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Pocahontas County, IA | Our yield recording system is giving us fits. We are running a MicroTrak yield moniter through a MicroTrak GeoMarker to an IPAQ running Farm Works software for mapping and recording. Somehow the files we want to download from the IPAQ are being corrupted or erased somehow. The result of this is no records. The file can still be viewed on the IPAQ but I am told it is a different form than the Farmworks program on the home computer can use. As a matter of fact the file size shown for the data files we download indicates there is nothing in that file. Farmworks tech support says we may be able to download these files as a "shape" file. I am insure if that will be an improvement. Farmworks tech support suggests a new and I believe a faster IPAQ. According to Farmworks, the main problem, however,is with the MicroTrak. There are some Gremlins I have failed to mention. There is a flashing of white in the bottom two display lines on the IPAQ screen about every 5 seconds and it moves about that small area. Farm works says this may be an error message that is MicroTrak's fault. The other gremlin is the VRA initials displayed on the IPAQ screen Flash between Red and White. Farmworks says this shouldn't happen. MicroTrak thinks this is a software problem. Meanwhile we are stuck without the ability to record and map our results!
We have run this system with varying degrees os success for 3 years. For three seasons the VRA has flashed between red and white. The IPAQ display consistently shows yield colors and movement of the combine through the field. The first year was a learning year but we had maps. The second year we had some cabling difficulties and lost some data but on the remaining data we had maps. This year with the cabling problems solved and power supply issues solved we had high expectations that dissolved when we tried to use the downloaded files. Some files have worked from early in the season that were small fields. Just enough success to keep trying. Our nexy move is to backup early and often. Looking for any and all suggestions. Thanks | |
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trouble in the felds
