AUTOMATIC monitoring of farming equipment functions continues to come along in leaps and bounds and it’s not about to stop in 2017.
The Jackal multi-function monitor has been monitoring multiple functions simultaneously for growers for years, however, its latest incarnation is now offering a control level for operators.
The Jackal adapts onto almost any machine and has been used as a speed and area meter, flow meter, batch meter, depth meter and to monitor rates, pressures, temperatures and RPM.
In an airseeder application, it has been able to monitor and display shafts, bin levels, air pressures and seeding depth for growers.
Farmscan Ag OEM manager Clark Croucher estimates there could be between 4000 and 7000 Jackal units in use throughout the country and he expects this to increase with the launch of the latest generation Jackal for this season.
“The original Jackal had 13 inputs, but mostly only about two were used,’’ Mr Croucher said.
“Now there are now three levels of the Jackal.
“The latest generation Jackal has a new screen and basic control.
“Operators can control all the valves. They can set pressures from the screen and they have plus and minus buttons to increase or decrease the flow.
“They have a pressure gauge and can adjust it to the correct pressure, so you no longer have to have an electronic pressure meter and flow meter.
“Operators will have three sections and can switch off a section and turn down the pressure.
“They can also have three pre-determined rates and can change the rate at the press of a button.
“It’s basically a three-section manual spray rate controller.’’
Mr Croucher said it could be used for basic spraying control initially, but then also for spreader control.
“There is still continued strong demand for the Jackal just as an area meter and a basic level, with just two sensors.
“Operators can use it just as an area meter and shaft monitor or area and flow meter or speed and area meter.’’
Mr Croucher said the second level offered full monitoring capability and it incorporated changed electronics and an on-board calibration wizard for easy setups.
The latest generation Jackals also continue to feature a large, daylight readable LCD to provide legible characters on the display and enable calibration data to be clear and descriptive.
Operators can also continue to set high and low alarm points for each input and they can display information using imperial and metric units.
More information: Farmscan Ag 1300 327 672 or www.farmscanag.com