Depending on the area of the country you are in, you may be somewhere between finished with planting and still trying to put on NH3. It has been an interesting spring, with weather holding up things in some places, and others having near perfect conditions. For those of you that have been following my blog for a while, you know I have been testing some new technology hooking my autopilot to the Iowa DOT RTK network. This is done with a cellular connection to my tractor which then logs into a specific IP address provided by the Iowa DOT and gets network RTK correction messages. Through many different firmware updates, I believe we are getting somewhere. I had posted a while back from my mobile phone about a field I was in and couldn't get any cell phone signal, thinking that was the problem and wasn't able to get corrections.
Although this is a very big problem in some fields and the question still remains as to what you do in these areas, I don't think that my initial observation was completely correct. I made it back to the same field where I was previously having some problems, this time to plant soybeans. With no bars of signal to one bar, I was able to maintain RTK fixed. This was a great improvement over what I have previously seen from this same unit. This is a tough field to get reception in, and I was very impressed that I could get the unit to work at all here.
As of right now, I am rained out with a few hundred acres of soybeans left to plant. I will keep everyone updated as I get to test this technology more.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Mild Solar Storm Season Predicted
I thought this was a pretty interesting article... Brings up some concerning possibilities.
Mild Solar Storm Season Predicted
Although its peak is still four years away, a new active period of Earth-threatening solar storms will be the weakest since 1928, predicts an international panel of experts led by NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center and funded by NASA. Despite the prediction, Earth is still vulnerable to a severe solar storm.
Solar storms are eruptions of energy and matter that escape from the sun and may head toward Earth, where even a weak storm can damage satellites and power grids, disrupting communications, the electric power supply and GPS. A single strong blast of “solar wind” can threaten national security, transportation, financial services and other essential functions.
The panel predicts the upcoming Solar Cycle 24 will peak in May 2013 with 90 sunspots per day on average. If the prediction proves true, Solar Cycle 24 will be the weakest cycle since number 16, which peaked at 78 daily sunspots in 1928, and ninth weakest since the 1750s, when numbered cycles began.
The most common measure of a solar cycle’s intensity is the number of sunspots—Earth-sized blotches on the sun marking areas of heightened magnetic activity. The more sunspots there are, the more likely it is that solar storms will occur, but a major storm can occur at any time.
“As with hurricanes, whether a cycle is active or weak refers to the number of storms, but everyone needs to remember it only takes one powerful storm to cause huge problems,” said NOAA scientist Doug Biesecker, who chairs the panel. “The strongest solar storm on record occurred in 1859 during another below-average cycle.”
The 1859 storm shorted out telegraph wires, causing fires in North America and Europe, sent readings of Earth’s magnetic field soaring, and produced northern lights so bright that people read newspapers by their light.
A recent report by the National Academy of Sciences found that if a storm that severe occurred today, it could cause $1-2 trillion in damages the first year and require four to 10 years for recovery, compared to $80-125 billion that resulted from Hurricane Katrina.
The panel also predicted that the lowest sunspot number between cycles — or solar minimum — occurred in December 2008, marking the end of Cycle 23 and the start of Cycle 24. If the December prediction holds up, at 12 years and seven months Solar Cycle 23 will be the longest since 1823 and the third longest since 1755. Solar cycles span 11 years on average, from minimum to minimum.
An unusually long, deep lull in sunspots led the panel to revise its 2007 prediction that the next cycle of solar storms would start in March 2008 and peak in late 2011 or mid-2012. The persistence of a quiet sun also led the panel to a consensus that the next cycle will be “moderately weak.”
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) is the nation’s first alert of solar activity and its effects on Earth. The Center’s space weather experts issue outlooks for the next 11-year solar cycle and warn of storms occurring on the Sun that could impact Earth. SWPC is also the world warning agency for the International Space Environment Service, a consortium of 12 member nations.
As the world economy becomes more reliant on satellite-based communications and interlinked power grids, interest in solar activity has grown dramatically. In 2008 alone, SWPC acquired 1,700 new subscription customers for warnings, alerts, reports, and other products. Among the new customers are emergency managers, airlines, state transportation departments, oil companies, and nuclear power stations. SWPC’s customers reside in 150 countries.
“Our customer growth reflects today’s reality that all sectors of society are highly dependent on advanced, space-based technologies,” said SWPC director Tom Bogdan. “Today every hiccup from the sun aimed at Earth has potential consequences.”
NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.
Mild Solar Storm Season Predicted
Although its peak is still four years away, a new active period of Earth-threatening solar storms will be the weakest since 1928, predicts an international panel of experts led by NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center and funded by NASA. Despite the prediction, Earth is still vulnerable to a severe solar storm.
Solar storms are eruptions of energy and matter that escape from the sun and may head toward Earth, where even a weak storm can damage satellites and power grids, disrupting communications, the electric power supply and GPS. A single strong blast of “solar wind” can threaten national security, transportation, financial services and other essential functions.
The panel predicts the upcoming Solar Cycle 24 will peak in May 2013 with 90 sunspots per day on average. If the prediction proves true, Solar Cycle 24 will be the weakest cycle since number 16, which peaked at 78 daily sunspots in 1928, and ninth weakest since the 1750s, when numbered cycles began.
The most common measure of a solar cycle’s intensity is the number of sunspots—Earth-sized blotches on the sun marking areas of heightened magnetic activity. The more sunspots there are, the more likely it is that solar storms will occur, but a major storm can occur at any time.
“As with hurricanes, whether a cycle is active or weak refers to the number of storms, but everyone needs to remember it only takes one powerful storm to cause huge problems,” said NOAA scientist Doug Biesecker, who chairs the panel. “The strongest solar storm on record occurred in 1859 during another below-average cycle.”
The 1859 storm shorted out telegraph wires, causing fires in North America and Europe, sent readings of Earth’s magnetic field soaring, and produced northern lights so bright that people read newspapers by their light.
A recent report by the National Academy of Sciences found that if a storm that severe occurred today, it could cause $1-2 trillion in damages the first year and require four to 10 years for recovery, compared to $80-125 billion that resulted from Hurricane Katrina.
The panel also predicted that the lowest sunspot number between cycles — or solar minimum — occurred in December 2008, marking the end of Cycle 23 and the start of Cycle 24. If the December prediction holds up, at 12 years and seven months Solar Cycle 23 will be the longest since 1823 and the third longest since 1755. Solar cycles span 11 years on average, from minimum to minimum.
An unusually long, deep lull in sunspots led the panel to revise its 2007 prediction that the next cycle of solar storms would start in March 2008 and peak in late 2011 or mid-2012. The persistence of a quiet sun also led the panel to a consensus that the next cycle will be “moderately weak.”
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) is the nation’s first alert of solar activity and its effects on Earth. The Center’s space weather experts issue outlooks for the next 11-year solar cycle and warn of storms occurring on the Sun that could impact Earth. SWPC is also the world warning agency for the International Space Environment Service, a consortium of 12 member nations.
As the world economy becomes more reliant on satellite-based communications and interlinked power grids, interest in solar activity has grown dramatically. In 2008 alone, SWPC acquired 1,700 new subscription customers for warnings, alerts, reports, and other products. Among the new customers are emergency managers, airlines, state transportation departments, oil companies, and nuclear power stations. SWPC’s customers reside in 150 countries.
“Our customer growth reflects today’s reality that all sectors of society are highly dependent on advanced, space-based technologies,” said SWPC director Tom Bogdan. “Today every hiccup from the sun aimed at Earth has potential consequences.”
NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.
Friday, May 8, 2009
What do you do?
I came across a field today that has no cell coverage. This of course means no RTK for my testing. So what do you do?
Sent from my Windows Mobile® phone.
Sent from my Windows Mobile® phone.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
It's so new, we're still playing with the bubble wrap!
I thought I would take a moment to share some of my experiences about using the Iowa DOT Real Time Network on the autopilot in my tractor this spring. For those of you that don't know, the Iowa DOT put up a network of RTK base stations so that it covers the entire state with network RTK corrections available on the internet. They are providing these corrections free of charge, but you still have to be able to access the internet from the cab of your tractor. That is where the expense comes in. Anyhow, on to the operation of it.
Last Friday the network was down, so we were out of luck for most of the day if you wanted to use this network. Sunday evening I got some new updates loaded and got everything connected, but didn't make it to the field. Sitting in the yard everything appeared to look pretty good though. Yesterday, I finally made it to the field with the unit to plant, and started on a 80 acre field. Things were off to a good start as I started planting the first pass around the field, but about one third of the way around the field on the first pass I lost corrections for the first time. I sat and waited about 5 minutes or so, and finally got reconnected to the network. This process continued for the next few hours, planting and waiting, planting and waiting. I was able to accomplish about 16 acres over the course of 3 hours or so, and I am running a 16 row planter. Definitely wasn't setting any land speed records yesterday! All in all, the performance was quite good running the system when it worked, but I unfortunately spent way too much time sitting and waiting for the RTK to lock in. I think we are making headway on this, but we are still a ways from having all the bugs worked out. Like I was saying, this stuff is extremely new, and although it appears as though it will be a great technology to work with in the future, we still have a few bugs to work out of it.
Last Friday the network was down, so we were out of luck for most of the day if you wanted to use this network. Sunday evening I got some new updates loaded and got everything connected, but didn't make it to the field. Sitting in the yard everything appeared to look pretty good though. Yesterday, I finally made it to the field with the unit to plant, and started on a 80 acre field. Things were off to a good start as I started planting the first pass around the field, but about one third of the way around the field on the first pass I lost corrections for the first time. I sat and waited about 5 minutes or so, and finally got reconnected to the network. This process continued for the next few hours, planting and waiting, planting and waiting. I was able to accomplish about 16 acres over the course of 3 hours or so, and I am running a 16 row planter. Definitely wasn't setting any land speed records yesterday! All in all, the performance was quite good running the system when it worked, but I unfortunately spent way too much time sitting and waiting for the RTK to lock in. I think we are making headway on this, but we are still a ways from having all the bugs worked out. Like I was saying, this stuff is extremely new, and although it appears as though it will be a great technology to work with in the future, we still have a few bugs to work out of it.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Automatic shutoffs on sprayers
I went out this morning to work on a sprayer. Patriot sprayer and had a Raven 460 in it. After visiting with the customer a bit, he had a different idea on what he wanted the sprayer to do. We had originally discussed a Raven adapter kit - this would allow him to swap between his Insight monitor for running the autoswath and mapping, and also allow him to put the Raven back in the cab if the Insight was in use elsewhere.
We soon realized that he really had no plans of running the sprayer without the Insight, and actually was a bit bummed that his built in switches and foot pedal master switch wasn't going to work (we were going to use a switchbox so it could be swapped quickly), so we decided to also tie into the existing switches in the sprayer, which will allow him to use his foot pedal as a master switch also. At the end of the day, this will allow the customer to be more productive with the system because it will be similar in functionality to what he is already used to. Technology can be a great investment and greatly improve the productivity of the operator, while also making the equipment easier to operate, but it is important to implement it correctly. If you plan to make an investment in technology, make sure that you discuss the options with an expert to get you the most bang for your buck.
We soon realized that he really had no plans of running the sprayer without the Insight, and actually was a bit bummed that his built in switches and foot pedal master switch wasn't going to work (we were going to use a switchbox so it could be swapped quickly), so we decided to also tie into the existing switches in the sprayer, which will allow him to use his foot pedal as a master switch also. At the end of the day, this will allow the customer to be more productive with the system because it will be similar in functionality to what he is already used to. Technology can be a great investment and greatly improve the productivity of the operator, while also making the equipment easier to operate, but it is important to implement it correctly. If you plan to make an investment in technology, make sure that you discuss the options with an expert to get you the most bang for your buck.
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