Dusty Britches
Well-known member
Field Navigator App – available only for Android devices at this time.
While I wanted to do a video of this, I couldn't get the sound to work. The other video camera I have I could get the sound but the format is really old and not used on computers. So, the next best option was to type it up with screen shots.
What you need:
· Garmin GLO 2 GPS. It costs about $100 and you can get it from Garmin, Wal-Mart, Amazon, Best Buy, etc. You will also want the belt clip accessory. It is worth it! Follow the instructions for set up. You will need to download the Bluetooth GPS app
· Field Navigator App
· External Power source – could be an added battery or plug into your tractor
Once you have the Garmin set up and the apps downloaded, you will need to turn on the Mock Location for your device. The best way to see how to do this is Google:
Turn on MOCK location for {your device model} (I have a Samsung S10+.)
Some devices will allow you to see the option in Settings – Location but for the S10+ I had to access the Developer Options, which unfortunately by default is not visible on the S10+. Samsung didn't want users to change those. So I Googled S10+ developer options and followed the very simple instructions to access this. Search for Mock Location, turn on and it should list your Bluetooth GPS App.
Settings in the phone:
Then close out of the settings.
Bluetooth GPS App Settings – Open the Bluetooth App, upper right corner, click the 3 vertical dots, then touch "Settings"
Check these boxes
· Use fused power
· Reconnect
· Reconnect interval (if the app cannot connect or loses connection it will automatically reconnect, this tells it how long to wait before it tries. I'm impatient so I went with 5 seconds. I've never lost connection.)
· Flash Notifications LED
· Under Connection Problems Related, Use Insecure Connection.
Exit settings.
Turn on your phone's GPS location.
Turn on your Garmin.
When the blue light is flashing, refresh the Bluetooth GPS app and your Garmin GLO should appear at the top. Click connect.
Make sure the Enable Mock GPS provider box is checked. The rest of the screen should populate with your GPS information.
Field Navigator
The built in tutorial will show you how to map your fields. I always use the manual method so I can sit in my house.
Map Settings – click the 3 horizontal bars on the upper left corner. Settings.
Click each line and set your preferences. A note about GPS accuracy – if you are manually trying to stay on track the bigger the accuracy unit, the easier it is to stay on. You will drive yourself insane with Centimeters or inches. A yard (3 feet) off is not at all acceptable to me when I'm putting out hundreds of dollars of pesticides. I went with foot (ft). This allows me some variance. I also take 1 foot off my implement width (6 inches on either side.) This allows for some driving errors, uneven terrain, etc.
Under GPS:
GPS Receiver – we'll get to this after we set up the other options.
Preferred GPS refresh rate – this is how many times on 1 second it will refresh your GPS readings. I have mine set to 3. I hope in the future the developers just have this turned to continuous but I suspect this has something to do with the remote areas farmers and ranchers work. The Garmin will work everywhere, I'm sure.
GPS Antenna location – this is where in your tractor you place your Garmin. I put mine in the dead center of the cab, on the visor. But if you do not have a cab, you could clip it to your belt. J
Measure the distance between the GPS and your spray booms or fertilizer spinner or wherever your product is coming out.
Yes, display your sprayed area. This basically paints where you sprayed, which is really handy when you get into groves of trees and have to get off the parallel lines.
Display simplified area. I have this checked in the interest of trying to keep my phone from being overwhelmed. Perhaps a tablet would be ok.
Implement width.
Keep screen always on – Well duh, we need to see where we are spraying…
Back to the GPS receiver. Click it.
The top will say "External GPS receiver"
The first option is your device. It will never be as accurate as the Garmin and you run the risk of losing your signal. Lose you signal and kiss your view of already covered area goodbye.
The second option is the Bluetooth.
Make sure your GPS device and the Bluetooth GPS are on and connected. Go to this screen in Field Navigator – the Bluetooth receiver.
If it says No devices found, click the refresh until it finds your Garmin. Then click Connect. (I do not have mine on or connected in this screen shot, but when you do the bottom of the screen will become active and give you readings. )
Go to your phone's settings or drop down quick buttons. Turn off the GPS location. I don't know why but if you leave this on while spraying the app can't figure out which one to use. I also don't know why but it will not connect to the Garmin if it is off. But it is what it is. I'm a nobody so I just deal with it.
One final note – VERY Important – Enable your phone's "DO NOT DISTURB" feature. This prevents notifications, texts, phone calls from disturbing your work. If you answer your phone you will lose what you sprayed. Again, a tablet will probably be better.
You are now ready to spray. Go select one of your maps by clicking the 3 horizontal bars, Saved fields, select one. Go to the field. Click start.
What I do is spray the perimeter Before I click "A". The painted area will show me that I'm covering that when I make my turns. Then I go to the straightest, longest line I have in the field, typically the last fence line. Click "A". Drive a straight line as long as possible. Click "B". It will lay out red parallel lines. The red lines are where you want to drive on. The distance between the red lines is your implement coverage width. The top number with arrows left and right is your guide for how far off the red line you are. It refreshes at the rate you plugged in.
While you are driving the goal is to stay on the red line and the numbers at the top will tell you how far off you are. Don't go crazy trying to stay on. Remember – you built in some error tolerance with your settings.
If you empty your tank in the middle of the field, stop driving, click the gray box at the bottom of the screen. It will pause your spray so you can go refill and return to the same spot. Then click resume.
When you are finished, you can save the sprayed map but for the life of me I have no idea why. You cannot zoom it and you cannot print it. Maybe you can with a different device? If you have a tablet, see what you can do.
One final note - The developers are outstanding at answering questions and helping via email. When you click the 3 horizonal bars on the left, one of the options is "Contact Us". They also have a video on YouTube but it is mostly for viewing pleasure and eye candy.
Good luck. I hope this saves you some money and helps you get better coverage on your fields. I know unequivocally, it has saved me hundreds if not thousands over the years I've used it. And, I have much better field coverage.
While I wanted to do a video of this, I couldn't get the sound to work. The other video camera I have I could get the sound but the format is really old and not used on computers. So, the next best option was to type it up with screen shots.
What you need:
· Garmin GLO 2 GPS. It costs about $100 and you can get it from Garmin, Wal-Mart, Amazon, Best Buy, etc. You will also want the belt clip accessory. It is worth it! Follow the instructions for set up. You will need to download the Bluetooth GPS app
· Field Navigator App
· External Power source – could be an added battery or plug into your tractor
Once you have the Garmin set up and the apps downloaded, you will need to turn on the Mock Location for your device. The best way to see how to do this is Google:
Turn on MOCK location for {your device model} (I have a Samsung S10+.)
Some devices will allow you to see the option in Settings – Location but for the S10+ I had to access the Developer Options, which unfortunately by default is not visible on the S10+. Samsung didn't want users to change those. So I Googled S10+ developer options and followed the very simple instructions to access this. Search for Mock Location, turn on and it should list your Bluetooth GPS App.
Settings in the phone:
Then close out of the settings.
Bluetooth GPS App Settings – Open the Bluetooth App, upper right corner, click the 3 vertical dots, then touch "Settings"
Check these boxes
· Use fused power
· Reconnect
· Reconnect interval (if the app cannot connect or loses connection it will automatically reconnect, this tells it how long to wait before it tries. I'm impatient so I went with 5 seconds. I've never lost connection.)
· Flash Notifications LED
· Under Connection Problems Related, Use Insecure Connection.
Exit settings.
Turn on your phone's GPS location.
Turn on your Garmin.
When the blue light is flashing, refresh the Bluetooth GPS app and your Garmin GLO should appear at the top. Click connect.
Make sure the Enable Mock GPS provider box is checked. The rest of the screen should populate with your GPS information.
Field Navigator
The built in tutorial will show you how to map your fields. I always use the manual method so I can sit in my house.
Map Settings – click the 3 horizontal bars on the upper left corner. Settings.
Click each line and set your preferences. A note about GPS accuracy – if you are manually trying to stay on track the bigger the accuracy unit, the easier it is to stay on. You will drive yourself insane with Centimeters or inches. A yard (3 feet) off is not at all acceptable to me when I'm putting out hundreds of dollars of pesticides. I went with foot (ft). This allows me some variance. I also take 1 foot off my implement width (6 inches on either side.) This allows for some driving errors, uneven terrain, etc.
Under GPS:
GPS Receiver – we'll get to this after we set up the other options.
Preferred GPS refresh rate – this is how many times on 1 second it will refresh your GPS readings. I have mine set to 3. I hope in the future the developers just have this turned to continuous but I suspect this has something to do with the remote areas farmers and ranchers work. The Garmin will work everywhere, I'm sure.
GPS Antenna location – this is where in your tractor you place your Garmin. I put mine in the dead center of the cab, on the visor. But if you do not have a cab, you could clip it to your belt. J
Measure the distance between the GPS and your spray booms or fertilizer spinner or wherever your product is coming out.
Yes, display your sprayed area. This basically paints where you sprayed, which is really handy when you get into groves of trees and have to get off the parallel lines.
Display simplified area. I have this checked in the interest of trying to keep my phone from being overwhelmed. Perhaps a tablet would be ok.
Implement width.
Keep screen always on – Well duh, we need to see where we are spraying…
Back to the GPS receiver. Click it.
The top will say "External GPS receiver"
The first option is your device. It will never be as accurate as the Garmin and you run the risk of losing your signal. Lose you signal and kiss your view of already covered area goodbye.
The second option is the Bluetooth.
Make sure your GPS device and the Bluetooth GPS are on and connected. Go to this screen in Field Navigator – the Bluetooth receiver.
If it says No devices found, click the refresh until it finds your Garmin. Then click Connect. (I do not have mine on or connected in this screen shot, but when you do the bottom of the screen will become active and give you readings. )
Go to your phone's settings or drop down quick buttons. Turn off the GPS location. I don't know why but if you leave this on while spraying the app can't figure out which one to use. I also don't know why but it will not connect to the Garmin if it is off. But it is what it is. I'm a nobody so I just deal with it.
One final note – VERY Important – Enable your phone's "DO NOT DISTURB" feature. This prevents notifications, texts, phone calls from disturbing your work. If you answer your phone you will lose what you sprayed. Again, a tablet will probably be better.
You are now ready to spray. Go select one of your maps by clicking the 3 horizontal bars, Saved fields, select one. Go to the field. Click start.
What I do is spray the perimeter Before I click "A". The painted area will show me that I'm covering that when I make my turns. Then I go to the straightest, longest line I have in the field, typically the last fence line. Click "A". Drive a straight line as long as possible. Click "B". It will lay out red parallel lines. The red lines are where you want to drive on. The distance between the red lines is your implement coverage width. The top number with arrows left and right is your guide for how far off the red line you are. It refreshes at the rate you plugged in.
While you are driving the goal is to stay on the red line and the numbers at the top will tell you how far off you are. Don't go crazy trying to stay on. Remember – you built in some error tolerance with your settings.
If you empty your tank in the middle of the field, stop driving, click the gray box at the bottom of the screen. It will pause your spray so you can go refill and return to the same spot. Then click resume.
When you are finished, you can save the sprayed map but for the life of me I have no idea why. You cannot zoom it and you cannot print it. Maybe you can with a different device? If you have a tablet, see what you can do.
One final note - The developers are outstanding at answering questions and helping via email. When you click the 3 horizonal bars on the left, one of the options is "Contact Us". They also have a video on YouTube but it is mostly for viewing pleasure and eye candy.
Good luck. I hope this saves you some money and helps you get better coverage on your fields. I know unequivocally, it has saved me hundreds if not thousands over the years I've used it. And, I have much better field coverage.
