Every attendee receives a special certified manual with screen shot by screen shot steps for the software program. And within the book there are explanations why each tool is used, along with definitions and real world scenarios on how each tool is used.

“It’s definitely a complex tool, and when users see all the potential benefits of the software, they want to learn how to use it to the fullest extent,” he says.

Check out upcoming SMS Training Sessions…

Precision farming has come a long way since the military allowed civilian access to the NAVSTAR GPS constellation in 1995. We’ve gone from initial accuracies of tens of meters down to a couple centimeters. And now we’ve got receivers handling multiple satellite constellations, referred to as GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System).

Topcon Precision Agriculture’s senior VP Albert Zahalka gave a talk recently about how the future of precision ag is here today, and the journey is just beginning. Some of the key points he made:

• Receivers with GNSS technology will have fewer lost signals.
• Today’s precision ag is about three key elements: saving time, reducing costs, and environmental stewardship.
• Future: Massive user interface improvements will make operation simple without the need for a manual.
• Future: Expanded telematics will allow users to remotely monitor critical operating conditions and status of machines whether in a field 5 minutes away or across the globe. You’ll be able to manage your farm from inside your home.
• Future: Autonomous machine operation, already at work in the mining industry, will come to agriculture. Coming safety measures will allow for autonomous driverless machines to work in fields.

In the future, farmers will be increasingly reliant on accurate, dependable statistical information, which will then feed into integrated precision agriculture systems to deliver outstanding productivity and crop yields.

In the not-too-distant future, we’ll have a farmer sitting in his farmhouse, looking at his computer and saying to his wife, “Marge, we are going to do the planting today.”

Then he will press the “planting” button and his tractor (or tractors) will come out of the shed, head off to the fields and begin planting the right seed in the right location, in the right quantities for optimum growth, all with minimal human intervention.

And if there’s a problem or a machine breakdown, the farmer will be instantly alerted.

And as those crops grow and mature, we’ll have sprayers and watering equipment driving along in the farm field. It will see that one plant is not as green or thriving as well as the next, so it will apply a shot of water or nutrient as required.

That vision is still a little way into the future – but it is clearly the direction precision agriculture technology is going.

Read the entire speech.

Sara Lee is taking a unique approach to market its 100% Natural line of EarthGrain brand bread. They are promoting wheat, known as Eco-Grain, grown by precision farming growers who use variable rate fertilizer driven by satellite imagery. And they’re calling it a movement, “Helping to preserve the earth, one field at a time.”

Horizon Milling (a joint venture between Cargill and CHS) plays the supply chain role of preserving the identity of the wheat from farmer’s fields to the bakery.

You can even meet a farmer who talks about growing Eco-Grain, as well as learn how to become an Eco-Grain grower.

Anti-agriculture activists, and I include foodies who view family farmers as ‘factory farms’ should take note how Sara Lee defines organic and sustainable farming. This is taken from the EarthGrains Website…

While Eco-Grain wheat is not organically grown, the more sustainable farming methods used to grow it have some advantages over organic farming.

• Organic farming requires about twice the acreage to produce the same amount of food, resulting in the destruction of undeveloped land.
• Consumers pay a premium for organic grain, since it costs more to grow it.

Sustainable agriculture practices use less fertilizer, conserve land, help protect ground and surface water, and result in a high-yield, lower-cost crop.

Wow, a voice of reason. This is truly agriculture’s view of sustainable farming, and organic is not sustainable.

And here are location where you can buy these breads.

AutoFarm’s new ParaDyme precision farming system comes complete with an integrated cellular modem for RTK accuracy with no base station when using the company’s unique, optional RTK ReadyConnect service.

RTK ReadyConnect allows ParaDyme users to access their state DOT CORS Network and receive RTK GPS accuracy without the expense of a base station, or without subscribing to an RTK tower network.

“AutoFarm’s RTK ReadyConnect service features totally factory integrated hardware which eliminates the hassle and expense of adding wireless. There’s no integration guesswork. No compatibility issues between devices. No boxes to add, cables to run, or antennas to mount. The service can be activated in minutes and when activated, it automatically finds the best signal available,” says AutoFarm Marketing Director, Deane Malott.

Because the system is factory integrated, and works with over 50 wireless partners across North America, it offers excellent flexibility. The customer can activate RTK only when needed and for the duration of time needed. AutoFarm has also just announced RTK ReadyConnect bundles that give the grower choices of 1-month, 4-month or 10-month activation. Because it is using multiple CDMA carriers, the ParaDyme system automatically and continuously picks the best available network as the vehicle operates in the field. In many areas, farms are covered by multiple carriers which means the ParaDyme system is less likely to lose signal.

Malott adds, “With optional RTK ReadyConnect, ParaDyme provides affordable access to subscription RTK networks that allow the grower to pick the duration that best matches his field operations, without having to get locked into a multi-year wireless contract.”

The ParaDyme system is the industry’s first single system solution to everything precision ag: planter control, application control, yield monitoring, data logging and management, plus hands-free GPS steering via WAAS, EGNOS, OmniSTAR HP/XP, and RTK. It is also GLONASS ready.  With factory integrated wireless, ParaDyme also offers a Remote Real-Time Service connection to the dealer in addition to the optional RTK ReadyConnect service.

For more information on the AutoFarm ParaDyme and RTK ReadyConnect, visit www.gpsfarm.com.

If you are in the market for geospatial data, check out USDA’s Geospatial Data Gateway that “provides One Stop Shopping for natural resources or environmental data at anytime, from anywhere, to anyone.”

The latest must-have product in the geospatial shop is new satellite images depicting agricultural land cover across most of the nation for the 2009 crop year from the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

The images, referred to as cropland data layers (CDL), are a useful tool for monitoring crop rotation patterns, land use changes, water resources and carbon emissions.

NASS produced the CDLs using satellite images observed at 56-meter (0.775 acres per pixel) resolution and collected from the Resourcesat-1 Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS), Landsat Thematic Mapper and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). The collection of images was then categorized using on-the-ground farm information including field location, crop type, land cover, elevation, tree canopy and urban infrastructure.

The images are currently available for 47 of the 48 contiguous states, all except Florida, which is still in process. Get them on either the Geospatial Data Gateway website or from the NASS Research and Development division.

To give you a better understanding of the CORS (Continuously Operating Reference Stations) Network, Bill Cran, GPS & Guidance Product Specialist at Ag Leader Technology, answered our questions about its use in precision agriculture.

1. Why should a grower consider the CORS network and technology?
• CORS is a service provided by some states, and in most cases is provided free or at a very low cost.
• CORS allows a user to have access to an RTK level correction almost anywhere in the state’s network as long as they have cellular access
• Rapidly becoming accepted at the end user level.
• Companies are adopting this new technology and producing hardware that will take advantage of it.
• Allows growers to have an RTK signal over a larger distance—to cover farms that may be spread out over 20+ miles. A traditional RTK base station would not cover this large of an area without moving the base station or using repeaters.

2. How does it work and what are the pros and cons of this technology?
• CORS is a network of base stations, strategically located throughout participating states. Position information is fed back to a central server where it is broadcast over the internet to anyone with a login.
• A user can create an account with the state and using an internet-enabled device, begin streaming the data to their RTK capable GPS receiver.
• Pro: CORS provides statewide RTK coverage.
• Pro: This service (from the state) is usually free or at a very low yearly cost. Iowa, for example, provides this service free of charge.
• Pro: More states are recognizing this technology and have plans to add a network if one is not already in place.
• Pro: In Iowa, base stations are Glonass capable, which provides better satellite coverage during times of the day when the US GPS satellites may not be enough (5 are required for an RTK fix). The rover receiver would also need to be capable of Glonass to take advantage of this.
• Con: Signal reception is dependant on cellular coverage and limited by the cellular data plan.
• Con: Since the signal is controlled by the state, there is always risk of outages that may not be fixed until the next business day. This is not very common, but it can happen.

3. How can a cell phone signal truly deliver RTK-correction accuracy? Or can I get any level of accuracy? And do I need another cell phone and use package?
• A cell phone with a data plan can use an application to configure the login information and begin streaming data.
• Most Smartphone’s are capable of doing this, but the user should check with their provider.
• Using the CORS technology, you can only stream RTK level accuracy at this point.
• Most users will have a dedicated cell phone or air card that will be used to stream data.
• In general, voice calls take priority over data, so if you are using a personal cell phone to also stream data, you run the risk of drops and disconnects when you receive a voice call.

4. Do I still need to keep my current GPS-corrected signal? What happens if the CORS signal gets dropped?
• If you are using OmniSTAR as your differential signal, you can upgrade a capable receiver to RTK level and use it with the CORS network.
• The receiver must be RTK capable in order to be used with a CORS network.
• The user should not have to keep the OmniSTAR subscription as a backup
• With the Ag Leader ParaDyme, if signal is dropped briefly, the system will continue to steer the vehicle and provide GPS until the connection is regained.
• ParaDyme also uses a “flex” technology that will drop back to the next most accurate differential signal until the CORS connection is regained. This allows the system to keep steering, without affecting accuracy. Since this transition happens gradually, the user does not see any position jumps in the field or with their steering system.
• ParaDyme will automatically try to reconnect if a signal drop is detected.

5. What does Ag Leader offer for hardware to use the CORS network and what are all the costs associated with using a CORS signal?
• Ag Leader offers the new ParaDyme roof array that uses a built-in cellular modem to connect to the CORS network and stream RTK data.
• This allows the user seamless access to the CORS signal with one piece of hardware, no additional cell phones, laptops or any other extra hardware in the cab.
• The ParaDyme user interface allows the user to configure the login information and select which of the CORS network data streams they want to use.
• The ParaDyme uses a CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) modem that will allow the system to access any CDMA cellular tower (both Verizon and US Cellular use CDMA)
• Using the CDMA modem allows access to more cellular towers and better cellular coverage. CDMA is a digital signal, and it has been around since the early 90’s and is up to 15 times faster than analog technology
• Ag Leader offers a monthly access plan for $300/month. This provides a truly unlimited data plan with no worry of going over your monthly limit and incurring additional charges. It also allows the user to go month-to-month as their situation allows. Not everyone is probably going to use the network 365 days a year.
• Ag Leader also offers discounted 3 and 10 month plans at $750 and $1500 respectively. This gives the user more flexibility to get the work done within their timeframe.

6. How do I get started with setting up a CORS signal?
• First, contact the DOT in your state and see if they have a CORS network or are planning one. Here is an example map of Ohio.
• Second, get access to the network by creating an account. Most states with CORS networks allow you to do all this online. Check your states DOT website for more information.
• Third, configure your hardware, like ParaDyme, using the account information you get from your state DOT. An Ag Leader Dealer will be able to help with any setup questions.
• Finally, connect to the network and enjoy RTK level accuracy without being tied to the traditional base stations distance limits.
• Traditional 900 MHz base stations generally have a limit of 6 miles, line of site. A CORS network generally does not have limits on distance because there are base stations installed and covering the whole state.