Near Intersection of I-35 & I-90 Southern Mn. | First of all be certain that you use the proper serial cable. Do not try to get by with a simple generic cable as certain pins need to be "tied together" to make the proper connection.
The communication between the two devices is two way. In other words at times the Insight could be sending information to the Raven (rate changes etc,). At other times the communication is from the Raven to the Insight for logging/mapping etc.
For this two way communication to work properly, one must use the proper cable and setup the two devices correctly. On the Insight, the Configuration for the App Rate module must be setup properly. The controller tab needs to be setup to reflect the Raven console that is being used etc.
On the Raven side there are four settings that must be set properly. They include BAUD Rate 9600, Logging interval in Seconds, Logging Rate 1 and finally Logging ON. These items are generally found under the DATA menu which varies with different consoles.
To check for communication in this direction use the Master and Boom Switches on the Raven and observe the Swath width on the Insight. If the swath width on the Insight changes as you would expect in response to the switch changes, then communication is good in that direction.
To check for communication from the Insight to the Raven, try to change the target rate on the Insight while watching the Rate 1 register on the Raven. When a Rate change is sent from the Insight to the Raven, generally the Raven will beep four times (unless this alarm has been turned off) and the new rate will appear for Rate 1.
If either of the above tests fails, investigate now because the two systems will not work together properly come spray time. It is better to find out why now then to wait and hope for the best. Generally the first test is the most troublesome, usually because the four settings mentioned are not set properly. If the Raven console is reset for any reason, these values will revert back to the factory defaults which are not correct to work with an Insight.
When the Raven Switch is set to Rate 1, the Raven controller will try to attain that target rate. It doesn't matter if the Rate in Rate 1 was entered by your fingers on the Raven keypad or via the Insight. This makes map based VR from the Insight possible.
If the Raven Switch is set to Rate 2, the console will try to attain that rate which is always entered directly by your fingers on the Raven keypad and never passed over from the Insight.
Thus you really have several ways to change the target rate. The Raven can be left in Rate 1 at all times and the target rate can be "sent over" from the Insight. On the Insight, the rate "sent over" can be adjusted by the operator adjusting the rate there or by a VR Rx Map.
Another choice would be where the operator would manually "take over" by switching the Raven to Rate 2 or even Manual and not do anything on the Insight screen.
This combination of equipment can work together very well. One area that is not possible with this combination of equipment is autoswath. Since the Raven controller directly controls the boom sections via its own switches, auto boom section shutoff is not available.
Another approach that works out very well is to replace the Raven console with the Direct Command Liquid components available from Ag Leader. In this setup, the Raven console is no longer used and the Insight system with the associated modules controls the spray rate. With this equipment autoswath control is possible via the Insight. I have personally used this combination for several years and would hate to have to "go back" to more primitive methods.
Edited by tedbear 2/5/2008 07:10
|
Insight serial cable
