Near Intersection of I-35 & I-90 Southern Mn. | I have used an Ag Leader Application Rate module for my own personal use and also for customers when I worked as a Tech. The Application Rate module can be used in 3 general ways. It is important to note that the Application Rate module is not able to control the rate of a product directly itself. Ag Leader has other Modules for those situations.
The App Rate Module can be connected to a standalone implement switch to create a Coverage map. With this type of setup, 12V comes from the module or another source, and goes to an implement switch. The output from the implement switch returns to the module. The status of the implement switch changes based on whether the implement is UP or DOWN. This Starts/Stops recording to a Coverage map and has an acre counter. A menu item in the setup allows you to indicate how the switch operates with the None, Standard or Reversed choice shown above.
The implement switch can be mounted on a drawn implement such as a sprayer, planter, tillage tool, etc. and create an accurate coverage map. The map is just a coverage map since no device is used to record product flow such as a flow meter or shaft sensor. An implement switch can be mounted on the 3 point arms of the tractor again to signal whether an implement is UP or DOWN. Yet another method is to use a relay triggered by some other device instead of an implement switch. There are many variations but a relay could be triggered electrically by another device. The output of the relay could be used instead of an actual implement switch. A common example of using an App Rate module this way is to start/stop a coverage map with a planter to record where various varieties have been planted.
The second general way an Application Rate Module can be used is with a flow meter or shaft sensor. With this arrangement, 3 wires from the App Rate module are involved and lead to a flow meter or shaft sensor. Ag Leader does not produce flow meters or shaft sensors themselves but other brands, primarily Raven work well. The module provides power and ground to the flow meter or shaft sensor. The third wire is referred to as the signal wire. As the flow meter turns or the shaft sensor turns, it "shorts the signal wire to ground" and then releases it. This creates a pattern of pulses which are representative of the flow through the flow meter or rotation of a shaft. The electronics in the App Rate module "watches for and counts" these pulses. It is able to convert these pulses to useful units such as gallons by dividing by a user entered Meter Cal.
This allows the system to display a Coverage and As Applied Rate Map. It also can show the accumulated acres and volume. The activity for making the maps and totals is based on the absence or presence of activity from the flow meter or shaft sensor. This means it is not necessary to use an implement switch such as used above.
I use this arrangement personally with my corn planter for starter fertilizer. I use a ground driven piston pump such as a DemCo or John Blue to pump the fertilizer to Wilger flow columns for each row. The piston pump is driven by a contact tire so the pumping starts/stops based on whether the planter is UP/DOWN and movement. As the pump starts pumping, the Raven RFM15 flow meter in the fertilizer line starts turning. The App Rate module along with the display is then able to calculate the total volume, applied rate etc. and make both a Coverage and as applied Rate map.
However the Application Rate module does not have the ability to control the applied rate. In my case, if I wish to change the applied rate, I must adjust the stroke of the ground driven piston pump.
The third general way an Application Rate Module can be used is to exchange information with another electronic device. All my experience has been with a Raven 440/450. With this arrangement, the App Rate module and the Raven 440/450 communicate between each other via a special data cable. This cable plugs into the 9 pin connector on the back of the Raven and connects to the other port on the Application Rate module. A couple of items need to be set up on the Raven to inform it to export data out the cable. A configuration is created on the Ag Leader side.
The Raven 440/450 still controls the application essentially as before. The Raven sends data strings to the App Rate Module informing it of various items of information such as which boom sections are ON, the flow rate of the product etc. The Ag Leader system is then able to use this data to create totals as well as both a Coverage and Applied rate map. Since the Ag Leader is informed of which sections are ON and where you are due to GPS, the Coverage and Rate maps correctly show where application has taken place.
This gives a tremendous amount of information and can be extremely helpful. However Auto swath where application automatically stops for Headland or Point rows is not available with this arrangement. The expectation is that the operator will use the Master and Sections switches as in the past.
The App Rate module is also used to change the target rate on the Raven by sending the desired target rate for Rate 1 to the Raven. This means the operator uses his fingers to change the rate on the Ag Leader which sends that rate over to the Raven. These different rates can come from an Rx rate map from a USB stick in the Ag Leader display.
I used this arrangement for a while in the past. It worked well but I desired Auto swath so I changed to another Ag Leader approach.
Over Winter, I was given a damaged App Rate module that does not work properly anymore. A local farmer had damaged it somehow. There does not appear to be an easy way to open it up to attempt repair.
I have set up a lab in my basement for my electronics hobby. I tested the damaged App Rate module in effect with an implement switch and it did not work. I found that the module was no longer putting out 12V to go to an implement switch. I provided 12V from the power supply to the implement switch via another route and the screen indication seemed go ON/OFF as usual.
I did not test this "for real" since I really had no need for it. I did not explore the flow meter type connection. I suspect it may have been affected also but possibly I can rewire around that. Possibly I can use the cable I still have for a direct connection to a Raven 440/450. In other words, I have a glimmer of hope to make use of the damaged App Rate Module.
As conditions permit I may try putting the damaged App rate module back in service with my Nephew's Honey Wagon. Its tractor currently has a Raven 450 on it to monitor the application rate. The flow meter is a Yamatake Mag meter that was installed some years ago.
It would be handy to have an application map. Since the tractor already has an InCommand 1200 in it, adding the damaged App Rate module might be fairly easy. The easy route would be to connect to the Raven 450 via a serial cable. Another thought is to remove the 450 completely and make a custom adapter to connect the App Rate Module directly to the Raven wiring harness.
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Agleader application rate module
