The Mazergroup Precision Farming Advantage
Take your operation to a new level of precision with products from Mazergroup. We offer a full line of products to help maximize your return on investment by cutting costs, saving time and producing higher yields. We offer technical support for all products we sell. Our in-house technology experts are sure to keep you as productive as possible and answer any questions you may have. Contact your local Mazergroup dealership today and talk to a representative that will help you determine the solution that is best for you.
Mazergroup is proud to announce the addition of Can-Net VRS RTK solutions, now available across most of Manitoba and Eastern Saskatchewan. To learn more about how you can use this precision signal to receive sub-inch accuracy at a fraction of the traditional cost, contact your nearest Mazergroup precision farming consultant or click here.
No longer dealing in just straight lines and auto steering vehicles, Mazergroup’s team of Precision Farming Consultants (PFC)is in position to help you make the most of today’s technology
Water Management
WM-Drain
Field Level II
Laser Solutions
Precision Signals
RTX
VRS RTK
900 MHz RTK
Omnistar
Anhydrous Application
Field IQ
Raven Coolers
Maxquip Systems
(Contact your Mazergroup PFC to discuss adding sectional control to an existing NH3 system)
Sectional and Rate Control
Boom Height Control
Guidance
FM-750
FM-1000
Viper Pro
Envizio Pro II
Steering
EZ-Steer
EZ-Pilot
Autopilot
SmartSteer
SmartTrax
Can’t find what you need? We’re only a call away to help with any issues your farm operations may encounter.
| Charles Tye | Shoal Lake, Roblin | Email 204-365-0888 |
| Chris Murray | Hartney, MB & Moosomin, SK | Email 204-741-0252 |
| Derek McGill | Killarney, Crystal City | Email 204-523-6516 |
| Ian Reichert | Brandon, Neepawa, Ste Rose | Email 204-573-0383 |
| Randy Gates | Portage & Arborg | Email 204-745-7653 |
| Steve Gillis | Swan River | Email 204-281-1444 |
Customer Questions
What is New for Spring 2012?
There are a few new developments of interest that have come into play recently. Last September Trimble released two products of great interest to broad acre farmers. The first is an upgraded signal from Omnistar. The new RTX signal is rated 1.5” pass to pass and repeatable accuracy. So if you want a precise, reliable line to follow in the field, or to come back weeks later and follow your same line, RTX gives you that option without having to go to a full RTK system. More importantly for our northern latitudes, this signal also incorporates the Russian GLONASS system. That means more satellites viewable, increased uptime, less signal inconsistencies, and a better gps experience for you. If you’re concerned about WAAS perhaps not being the best fit for you this year, contact your local precision farming consultant to inquire about an Omnistar signal. At the same time Trimble also released their EZ-Pilot system. This is a third option for autosteering from Trimble that fits in between the EZ-Steer and Autopilot options in portability, cost, and performance. It mounts under the steering wheel for a very neat and streamlined install, and runs the highest torque motor in the industry, giving you faster steering performance and the ability to work with those tough to steer machines. Priced significantly under an Autopilot system, the new EZ-Pilot is great chance to get a high performing steering package with a much lower investment. And unlike the Autopilot with it’s plumbed in hydraulics, should you decide to trade off the machine an EZ-Pilot is in, you can remove the system and take it with you to your new trade. On the very new front, we have the 372 antenna, a replacement for the 252 and 262 antennas. There is also the Intellirate system coming out for Intelliview displays, giving rate and section control to these monitors. Telematics is the new industry buzzword that is going to make a huge impact in the upcoming years. On the surface, it allows for remote support of your machine if you run into problems but it can also do much more. Contact your local rep on this exciting new feature for CNH and Trimble systems. On the software side of the business, Farmworks provides us with many interesting offerings. Anything from asset tracking, efficiency reports to save you money, to soil surface management for better water distribution, the Farmworks software packages can tailor an effective solution to your farm situation. As always, if you have a problem on your farm that you’re looking for a solution to, give us a call. You’d be amazed at some of the tools we can provide to give you the answers your looking for.
What About Solar Interference?
This past year has not been ideal for GPS systems, largely due to increased solar flare activity and the interference this causes. We understand that this causes costly interruptions and frustrating delays to the systems that rely on GPS. Be it erratic steering, loss of speed for rate control, or a timeframe where you can’t get enough signal to work, these interruptions in productivity have a very real cost to producers. As the end user, what can you do? Signal strength will fluctuate throughout the day due to a number of factors. Through the use of a satellite predictor tool, you can get a heads up on when a potential problem may occur, and act accordingly. Just like local weather may cause a damper on the day’s work, space weather can cause service interruptions as well. Lastly, there may be an issue with the satellites themselves. While not able to predict problems, you can check here to see the current status of WAAS coverage over North America. That’s all well and good, but what if you want to prevent service interruptions instead of working around them? Talk to your local Mazergroup precision farming consultant about signal upgrades. Omnistar, a division of Trimble, offers several signals that may be of use. XP offers 3-5” of accuracy and their new RTX signal offers 1.5” of accuracy. More importantly, RTX also enables your FM-750 or FM-1000 to track GLONASS satellites, greatly increasing visible satellites, system reliability, and drastically reducing the dilution of precision (DOP). Using the satellite predictor tool you can see the very significant difference in your area that can be gained by adding GLONASS to your correction. If you’re looking for greater accuracy or shorter convergence times, talk to your Mazergroup PFC about Can-Net’s VRS signal. With sub-inch accuracy and an RTK fix in minutes, this option is ideal for many producers looking to get more from their system but looking for a cheaper solution to setting up an RTK base.
What is SNR and DOP?
Sometimes your GPS system does things it shouldn’t. If you are having poor signal performance, lines drifting around or jumping, two things you should check are your SNR and DOP. Both of these options can be found in the satellite status area, usually the top left for most Trimble displays. Additionally, be sure to check your gps correction settings to ensure you are only running on one satellite for corrections. If you are running on 2 or more it may be jumping from one correction to the next causing problems. SNR is Signal to Noise Ratio. This is the strength of the signal you are receiving from your correction satellite, be it WAAS, Omnistar, RTK. Anything over 40 will let your system work with Trimble default settings, and anything over 45 is a really strong signal. Anything over 50 is virtually unheard of. DOP is Dilution of Precision. Ideally this is below 1. If you use the satellite predictor tool you can get a heads up on any DOP spikes for your area. On a typical day running only GPS satellites you can expect a DOP from .7 to 1.1, with some spikes upwards of 2. On a typical day utilizing GPS and GLONASS satellites you can expect a DOP from .6 to .8, with the odd spike over 1. If consistency and reliability are a priority for your farm, talk to your Mazergroup precision farming consultant about how you can add GLONASS corrections to your signal.
What Options Do I Have For Better Accuracy Signals?
Currently, most of our clientele run on WAAS. It’s free and for the majority of applications, the accuracy is sufficient. This signal is used primarily for guidance of jets and planes in North America, so to the best of our knowledge, it isn’t going anywhere. That being said, we are seeing an increasing trend away from WAAS to higher accuracy signals. Just as farming practices have changed and evolved in the past decades, GPS systems are doing a very different role than they started with. If your system is shutting off your sprayer to minimize waste, or controlling costly inputs with variable rate systems, do you really want to second guess your signal? Is your initial headland where it’s supposed to be, or did it drift in the 5 hours since you were last there? You normally have one shank overlapping on your drill; did your WAAS signal just jump making an 8 inch skip? A more precise signal during seeding can eliminate skips, excessive overlaps, and position jumps, giving you a consistent field of straight crop. Putting that signal into a sprayer will let you make pass after pass in crop, following the same line, minimizing crop damage and lost yield potential. Keeping a full header on the swather gives you a much nicer, more consistent swath, and that feeds through the combine more easily. Hook that signal into a yield monitor and now you have the yield maps to help you track down problem spots, reveal optimal locations in your field, and help you increase your bottom line. While there are too many options available to easily sum up, we have prepared this helpful guideline. It outlines a handful of your signal options to benefit your operation, and is a great reference to use while talking to your Mazergroup precision farming consultant.
