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Bridgewater VA | Thought I’d put together a full write-up on the evolution of Deere’s StarFire receivers from the early NavCom prototypes through today’s 7000/7500. Includes hardware details and correction service capabilities (SF1, SF2, SF3, SF-RTK, etc.). Might be useful for anyone curious about the capabilities of each generation. This is probably not 100% accurate so please chime in if something isn't right. This stuff was documented across many service manuals and was not all in one place, and docs on the early stuff is sparse to non existent for gen 1.
##Gen 0 – NavCom Prototypes / eval kits
Mid-1990s, before Deere acquired NavCom (1999).
Known Hardware: NCT-2000 dual-frequency GPS engine, available in an evaluation kit, 10 GPS channels, 2 WAAS channels GPS engine/hardware.
Corrections: RTCM, CMR, CMR+ support. RTK via base station. Early L-band development in late 90s, C-Band with Gen 1 was a stopgap (OmniSTAR + NavCom “StarFire Network”).
Accuracy: Demonstrated 1 cm RTK and decimeter StarFire corrections.
##Gen 1 – StarFire L-Band Receiver (“Green Eggs & Ham”)
Released: 1996, orange dome.
Hardware: L1/L2 GPS only. (early NCT2000)
Corrections: Proprietary C-band StarFire corrections via satellite. Early version of NCT-2000 (not confirmed, need teardown). Supported serial input of NCT corrections for RTK.
Notes: C-band correction system discontinued quickly; Deere offered $800 trade-in to Gen 2. (per podcast talk)
##Gen 2 – StarFire (Tall Yellow Dome)
Released: 2000.
Hardware: L1/L2 GPS only.
Corrections: WAAS support?? SF1 (legacy) (free, ±30 cm pass-to-pass). SF2 (legacy) (paid subscription, ±10 cm pass-to-pass). Radio RTK, Supported serial input of NCT corrections for RTK. Built around NCT-2000 with L-band correction processing all in one module. (based on NCT2000 datasheet)
TCM (Tilt Compensation Module): Absent initially; added in 2002 with AutoTrac release.
##Gen 3 – StarFire iTC (Integrated TCM)
Released: 2004.
Hardware: First with integrated TCM, L1/L2 GPS. Same NCT2000.
Corrections: Free WAAS (when correction mode is set to OFF), Free SF1 (legacy). Paid SF2 (legacy).
First with Simulated radar output, standard 12-pin connector.
##Gen 4 – StarFire 300
Released: 2008.
Hardware: Entry-level, GPS + Galileo L1 only, based on commodity GNSS not really StarFire hardware.
Corrections: Free WAAS + EGNOS
Offered for low cost guidance with lightbar.
##Gen 5 – StarFire 3000
Released: 2010, first with SF3050 hardware.
Hardware: L1, L2, L5, G1, G2. 55-channel, 5-frequency added GLONASS. *Navcom called this 5 freq which is accurate, normally G1 and G2 get mixed in with the whole L1 L2 band, L1 is 1575mhz G1 1602, L2 1227, G2 1246
Corrections: Free WAAS/EGNOS, Free SF1, Paid SF2, Radio RTK, M-RTK,
Used legacy SF1 and SF2 before software bundled on 20-2 for Gen 4 displays, probably used codeless tracking of L2 PY before update for iono
##Gen 6 – StarFire 6000
Released: 2016, SF5050 hardware.
Hardware: Multi-constellation, GPS + GLONASS (sf5050 used on navcom survey receivers could do GAL and BDS unknown if this was used on 6000)
Corrections: Free WAAS + EGNOS, Free SF1, SF3 ±3 cm pass-to-pass,
##Gen 7 – StarFire 7000 / 7500
Released: ~2021.
Hardware: Unknown- navcom is shut down at this point
Full GNSS support: GPS (L1C/A, L2P, L2C, L5), GLONASS (G1, G2), Galileo (E1, E5a, E5b), BeiDou (B1, B2, maybe support for BDS L5 equivalent).
Corrections: Free WAAS + EGNOS, Free SF1, Paid SF-RTK ±3 cm pass-to-pass, ±1 inch absolute accuracy over 5 years, Radio RTK, M-RTK
Differences: StarFire 7000 – Rev 1. StarFire 7500 – Rev 2 functionally similar, updated internals.
## Correction Services Summary (Accuracy is 2sigma/95% for deere specs)
SBAS (WAAS/EGNOS): Free, ±40 cm pass-to-pass, available on all.
SF1 legacy: ±30 cm pass-to-pass, paid on Gen 1 and Gen 2, free on every iTC, GPS only with codeless L2 tracking for iono correction, discontinued in 2021.
SF2 legacy: ±10 cm pass-to-pass. GPS only with codeless L2 tracking for iono correction, discontinued in 2021, used on Gen 2, iTC, and 3000s with early software
SF1: Free, ±30 cm pass-to-pass. On 3000 or later this is basically degraded SF2/SF3 correction stream.
SF2: Subscription, ±5 cm pass-to-pass.
SF3: Subscription, ±3 cm pass-to-pass.
RTK: ±2.5 cm absolute when using deere M-RTK or Radio RTK, requires Radio RTK NCT stream or M-RTK correction though the MTG though the display or the mobile rtk modem
SF-RTK (Gen 6/StarFire 7000): ±3 cm pass-to-pass, ±2.5 cm absolute (5-year repeatable).
M-RTK-X: Coast mode when RTK corrections are lost. Extend Mode available for 2 minutes. If base station has been powered for more than one hour, 15 minutes of Extend Mode available. Works with M-RTK and Radio RTK
RTK-X: Fallback to SF-RTK on 7000, SF3 on 6000, or SF2 on 3000 for up to 14 days after last RTK fix when using mobile RTK radio base. This uses saved offset from base to prevent line jumps.
http://manuals.deere.com/omview/OMPFP16382_19/RW00482,000057E_19_20... - this states that 3000 does have fallback to sf2 for 14 days not sure if everyone has this,
Misc notes-
Attached photo of serial breakout adapter for the 3000/6000 deere refers to these as gen 5 and 6. It follows this pinout:
PINOUT 12 pin tx rx might be flipped-
1-simulated radar out
2-serial 3 rx
3-serial 1 rx
4-CAN+
5- serial 2 rx
6-battery 12V
7-ground
8-serial 3 tx
9-CAN-
10-serial 1 tx
11-serial 3 tx
12-keyswitch 12V
Edited by TraceNav 9/20/2025 10:22
 (Screenshot 2025-09-20 at 09.54.46 (full).png)
Attachments
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 Screenshot 2025-09-20 at 09.54.46 (full).png (129KB - 2 downloads)
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