Hectare One — Operator's Manual

Hectare One · Operator’s Manual — document AC01.01.04.04.100, firmware v1.2.3. Questions your machine raises and this page does not answer: support@agriwelt.com — an engineer answers, not a bot. Download as PDF.

1General information

NOTE

The seeding control system with the Hectare ONE panel is made by Agriwelt. It watches the sowing and the application of dry and liquid fertilizer on mounted and trailed implements — seed drills, planters, cultivators — and it drives the dispensers and the pump so that the set rate is actually applied.

How to read this manual

Marks in the text

Note Something worth knowing — an extra capability, a shortcut.
Warning Something that must be remembered. Ignoring it costs work or damages equipment.

Access levels

Operator The level the panel starts at after every power-on. Everyday work.
Agronomist The commissioning settings and the resetting of the statistics. Needs a PIN, which is different for every panel and is given in the device passport.
Service The profile, the readdressing of devices, the “Reset to defaults” items. Used by the service department.

IMPORTANT

Above the Operator level the panel does not show alarm messages. It says so in a red window when the level is raised. Go back to Operator before working — or simply switch the panel off and on, which does the same.

What a press means

Short press Press and release.
Long press Press and hold until the panel reacts. Several buttons do something different when held.
Double tap Two quick taps on the screen. On the home screen it does the same as holding “BACK”.
Two-finger tap A tap with two fingers on the screen. On the home screen it does the same as “MENU”.

Terms

Rates and control

Rate The target intensity the operator sets. The panel compares the actual intensity against it and reports a deviation that is too large.
Rate error How far the actual intensity may stand from the rate before that becomes an alarm. Set per sensor group, in per cent.
Product application control The panel does not judge the sowing at every moment: it starts watching only once the conditions for it are met — the implement is lowered and moving. Until then a silent section is not a fault.
Minimum alarm rate The lowest intensity still counted as normal. Below it the section is reported, whatever the neighbours do.
Path interval The stretch of the run over which skips, doubles and the other figures are gathered before they are redrawn. Set by the “Recalculation,m” parameter, which the panel renames “Recalculation,sec” when the seeding mode counts in seconds rather than in metres.
Manual lock The operator can stop all product application by hand, with a long press of “HOME”. A hand icon on the home screen shows the lock is on.

Sensors

Section control sensor The common name for a seed, dry fertilizer or liquid fertilizer sensor. One per section of the implement.
Seed sensor Counts the seed passing one section. On a row-crop planter it also separates doubles and skips; on a grain drill it measures intensity only — the seeds arrive too close together to be told apart.
Dry fertilizer sensor The same device, watching a granular fertilizer line.
Liquid fertilizer sensor A flow meter counting the volume through one section.
Speed sensor Measures the travel speed. Everything else — distance, area, every rate — is calculated from it.
Dispenser sensor Watches that the dispenser shaft is turning.
Fan sensor Watches the fan speed against a set minimum and maximum.
Pressure sensor Watches positive pressure or vacuum, depending on how it is plumbed.
Hopper sensor Reports when the product has fallen below the point where the sensor sits.
Work position sensor Tells the panel whether the implement is lowered into work or raised for transport.
Marker sensors Report which mechanical marker is down, so that the bout of the tramline rhythm can advance by itself.

Tramline

Tramline A driving lane left unsown, made by shutting off one or several sections on chosen bouts.
Rhythm The repeating sequence of bouts, with the bouts on which particular sections must not sow marked in it.
Bout One pass of the implement across the field. The rhythm counts them and returns to the first when it runs out.
Tramline actuator The device that shuts the sections off. One actuator controller carries three things: the actuator itself and both marker sensors.

Devices

HUB8 — the eight-channel input device for contact sensors.
HUB8 — the eight-channel input device for contact sensors.
The electric motor controller; the same unit drives the liquid fertilizer pump.
The electric motor controller; the same unit drives the liquid fertilizer pump.
HUB8 (input device) An eight-channel hub for sensors that have no controller of their own. It watches them and reports them to the panel as if each were a device.
Electric motor controller Drives one or two dispenser motors, or the liquid fertilizer pump. Motors and pump share one controller design — which is why a machine cannot have a pump without also having the controller that a motor would use.
SCM Section Control Module — the interface through which a third-party navigation system can shut sections off.
microSD The memory card, for reports, profiles and firmware updates. FAT16 or FAT32 only.

What is supplied

The Hectare ONE panel.
The Hectare ONE panel.
Seed sensor for round seed pipes (25–35 mm).
Seed sensor for round seed pipes (25–35 mm).
Inductive sensor — speed and dispenser shaft rotation.
Inductive sensor — speed and dispenser shaft rotation.

The minimum system is the Hectare ONE panel and the seed sensors — one sensor per section. Agriwelt seed sensors have their own controller and are connected to the panel directly.

Everything else is optional, and what a machine carries is written into the panel’s profile:

Pressure sensor Up to three, for pressure or vacuum.
HUB8 input device For sensors of the “open collector” kind — speed, hopper, fan, dispenser, work position, markers, Wilger flow meters.
Dispenser electric motors With their controller, for applying seed or dry fertilizer to the rate.
Tramline actuators Up to four.
Electric pump controller One, for liquid fertilizer — UAN, micro-fertilizers and the like.

NOTE

The panel also works with seed sensors made by DICKEY-John, Kuhn, Gaspardo and others.

What the system does

Seed

  • Applies seed to the rate the operator sets, through the dispenser electric motors — on row-crop planters and on grain drills.
  • Watches the actual sowing against that rate and reports a section that falls behind.
  • Reports a blocked or empty tube by its number.
  • Counts seeds, doubles and skips — on row-crop planters.
  • Accepts a section shut-off signal from a third-party navigation system.

Dry and liquid fertilizer

  • Applies liquid fertilizer to the rate through the electric pump.
  • Watches both dry and liquid lines and reports a section that falls behind or blocks, by number.

The machine around the product

  • Hopper level, dispenser shaft rotation, fan speed, air pressure or vacuum, travel speed — each against its own limits.
  • The sensors of an autonomous fan-drive engine: oil pressure, battery charge, ignition, fuel level, air filter.
  • Working or transport position of the implement.

Tramline

  • Creates the tramline with actuators or by stopping dispenser motors.
  • Advances the bout by itself from the marker sensors.
  • Keeps watching the sections that are shut off, so that a section leaking into the tramline is still reported.

Records

  • Treated area, separated into what was sown and what was lost to skips.
  • Detailed statistics of the run, and reports written to the memory card.
  • Firmware of the devices in the system updated from the same card.

NOTE

The system applies one product in the “Precise” mode (seeds per metre), up to four products by mass (kilograms per hectare) and one liquid product (litres per hectare).

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2Safety

This chapter holds the instructions that keep work with the Hectare One system safe. Read it before the panel is switched on for the first time.

Obligations and liability

Follow this manual. Knowing the basic rules and instructions for safe operation is the precondition for working with the system safely and without interruption. This manual is part of the delivery: keep it on the machine or in the tractor cab.

Warranty and liability. The general terms of sale and delivery of Agriwelt GmbH apply. Claims for warranty and for damage to persons or property are not accepted where the cause is one or more of the following:

  • use of the system other than as intended;
  • improper installation, commissioning or operation;
  • disregard of the instructions in this manual on commissioning, operation and maintenance;
  • unauthorised modification of the equipment.

Intended use

The Hectare One system is intended solely for use as a monitoring and control device for sowing and for the application of dry and liquid fertilizer on agricultural machines — mounted and trailed seed drills, planters and cultivators.

Following every instruction in this manual is part of intended use.

Any other use is not intended use. The manufacturer is not liable for damage arising from it; the risk is borne by the user alone.

General precautions

Besides the instructions in this manual, observe the national safety and environmental rules that apply where the machine is worked, and the safety instructions of the implement and of the tractor.

The operator’s workplace

The system is operated by one person, from the driver’s seat of the tractor.

WARNING

Do not operate the panel from outside the cab while the tractor is able to move or while anyone is near the implement. Commands given from the panel start machinery — see below.

Working safely with the system

The panel is not only an indicator. It drives machinery. The dispenser electric motors, the liquid fertilizer pump and the tramline actuators are started by commands from the panel, and several of those commands work while the machine is standing still.

WARNING

Machinery starts while the machine stands still. Two things on the panel turn the metering shafts with the machine at a standstill: “Fill the disks with seeds” in the main menu, and the mass calibration of an electric motor, where “Fill the rotor cells” and “Calibration” both drive the shaft. On a motor with a calibration button wired to its controller, that button starts the shaft from the machine itself, out of sight of the cab. Before you use any of them, make sure that nobody is near the metering units, the dispenser shafts, the fan or the tramline actuators.

The disk filling operation turns every dispenser disk at once and keeps turning it for up to about twenty seconds per motor. The operator at the panel cannot see the metering units from the cab.

WARNING

Speed simulation makes the machine meter product without moving. With speed imitation switched on, the panel calculates as if the machine were driving and drives the dispenser motors and the pump accordingly. Switch imitation off before leaving the cab.

Before approaching the implement, stop the machine, switch the tractor ignition off and take the key with you. Do not rely on what the panel shows: a device whose control has been switched off reports nothing about its state.

IMPORTANT

Above the Operator access level the panel shows no alarm messages. A blocked tube, an empty hopper or a failed section will not be reported. Return the access level to Operator before working, or switch the panel off and on.

Handling the panel

  • Do not subject the panel to impact or heavy vibration, and do not drop it.
  • Do not touch the screen with sharp objects; the touch surface is damaged by them.
  • Do not open the housing. It is sealed and carries a pressure equaliser; opening it destroys the seal. Repairs are carried out by Agriwelt service only.
  • Keep the harness connector, the GPS antenna connector and the memory card slot closed and clean when nothing is plugged into them.
  • Do not clean the panel with solvents or with a pressure washer. A damp cloth is enough.
  • Connect the panel only to a supply that meets the parameters given in the device passport. Reversed polarity and voltage outside the permitted range damage the electronics.
  • Disconnect the panel before electric welding is carried out on the tractor or on the implement.

Warning symbols used in this manual

Safety instructions in this manual are marked with a signal word. The signal word says how severe the consequence is if the instruction is ignored.

Signal word What it means
DANGER An immediate threat with a high degree of risk. Ignoring it leads to death or to the severest injuries.
WARNING A possible threat with a medium degree of risk. Ignoring it can lead to death or to severe injuries.
CAUTION A threat with a low degree of risk. Ignoring it can lead to minor or moderate injuries.
IMPORTANT No threat to people. Ignoring it damages equipment, or costs work that has to be done again.
NOTE Information that helps the operator get more out of the system.

NOTE

SEE ALSO marks a pointer to the chapter where the subject is described in full. It is not a safety instruction.

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3Control panel

NOTE

The Hectare ONE control panel is the operator’s single point of contact with the seeding control system. It has an 800 × 480 colour screen, a touch surface, seven backlit buttons in a row under the screen, and on the back a single harness connector of up to fourteen contacts, a GPS antenna connector and a dust-protected microSD card slot.

Appearance

Hectare ONE control panel, front. The panel has a yellow housing and a black glass front. The upper part is the 800 × 480 colour screen, here showing the home screen. Under the screen, printed on the same glass, is a row of seven orange button symbols: house, minus, up arrow, rounded square, down arrow, plus, return arrow. These are the seven control buttons, lit from behind.
Hectare ONE control panel, front. The panel has a yellow housing and a black glass front. The upper part is the 800 × 480 colour screen, here showing the home screen. Under the screen, printed on the same glass, is a row of seven orange button symbols: house, minus, up arrow, rounded square, down arrow, plus, return arrow. These are the seven control buttons, lit from behind.
Hectare ONE control panel, back. In the middle is the mounting plate with a ball joint, which lets the panel be turned and tilted in the cab. To the left of it is the harness connector — one connector with up to fourteen contacts, through which everything reaches the panel. The raised round caps beside it are the GPS antenna connector and the dust-protected slot for the microSD card; the small opening is the pressure equaliser of the sealed housing. There are no controls on the back of the panel.
Hectare ONE control panel, back. In the middle is the mounting plate with a ball joint, which lets the panel be turned and tilted in the cab. To the left of it is the harness connector — one connector with up to fourteen contacts, through which everything reaches the panel. The raised round caps beside it are the GPS antenna connector and the dust-protected slot for the microSD card; the small opening is the pressure equaliser of the sealed housing. There are no controls on the back of the panel.

NOTE

Mounting. The ball joint allows the panel to be turned and tilted freely on a flat surface. For mounting on a tube, the system can be supplemented with an additional bracket.

The seven buttons

The seven buttons, left to right: HOME, MINUS, UP, MENU, DOWN, PLUS, BACK.
The seven buttons, left to right: HOME, MINUS, UP, MENU, DOWN, PLUS, BACK.

The seven buttons are in a row under the screen. Press one with a fingertip. They are always in this order, left to right:

Symbol Name What it is for
house HOME Moves between the working screens. Held down on the home screen, locks and unlocks product application
minus MINUS Decreases the selected value
up arrow UP Moves the selection to the previous item of a menu
square MENU Opens the main menu from the home screen. In a menu, enters the selected item. In a dialogue, confirms
down arrow DOWN Moves the selection to the next item of a menu
plus PLUS Increases the selected value
return arrow BACK Leaves a menu or a screen. In a dialogue, cancels. On the home screen, opens the tramline bout menu

NOTE

The backlight tells you which buttons work. The panel lights only those buttons that do something on the screen you are looking at. A button that is dark does nothing here — you do not have to guess and you do not have to try.

In dialogues and in the number pad the light is also coloured: MENU is green — confirm, BACK is red — cancel. The other buttons stay white.

On the home screen

Button Action
HOME Opens the Table screen. If the table is switched off, opens Statistics
HOME, held Locks or unlocks product application by hand. Confirmed by a short beep
MENU Opens the main menu. The same as a double tap on the screen
PLUS / MINUS Change the target rate — but only while a rate field is selected. Touch and hold the rate field to select it; it lights up
BACK Opens the tramline bout menu, if tramline is switched on. If a rate field is selected, first releases it
UP, DOWN Nothing. Both stay dark on the home screen

In a menu

Button Action
UP / DOWN Move the selection up and down the list
MENU Enters the selected item. For a numeric setting, opens the number pad
PLUS / MINUS Change the value of the selected item by one step. For a numeric setting, they too open the number pad
BACK Leaves the menu and returns one level up

IMPORTANT

An alarm window does not listen to the buttons. While an alarm window is open, all seven buttons are dead. Close the window by touching the red close button in the window itself.

Screen brightness

Power supply cable of the Hectare panels.
Power supply cable of the Hectare panels.
HUB8 network connection cable (Amphenol, 4-pin).
HUB8 network connection cable (Amphenol, 4-pin).
HUB8 sensor connection harness.
HUB8 sensor connection harness.

Brightness is set by the Brightness,% item in the system options menu, from 0 to 100 in steps of 10.

NOTE

0 means automatic. At 0 the panel measures the light in the cab and sets the screen itself — bright in the sun, dim at night. Any other value fixes the screen at that percentage.

The button backlight always follows the screen: when the screen dims, the buttons dim with it.

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4Basics of the graphical interface

Everything you do on the panel happens through five things: the working screens, the menu, the context menu, the number pad and the windows that ask or tell you something. This chapter explains those five. What each screen holds is in its own chapter.

Switching on

After the power is switched on a splash screen with the logo appears. It stays until the panel has found every device connected to it — a few seconds — and then the home screen opens.

NOTE

If the splash screen stays much longer than usual, the panel is waiting for a device that does not answer. Nothing is broken yet — but look at the alarms as soon as the home screen appears.

The working screens

Four working screens follow one another in a circle, and the “HOME” button steps through them. A fifth screen replaces the home screen on machines without seed sensors.

SEE ALSO

The full map — which screen leads where, with a button and with a gesture — is in the chapter on the navigation between the working screens.

The menu

Press “MENU” on a screen that has one. The selected item is shown as black text on a light blue band. “UP” and “DOWN” move between items.

The menu, on the date and time page. The selected item is the band of black text on light blue. Items that lead to another menu carry an arrow head on the right. Items that hold a value show it between a minus and a plus — the two buttons that change it. Values written between square brackets open the number pad instead.
The menu, on the date and time page. The selected item is the band of black text on light blue. Items that lead to another menu carry an arrow head on the right. Items that hold a value show it between a minus and a plus — the two buttons that change it. Values written between square brackets open the number pad instead.
What you see What it means
an arrow head on the right The item opens another menu. Press “MENU”.
A value between - and + Change it with “PLUS” and “MINUS”, right there in the list.
A value between -[ and ]+ Pressing “PLUS” or “MINUS” opens the number pad.
Nothing beside the name The item performs an action. Press “MENU”.

The context menu

The context menu belongs to one device — a sensor, a motor. To reach it, hold “MENU” down on the home screen to enter the sensor setup mode, move to the device you want with “UP” and “DOWN”, and press “MENU”. The selected element is framed in white.

A long press on a device does the same without entering the mode at all.

Entering numbers

When a value is written between square brackets, changing it opens a number pad.

The number pad. The name of the parameter is at the top, the current value below it, and the backspace beside the value. The digits 1 to 9, 0 and a key for the decimal point and the minus sign fill the middle. OK in green accepts the value. The “BACK” button leaves without changing anything.
The number pad. The name of the parameter is at the top, the current value below it, and the backspace beside the value. The digits 1 to 9, 0 and a key for the decimal point and the minus sign fill the middle. OK in green accepts the value. The “BACK” button leaves without changing anything.

Type the value with the keys and touch OK. The panel refuses a value outside the permitted range for that parameter.

Windows that ask, and windows that tell

Every window the panel opens has the same shape: one box in the middle of the screen, a full-width coloured strip along its top with a word in it, the message under the strip, and the buttons — if there are any — along the bottom.

Read the strip before you read the message. Its colour and its word say what kind of window this is, from across the cab:

Yellow, “Confirmation” The panel is asking. Two buttons — the green one confirms, the red one cancels. The “BACK” button also cancels. Nothing happens until you answer.
Blue, “Information” The panel is telling you what happened. Some of these close by themselves, some wait for any button.
Red, “FAILURE” An alarm. The text, the kind of device, and the addresses of the devices reporting it. See below.
The information window: the blue strip, the word, and one line of message. No buttons — this one closes by itself.
The information window: the blue strip, the word, and one line of message. No buttons — this one closes by itself.

NOTE

The three used to look different from one another — a question box sized itself to its text and could come out a third of the size of an alarm. They were brought to one shape so that the kind of window is read from the strip and not guessed from the wording. Illustrations shot before September 2026 show the older shapes.

Alarm windows

An alarm window holds three things: what happened, on what kind of device, and which devices — the addresses are listed when several identical sensors report the same fault at once.

Touch Close in the window Closes this alarm. The next one in the queue appears.
The seven buttons Only HOME works, and it lights up while the window is open. A short press closes the alarm, the same as the touch on Close; a long press closes every open window at once and returns to the home screen. The other six buttons are dark and do nothing.

IMPORTANT

While an alarm window is open the panel beeps. The sound stops the moment the window is closed — the fault itself does not.

Alarms arrive one at a time and are closed one at a time. On a machine that raises a queue of them, that is one touch per alarm.

SEE ALSO

Every alarm, what causes it and what to do about it, is in the chapter on the alarms and the error codes.

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5Home screen

NOTE

The home screen is the main working screen of the Hectare ONE seeding control system. It shows the diagrams of the section control sensors, the state indicators of the devices and the key figures of the work.

The two modes of the home screen

The home screen works in two modes, and the buttons mean different things in each.

Mode What it is for
Monitoring The mode the panel starts in. The operator watches the application of the seed material and can change the target rate.
Sensor setup Selecting individual sensors, taking them into control or out of it, opening their settings.

SEE ALSO

To enter the sensor setup mode, hold the “MENU” button down for a few seconds. To leave it, press “BACK” or “HOME”.

The buttons

Button Monitoring Sensor setup
HOME Next working screen Leaves setup, next working screen
HOME held Locks and unlocks the product application control, with a beep. The hand icon shows the lock. The same
BACK The tramline bout menu, if the tramline is switched on. If a rate field is blinking, cancels the blinking first. Leaves setup, stays here
BACK held Calculates the minimum alarm level automatically, from the rate being applied. Only while applying. A double tap does the same. —
MENU The main menu. A two-finger tap does the same. The context menu of the selected sensor
MENU held Enters the sensor setup mode —
PLUS Raises the target rate. The first press selects a field and makes it blink. Takes the sensor into control
MINUS Lowers it, selecting the same way. Takes the sensor out of control
UP / DOWN Move between rate fields. Nothing if the machine has only one. Previous / next sensor

The home screen of three machines

The same panel, three different machines. What the home screen shows follows the profile: every group of sensors and devices entered there gets its tiles, its columns, its rate field. The three screens below were taken on one panel, firmware 1.2.3, standing still — the target rates are set, the actual rates are zero.

Forty-four seed sensors in two rows of twenty-two, two hoppers (red — empty on the bench), two dosing shaft sensors, a fan at 0 rpm. One rate field, seeds per second, target 29. The planter icon at the right is green: the machine is in working position.
Forty-four seed sensors in two rows of twenty-two, two hoppers (red — empty on the bench), two dosing shaft sensors, a fan at 0 rpm. One rate field, seeds per second, target 29. The planter icon at the right is green: the machine is in working position.
Twenty-four seed sensors and twelve fertilizer sensors — two rows, two rate fields: seeds per second above, fertilizer per second below, target 30 each. Along the top: two hoppers, two dosing shafts, oil pressure, battery and ignition, a fan. At the right, the tramline icon and the mode letter.
Twenty-four seed sensors and twelve fertilizer sensors — two rows, two rate fields: seeds per second above, fertilizer per second below, target 30 each. Along the top: two hoppers, two dosing shafts, oil pressure, battery and ignition, a fan. At the right, the tramline icon and the mode letter.
Eight seed sensors in precise-seeding mode with a pressure sensor at 3.5 kPa. One row of columns with the tolerance band, the rate in seeds per metre (target 3.0) and the count per hectare. The blue clock at the top right belongs to the bench, not to the machine.
Eight seed sensors in precise-seeding mode with a pressure sensor at 3.5 kPa. One row of columns with the tolerance band, the rate in seeds per metre (target 3.0) and the count per hectare. The blue clock at the top right belongs to the bench, not to the machine.

The home screen at work

The same eight-row machine as above, seeding: simulated speed on the bench, seed flow imitated by the sensors themselves. Each column is one row; the tops of the columns move with every count, the letters and colours say what the row is doing. The picture is a series of frames from the panel, about seven seconds apart.

The home screen in precise-seeding mode while seeding: green columns around the target line, a yellow hatch where a row skips, a blue edge where it doubles; the actual rate in seeds per metre against the target, the count per hectare, the area done. The word at the top right is the bench’s demo mode.
The home screen in precise-seeding mode while seeding: green columns around the target line, a yellow hatch where a row skips, a blue edge where it doubles; the actual rate in seeds per metre against the target, the count per hectare, the area done. The word at the top right is the bench’s demo mode.

The line: the twenty-four-row drill at work

The second machine — twenty-four seed rows and twelve fertilizer rows — seeding at 12 km/h with the flow imitated by the sensors. The series starts with the columns below the line and the red NOT UNDER CONTROL over both diagrams, then the target is lowered, the columns rise above the line and the monitor takes the rows under control again.

The home screen of the twenty-four-row drill: two diagrams, seeds per second above and fertilizer per second below. In the first frames the columns sit under the white line and the red banner says the rows are not under control; after the target is lowered the columns stand above the line, the banner is gone, the columns move with every count.
The home screen of the twenty-four-row drill: two diagrams, seeds per second above and fertilizer per second below. In the first frames the columns sit under the white line and the red banner says the rows are not under control; after the target is lowered the columns stand above the line, the banner is gone, the columns move with every count.

IMPORTANT

The line is the boundary of a partial blockage, not a decoration. A column above the line is a row that works; a column that sinks under the line is a row that is losing flow — long before it blocks completely. Rows under the line are not under control on purpose: the panel refuses to guard a level that was dragged down. Hold “BACK” while applying and the panel sets the level from the real rate itself. Whether the machine is seeding at all, the panel decides by the share of rows that are seeding (a sensor setting, 20 % by default): on the headland turn the rows drop out of control, on the next pass they come back — with or without a working-position sensor.

Forty-four rows at work

The third machine — forty-four seed rows in two diagrams, two hoppers, two dosing shafts — seeding at 12 km/h with imitated flow.

The home screen of the forty-four-row machine while seeding: two diagrams of twenty-two columns each, one rate field in seeds per second, the hoppers full, the dosing shafts turning, the machine in working position.
The home screen of the forty-four-row machine while seeding: two diagrams of twenty-two columns each, one rate field in seeds per second, the hoppers full, the dosing shafts turning, the machine in working position.

NOTE

The panel tells you with sound, too. Three short beeps: the rows have dropped out of control — the seeding has stopped or the columns have sunk under the line. One long beep: the rows are back under control. An alarm opens its window with its own signal.

Ninety-six rows, three hoppers, two fans

The largest machine of the four: forty-eight seed rows and forty-eight fertilizer rows in two diagrams, three hoppers, three dosing shafts, two fans. Seeding at 12 km/h with imitated flow. The series starts with both diagrams below the line and NOT UNDER CONTROL; then the target comes down to the real rate, the columns rise above the line and the rows are under control again.

The home screen of the ninety-six-row machine while seeding: along the top three hoppers, three turning dosing shafts, two fans with their speed in rpm; below, seeds per second and fertilizer per second, forty-eight columns each. First frames under the line with the red banner, then the columns above the line and the banner gone.
The home screen of the ninety-six-row machine while seeding: along the top three hoppers, three turning dosing shafts, two fans with their speed in rpm; below, seeds per second and fertilizer per second, forty-eight columns each. First frames under the line with the red banner, then the columns above the line and the banner gone.

The home screen of a real machine

The screen below was shot on a machine with forty-eight seed sensors in two rows, two hoppers, two dispenser shaft sensors and one fan, while it was sowing.

The home screen at work, with the rate field selected. Every section is a green column, numbered along the bottom, in two rows of twenty-four. The thin white line across each row is the control line: while a column stands above it the section is under control. A column that falls to the line means the section has stopped delivering. The panel on the right is the rate, selected for editing: the measured value is always on top, the target below it. While the field is highlighted the target is white and the measured value grey; unselected, it is the other way round. PLUS and MINUS change the target.
The home screen at work, with the rate field selected. Every section is a green column, numbered along the bottom, in two rows of twenty-four. The thin white line across each row is the control line: while a column stands above it the section is under control. A column that falls to the line means the section has stopped delivering. The panel on the right is the rate, selected for editing: the measured value is always on top, the target below it. While the field is highlighted the target is white and the measured value grey; unselected, it is the other way round. PLUS and MINUS change the target.

IMPORTANT

Read the columns against the line, not against each other. Above the line the section is working. Down at the line it is not — whatever the neighbours are doing.

IMPORTANT

The blue 0:00 in the top right corner is the bench, not the machine. The panel these pictures were shot on runs on a trial licence, and while a trial is active that slot cycles between the time left, the word TRIAL and blank instead of showing the time of day. On a delivered panel the same slot shows the clock. This applies to every screenshot in this manual taken on that panel.

The picture below was shot on a different machine — eight seed sensors, two dispenser electric motors, two hoppers, two dispenser shaft sensors, one fan — standing still, and shows the indicators along the top in more detail.

The home screen, precise control mode, machine standing still. Across the top: the travel speed in large figures, yellow because it is being simulated rather than measured; two hopper icons, the first green and the second red; two dispenser shaft sensors; the fan with its speed in rpm; the processed area in hectares; the actual seeding rate in thousands per hectare; and the memory-card icon at the right. The eight columns below are the seed sensors. The yellow hand at the lower right means the control is locked by hand; the red letter box under it reports a fault of the dispenser electric motors.
The home screen, precise control mode, machine standing still. Across the top: the travel speed in large figures, yellow because it is being simulated rather than measured; two hopper icons, the first green and the second red; two dispenser shaft sensors; the fan with its speed in rpm; the processed area in hectares; the actual seeding rate in thousands per hectare; and the memory-card icon at the right. The eight columns below are the seed sensors. The yellow hand at the lower right means the control is locked by hand; the red letter box under it reports a fault of the dispenser electric motors.

What is on it, from the top:

Element On this screen
Travel speed The large yellow figure at the top left. Yellow because the machine is standing still.
Hopper sensors Two hopper icons, numbered. The first is green, the second red — that hopper is reporting an empty state.
Dispenser shaft sensors Two round icons, numbered 1 and 2.
Fan sensor The fan icon with its number, and the measured speed in rpm beside it.
Processed area The hatched hopper icon with ha and the figure below the speed.
Actual seeding rate The ear icon with ths/ha — thousands of seeds per hectare.
Memory card The card icon at the top right, shown while a microSD card is inserted.
Diagram of the seed sensors The eight columns, numbered along the bottom. The tolerance in force is written above the diagram.
Rate and spacing The figures to the right of the diagram: the rate, and the seed spacing in s/m.
Manual lock indicator The yellow hand at the lower right. It appears while the product application control is locked by hand.
General failure indicator The red letter box below the hand. It reports a fault of the dispenser electric motors or of the tramline actuators.

SEE ALSO

Every indicator is described one by one, with all of its states, in the section “Indicators of the home screen”. This chapter shows where they sit; that one says what they mean.

The speed field

The field that normally shows the travel speed also carries the messages about the speed. They replace the figure and blink, about once a second, so that the figure remains readable.

What is shown When
FASTER, on a red background The travel speed is below the minimum set for the speed sensor.
SLOWER, on a red background The travel speed is above the maximum set for the speed sensor.
IMITATION, in yellow The speed is not being measured but simulated from the setting of the speed sensor. Nothing that depends on the speed can be trusted in this state.
Increase / decrease the imitation The simulated speed itself is outside the permitted range. The message asks for the setting to be changed, not the travel speed.
A message about the sensor One of the two speed sensors has failed, or the minimum and the maximum speed contradict each other.

IMPORTANT

FASTER and SLOWER are not alarms. They do not open an alarm window and do not have to be acknowledged — they stay in the speed field for as long as the speed is wrong, because the operator has to see them while correcting it.

The second home screen

NOTE

This screen was made for a system without seed sensors — a machine where the seeding rate is held by the dispenser electric motor and the panel monitors the main working units. On such a machine the ordinary home screen would be almost empty. It is opened from the home screen with a swipe to the right and closed with “HOME”.

The second home screen. A single strip instead of a diagram: the fan and its speed, the seed spacing, the travel speed, the processed area and the settings symbol along the top; the target rate in the middle with green and red chevrons at both ends showing which way it will move when changed; and the two dispenser electric motors below, each with its number, its load and its state. The second motor shows XXX — it is in a fault state and is not being driven.
The second home screen. A single strip instead of a diagram: the fan and its speed, the seed spacing, the travel speed, the processed area and the settings symbol along the top; the target rate in the middle with green and red chevrons at both ends showing which way it will move when changed; and the two dispenser electric motors below, each with its number, its load and its state. The second motor shows XXX — it is in a fault state and is not being driven.

The two electric motors are shown along the middle strip with their numbers, their load and their state.

The icon of each motor alternates, about once a second, between the picture of the motor and the sign of its state — STOP for a motor that is not running, a red cross for a motor in a fault state. The two frames here were taken in the two different phases.

The green and red chevrons at the ends of the rate strip mark the direction in which the target rate will move when it is changed.

The same screen in the other blink phase. In the speed field the word IMITATION has replaced the figure, because the speed is being simulated rather than measured. The motors are drawn as motor symbols instead of the state signs of the previous picture. Nothing else has changed.
The same screen in the other blink phase. In the speed field the word IMITATION has replaced the figure, because the speed is being simulated rather than measured. The motors are drawn as motor symbols instead of the state signs of the previous picture. Nothing else has changed.

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6Indicators of the home screen

NOTE

Every indicator of the Hectare ONE home screen: what it shows, what each colour means, and what to do when it changes.

How to read any indicator

Almost every indicator on the home screen follows the same rule. Learn it once and you can read an indicator you have never seen before.

What you see What it means
Green icon Normal. The device answers and its value is inside the limits.
Red icon, blinking Alarm. The device answers, but the value has left the limits. An alarm window follows after the alarm delay.
The icon changing to a red × No answer from the device. The panel alternates between the icon and the × so that you see which device is silent. The value is shown as XXXX.
The icon changing to a white [!] The device is in the profile, but its control has been switched off. Nothing about it is being watched. The value is shown as !!!!.
Yellow icon Not a fault. A state you have chosen, or one that only needs your attention: implement raised, markers up, ignition off, application locked by hand.

IMPORTANT

A switched-off indicator is not a quiet indicator — it is a blind one. White with !!!! means the panel is not watching that device at all. Nothing will be reported about it, however wrong it goes.

Clock

The clock slot stands at the top left of the screen. It does not always show the time — it is one slot shared by several messages.

What you see What it means
The time in white Normal.
BAT in red, for about a second in every four The internal battery of the clock is low. The clock still runs; replace the battery before it stops. Between the flashes the time is shown in red.
XX:XX in red, blinking once a second The clock chip does not answer. The panel has no date and no time, and everything it records will carry the wrong one.
IMITAT in yellow Speed imitation is switched on. The panel shows this instead of the time so that the mode cannot be forgotten.
The slot changes every few seconds The trial period is running. On a loop of about eight seconds the slot shows the time left in blue as hours:minutes, then the word TRIAL, then IMITAT if imitation is on, then nothing. When the first row has no room for the clock, the whole loop appears only once every 30 seconds, and the sensor indicators show through in between.

Memory card

The memory-card icon at the top right of the home screen.
The memory-card icon at the top right of the home screen.

Shows whether a microSD card is in the slot. There are only two states: the icon is there, or it is not.

Speed

The speed field at the top left.
The speed field at the top left.

The travel speed, at the top left of the screen.

What you see What it means
A number in white, e.g. 10.0 Normal. The speed is inside the permitted range.
SLOWER on red You are driving faster than the maximum set for the speed sensor. Slow down.
FASTER on red You are driving slower than the minimum. Speed up.
XX.X in red No answer from the input device that carries the speed sensor.
A number in yellow with IMITATION The speed is being imitated by the panel for testing. The real sensor is not used, and nothing you see about rates is real.

NOTE

SLOWER and FASTER do not open an alarm window. They are written on the home screen and stay there while the speed is wrong, because you have to see them continuously to correct the speed — not acknowledge them once.

Product application locked by hand

A yellow hand, blinking, at the right edge of the screen. It means the operator has locked product application: the machine will not apply anything, however it moves.

To lock or unlock Hold HOME down on the home screen. One short beep confirms the change.
While it is locked The yellow hand blinks on the screen. Nothing else happens — there is no repeating sound.
When it is not locked The icon is not shown at all.

IMPORTANT

The lock is announced by the screen only. Look for the yellow hand before you start a pass. A locked machine drives a whole field and sows nothing.

Tramline bout

The tramline indicator at the right edge.
The tramline indicator at the right edge.

Shown only if the system has a tramline actuator. The number on top is the current bout, the number below it the number of bouts in the rhythm.

White, e.g. 1 over 3 The current bout is an ordinary one. The figure tells you how far you are from the next tramline.
Blinking The current bout is the tramline bout. The rows of the tramline are being cut off.
Yellow The bout will not change by itself. Either automatic bout change is switched off, or the sensor it depends on is missing, silent or not under control. The bout has to be changed by hand.

Fan

The fan icon with its speed in rpm.
The fan icon with its speed in rpm.

The rotation speed of the fan in revolutions per minute. Green is normal; red means the speed is above or below the permitted one; the × and the [!] have the usual meaning.

Hopper

Two hopper icons; both report an empty hopper here.
Two hopper icons; both report an empty hopper here.

The level of the seed material in the hopper. A full green hopper is normal; an empty red one means the level has fallen below the sensor and refilling is needed.

Metering unit

Two metering-shaft icons.
Two metering-shaft icons.

The rotation of the metering shaft. While the shaft turns, the icon animates; that animation is the fastest way to see that the metering unit is actually running. Red means there is no rotation, or the speed is not the one required.

Product rate by weight

The product rate in kg/ha and the processed area beside it.
The product rate in kg/ha and the processed area beside it.

Shown only when the dispenser motors are set up to apply products by weight. The indicator carries two numbers: the target rate on top and the actual rate below, in kg per hectare.

Target green, actual white Normal. The machine is applying what was asked of it.
Target red, actual white The actual rate is above or below the permitted deviation from the target.
The field is highlighted and the cursor blinks Rate setting mode: only the target is shown and PLUS and MINUS change it. Touch and hold the field to enter this mode.
The field is highlighted but does not blink Setting mode is on, but the cursor is on another indicator. This one shows its target and waits.

Dosing by weight is not possible

A red blinking product icon. It appears when the panel has worked out that the target rate cannot be held at any travel speed: the lowest speed at which the metering rollers can deliver the rate is already at or above the highest speed at which they can.

IMPORTANT

What to do. Check the target rates first — one product asking for too much is enough to close the window for all of them. Then check the metering rollers: a roller of a different size may be needed. The speed limits the panel has calculated can be read on the “Information” screen of the speed sensor.

Pressure

The vacuum or the positive air pressure in the distribution system, in kPa. Green is normal; red means the pressure is above or below the permitted one.

The sensors of the autonomous fan drive engine

Oil pressure, battery charge and ignition on the home screen.
Oil pressure, battery charge and ignition on the home screen.

IMPORTANT

The five indicators below belong to the engine that drives the fan. They are watched only while the ignition is switched on. With the ignition off, an oil pressure or a battery charge fault is not reported.

Oil pressure. Green is normal. Red means the oil pressure of the engine has fallen below the permitted level.

Battery charge. Green is normal. Red means the battery of the engine is not being charged.

Ignition. A green key means the ignition is on and the engine sensors are being watched. A yellow key means the ignition is off — this is not a fault, but nothing about the engine is being watched either.

Fuel level. Green is normal. Red means there is little fuel left in the tank of the engine.

Air filter. Green is normal. Red means the air filter is clogged and has to be cleaned or replaced.

Markers

The position of the markers. The icon shows which side is down.

Green, both arms down Both markers are lowered.
Green, one arm down Only that marker is lowered — the left one or the right one, as drawn.
Yellow, both arms up Both markers are raised. Not a fault; on a machine that changes the tramline bout by the marker, the bout changes at this moment.

Implement position

The implement-position icon under the speed.
The implement-position icon under the speed.

Whether the implement is in the working (lowered) or in the transport (raised) position. Green is lowered and applying; yellow is raised and not applying.

Actuator failure

The general failure indicator at the lower right.
The general failure indicator at the lower right.

A single red icon that stands for all the electric motors and tramline actuators together. It is not shown at all while everything is in order.

Red At least one actuator is in the alarm state.
White [!] The control of at least one actuator has been switched off. No fault has been found — but that actuator is not being watched.

SEE ALSO

Which actuator, and what is wrong with it, is on the Motors screen. This indicator only tells you to go and look.

Liquid fertiliser pump

Depending on the equipment, the pump is watched by two or three indicators.

Rate, in l/min The main indicator. Only this one can be selected in the sensor setup mode and only it has a context menu with the pump parameters.
Load, in % How hard the pump is working. It disappears first if the home screen has no room for it.
Pressure, in bar Shown only if the pressure sensor is fitted and switched on in the settings of the pump controller.

The rate indicator

Besides the usual green, red, × and [!] states, this indicator has two of its own:

  • A yellow pump with STOP — application is locked by hand, or the implement is raised. The pump will not start when the machine moves.
  • A highlighted target rate — there are no section flow sensors in the profile, so there is nothing actual to show. The figure is the target, not a measurement.

The load indicator

Green is normal. At 99 % and above the indicator turns yellow: the pump is at its limit and cannot follow a further increase in speed. Drive more slowly, or the rate will fall below the target.

If the controller reports no load figure at all, the indicator shows —- and blinks red.

The pressure indicator

Green is normal. Red means the liquid pressure is too high — reduce the travel speed, or raise the “Max pressure, Bar” limit in the settings of the pump controller if the line really can take it.

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7Working screens — navigation

The four working screens and how HOME steps through them; the second home screen opens with a swipe to the right.
The four working screens and how HOME steps through them; the second home screen opens with a swipe to the right.

The working screens

The control panel has four working screens arranged in a circle, plus a fifth screen that stands apart and replaces the home screen on machines of a different type.

SEE ALSO

A note on the name. The screen of the electric motors has been called the “Actuators” screen in the earlier documentation. That name is misleading: on most machines the screen shows the dispenser electric motors, and tramline actuators appear on it only if the machine has them. It is called the Motors screen throughout this manual.

Screen What it is for
Home screen The main working screen: the diagrams of the section control sensors, the state indicators of the devices, the speed, the area and the rate.
Table The readings of every section in figures, as a scrolling list. Several tables are available depending on the control mode.
Statistics The results of the work by field: area, path, quantity of the products applied.
Motors The state of the dispenser electric motors, and of the tramline actuators if the machine has any. Present whenever the profile contains at least one electric motor or one tramline actuator.
Alternative home screen A second home screen for machines without seed sensors — see the separate section below.

The circle of the working screens

The “HOME” button moves from one screen to the next, always in the same direction, and returns to the home screen from the last one:

Home screen → Table → Statistics → Motors → Home screen.

The alternative home screen stands outside that circle: it is opened from the home screen with a swipe to the right and closed with “HOME” or a swipe to the left.

NOTE

If the profile contains no electric motors and no tramline actuators, the Motors screen does not exist and the circle is shorter: Statistics returns straight to the home screen.

What the screens look like

The home screen. The columns of the section control sensors fill most of the screen, numbered along the bottom. Above them stand the state indicators of the devices — hoppers, dispenser shafts, fan — together with the travel speed, the processed area and the applied rate. This is the screen the panel starts on.
The home screen. The columns of the section control sensors fill most of the screen, numbered along the bottom. Above them stand the state indicators of the devices — hoppers, dispenser shafts, fan — together with the travel speed, the processed area and the applied rate. This is the screen the panel starts on.
The Table screen. The same sections as the diagram, but as figures: one row per section, with the measured rate and the quality columns. The top right corner shows which table you are on and how many there are, between a minus and a plus — the two buttons that switch between them.
The Table screen. The same sections as the diagram, but as figures: one row per section, with the measured rate and the quality columns. The top right corner shows which table you are on and how many there are, between a minus and a plus — the two buttons that switch between them.
The Statistics screen. The report of the work on one field: distance, area, time, average speed, then the sowing quality as totals and section by section. The field number stands in the top left, between the buttons that change it.
The Statistics screen. The report of the work on one field: distance, area, time, average speed, then the sowing quality as totals and section by section. The field number stands in the top left, between the buttons that change it.
The alternative home screen. For a machine that has no seed sensors, so there is no diagram to draw. Instead a single strip: the fan, the speed, the area, the target rate, and the dispenser electric motors with their load and state.
The alternative home screen. For a machine that has no seed sensors, so there is no diagram to draw. Instead a single strip: the fan, the speed, the area, the target rate, and the dispenser electric motors with their load and state.

Moving between the screens

Every transition can be made with a button, with a swipe of one finger across the screen, or with both. A swipe has to be a long one — a short movement is not recognised as a transition.

From Action To
Home screen HOME, or swipe left Table
Home screen Swipe right Alternative home screen
Table HOME, or swipe left Statistics
Table BACK, or swipe right Home screen
Statistics HOME, or swipe left Motors (Home screen, if the machine has none)
Statistics Swipe right Table
Statistics BACK Home screen
Motors HOME, BACK, or swipe left Home screen
Motors Swipe right Statistics
Alternative home screen HOME, or swipe left Home screen

NOTE

A swipe to the right does not always mean the same thing. On the home screen it opens the alternative home screen. On every other working screen it is the way back. Read the table, not the habit.

The alternative home screen

NOTE

This screen was made for a system without seed sensors — a machine where the seeding rate is held by the dispenser electric motor and the panel monitors the main working units, but there are no section sensors to draw a diagram from. On such a machine the ordinary home screen would be almost empty.

It is opened from the home screen with a swipe to the right and closed with the “HOME” button or a swipe to the left. It is not part of the circle of the “HOME” button.

Action Result
MENU, or a touch on the settings field Opens the main menu
Swipe up or down over the rate field Changes the seeding rate, within the permitted limits
A long press on an electric motor Opens the context menu of that motor
HOME held down Locks and unlocks the product application control, with a short beep

IMPORTANT

The panel does not switch to this screen by itself. Even on a machine without seed sensors it starts on the ordinary home screen, and the operator has to know the swipe.

Two ways of doing the same thing

Almost everything on the working screens can be done either with the buttons or with a gesture. The table below pairs them, so that neither an operator who works by the buttons nor one who works by touch has to guess.

Screen What it does Button Gesture
Table Scrolls the rows UP / DOWN Swipe up or down
Table Switches to the previous or the next table MINUS / PLUS Long swipe left or right with two fingers
Table Asks whether to zero the readings MENU, confirmed with PLUS Tap with two fingers
Statistics Scrolls the list. Holding the button down scrolls a whole screen at a time DOWN / UP Swipe up or down
Statistics Changes the number of the field whose results are shown PLUS / MINUS Swipe left or right with two fingers
Statistics Opens the menu of the screen MENU Tap with two fingers
Home screen Calculates the minimum alarm level automatically BACK, held down Double tap with one finger
Home screen Opens the alternative home screen — none — Swipe right

IMPORTANT

Only one action on the working screens has no button: the swipe to the right that opens the alternative home screen. Everything else can be reached from the keypad.

NOTE

How many tables there are depends on the machine. The table of the seed counters is always available. Two more — the rate per area and the rate per distance — appear only in the “Precise” control mode. A fertilizer table and a liquid fertilizer table appear only if those sensors are in the profile. The machine in the picture of the Table screen above is in precise control and has no fertilizer sensors, so it has three tables, and the screen says so: 1/3.

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8The Table screen

The Table screen shows the readings of every section as figures, one row per section. It answers the question the diagram on the home screen cannot: which section exactly, and by how much.

Open it from the home screen with “HOME”. Leave it with “BACK”.

The three tables

The screen holds several tables. The corner tells you which one you are on — the number and the total, between a minus and a plus sign: those are the two buttons that switch.

Rate per area. One row per section, numbered down the left. The columns are the measured seeds per metre, then the three quality figures — Q.% singles, Db% doubles, Sk% skips — then the applied rate in thousands per hectare and the deviation of that section in per cent. The bottom strip repeats the same columns as totals for the whole machine. The corner reads 1/3.
Rate per area. One row per section, numbered down the left. The columns are the measured seeds per metre, then the three quality figures — Q.% singles, Db% doubles, Sk% skips — then the applied rate in thousands per hectare and the deviation of that section in per cent. The bottom strip repeats the same columns as totals for the whole machine. The corner reads 1/3.
Rate per distance. The same rows and the same quality columns. Only the wide column changes: the rate is now given in seeds per metre instead of thousands per hectare. The corner reads 2/3.
Rate per distance. The same rows and the same quality columns. Only the wide column changes: the rate is now given in seeds per metre instead of thousands per hectare. The corner reads 2/3.
Seed counters. The count of seeds each section has sown, beside a bar chart of how far that section deviates from the rate that was set — the scale above it runs from -50 % through 0 to +50 %. The bottom line gives the total for the machine in thousands. The corner reads 3/3. This table is available on every machine, whatever its control mode.
Seed counters. The count of seeds each section has sown, beside a bar chart of how far that section deviates from the rate that was set — the scale above it runs from -50 % through 0 to +50 %. The bottom line gives the total for the machine in thousands. The corner reads 3/3. This table is available on every machine, whatever its control mode.

Which tables your machine has

Table Shown when
Seed counters Always.
Rate per area Rate per distance Only in the “Precise” seeding control mode.
Dry fertilizer The machine has fertilizer sensors and the fertilizer control mode is not “Precise”.
Liquid fertilizer The machine has liquid fertilizer sensors.

The columns

Column Meaning
# The number of the section.
sds/m Seeds per metre, measured now.
Q.% Singles — the share of correctly placed seeds.
Db% Doubles — two seeds where one was intended.
Sk% Skips — a gap where a seed was intended.
ks/Ha or sds/m The applied rate: thousands per hectare in the first table, seeds per metre in the second.
% The deviation of this section from the rate that was set.
seeds In the counters table — the number of seeds this section has sown.

NOTE

Read the deviation column first. A section that is 20 % below the others has a problem the average will not show you — a partly blocked outlet, a worn disk, a sensor that needs cleaning.

Working with the screen

What you want Button Or gesture
The next or the previous table PLUS / MINUS Long swipe left or right with two fingers
Scroll the rows UP / DOWN Swipe up or down
Zero the readings MENU Tap with two fingers
Go to the Statistics screen HOME Swipe left
Back to the home screen BACK Swipe right

Zeroing the readings

The monitor asks before it zeroes anything. The yellow strip and the word Confirmation say that this window wants an answer: Yes in green, No in red. Touch one of them, or leave with the “BACK” button, which cancels.
The monitor asks before it zeroes anything. The yellow strip and the word Confirmation say that this window wants an answer: Yes in green, No in red. Touch one of them, or leave with the “BACK” button, which cancels.

The counters of every seed, dry fertilizer and liquid fertilizer sensor are set to zero. Only the counters of this screen — the field statistics are not touched.

IMPORTANT

Zeroing cannot be undone. Do it when you start a new field or a new seed lot, not to tidy the screen.

The table while seeding

The table screen of the eight-row machine while seeding: one line per row with the actual rate, the quality, the doubles and skips in percent, the count per hectare and the deviation from the target. Lines within tolerance stay plain; a line that drifts turns yellow. The values change with every count.
The table screen of the eight-row machine while seeding: one line per row with the actual rate, the quality, the doubles and skips in percent, the count per hectare and the deviation from the target. Lines within tolerance stay plain; a line that drifts turns yellow. The values change with every count.
The table of the twenty-four-row drill while seeding, seeds and fertilizer: the actual rate per row, the deviation in percent, the lines that drift turn yellow.
The table of the twenty-four-row drill while seeding, seeds and fertilizer: the actual rate per row, the deviation in percent, the lines that drift turn yellow.
The table of the forty-four-row machine while seeding: the first page of rows with the rate and the deviation from the target; PLUS and MINUS turn the pages.
The table of the forty-four-row machine while seeding: the first page of rows with the rate and the deviation from the target; PLUS and MINUS turn the pages.
The table of the ninety-six-row machine while seeding: the first page of rows with the rate and the deviation; the pages follow with PLUS and MINUS.
The table of the ninety-six-row machine while seeding: the first page of rows with the rate and the deviation; the pages follow with PLUS and MINUS.

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9The Statistics screen

The Statistics screen scrolled from top to bottom and joined into one picture: field work, seeding, fertilizer, then every seed sensor.
The Statistics screen scrolled from top to bottom and joined into one picture: field work, seeding, fertilizer, then every seed sensor.

The Statistics screen is the report of the work: how far you drove, how much you covered, how much you sowed, and how evenly. It is kept separately for each field and survives the power being switched off.

Open it from the Table screen with “HOME”, or press “HOME” twice from the home screen. Leave it with “BACK”.

The report, from the top

The screen is one long list. Scroll it with UP and DOWN — hold the button and it moves a whole screen at a time.

The head of the report. The top line holds the field number between a minus and a plus — the two buttons that change it — then the date and the time of the work. Work on the field gives the distance driven, the area covered, the operating time and the average travel speed, and the moments the work started and ended. Below it Seeding opens with the total sown in thousands of seeds, then quality, doubles, skips and not sown, each as a percentage.
The head of the report. The top line holds the field number between a minus and a plus — the two buttons that change it — then the date and the time of the work. Work on the field gives the distance driven, the area covered, the operating time and the average travel speed, and the moments the work started and ended. Below it Seeding opens with the total sown in thousands of seeds, then quality, doubles, skips and not sown, each as a percentage.
Section What it holds
Work on the field Distance driven, area covered, operating time, average travel speed, and when the work started and ended.
Work without alarms control The part of the same work that the monitor was not watching — driven with the control switched off or locked.
Speed control How far and how long you drove outside the permitted speed range.
Seeding The quality of the sowing as a whole — see below.
Fertilizing, Liquid fertilizer The same for the other products, if the machine applies them.
Seed sensors The same figures again, but for every section separately.

Reading the seeding block

The seeding block in full. The five quality lines at the top, then two columns headed Actual and Target: the population in thousands per hectare and the seed spacing in seeds per metre, each with its deviation in brackets — here 143 % of what was set. At the bottom the field is split three ways with a coloured bar: green sown, red not sown, grey unknown, in hectares.
The seeding block in full. The five quality lines at the top, then two columns headed Actual and Target: the population in thousands per hectare and the seed spacing in seeds per metre, each with its deviation in brackets — here 143 % of what was set. At the bottom the field is split three ways with a coloured bar: green sown, red not sown, grey unknown, in hectares.
Quality The share of seeds placed singly, as intended. This is the number to judge the work by.
Doubles Two seeds where one was intended.
Skips A gap where a seed was intended.
Not sown The share of the run when nothing came out at all.
Actual / Target What was applied against what was set, in thousands per hectare and in seeds per metre. The percentage is the deviation.
Sown / Not sown / Unknown The field split three ways in hectares, with a bar. Unknown is the area driven while the monitor could not judge — it is not a fault, but it is not proof of work either.

NOTE

A large deviation is not always a fault of the machine. In the picture of the seeding block above the actual rate is 143 % of the target. Before changing anything on the drill, check that the travel speed the monitor sees matches the real one — a wrong speed moves every rate figure with it.

Section by section

Statistics, section by section. Each seed sensor gets its own block: the sensor number on the left, the seeds it counted on the right. Below them the four quality figures — q singles, d doubles, s skips, n not sown. Under those, the field split for this section in the same three colours. The bottom line of the block is the applied rate and the seed spacing, each with its deviation from the target. Sensor 3 shows 61 % green against 90 % on its neighbours: that row is sowing worse than the rest.
Statistics, section by section. Each seed sensor gets its own block: the sensor number on the left, the seeds it counted on the right. Below them the four quality figures — q singles, d doubles, s skips, n not sown. Under those, the field split for this section in the same three colours. The bottom line of the block is the applied rate and the seed spacing, each with its deviation from the target. Sensor 3 shows 61 % green against 90 % on its neighbours: that row is sowing worse than the rest.

This is where an uneven drill shows itself. One section with a lower quality than the rest, or a longer red part of the bar, points at that row: a blocked outlet, a worn disk, a sensor that needs cleaning.

Working with the screen

What you want Button Or gesture
Scroll the report UP / DOWN Swipe up or down
Another field PLUS / MINUS Swipe left or right with two fingers
The menu of the screen MENU Tap with two fingers
Go to the Motors screen HOME Swipe left
Back to the home screen BACK Swipe right

The menu of the screen

Select field Choose which field the monitor writes to from now on.
Statistics Switches the report between short and full. The short report keeps the totals and drops the per-section detail.
Mileage The path driven and the area worked over the whole life of the system, shown as Path in km and Area in ha. These totals cannot be reset. On a system with no speed sensor the same item shows the accumulated running time instead, as hours:minutes:seconds.
Save to SD card Writes one field, or all of them, to the memory card.
Reset Erases the statistics.

IMPORTANT

The statistics are also erased by something else. Changing the seeding control mode between “Precise” and the others asks for confirmation and, if you confirm, erases the statistics of every field. Save what you need to the memory card first.

SEE ALSO

A field whose statistics are not empty cannot be selected for new work until its data is erased — the monitor says so and asks.

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10The Motors screen

The Motors screen shows the dispenser electric motors of the machine, one tile each, and the tramline actuators if the machine has any. It is the screen to look at when a row stops sowing and you want to know whether the motor is the reason.

It exists on any machine whose profile contains at least one electric motor or one tramline actuator. Reach it with “HOME” from the Statistics screen. Leave it with “BACK”.

The Motors screen of a machine with two dispenser motors. The first motor is yellow with a STOP sign — serviceable, but the product application control is switched off. The second is red with a cross and shows XXX — no connection. The rest of the screen is empty because this machine has no tramline actuators.
The Motors screen of a machine with two dispenser motors. The first motor is yellow with a STOP sign — serviceable, but the product application control is switched off. The second is red with a cross and shows XXX — no connection. The rest of the screen is empty because this machine has no tramline actuators.

Reading a tile

The colour of the symbol is the state. The value beside it is the driven shaft speed in rpm — or, in the “Precise” control mode, the seeds per metre measured by the seed sensor of that row.

Symbol Value State
Motor, green the figure Normal. The motor is under control and being driven.
STOP, yellow the figure The motor is serviceable, but the product application control is switched off. Nothing is wrong with the motor — the system is simply not applying.
Motor, red the figure The motor is in an alarm state. Look at the alarm itself for the reason.
×, red XXX No connection to this motor. Check the cable and the connector before anything else.
?, red ??? The monitor cannot tell what this device is: either another type of device answers at this address, or the controller has stayed in its firmware update mode.
!, outlined !!! The motor has been removed from control by the operator. It is not driven and not watched.

NOTE

Yellow is not a fault. A screen full of yellow STOP signs means the application control is off — at the headland, or locked by hand from the home screen. Red is a fault; yellow is a state you chose.

Working with the screen

What you want Button Or gesture
The settings of one motor — Long press on its tile
Back to the Statistics screen — Swipe right
Back to the home screen HOME or BACK Swipe left

SEE ALSO

The long press opens the context menu of the motor you pressed. The same menu is reached from the home screen, but here you can see every motor of the machine at once and choose the one that is misbehaving.

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11Quick start

This is the order of getting ready. Your machine may not have every step — skip what it does not have.

Before the field

1 Calibrate the speed sensor. Everything else — area, rates, deviations — is calculated from the speed. A wrong speed makes every other figure wrong with it. “Settings” → “Seeding machine parameters” → “Speed calibration”, at Agronomist level.
2 Calibrate the metering rollers, on grain drills and on row-crop planters whose fertilizer dispenser is driven by an electric motor. From the context menu of each dispenser or motor, at Operator level, standing still.
3 Check the tramline rhythm, if the machine creates a tramline: Settings → Tramline.
4 Check the sensor parameters — the list is below.
5 Check each section: is it under control, is it applying. Both are set per section on the diagram.
6 Choose the field on the Statistics screen. For a new field, reset its statistics first.
7 Set the rates — seeding, dry fertilizer, liquid fertilizer.
8 Check the user level. It must be Operator.

NOTE

Steps 1 and 2 are not at the same level. Speed calibration lives behind “Seeding machine parameters”, and both that item and the calibration under it are Agronomist. The two mass calibrations, in the context menus of the dispensers and the motors, are Operator. So the usual order is: raise the level to Agronomist, do step 1, drop back to Operator, and do the rest.

IMPORTANT

Step 8 is the one that ruins a day. From Agronomist level upwards the panel suppresses every alarm but one. A blocked tube is not reported. The one alarm that still comes through is the warning about this very fact — “User is Agronomist! Alarms will not be shown!” — and it is raised once, when seeding starts at that level, not repeatedly.

Dropping back to Operator clears the panel’s record of what it has already shown, so alarms that were suppressed are raised again. Check the level before every start, not once a season.

Sensor parameters to check, by sensor type

  • Speed sensor — “Min speed, km/h”, “Max speed, km/h”
  • Dispenser sensor — “Period, s”, for each sensor
  • Fan sensor — “Minimum, rpm”, “Maximum, rpm”, for each sensor
  • Pressure sensor — “Minimum, Pa”, “Maximum, Pa”, for each sensor
  • Liquid fertilizer pump — “Pulses per liter”, “Max pressure, Bar”
  • Seed and dry fertilizer sensors — “Fraction”, “Correction”, “Recalculation,m” or “Recalculation,sec”. In the “Precise” or “Hybrid” mode also “Rate error,%”
  • Liquid fertilizer sensors — “Rate error,%” and, without a pump in the profile, “Pulses per liter”. Wilger flow meters: red 8900, green 15500, blue 3400 pulses per liter.
  • Electric motors, “Precise” mode — “Holes in disk”, for any motor in the group
  • Electric motors, mass dosing — for each motor check “Weight, gr” divided by “Rotations” against the roller specification. The mass calibration fills both in; see “Calibration” in the “Sensor settings” chapter.

SEE ALSO

Most parameters are set per sensor. The exceptions are the seed, dry fertilizer and liquid fertilizer sensor groups and both motor groups — there most parameters are common to the whole group, except sensor control and product application, which stay individual.

The four states of a section

On the diagram each section shows two independent things: whether the monitor watches it, and whether the machine applies through it.

Control Application What it means
off on Sowing, but nobody is checking this row.
off off The section is out of the work altogether.
on off Tramline: the row is deliberately not sowing and the monitor knows it.
on on Normal work.

SEE ALSO

In tramline mode the sections are usually switched by the actuators or the motors themselves, and the product application setting is ignored.

Starting to move

  1. Put the implement into the working position.
  2. Row-crop planters: fill the dispenser disks — main menu, “Fill the disks with seeds”. Without it the first metres of every row are empty.
  3. Grain drills: nothing to start. The metering motors sit in automatic rate mode and begin turning of their own accord as soon as the application control starts — which is the moment you move off. Move away briskly all the same: the rotor cells have to fill before the first metres are sown at the target rate.
  4. Drive.

WARNING

Steps 2 and 3 start machinery while the machine is standing still. Before filling the disks or starting the motors, make sure that nobody is near the metering units, the dispenser shafts or the fan.

One short beep The product application control has started. From now on the machine is being watched.
Three short beeps The control has stopped.
Three short beeps every 5 seconds while driving You are moving with the control locked by hand, or with the implement in the transport position. Nothing is being watched.

IMPORTANT

When the control actually starts. The manual lock must be off in every case. Then: if a working-position sensor is fitted and switched on, control begins once you move with the implement lowered. If there is no such sensor, control begins as soon as you move. The alarms themselves start a few seconds later — the delay is Settings → Alarm delay, 2 to 20 seconds.

Automatic alarm level

On grain drills in “Flow” or “Hybrid” mode, let the panel find the alarm level itself instead of guessing it: hold “BACK” on the home screen before moving off. A double tap on the screen does the same.

The numbers on the diagrams are replaced by a flashing AUTO until the machine has driven enough to measure.

While working

Watch four things: the speed against the tractor, the fan and the pressure inside their range, the actual rate against the target, and that no sensor is alarming.

Table screen How each section is doing right now.
Statistics screen How the whole field has gone.

IMPORTANT

The statistics are written every five minutes and when the machine stops. Switch the panel off only after you have stopped moving — otherwise the last stretch is lost.

If the speed sensor fails

WARNING

With speed imitation switched on the panel drives the dispenser motors and the pump as if the machine were moving. Switch imitation off before leaving the cab.

Switch on speed simulation in the sensor settings and drive on the simulated speed. In that state you control the application by hand: the manual lock, switched with a long press of “HOME” on the home screen. While it is on, the hand icon shows at the right edge and the speed reads zero.

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12Filling the disks with seeds

NOTE

This section applies only to planters fitted with seed dispenser electric motors and running in the “Precise” control mode. If the profile contains no electric motors, or a different control mode is selected, the menu item described below is not shown at all.

Why the disks have to be filled

When the dispenser disks are driven by electric motors, they stand empty until the motors are switched on. Drive off with empty disks and the first metres of every row are sown with nothing: the disk has to pick up seeds and carry them round to the drop point first.

Filling turns the disks while the machine is standing still, so that seeding starts from the first metre.

Running the operation

WARNING

The disks turn while the machine stands still. Before starting this operation, make sure that nobody is near the metering units, the dispenser shafts or the drive. Every disk of the machine starts at once and keeps turning for up to about twenty seconds. From the cab the metering units cannot be seen.

  1. On the home screen press the “MENU” button.
  2. Select the “Fill the disks with seeds” item and press the “MENU” button.
  3. The monitor asks for confirmation. Touch Yes on the screen. No, or the “BACK” button, cancels.
The confirmation the monitor asks for before it starts: the question Are you sure? and two buttons — Yes in green, No in red. This picture is older than the window: since September 2026 the box is wider and carries a yellow strip across its top with the word Confirmation on it, as shown in the chapter on the basics of the interface. The question, the buttons and the answer are unchanged.
The confirmation the monitor asks for before it starts: the question Are you sure? and two buttons — Yes in green, No in red. This picture is older than the window: since September 2026 the box is wider and carries a yellow strip across its top with the word Confirmation on it, as shown in the chapter on the basics of the interface. The question, the buttons and the answer are unchanged.

NOTE

The menu item is shown only while the machine is standing still. During movement it is hidden.

What the monitor does

The monitor takes the dispenser motors under its own control and turns each disk at 4 rpm of the driven shaft until the seed sensor belonging to that motor registers the first seed.

If no seed is registered within 1.25 revolutions of the shaft — about 19 seconds — that motor is stopped and marked as failed. A motor that is already in an alarm state is marked as failed straight away, without waiting.

Up to eight motors run at the same time. On a machine with more motors the rest wait their turn.

Reading the screen

Each dispenser motor is shown as a numbered tile along the top of the screen. The colour of the tile is its state.

The screen at the end of the operation. Tile 1 is green — the disk is filled. Tiles 2 to 8 are dark red with the number in bright red — failed; under each number the letters m g say why. The message Operation complete. stands in the middle, and the button at the bottom has changed to Close.
The screen at the end of the operation. Tile 1 is green — the disk is filled. Tiles 2 to 8 are dark red with the number in bright red — failed; under each number the letters m g say why. The message Operation complete. stands in the middle, and the button at the bottom has changed to Close.
Tile State
dark grey The motor is waiting its turn. Only eight motors run at once.
yellow The motor is running, the disk is turning.
green Done: the seed sensor registered a seed, the disk is filled.
dark red Failed. The disk could not be filled. The letters under the number say why — see below.
A failed tile close up. The tile is dark red, the motor number bright red above, and the reason letters below it.
A failed tile close up. The tile is dark red, the motor number bright red above, and the reason letters below it.

Letters on a failed tile

The colour of the letter matters as much as the letter itself: red means a fault, white means removed from control.

Letter Meaning
m red A fault of the seed dispenser electric motor was detected during the operation.
m white The motor is removed from control and cannot perform the operation.
g red The seed sensor registered no seed at all while the disk was turning.
s red A fault of the seed sensor was detected during the operation.
s white The seed sensor is removed from control.

SEE ALSO

If the seed sensor is removed from control, the monitor cannot check whether the disk has been filled. A serviceable motor still turns the disk for about one and a quarter turns, so in practice the disk does get filled — but the monitor then reports that motor as failed, because it never saw a seed.

Finishing and aborting

When every motor has finished, the monitor gives three short beeps and displays “Operation complete.”; the button changes to Close. Touch it, or press the “BACK” button, to return to the home screen.

To stop the operation before it finishes, touch Cancel or press “BACK” — the motors stop at once and the monitor hands their control back to the seeding logic.

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13Tramline rhythm settings

What you are setting

A tramline is the lane the sprayer will drive in later. You make it now, while sowing, by shutting off one or two sections on certain bouts so that nothing is planted where the wheels will go.

Which bouts those are depends on the width of your drill against the width of the sprayer. That pattern, repeating across the field, is the rhythm.

Example. A 6-metre drill and an 18-metre sprayer: every third bout must carry the lane, so the rhythm is three bouts long and the cut-off happens on one of them. The panel counts the bouts for you and shuts the sections off on the right one.

IMPORTANT

Get the rhythm wrong and the field looks perfect until the sprayer arrives and has nowhere to drive. Check the bout count against the sprayer, not against the drill.

What the panel allows

Rhythms stored Three. One is active at a time. Keep the patterns of the machines you work with and switch between them instead of setting up again.
Actuators in one rhythm Four.
Cut-off bouts per actuator Four. One actuator can cut off on up to four different bouts of the same rhythm.
Bouts in a rhythm At least one.

Setting it up

1 MENU → Settings → Tramline. Set the Tramline item to Yes.
2 Open Tramline rhythm settings.
3 Choose the rhythm number with PLUS / MINUS, then MENU → Select. The word Active appears beside the number — without it the rhythm is stored but not in use.
4 Set the number of bouts in the rhythm.
5 Add an actuator: choose its number, then the bout on which it must cut the flow off.
6 Add more cut-off bouts for the same actuator if the pattern needs them — up to four.
7 BACK to the home screen. The rhythm indicator now shows the current bout above and the total below.

What a finished rhythm looks like

The two pictures below were made on a machine set up this way: forty-eight seed sensors, four dry fertiliser sensors, two tramline actuators, markers and a work position sensor, with a rhythm of three bouts in which actuator 1 shuts off on bout 1.

The rhythm editor with a finished rhythm. At the top, Rhythm 1 with (Active) beside it. Below it Bouts 3: the rhythm repeats every three bouts. Under the heading Tramline actuators activation stands one row: Actuator 1 and the single bout number 1. The framed cell at the end of the row adds another bout to this actuator; the one on the empty row below adds another actuator. Leaving the editor with BACK saves the rhythm.
The rhythm editor with a finished rhythm. At the top, Rhythm 1 with (Active) beside it. Below it Bouts 3: the rhythm repeats every three bouts. Under the heading Tramline actuators activation stands one row: Actuator 1 and the single bout number 1. The framed cell at the end of the row adds another bout to this actuator; the one on the empty row below adds another actuator. Leaving the editor with BACK saves the rhythm.
The tramline indicator on the home screen: a block of wheel tracks, and beside it the fraction 1 over 3 — the machine is on bout 1 of a three-bout rhythm. To the left the yellow marker symbol shows both markers raised. The white figure over the grey one on the right of each diagram is the measured rate over the target.
The tramline indicator on the home screen: a block of wheel tracks, and beside it the fraction 1 over 3 — the machine is on bout 1 of a three-bout rhythm. To the left the yellow marker symbol shows both markers raised. The white figure over the grey one on the right of each diagram is the measured rate over the target.

IMPORTANT

The clock slot in these pictures shows 0:00 in blue. That is the bench, not the machine: the panel used for the pictures runs on a trial licence, and while a trial is active that slot cycles between the time left, the word TRIAL and blank instead of showing the time of day. On a delivered panel the same slot shows the clock.

NOTE

The red letter box at the lower right of the home screen picture is the general actuator failure indicator. The two tramline actuators are named in the profile of the bench but are not physically fitted to it, so the panel reports them as faulty. On a real machine with the actuators connected that box is not shown at all.

Moving to the next bout

The bout number can change by itself, or you can change it by hand. The menu is opened by a short press of “BACK” on the home screen.

Automatic

The panel can only switch bouts automatically if it has something to tell it that a bout has ended:

Markers in the profile At least one marker sensor must be under control and answering. The change of the marker position ends the bout.
No markers The implement position sensor must be under control and answering. Raising the implement out of work ends the bout.
Neither Automatic switching is impossible. The menu offers only Next bout, by hand.

On top of that, the Auto switching parameter must be set to Yes, and the machine must actually have been applying and then stopped. All of it together — otherwise the bout stays where it is.

NOTE

If the bout does not advance at the headland, check in this order: is Auto switching on; is the marker or position sensor under control; is it answering. The first is a setting, the other two are the machine.

By hand

Select Next bout in the same menu and press MENU. Do it at every turn, and check the indicator on the home screen before starting the pass — the number above is the current bout, the number below is the total.

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14Alarms and error codes

This chapter lists every alarm the Hectare ONE can show, what causes it and what to do. The alarms are grouped by the device that raises them. The text in the left column is exactly what stands on the screen — look for the words you see, not for a description of them.

When the monitor raises an alarm

A fault is not reported the moment it appears. The monitor waits: the condition must hold continuously for the time set in “Alarm delay” before the alarm window is shown.

Setting Value
Where it is set “Settings” menu of the home screen, item “Alarm delay”. Available at the Operator access level.
Range 2 to 20 seconds, in steps of 1 second.
Default 3 seconds. A value outside the permitted range is reset to the default automatically.

NOTE

Why this matters. A short alarm delay makes the monitor react quickly but also makes it react to brief disturbances — a single bump, a momentary gap in the seed flow. A long delay gives a quiet screen but lets a real fault run for up to twenty seconds before you are told. If the system alarms too often on a rough field, increase the delay before you start changing sensor settings.

Two cases behave differently:

  • Loss of communication is counted in polling attempts, not in seconds. The alarm appears after three consecutive failed polls of the device.
  • Immediately after a sensor has been set up, alarms of that sensor are not processed at all for a short blocking period. This prevents a burst of alarms while a device is being configured.

How to read the tables

  • Alarm text — the message displayed on the screen, quoted exactly. Where the message occupies two lines on the monitor, it is shown here on two lines.
  • Description and troubleshooting — the cause of the message and the sequence of the operator’s actions.
  • The red band at the top of the window says FAILURE! on every alarm, whatever the fault is. It is the title of the window, not the fault. The fault is the text under it.
  • Two ways to close it. Touch the red Close button in the window, or press HOME, which is lit while the window is open; the other six buttons are dark. One touch or press closes one alarm, and the next in the queue appears. A long press of HOME closes every open window at once and returns to the home screen. The alarms of the panel itself carry the line “HOME - close message” in their text; the alarms of the sensors do not.

IMPORTANT

The contact details of the service support are given on the back cover of this manual.

Any device: communication and device type

Alarm text Description and troubleshooting
Connection lost The monitor has received no answer from the device in three consecutive polls. This applies to sensors, actuators, controllers and the input device alike. • Check that the device is connected to the network. • Check the power supply. It must comply with the parameters specified in the device passport. • Check the cable and the connector of the device.
Wrong device type! A device of another type has been detected at the address of a device of one type. The cause may be an incorrect setting of the system profile or the configuration of the device itself. • To solve this problem, contact the service support.

Rotation speed: fan and dispenser shaft

Alarm text Description and troubleshooting
Low speed of rotation or High speed of rotation The rotation speed of the fan or of the dispenser shaft is below or above the allowable one. The same two messages are used for both devices — the name of the device in the alarm window tells you which one it is. • Check the monitored component. • Check the sensor settings. • Check that the sensor is serviceable. • For the dispenser sensor, check that the movement speed shown on the monitor corresponds to the actual one. • For the dispenser sensor, carry out the calibration.
No rotation There is no rotation of the dispenser shaft. Raised by the dispenser shaft sensor only. • Check the monitored component. • Check the sensor settings. • Check that the sensor is serviceable.

Hopper

Alarm text Description and troubleshooting
Hopper empty The level of the seed material in the hopper is very low. Refilling is required. • Check the filling of the hopper. • If the level of the seed material is above the mounting level of the sensor, check that the sensor is serviceable.

Pressure sensor

Alarm text Description and troubleshooting
High pressure The absolute value of the measured pressure (positive pressure or vacuum) is greater than the allowable one. • Reduce the speed of the fan or of the turbine. • Check the position of the regulating damper of the air intake (if present). • Check that the connection to the pressure sensor (the tube) is correct and that the pressure measuring line is free of blockages.
Low pressure The absolute value of the measured pressure (positive pressure or vacuum) is less than the allowable one. • Increase the speed of the fan or of the turbine. • Check the air duct for leaks. • Check the position of the regulating damper of the air intake (if present). • Check that the connection to the pressure sensor (the tube) is correct and that the pressure measuring line is free of blockages.

Product application rate control

Alarm text Description and troubleshooting
Not under control! Check seeding rate The application rate of the product over the set number of section control sensors is below the minimum required for the control of the product application to start. • Check that the movement speed shown on the monitor corresponds to the actual one. • Check the set rate or the minimum alarm application rate, depending on the control mode of the group of sections. • Check the value of the “Fraction” parameter in the settings of the seed sensor or of the dry fertilizer sensor. The value may have to be reduced. • Check the value of the “Pulses per liter” parameter in the settings of the liquid fertilizer sensor. The value may have to be reduced. • Check that there is a sufficient quantity of the products in the hoppers or in the tank. • Check the serviceability and the adjustment parameters of the metering mechanism.
Under allowable rate The section seed sensor, dry fertilizer sensor or liquid fertilizer sensor has detected an insufficient application rate of the product during operation. • Check that there is a sufficient quantity of the product in the hoppers or in the tank. • Check that the movement speed shown on the monitor corresponds to the actual one. • Check the value of the “Fraction” parameter in the settings of the seed sensor or of the dry fertilizer sensor. The value may have to be reduced. • Check that the seed sensor is serviceable by the status value on the “Information” screen. • Check the value of the “Pulses per liter” parameter in the settings of the liquid fertilizer sensor. The value may have to be reduced. • Check the serviceability and the adjustment parameters of the metering mechanism.
Over allowable rate The section seed sensor, dry fertilizer sensor or liquid fertilizer sensor has detected an excessive application rate of the product during operation. • Check that the movement speed shown on the monitor corresponds to the actual one. • Check the value of the “Fraction” parameter in the settings of the seed sensor or of the dry fertilizer sensor. The value may have to be increased. • Check that the seed sensor is serviceable by the status value on the “Information” screen. • Check the value of the “Pulses per liter” parameter in the settings of the liquid fertilizer sensor. The value may have to be increased. • Check the serviceability and the adjustment parameters of the metering mechanism.

Seeding quality: doubles and skips

Alarm text Description and troubleshooting
High % of doubles The detected percentage of doubles is higher than the set one. • Check that the movement speed shown on the monitor corresponds to the actual one. • Check the value of the “Doubles error,%” parameter in the settings of the seed sensor. • Check the value of the “Fraction” parameter in the settings of the seed sensor. The value may have to be increased. • Check that the sensor is serviceable by the status value on the “Information” screen. • Check the serviceability and the adjustment parameters of the metering mechanism.
High % of skips The detected percentage of skips is higher than the set one. • Check that the movement speed shown on the monitor corresponds to the actual one. • Check the value of the “Skips error,%” parameter in the settings of the seed sensor. • Check that there is a sufficient quantity of the seed material in the hoppers. • Check the value of the “Fraction” parameter in the settings of the seed sensor. The value may have to be reduced. • Check that the sensor is serviceable by the status value on the “Information” screen. • Check the serviceability and the adjustment parameters of the metering mechanism.

Tramline

Alarm text Description and troubleshooting
Stall The tramline actuator has jammed. • Check that the gate position sensors of the actuator are serviceable. • Check that the mechanism of the tramline actuator is serviceable.
Illegal state Both gate position sensors have been triggered at the same time, which cannot happen with a serviceable installation. • Check that the gate position sensors are serviceable.
Seeding to tramline The seed sensor, the dry fertilizer sensor or the liquid fertilizer sensor has detected an inadmissibly excessive application rate of the product in the tramline control mode. For the seed sensor or the dry fertilizer sensor: • Check the “Tolerable sowing to tramline,%” parameter in the settings of the group of section sensors. The value may have to be increased. • Check that the metering mechanism and the flow cut-off mechanism are serviceable. • Check the value of the “Fraction” parameter in the settings of the group of sections of the alarming sensor. The value may have to be increased. • Check that the sensor is serviceable by the status value on the “Information” screen. For the liquid fertilizer sensor: • Check the “Tolerable leak to tramline,%” parameter in the settings of the group of section sensors. The value may have to be increased. • Check that the metering mechanism and the flow cut-off mechanism are serviceable.

State of the seed and fertilizer sensors

Alarm text Description and troubleshooting
Clogged The seed sensor or the dry fertilizer sensor has detected clogging of the optical channel. • Remove the clogging. • Check that there is no dust build-up. • Check the power supply. It must comply with the parameters specified in the device passport.
Light struck The seed sensor or the fertilizer sensor has detected an extremely high level of illumination in the optical channel. • Prevent direct sunlight from entering the optical channel of the sensor.
Broken The seed sensor or the dry fertilizer sensor has detected a fault. Replacement may be required. • Check the power supply. It must comply with the parameters specified in the device passport.
Old firmware! Wrong S&D calc! The use of a seed sensor with outdated firmware has been detected. The sensor works, but the calculation of skips and doubles cannot be trusted. • Contact the service support to update the firmware in the device.

On-board system of the tractor

NOTE

All on-board sensors of the tractor share one alarm text — FAILURE. The name of the sensor shown above the text in the alarm window tells you which one has been triggered.

Alarm text Description and troubleshooting
Emergency oil pressure FAILURE The low oil pressure sensor has been triggered. • Check that the low oil pressure sensor is serviceable. • Check the activation signal in the settings of the low oil pressure sensor. • Check whether the monitoring of the ignition key position sensor is enabled, if it is present in the profile. • Check that the ignition key position sensor is serviceable, if it is present in the profile.
No battery charge FAILURE The absence of battery charging has been detected. • Check that the battery charge sensor is serviceable. • Check the activation signal in the settings of the battery charge sensor. • Check whether the monitoring of the ignition key position sensor is enabled, if it is present in the profile. • Check that the ignition key position sensor is serviceable, if it is present in the profile.
Low fuel FAILURE It has been detected that little fuel is left in the tank. • Check that this sensor is serviceable. • Check the activation signal in the settings of the fuel level sensor. • Check the activation signal delay in the settings of the fuel level sensor. The default is 15 seconds.
Air filter FAILURE It has been detected that the air filter is clogged. • Check that this sensor is serviceable. • Check the activation signal in the settings of this sensor. • Check the activation signal delay in the settings of the air filter sensor. The default is 5 seconds.

Product dosing by weight

NOTE

These alarms are raised by the system as a whole, not by a single device, and exist separately for each of the four products: the number in the message is the number of the product.

Alarm text Description and troubleshooting
Rate of Product 1 is too low! or Rate of Product 1 is too high! (also Product 2, 3 and 4) For the electric motor of the dispenser: • Check the speed limits in force on the “Information” screen for the speed sensor. • Check the target rate of the product. • Check the metering mechanism. • Check the settings of the electric motor that drives the dispenser shaft. • Check that the rotation speed sensor of the electric motor is serviceable. • If the working load on the electric motor is less than 20% or more than 80%, try to replace the fitted metering roller with one of a different size (a larger one if the dosage is insufficient, a smaller one if it is excessive). • Carry out the calibration of the metering roller. For the dispenser sensor with the weight control of the seed material switched on: • Check the target rate of the product. • Check the metering mechanism. • Check the settings of the rotation sensor of the dispenser shaft. • Check that the dispenser sensor is serviceable. • Carry out the calibration of the metering roller.
Product dosage is impossible! Check product rate and calibration! The system has detected that it is impossible to perform the application of the product by weight in accordance with the current settings and the target rate. • Check the target rate of the product. • Check the “Min speed, km/h” and “Max speed, km/h” parameters of the speed sensor. • Check the settings of the electric motors that apply the products by weight, and pay attention to the “Minimum, rpm” and “Maximum, rpm” parameters. • Carry out the calibration of the metering rollers of the electric motors. If this does not help, metering rollers of a different size have to be selected.

Access level

Alarm text Description and troubleshooting
User is Agronomist! Alarms will not be shown! The system has detected that the condition for the control of the product application is met while the “Agronomist” access level is activated. This message is displayed only once for the whole time of work with this access level. • For normal operation of the system, set the “Operator” access level in the settings.

Travel speed sensor

Alarm text Description and troubleshooting
Speed sensor #1 failed or Speed sensor #2 failed The alarm is registered only when the use of two movement speed sensors is selected in the settings of the system profile but the system registers movement from only one of them. • Check that the speed sensors are serviceable and eliminate the faults found. • Change the system profile so that only one movement speed sensor is used.
Error in settings of Min/Max The minimum and maximum travel speed set for the speed sensor contradict each other, so the monitor cannot decide whether the current speed is admissible. • Check the “Min speed, km/h” and “Max speed, km/h” parameters in the settings of the movement speed sensor. The minimum must be below the maximum.

NOTE

SLOWER and FASTER are not alarms. When the travel speed leaves the permitted range, the monitor does not open an alarm window: it writes SLOWER or FASTER on the home screen instead. This is deliberate — the message has to be visible continuously while you correct the speed, not acknowledged once. The two states are described in the chapter on the working screens.

Dispenser electric motor controller

Alarm text Description and troubleshooting
Motor jammed! The controller of the electric motor does not register rotation when the electric motor should be running. • Check that the rotation sensor of the electric motor is serviceable, as well as its connection to the controller. Pay attention to the condition of the cable and of the connector. • Check that the metering mechanism is serviceable.
FAILURE The controller of the electric motor has detected an atypical fault that requires the intervention of the service support. • To determine the error code, go to the “View sensors status” screen from the context menu of the faulty electric motor. The fault code will be given in the “Last fault” line. • Check that the controller of the electric motor is serviceable by replacing it with a serviceable one.
Short circuit A short circuit has been detected. • Check the quality of the cable connection (the integrity of the cables and of the connector). • Check that the controller of the electric motor is serviceable by replacing it with a serviceable one.
Over current An excess of current has been detected. • Check the quality of the cable connection (the integrity of the cables and of the connector). • Check the electric motor and the seeding mechanism for jamming. • Check that the controller of the electric motor is serviceable by replacing it with a serviceable one.
Under voltage The supply voltage of the electric motor is below the allowable one. Operation of the electric motor is impossible. • Check the supply voltage. If the supply voltage is below the allowable one: • Make sure that the alternator is serviceable. • Check the tension of the alternator belts. • Check that the connection is correct. The power harness must be securely connected to the battery or to the alternator terminals in accordance with the required supply voltage. • Check the quality of the cable connection (a reliable electrical contact). If the supply voltage is in order: • Check that the controller of the electric motor is serviceable by replacing it with a serviceable one.
Over voltage The supply voltage of the electric motor is above the allowable one. Operation of the electric motor is impossible. • Check the supply voltage. If the supply voltage is above the allowable one: • Make sure that the alternator is serviceable. • Check that the connection is correct. The power harness must be securely connected to the battery or to the alternator terminals in accordance with the required supply voltage. • Check the quality of the cable connection (a reliable electrical contact). If the supply voltage is in order: • Check that the controller of the electric motor is serviceable by replacing it with a serviceable one.
Over temperature The electric motor has overheated. • Cooling of the electric motor is required. • Check that the controller of the electric motor is serviceable by replacing it with a serviceable one.
Device in bootloader! The controller has stayed in its firmware update mode and is not running its working program. It cannot drive the motor in this state. • Switch the power off and on again. • If the message returns, the firmware update of the controller has not been completed. Contact the service support.

Liquid fertilizer pump controller

NOTE

The pump controller is built on the same electronics as the dispenser motor controller. In addition to the alarms in this table it raises the whole set of electrical alarms of the dispenser motor controller — Short circuit, Over current, Under voltage, Over voltage, Over temperature, FAILURE and Device in bootloader! — with the same meaning and the same actions.

Alarm text Description and troubleshooting
High pressure The value of the measured liquid pressure is greater than the allowable one. • Reduce the travel speed. • In the settings of the pump controller, increase the value of the “Max pressure, Bar” parameter.
Pressure sensor failure! The analogue signal from the sensor has gone substantially beyond the limits of the 4–20 mA working range. • Check the connection of the sensor to the controller. Pay attention to the integrity of the cable and of the connector. • Check that the sensor is serviceable. If it has failed, replace it with a new one.
Rate low The liquid fertilizer pump controller cannot reach the set rate. • Check the readings of the movement speed sensor. The speed value must correspond to the actual travel speed and be relatively stable. • If the working load of the electric pump is more than 90%, try to travel more slowly. • If the working load of the electric pump is less than 90% or the value fluctuates strongly, increase the value of the “Product rate error,%” parameter in the “Settings” menu of the home screen. • Check that the pump is serviceable.
Rate high The liquid fertilizer pump controller applies more than the set rate. • Check the readings of the movement speed sensor. The speed value must correspond to the actual travel speed and be relatively stable. • If the working load of the electric pump is less than 10%, try to travel faster. • If the working load of the electric pump is more than 10% or the value fluctuates strongly, increase the value of the “Product rate error,%” parameter in the “Settings” menu of the home screen. • Check that the pump is serviceable.

Reading the electric motor fault code

When the FAILURE alarm appears on an electric motor, the controller also records a numeric code. Read it out like this:

  1. On the home screen, open the context menu of the faulty electric motor.
  2. Go to the “View sensors status” screen.
  3. Find the “Last fault” line.

The code says what the controller detected. Quote it to the service support together with the number of the motor. The table below decodes it; the same code is shown as Error code on the Registers-1 page of the Motors screen.

The fault codes

The panel shows only the number. The descriptions are those of the motor controller itself.

Command and parameter errors — the controller refused something the panel asked for:

Code Description
-250 Invalid command
-251 Unexpected command
-252 Invalid command syntax
-253 Invalid command arguments
-260 Invalid number of arguments
-261 Specified index is greater than FFFFh
-262 Specified sub-index is greater than FFh
-300 Parameter does not exist
-301 Memory write operation failed
-302 Restore operation failed
-306 Parameter cannot be written
-307 Parameter cannot be read
-308 Parameter value out of range
-316 Version of the stored parameter set does not match the firmware version
-318 Stored parameter set has an invalid check sum
-322 Parameter cannot be set: the axis is in motion
-325 Parameter cannot be set: the positioning mode is inactive
-340 Parameter cannot be set: a limit switch is active
-343 Parameter cannot be set: a stop or halt command is being executed
-350 Parameter not contained in the specified index
-351 Parameter not contained in the specified sub-index

Device errors — the controller or the motor itself is in trouble:

Code Description
-1000 Low supply voltage
-1001 Excessive supply voltage
-1002 Low electronics supply voltage
-1003 Excessive electronics supply voltage
-1020 Overtemperature of the device
-1021 Overtemperature of the heat sink
-1060 Short circuit of a motor lead: between motor leads, motor and ground, or motor and power supply
-1061 Motor overcurrent
-4000 Following-difference error in the motion sequence
-5100 Limit switch active

back to contents

15System settings

IMPORTANT

Draft, 31.08.2026. Rebuilt from the firmware source of Hectare One v1.2.000 and from frames shot on the device. Every limit in this chapter was read out of the code, not carried over from the previous version — several of them were wrong. What could not be verified is named at the bottom.

NOTE

This chapter covers the settings of the control panel itself: the access levels, the profile that tells the panel what is connected, and the general parameters in the “Settings” menu. The settings of the individual sensors are in the “Sensor settings” chapter.

Access levels

The system has three levels. After every power-on the panel starts at the lowest one.

Level What it allows
Operator Everyday work. Some parameters cannot be changed and the statistics cannot be reset without a PIN.
Agronomist Resetting the statistics, the seeding machine parameters, the rate error, and the rest of the commissioning settings.
Service The profile, and the “Reset to defaults” items. Used by the service department only.

Switching the level

  1. On the home screen press “MENU” — the home screen menu opens.
  2. Select “Settings” and press “MENU”.
  3. Select the “User” item and choose the level with “PLUS” / “MINUS”.
  4. Press “MENU”. Going up a level asks for the PIN code; going down does not.
The home screen menu, the way into “Settings”
The home screen menu, the way into “Settings”

IMPORTANT

There is no two-button shortcut on Hectare ONE. The previous version of this chapter said the level could be switched by pressing “UP” and “DOWN” at the same time. The panel has no such gesture: its buttons are a touch strip, one touch is mapped to exactly one button, and the gesture table of the firmware contains no combination of two buttons. The level is changed through the “User” menu item and nowhere else.

IMPORTANT

At the “Agronomist” and “Service” levels alarm messages are not shown. The panel says so itself in a red window when the level is raised. Return to “Operator” before working.

They are not lost while they are hidden — they queue up. When the level is lowered again the panel throws away the ones that have since gone away and shows the ones that are still true, one window after another. A commissioning engineer who spent an hour at the Agronomist level should expect a short run of alarm windows on the way back down; it is the backlog, not a new fault.

The previous version added that “the alarm indicator blinks at a high frequency”. Hectare ONE has no alarm lamp — the firmware writes the lamp mode into a variable that nothing reads.

The PIN is different for every panel and is derived from the device code shown on the PIN entry screen. Take it from the device passport or from technical support.

Checking the profile

The profile tells the panel which devices, and how many of them, are in the system. A panel usually arrives with the profile already set. Check it before setting anything else.

IMPORTANT

Not by holding a button while switching on. The previous version told the operator to hold “UP” during power-on to reach a profile view screen. That belongs to a panel with mechanical keys. On Hectare ONE the low-level key reading is switched off in the firmware, so nothing can be held at power-on. Read the profile in the menu instead.

Where to look: Settings → User → Service level, then back to the home screen menu → “Service” → “Profile”.

The “Service” menu — the first item is “Profile”
The “Service” menu — the first item is “Profile”

Then check the devices themselves on the home screen:

  • No “Connection lost” alarm a few seconds after start — the panel has found everything the profile declares.
  • No white indicators with an exclamation mark — nothing is left out of control.
  • No red indicators with an “X” — everything answers.

NOTE

A profile is sometimes supplied with devices that are not in the delivery, so that the system can be extended later. Those indicators stay out of control on purpose. Do not switch their control on.

Taking a sensor into control

  1. On the home screen hold “MENU” for a few seconds — the panel enters the sensor setup mode.
  2. Step to the sensor with “UP” / “DOWN”.
  3. Press “PLUS” to take it into control, “MINUS” to take it out.
  4. Confirm in the window that appears.
  5. Leave with “BACK”. Repeat on the “Actuators” screen if the profile has actuators or electric motors.

NOTE

The confirmation is asked once per session. After the first answer the panel stops asking until the setup mode is left.

The profile parameters

What can be set, and within what limits

Parameter Range
Seed sensors 2 … 120. The menu lets you enter 1, but such a profile is rejected when it is saved.
Fertilizer sensors 0 … 60, and seed + fertilizer together not more than 120.
Liquid fert. flow sensors 0 … 60
Hoppers 0 … 9
Dispensers 0 … 9
Speed No / Panel / Input device / Input device (2) — at most one speed sensor either way.
Fans 0 … 2
Pressure sensors 0 … 3
Implement position sensor No / Yes
Markers No / One / Both
Diesel generator sensors Battery charge, oil pressure, ignition, low fuel, air filter — No / Yes each.
Seed dispenser electric motors 0 … 60
Fertilizer dispenser electric motors 0 … 30, and both motor groups together not more than 60.
Tramline actuators 0 … 4
Liquid fertilizer pump controller 0 … 1

When the panel refuses a profile

The panel checks the whole profile, not the single item being changed. It rejects a profile when:

  • the hopper, dispenser and diesel-generator sensors together come to more than 12;
  • they come to more than 10 while the pressure and fan sensors together come to more than four;
  • the pressure and fan sensors together come to more than five;
  • there are fertilizer motors but no seed motors, or fertilizer motors but no fertilizer sensors;
  • there are electric motors or a liquid fertilizer pump but no speed sensor;
  • liquid fertilizer valves and a pump controller are declared at the same time.

NOTE

After changing the profile choose “Save profile”. The panel reports “Saved” and then asks for a restart. Switch the power off and on.

Saving and loading

For the current profile the panel can save all the settings and restore them later — useful for trying something out. Both items are in the “Profile” menu: “Save settings” and “Load settings”.

With an SD card in the slot it is better to use “Save to SD-card” and “Load from SD-card”: a profile saved that way carries its settings with it, so one panel can serve several implements.

NOTE

Files are named automatically as P0001.pfl and stored in the PROFILES folder of the card. A file may be renamed — keep it to eight characters, Latin letters and digits.

IMPORTANT

A profile file written by one firmware version is very likely not readable by another. On the file selection screen an incompatible profile is shown in red.

The “Settings” menu

The “Settings” menu
The “Settings” menu

IMPORTANT

The menu does not always have the same items. Two things change it: the access level and the display mode of the diagrams. At the Operator level the seeding machine parameters and the rate error are hidden. In the “Flow” mode the diagram parameters are hidden as well, because in that mode a diagram has nothing to set. If an item named here is missing, check the level and the mode before looking for a fault.

Item Range Level
Brightness, % 0 … 100, in steps of 10. At 0 the item reads AUTO and the panel sets the backlight itself from its light sensor, brightening quickly and dimming slowly. Any other value fixes the backlight at that level. Operator
Volume 0 … 100, in steps of 10 Operator
Language the installed languages Operator
Buttons sound No / Yes Operator
Alarm delay 2 … 20 s Operator
Rate error,% 3 … 20 % Agronomist
Seeding machine parameters submenu Agronomist

Seeding machine parameters

The “Seeding machine parameters” menu
The “Seeding machine parameters” menu

Width, cm — the working width of the implement. The processed area is calculated from it, so it must be entered. Numbers are typed on the keypad: the digits, the backspace at the top right, OK to accept, “BACK” to leave the old value.

Entering a number
Entering a number

Mode of seeding and Mode of fertilizers — three modes each:

  • Flow — seeds per second. For grain seeders.
  • Hybrid — seeds per metre. Recommended for grain seeders.
  • Precise — seeds per metre, and skips and doubles are counted as well. For row-crop seeders.

IMPORTANT

Changing between “Precise” and the other two modes demands that the statistics be reset if any field has work recorded in it.

Mode of liquid fertilizer — Flow (litres per minute) or By area (litres per hectare). Shown only when there is no liquid fertilizer pump controller in the profile — with a controller the panel decides the mode itself.

Actuators to sensors mapping — which section sensors belong to which actuator or electric motor, so that they switch to tramline monitoring when that actuator shuts its sections off. A mapping is a range: a start number and an end number; equal numbers mean a single section. Up to four ranges may be attached to one actuator.

Tramline — the rhythms of the tramline. A submenu of its own.

The tramline menu
The tramline menu

The rhythms themselves are described in the chapter “Tramline rhythm settings”.

Speed calibration and Dispenser calibration — the two calibrations that need the machine to move. Both procedures are in “Sensor settings” → “Calibration”. Dispenser calibration carries a number beside it: the dispenser to calibrate, or 0 for all of them at once.

Reset to defaults — returns this menu to the factory values. Service level only.

Diagram settings

The diagram settings of the seed sensors
The diagram settings of the seed sensors

There are three of these menus — one for the seed sensors, one for the dry fertilizer, one for the liquid fertilizer. Each appears only when its own diagram is not in the “Flow” mode and its own sensors are in the profile.

Item What it does
Skips & Doubles Shows the skip and double bars over the last stretch of the path. “Precise” mode only.
Grid No — only the rate line; Partial — only the tolerance limits; Full — both.
Scale S&D, % The height of the skip and double bars, 5 … 50 % in steps of 5. “Precise” mode only.
Reset to defaults Visible at the Service level only.

Change Date & Time

The date and time menu
The date and time menu

Set the fields, then choose “Set” and press “MENU”. “BACK” leaves them unchanged.

NOTE

The settings are saved by themselves a few seconds after the last press. Wait a moment before switching the panel off.

back to contents

16Sensor settings

IMPORTANT

Draft, 31.08.2026. Every parameter table on this page was extracted from the firmware source of Hectare One v1.2.000 — the range, the step and the access level of each item come from the option descriptors themselves, not from the previous version of the manual.

NOTE

This chapter is the reference for the individual sensors: how to reach a sensor’s settings, what the status screen shows, and what every parameter of every sensor type means. The panel’s own settings — access levels, profile, the “Settings” menu — are in the “System settings” chapter.

Reaching a sensor

  1. On the home screen hold “MENU” for a few seconds. The panel enters the sensor setting mode and the selected sensor is drawn inside a white rectangle.
  2. “UP” / “DOWN” move from sensor to sensor. “PLUS” takes the selected one into control, “MINUS” takes it out.
  3. “MENU” opens the context menu of the selected sensor.
  4. “BACK” leaves the mode.

A sensor tile can also be held down directly to open the same context menu.

The context menu of the movement speed sensor
The context menu of the movement speed sensor

What every context menu has

The context menu of a fan sensor — the three common items and the sensor’s own three
The context menu of a fan sensor — the three common items and the sensor’s own three
Information Opens the status screen of this sensor.
Disable control / Enable control Takes the sensor out of monitoring, or back into it. Asked for confirmation the first time in a session.
Reset to defaults Returns this sensor’s parameters to the factory values. Service level only.

Between them stand the parameters of that particular sensor. Which of them are shown depends on the access level — the tables below give the level of each.

The status screen

Reached through “Information”. It shows what the panel knows about one sensor.

Button Action
PLUS / MINUS Next / previous sensor — the screen stays open.
UP / DOWN Step through the active alarms of this sensor.
MENU The context menu of this sensor.
BACK Back to the sensor selection.

The screen carries: the channel (which sensor of the group), the address it answers on, its type and number, how it is connected, the state of the communication, a block of figures particular to that sensor type, and the list of active alarms.

Normal The sensor answers.
Not controlled Neither the communication nor anything else is being watched.
No connection The sensor does not answer. Shown in red.
Wrong device type! Something answers at this address, but it is not the kind of device the profile expects. Shown in red.
IMITATION Only on the speed sensor: the speed is being simulated, not measured. Shown in yellow.

NOTE

The figures block is filled only while the sensor is under control. A sensor taken out of control shows its identity and nothing else.

What each kind of sensor adds

Below the common lines every kind of sensor shows its own figures. They are drawn only while the sensor is under control, answers, and is of the expected kind.

Sensor What the block shows
Speed sensor The pulse frequency as F= in Hz; with two speed sensors, F1= and F2=. Under it the two speed limits, Min speed, km/h and Max speed, km/h. On a machine that doses a product by weight with electric motors the limits are the ones the motors can hold, narrowed by the two settings; a limit the settings cannot meet is written in red as an inequality. Without such motors a limit set to zero is shown as —-, that is, switched off.
Hopper sensor Pin: and the level on the input, “0” or “1”.
Dispenser shaft sensor The pulse frequency as F= in Hz, to three decimals.
Fan sensor The pulse frequency as F= in Hz.
Pressure sensor The pressure as P= in kPa.
Seed sensor, dry fertilizer sensor Status: and one of eight states, listed below.
Liquid fertilizer flow sensor Status: Working, or Working:Tramline while the section is in the tramline mode; under it Flow= and the rate in L/min.
Implement position sensor Position: Working or Position: Transporting, and Pin: with the level on the input.
Ignition, oil pressure, battery charge, fuel level, air filter Pin: and the level on the input, “0” or “1”.
Marker sensor No block of its own: only the common lines.
Tramline actuator Status: Pulled in, Pulled out, Working while the shutter is moving, or Unknown.
Dispenser electric motor Status: Working, or Faulty while any alarm of the motor is active; then Last fault: with the controller’s numeric code, if there has been one. A universal controller adds the line IN1[ ] IN2[ ] IN3[ ] with the levels on its three inputs.
Liquid fertilizer pump controller Status: Working or Faulty. With a fault, Last fault: and the code. Without one, three lines: Flow= in L/min, Load= in per cent, and the pressure sensor of the line — Pressure sensor: No if the machine has none, otherwise Pressure sensor= in Bar with the raw signal in mA in brackets; dashes stand for a value the controller cannot give.

The eight states of a seed or fertilizer sensor:

Status Meaning
Working Normal.
Working:Tramline Normal; the sensor has been switched into the tramline control mode for the current bout.
Configuring The sensor has received new settings from the panel and is applying them.
Calibration in progress The sensor is running its initial calibration. It takes a few seconds.
Clogged The infrared emitter of the optical channel is blocked, most likely by a blocked seed tube. Shown in red.
Light struck Too much sunlight falls into the optical channel; the sensor may miscount. Shown in red.
Faulty The sensor has failed and needs to be replaced. Shown in red.
Unknown Another fault that cannot be identified. Shown in red.

At the bottom of the screen the active alarms of this sensor are listed one at a time, as Alarm N from M in red followed by the name of the alarm; “UP” and “DOWN” step through them.

Calibration

Four calibrations exist, and they are not variants of one procedure. Each writes different parameters, each is reached a different way, and two of them need the machine to move.

What it puts right Where it lives Level Machine
Movement speed — the pulse count the speed sensor gives over a known distance “Settings” → “Seeding machine parameters” → “Speed calibration” Agronomist drives 100 m
Dispenser rotation — “Wheel, pulses” against “Dispenser pulses” “Settings” → “Seeding machine parameters” → “Dispenser calibration” Agronomist wheel and dispenser shaft turned together
Dispenser mass — “Weight, gr” and “Weight, pulses” context menu of the dispenser sensor Operator standing still
Metering roller mass — “Weight, gr” and “Rotations” of one electric motor context menu of the dispenser electric motor Operator standing still

IMPORTANT

The two menu calibrations are Agronomist level, and so is the “Seeding machine parameters” item that leads to them. An operator working at Operator level does not see them at all. The two mass calibrations are Operator level, because they have to be repeated whenever the product changes.

Speed calibration

Everything the panel counts — area, rates, deviations — is derived from distance travelled. A speed sensor that is out by a tenth makes every other figure on the panel wrong by a tenth.

Before starting, set “Pulses” and “Diameter, cm” for the sensor. The calibration corrects the pulse figure; it cannot invent it.

The panel refuses to start and shows a red-headed box if:

“No speed sensor” The profile carries no speed sensor.
“Connection lost with the sensor! Calibration canceled!” The sensor does not answer.
“Sensor not controlled! Calibration canceled!” The sensor has been taken out of monitoring.

The procedure.

  1. Mark out 100 m on the ground and put the machine at the start.
  2. Open “Settings” → “Seeding machine parameters” → “Speed calibration”. The panel shows “Pass 100m and press STOP” with a single “STOP” button.
  3. Drive the marked distance and stop.
  4. Press “STOP”.

The distance is fixed at 100 m in this firmware. The panel does not ask for it.

On success the panel shows “Done” and closes the box by itself. If the counter did not move it shows “FAILURE! The tractor did not move!” — which means the sensor gave nothing at all, not that it was inaccurate. Closing the box any other way gives “Calibration canceled!” and changes nothing.

NOTE

The panel waits half a second after “STOP” before reading the counter, and checks the connection again in that moment. A sensor that drops out on the last metre is reported as a lost connection rather than a bad result.

Dispenser calibration — rotation

This one teaches the panel how many dispenser shaft pulses belong to one wheel pulse, so that it can tell a stopped shaft from a moving machine. It is the basis of “Rotation speed control”.

It can be run for one dispenser or for all of them at once — the menu item carries the number, and 0 means all.

Both the speed sensor and every dispenser taking part must be under control and answering. If any of them is not, the calibration ends with “Sensor not controlled! Calibration canceled!” or “Connection lost with the sensor! Calibration canceled!”.

The procedure.

  1. Open “Settings” → “Seeding machine parameters” → “Dispenser calibration” and set the dispenser number, or 0 for all.
  2. The panel shows “Calibration” and a progress bar. Turn the drive wheel and the dispenser shaft together — by hand, or by moving the machine.
  3. The bar fills as the counters rise. It reaches 100 % when both the speed sensor and every participating dispenser have given at least 100 pulses. The bar follows whichever is furthest behind, so a dispenser that is not turning holds it at zero.
  4. At 100 % the panel beeps once and shows “Stop rotation!”.
  5. Stop everything. The panel waits until no counter has changed for two seconds, then writes the result and shows “Done”.

“To abort operation press BACK.” stands at the bottom of both screens and does what it says at any moment.

NOTE

If the raw counts do not fit the parameter range, the panel halves both numbers together, repeatedly, until they do. The ratio is preserved; only the two stored figures come out smaller than what was counted. This is why the values in “Wheel, pulses” and “Dispenser pulses” after a calibration are not the numbers you watched on the screen.

Dispenser calibration — mass

Reached by holding the dispenser sensor tile and choosing “Dispenser calibration(weight)” from its context menu.

NOTE

The item is only there when “Weight control” is switched on for that dispenser. With weight control off, the panel hides it.

The panel raises itself to Agronomist level for the length of the calibration and puts the level back on exit.

The procedure. The panel spells the steps out on the screen; they are repeated here because the screen has room for the wording but not for the reasoning.

The first screen lists the target rates in kg/ha of the products in use and marks the one this dispenser meters with > and <. Start with “Calibrate dispenser N” (or the “PLUS” key); leave with “Exit” (or “BACK”).

If the dispenser cannot be calibrated, the button is replaced by a red line naming the reason: “Not controlled”, “No connection” or “FAILURE”.

The second screen carries the filling instructions:

  1. Weigh the empty container and write down the weight.
  2. Fill the hopper with the product.
  3. Place the empty container under the dispenser.
  4. Start filling the rotor cells by rotating the rotor.
  5. When the rotor cells are filled, go to the calibration.

Step 4 matters more than it looks: a rotor whose cells are still empty gives short measure for the first turns, and that error lands in the stored constant. Go on with “Go to calibration” (or “UP”), step back with “Cancel” (or “BACK”).

The third screen is the measurement. It counts “Impulses” and turns a rotor icon as they arrive:

  1. Empty the container of product.
  2. Place the empty container under the dispenser.
  3. Rotate the dispenser rotor, filling the container as much as possible, but not less than 2 kg and not more than 60 kg.
  4. Weigh the filled container.

The “Complete” button (or the “MINUS” key) appears only after more than ten pulses have been counted. “Cancel” — or “BACK” — asks “Are you sure?” before throwing the measurement away.

Finish, and the keypad asks for “Enter the difference of the filled and empty container in grams”. The figure must lie between 2000 and 60000 grams; the panel offers 10000. Enter the weighed difference, and the panel stores “Weight, gr” and “Weight, pulses”.

NOTE

A dispenser alarm raised during this calibration does not stop it — only a lost connection does. The measurement is a mechanical one, and the panel deliberately keeps out of the way until the container is weighed.

Electric motor calibration — mass

Reached by holding the dispenser electric motor tile and choosing “Dispenser calibration(weight)”.

IMPORTANT

The item appears only while the machine is standing still. In motion the panel removes it from the context menu, and no message explains the absence.

Entering this calibration puts every electric motor on the machine — seed and fertilizer alike — into manual mode at zero speed. Leaving it puts them all back to automatic rate control. Nothing meters while the calibration is open.

The first screen shows the target rates as above, and under them the dosing speed window the current settings allow: “Product dosage speed limitation:” with “Min speed, km/h” and “Max speed, km/h”. If the minimum has risen above the maximum the block turns red and reads “Can not provide dosage!” — the roller fitted cannot deliver the rate asked of it at any speed, and calibrating will not repair that. Start with “Calibrate electric motor N” or “PLUS”.

The second screen prepares the rotor:

  1. Weigh the empty container and write down the weight.
  2. Fill the hopper with the product.
  3. Place the empty container under the dispenser.
  4. Start filling the rotor cells. The dispenser will perform 2 turns.
  5. If the rotor cells are filled, go to the calibration.

Here the motor does the turning. “Fill the rotor cells” — or the “MENU” key — runs the shaft at the middle of the motor’s own “Minimum, rpm” and “Maximum, rpm” window, capped at 60 rpm, for exactly two turns of the driven shaft, then stops by itself. “Stop motor” (“BACK”) interrupts it. Repeat until the cells are full. Then “Go to calibration” or “UP”.

The third screen shows “Rotations” to one decimal and waits:

  1. Empty the container of product.
  2. Place the empty container under the dispenser.
  3. Do the calibration. Fill the container as much as possible, but not less than 1 kg and not more than 60 kg.
  4. Stop the motor.
  5. Weigh the filled container.

“Calibration” — or “MENU” — starts the motor; “Stop motor” or “BACK” stops it. Run and stop as many times as needed: the turn counter keeps running total. “Complete” (or “MINUS”) appears once more than one full turn has been made.

The keypad then asks for the same weight difference, this time between 1000 and 60000 grams. The panel stores “Weight, gr” and “Rotations” for that motor.

IMPORTANT — the calibration can be run from the machine

If the motor controller has a digital input assigned as a calibration button — “Button input” set to 1…3, with “Activation signal” giving its resting state — then that button starts and stops the motor exactly as “Calibration” and “Stop motor” do: the motor runs while the button is held and stops when it is released. This lets one person stand at the dispenser with the container instead of walking to the cab between runs.

The panel never mentions this. The screen shows the same “Calibration” and “Cancel” buttons whether or not a button is configured. The behaviour is real; only the on-screen hint for it is absent from this firmware.

The calibration stops itself and reports a failure if the motor stops answering, if the motor raises an alarm, or if ten seconds pass with no pulses from the rotation sensor — the last of these is reported as “No data from rotation sensor”. A jammed or unplugged rotation sensor therefore ends the run rather than quietly recording zero.

Movement speed sensor

Parameter Range Level
Pulses 1 … 1000 Agronomist
Count period 1 … 1000 Agronomist
Diameter, cm 10 … 200 Agronomist
Factor, % 1 … 10000; 100 is a direct 1:1 drive Agronomist
Seeding criteria 0 / 1 Agronomist
Min speed, km/h 0 … 99; 0 switches the check off Agronomist
Max speed, km/h 0 … 99; 0 switches the check off Agronomist
Imitation, km/h 0 … 20; 0 means the real sensor is used Agronomist
Width, cm 0 … 10000 — the track between the two wheels, for a two-sensor installation Agronomist
GPS, GPS internal No / Yes — take the speed from a receiver instead of the wheel Agronomist

IMPORTANT

Setting “Imitation” to anything but zero changes two other things by itself. The panel zeroes Min speed and Max speed — they are meaningless against a simulated speed — and it locks the product application, so that nothing is dosed while the machine stands still. The lock is the hand icon on the home screen; hold “HOME” to release it.

The imitated speed is also held inside the range the dosing allows: a value outside it is pulled back to the nearest limit as it is entered.

Seed sensors and dry fertilizer sensors

Both groups are the same kind of device and share one parameter set. Almost everything here is common to the whole group — only whether the sensor is under control — “Disable control” / “Enable control” in its context menu — and the product application are set per sensor.

Parameter Range Level
Flow rate 1 … 1500 seeds per second — the rate set for the “Flow” mode; below it the section raises the low-rate alarm Operator
Hybrid rate 1 … 200 — the target in the “Hybrid” mode Operator
Precise rate, x10 5 … 500 — the target in the “Precise” mode, in tenths Operator
Sensitivity 1 … 120 Agronomist
Fraction 1 … 100 Operator
Correction 100 … 3300, in steps of 10 Operator
Rate error,% 5 … 95, in steps of 5 — how far the actual rate may stand from the target before an alarm Agronomist
Doubles error, % 0 … 95 — “Precise” mode only Agronomist
Skips error, % 0 … 95 — “Precise” mode only Agronomist
Recalculation 10 … 50 — the stretch the skips and doubles are counted over; named in metres or in seconds depending on the mode Operator
Percent of sowing, % 5 … 80, in steps of 5 Agronomist
Tolerable sowing to tramline,% 0 … 50 — how much a section that should be shut off for the tramline may still deliver Agronomist
Group start address Set at commissioning — see “Device configuration” Service

Liquid fertilizer section sensors

Parameter Range Level
Pulses per liter 1 … 60000 Agronomist
Rate error,% 5 … 95, in steps of 5 Agronomist
Tolerable leak to tramline,% 0 … 50 Agronomist
Pct. of distributing 5 … 80, in steps of 5 Agronomist
Group start address See “Device configuration” Service

The two target rates of this sensor — one for the flow mode, one for the by-area mode — have no menu item: they are set on the home screen with “PLUS” and “MINUS”, like every other target rate.

Liquid fertilizer pump controller

Parameter Range Level
Pulses per liter 100 … 10000 Agronomist
Pressure sensor 0 … 2 — which pressure sensor watches the supply line Agronomist
Pressure boundary, Bar 0 … 500 Agronomist
Max pressure, Bar 0 … 500 Operator
Section control D.I. 0 … 2 — an external input that switches the pump on and off Agronomist
Start delay, mS 0 … 500, in steps of 5 Service
Group start address See “Device configuration” Agronomist

Dispenser sensor

Parameter Range Level
Period, s 1 … 60 Operator
Rotation speed control No / Yes Agronomist
Wheel, pulses 1 … 65535 — set by “Dispenser calibration — rotation” Agronomist
Dispenser pulses 1 … 65535 — set by “Dispenser calibration — rotation” Agronomist
Maximum error, % 1 … 50 Agronomist
Weight control No / Yes — watch the dispenser by the mass applied instead of by its rotation Agronomist
Type of product Which product this dispenser meters Agronomist
Weight, gr / Weight, pulses 1 … 65535 each — both set by “Dispenser calibration — mass” Agronomist

NOTE

Prefer the mass control to the rotation control. Watching the rotation of the dispenser against the speed sensor is the older method: it notices that the shaft has stopped, not that the product has. Weight control watches the applied kilograms per hectare and catches an empty or bridged hopper that still turns.

Dispenser electric motor

Parameter Range Level
Holes in disk 1 … 200 — “Precise” mode only Operator
Numerator 1 … 500 Agronomist
Denominator 1 … 500 Agronomist
Rotation direction 0 / 1 Agronomist
Rollback when jammed No / Yes — back the rotor off and try again instead of stalling Agronomist
Section control D.I. 0 … 2 Service
Start delay, mS 0 … 500, in steps of 5 Service
Group start address See “Device configuration” Service
Type of product Which of the four products this motor meters Agronomist
Weight, gr / Rotations 1 … 65535 each — both set by “Electric motor calibration — mass” Agronomist
Minimum, rpm / Maximum, rpm 1 … 5000 each — the shaft speed window the panel is allowed to use Agronomist
Button input 0 … 3 — digital input of the motor controller used as a calibration button; 0 = none Agronomist
Activation signal 0 / 1 — which state of that input counts as pressed Agronomist

Numerator and denominator together are the gear ratio between the motor and the dispenser shaft.

“Minimum, rpm” and “Maximum, rpm” are not a safety limit but the window the rate controller works inside; the dosing speed window on the calibration screen is calculated from them together with the roller constant. “Button input” and “Activation signal” are described under “Calibration” above.

Fan sensor

Parameter Range Level
Minimum, rpm 500 … 9000, in steps of 500 Operator
Maximum, rpm 500 … 9000, in steps of 500 Operator
Pulses 1 … 60 — how many pulses one turn of the fan gives Agronomist

Pressure sensor

Parameter Range Level
Filter 1 … 16 — how heavily the reading is smoothed Agronomist
Minimum, Pa 0 … 10000, in steps of 100 Operator
Maximum, Pa 0 … 10000, in steps of 100 Operator

Marker sensors

Parameter Range Level
Connected marker Left / right Agronomist
Signal “down” Which state of the input means the marker is lowered Agronomist

Hopper, implement position and diesel generator sensors

These are all discrete inputs — they report one of two states and nothing more.

Parameter Range Level
Activation signal Which state of the input is the one worth reporting Agronomist
Signal delay, sec How long that state must hold before it counts Agronomist

The hopper sensor has no parameters of its own at all — its context menu carries only the three common items.

The diesel generator group — battery charge, oil pressure, ignition, low fuel, air filter — are five of these inputs, each switched on separately in the profile.

Tramline actuator

The actuator has no parameter table of its own in the sensor menus: Cutoff position and Switch are set where the actuator is configured. Its rhythm belongs to the chapter “Tramline rhythm settings”, and the assignment of sections to it to “System settings”.

NOTE

One actuator controller carries three things: the actuator itself and both marker sensors of the bout. That is why a machine with markers and a tramline needs only one such controller — see “Device configuration”.

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17Device configuration

IMPORTANT

Draft, 31.08.2026. Rebuilt from the firmware source of Hectare One v1.2.000. All four configuration menus were opened on the device and shot in English.

IMPORTANT

These operations are for authorised service engineers. They are carried out when the system is commissioned and when a sensor is replaced. A device given the wrong address disappears from the panel or takes the place of another one. Follow this chapter or the instructions of an Agriwelt GmbH engineer, and do not try menu items at random.

Before you start

  1. Disconnect every sensor from the communication cable connector of the panel.
  2. Connect only the one device that is to be given a new address.
  3. Switch the panel on. Alarms about lost communication appear — close them all.
  4. Raise the access level to Agronomist: home screen → “MENU” → “Settings” → “User” → choose the level with “PLUS” / “MINUS” → “MENU” → enter the PIN.
  5. Leave with “BACK”, choose “Service” → “Sensors Configuration”.

IMPORTANT

One device on the cable at a time. The panel addresses whatever answers. With two devices of the same kind connected, which of them gets the new address is not defined.

The “Sensors Configuration” menu — four kinds of device
The “Sensors Configuration” menu — four kinds of device

The pattern, once

All four menus work the same way, so it is worth reading once.

Item What it is
Sensor address / Device address Which device the menu is talking to. Leave it at AUTO and the panel talks to whatever single device answers. Pressing “MENU” on this item starts a search; each further press steps to the next device found.
New address The address the device is to be given. Set it with “PLUS” / “MINUS”.
Set Writes it. “Done” means the device accepted it.

IMPORTANT

“MENU” on the address item is not a harmless look. It puts a search onto the bus and can change what the connected devices answer to. Use it only with a single device on the cable, never on an assembled machine.

Afterwards, every time: disconnect the device and connect it again, then return to the home screen and check that it appears where it should. Then set the access level back to Operator — or simply switch the panel off and on, which does the same.

Seed sensor

The “Seed sensor” configuration menu
The “Seed sensor” configuration menu

The address of a seed sensor can only be changed while the sensor is working normally. A tube sensor is ready as soon as it is connected. An open sensor has to sit on its bracket, or be held so that daylight does not fall into the optical channel — the gap between the two glasses. In direct light the sensor reports a permanent seed flow and does not accept the new address.

New address here is the number of the row, the same number the operator sees under the column on the home screen.

Pressure sensor

The “Pressure sensor” configuration menu. The address value is covered in this manual.
The “Pressure sensor” configuration menu. The address value is covered in this manual.

The same three items. The panel proposes the correct value for the first pressure sensor by itself, and each further sensor takes the next one — take the numbers from the data sheet of the system, they are not printed here.

HUB8 input device

The “HUB8” configuration menu
The “HUB8” configuration menu

The HUB8 carries several sensors at once, so its menu is longer: after the device address come the eight channels, in pairs.

Channel N type What is wired to that channel.
Channel N address Which sensor of that kind it is — hopper 1, dispenser 2, and so on.

A channel that carries nothing is left as it is. The type and the number together are what makes the sensor appear on the home screen under the right icon.

Tramline actuator

The “Tramline actuator” configuration menu
The “Tramline actuator” configuration menu

The actuator controller carries three things at once, and each has its own line:

  • Actuator — the number of the tramline actuator itself, or No if this controller drives none.
  • Input device, channel 1 and channel 2 — the two marker sensors of the bout, or No.

This is why one controller serves an actuator and both markers: they are three separate numbers on one device.

Electric motor controllers

The four kinds of device above are addressed from “Sensors Configuration”. The controllers that drive the metering motors are not: they have their own way in, their own choice of controller kind, and their own parameter set.

MENU → “Service” → “Electric motors”. Service level. The item opens the Motors screen, and each motor’s own menu leads on to its controller.

NOTE

On a build made for a system without electric motors the item is not merely greyed out — it is removed from the “Service” menu altogether, together with the motor counts in the profile. If “Electric motors” is not in the menu, this panel was not built to drive any.

Choosing the controller kind

Four kinds are supported, and the panel offers them by number:

“1)universal” The universal controller: two DC channels or one stepper channel on the same board.
“2)DC motor” A DC motor controller.
“3)STEPPER fw0.006+” A stepper controller, firmware 0.006 and later.
“4)BGxxCI” A BG45CI motor with the controller built into it, on the older board.

The panel reads the kind back from the controller itself and opens on the one that answers. Choosing a different kind by hand is how a replacement board is set up, not a way to change what a motor is.

What each kind is given

Every one of these menus ends with “Set”, and “Set” carries a value of its own — the address group, 0 to 3. Nothing is written to the controller until “Set” is entered: the items above it change the numbers the panel is holding, not the ones the controller is running on.

Kind What it is given
STEPPER “Pulses” 1 … 8192 — the pulses one turn of the motor shaft produces; “Motor type” from a list; “Set”.
BGxxCI “Pulses” 1 … 8192; “Set”. Nothing else — the controller carries the rest itself.
DC motor “Pulses”, “Motor type”, the three regulator terms “PID kP”, “PID kI”, “PID kD” (0 … 65535, read as hundredths), “TURBINA” 0/1, and two speed–time pairs “TIME1”/“SPEED1”, “TIME2”/“SPEED2”; “Set”.
universal The largest set, split over three menus: “Work mode”, “Inputs setup” and “Parameters”.

The universal controller’s “Parameters” menu holds:

Parameter Range
“Motor type” 0 … 255, from the controller’s own table
“Pulses” 1 … 8192 per shaft turn
“Acceleration,Ms” / “Deceleration,Ms” 50 … 65535 — the ramp the drive is taken up and down over
“Minimum, rpm” / “Maximum, rpm” 0 … 65535 — the shaft speed window
“PID kP”, “PID kI”, “PID kD” 0 … 65535, hundredths
“!! Temp,*C” 0 … 200 — the temperature the controller alarms at
“I_peak,A” / “I_peak,mS” the peak current and how long it may be drawn
“I_push,A” / “I_push,Sec” the breakaway current and its time
“I_hilo,A” / “I_hilo,Sec” the sustained-current threshold and its time
“Set” writes all of it, at the chosen address group

IMPORTANT

The current and temperature limits protect the motor, not the reading. They are the controller’s own protection thresholds: set them from the motor’s data sheet, not by trying values until the alarms stop.

NOTE

Eleven items in these menus carry text that is not translated — “PID kP”, “PID kI”, “PID kD”, “TURBINA”, “TIME1”, “SPEED1”, “TIME2”, “SPEED2”, “!! Temp,*C”, “I_peak,A”, “I_push,A”, “I_hilo,A” and their time partners. They read the same in every language of the panel. This is deliberate for the abbreviations, and simply not done for the rest.

Reading a motor controller

The Motors screen is also the diagnostic screen of a controller. It shows, live, what the controller reports about itself:

“Speed” / “Target speed” What the shaft is doing against what the panel asked for. A gap that does not close is the first sign of a mechanical load the motor cannot carry.
“Error code” / “Act.posit.” The controller’s own error number, and the position it counts itself at.
“Volt.mot.,mV” / “Volt.elec.,mV” The voltage at the motor and at the electronics, in millivolts. They differ; a motor voltage far under the electronics voltage means the supply is sagging under load.
“Temperat.,C” / “Current,mA” The controller’s temperature and the current it is drawing. Compare the current with “I_hilo,A” set for this motor.

Under those four lines the panel draws the controller’s status word — sixteen bits, with a legend naming each:

0  Enable 1  Error  2  Warn.  3  Moving
4  Reach  5  Limit  6  FolErr 7  HomDone
8  Toggle 9  CmdTgl 10 CmdErr 11 StpHalt
12 LimCur 13 LimVel 14 LimPos 15 LimSVel

NOTE

That legend is drawn in English on every panel, whatever language it is set to. It is a bit map of the controller’s protocol, not a message to the operator.

At the bottom stand the fault counters this motor has collected on the chosen field — they are part of the field statistics, not of the motor:

“Jammed” The rotor stalled and the controller had to give up or back off.
“Overcurrent” The current went past its threshold for longer than the threshold’s time.
“Overtemperature” The controller went over “!! Temp,*C”.
“Disconnects” The controller stopped answering.
“Other” Everything else the controller reported.
“In failure” The distance in metres this motor spent in a fault state.

Each counter is white at zero and red once it is not. A red figure does not mean the motor is faulty now — it means it was, somewhere on this field, and the seed placed there is worth looking at.

Changing a controller’s address

Press “MENU” on the Motors screen. Two items, both Agronomist:

“Change address” Gives the controller a new address.
“Configuration” The controller configuration menus described above.

“Change address” opens three items:

  1. “Motor address” — the address the controller answers on now. Leave it as found.
  2. “New address” — the address it is to take. Take it from the data sheet of the system; the numbers are not printed in this manual.
  3. “Set” — writes it.

IMPORTANT

The same rule as for every other device on the cable: one controller connected at a time. The panel writes to whichever controller answers, and with two of them connected which one takes the new address is not defined.

The rest of the Service menu

“Service” carries fifteen items. Four of them are described above and elsewhere; the rest are listed here so that an engineer knows what he is looking at and, more to the point, what he should leave alone.

Item Level What it is
“Profile” Service How many of each device the system has. Described in “System settings”.
“Sensors Configuration” Agronomist Addressing the four kinds of device — the chapter above.
“Registers” Debug A raw register view. Not part of any documented procedure.
“Electric motors” Service The motor controllers — the section above.
“Serial number” Debug The serial number of the panel, entered once at manufacture.
“Count seeds always” Agronomist No / Yes — keep the seed counter running even when the panel would otherwise stop it.
“Enter key” Agronomist Enters the licence key that takes the panel out of the demonstration state.
“Set trial” Service Starts the demonstration period.
“Trial, hours” Service 1 … 999 — how long that period lasts.
“Imitation mode” Service No / Yes — the panel works from simulated data. See the warning below.
“Display type” Debug Which display panel the firmware is driving. Set at manufacture.
“Launch updater” Service Restarts the panel into the updater to take firmware from the memory card.

Three further items — the tracker protocol and the two logging switches to the memory card — are present in the firmware but set to be never shown. They cannot be reached from the panel at any access level.

Debug is the fourth access level, above Service. The panel names its four levels “Operator”, “Agronomist”, “Service” and “Debug”. The three items marked Debug above are set at manufacture and have no field procedure behind them.

IMPORTANT

“Imitation mode” is not a test aid to be left switched on. With it on the panel works from figures it makes up. Every number on every screen, and every entry in the statistics, is invented. Switch it off before the machine goes to work, and check it if a panel reports a plausible field it never sowed.

NOTE

Five items of this menu are shown in English whatever language the panel is set to — “Imitation mode”, “Display type”, “Launch updater” and the two memory-card logging switches. Their text is compiled in rather than taken from the language table.

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