Near Intersection of I-35 & I-90 Southern Mn. | Yes, the Skytrack can work with Raven products as a speed source. Most planter monitors that need a speed input will use the D.J. wiring arrangement. This is a 4 pole AMP connector that used Pin 1 for ground, Pin 2 for radar signal, Pin 3 for 12V. Pin 4 is generally tied to Pin 3. Some monitors "watch" for 12V coming back on Pin 4 to decide if a radar gun is present. This is the pattern that DJ has used for years with its "real" radar guns.
Some IH planter monitors observed whether 12V was returned on Pin 4 upon initial startup so they could decide if the monitor was connected to a real radar gun. If 12V were not present the system assumed that a ground driven sensor was being used.
The Deere 200 planter monitor watches Pin 4 also. If it did not find 12V returning on Pin 4, it decided that no radar gun was found and displayed a message to that effect. More modern monitors such as the 250, 350 etc do not bother with Pin 4 and that location is simply not used.
When I worked as a tech, it was quite common that a farmer would have a SkyTrack and want to use if for a speed source with a planter monitor but later use it as the speed source from a Raven 440. The Skytrack was available with the DJ style plug or the Raven style plug. The Raven plug uses 3 wires but since it was originally designed to work with a magnetic ground speed sensor, the power pin used 5V from the main circuit board to provide regulated 5V power to the magnetic ground speed sensor. The SkyTrack needs 12V rather than 5V.
Adapters are available to go either way but the power issue is important. An adapter could be made or the DJ end cut off and replaced with the Raven style. It would be important to connect the power wire to an outside 12V source and NOT use the 5V pin from the Raven. The Orange stub wire in the Raven Harness is 12V whenever the Power Switch is ON. It is a convenient source for 12V to power the SkyTrak. It will turn Off when the Raven is powered down. Other key switched power sources would work as well.
We had some situations where it was desirable to have the SkyTrak feed both a Raven device and a DJ device at the same time such as plant and spray. For those a Tee can be constructed that splits the radar like signal out to both devices but gets the 12V supply from the DJ device. |
SkyTrak conversion DJ vs Raven
