Just like a cell phone, tablet or computer, the reliability and performance of your in-cab display can rapidly diminish if the hard drive is filled to capacity with old farm, field and equipment information.
Fortunately, today’s precision technology ecosystem is highly connected, making it easier than ever to clean up old data and maintain the productivity and performance of your device(s).
To better understand what steps farmers can take to manage data capacity on their Trimble connected displays, we sat down with Carol Snyder, Trimble Agriculture Training Manager, and Taylor Szallar, Agriculture Software Product Manager, to uncover their best insights.
What do you mean by “connectivity” and how do I know if my display is “connected”?
Taylor: When we talk about connectivity, we are referring to our ability to connect multiple pieces of your precision solution to the internet. For example, to build a connected Trimble solution, you will need:
A Trimble display (any GFX model or the TMX-2050™ display)
Modem (including a data plan), hotspot or WiFi® connection (could be at home or in the shop)
A Display Connection license
A Farmer Core license
With a fully connected precision solution, you are able to enhance your operational efficiency, because you can manage data on your in-field devices from anywhere.
How can farmers identify and remove old field and farm data from their connected display?
Taylor: In some cases, you could be dealing with a decade of data, so start by determining if it’s a field you still farm. If not, do you still need the application data for compliance purposes? Or are there outdated field boundaries that can be eliminated?
Once you decide what’s worth keeping and what isn’t, it’s important to do this for every display. With connected displays, you can remove old field data and get all of them cleaned up at the same time.
Carol: Some farmers might create a new field name or AB line every time they go to the field. And if that’s been done for years, there’s going to be a lot of old and duplicate data taking up space on the hard drive. That can really slow down the processing speed, so it’s important to know what’s on your display, manage it and clean it up.
What should farmers do with data tied to equipment they no longer use or own?
Carol: If it's a machine or implement that you no longer have, then you can delete or retire it. Usually, a display is dedicated to a particular machine or tractor and you’re changing the implements. So it’s critical to keep current implement data so someone doesn’t accidentally choose a disc you sold a few years ago, instead of the one you still own.
Taylor: If you're picking the wrong implement, it could have the wrong measurements, which could also lead to inaccurate guidance lines and steering accuracy. And, to Carol’s point, if you have a dedicated display for each tractor, you can connect it to different implements.
That said, some farmers will rotate displays in multiple tractors and you could end up with data in one display for two sprayers, two planters, etc., and they technically had different measurements. So, when you sell or trade in an implement, make sure you delete it from each display (if you delete it in the cloud, it will be deleted from all connected devices – this applies to fields and field resources, as well). It’s a simple thing, but if you don’t take the time to do it, it can create a lot of complications.
What if I don’t have a connected display?
Carol: It is possible to connect legacy displays, like the Trimble CFX-750™ display or FmX® integrated display, to Trimble Ag Software but it is a one-way sync between the display and the office, sending data as field work is done.
When it comes to cleaning up old data, the data can be pulled off the device, opened in Trimble Ag Software for clean-up and then put back on the display after the display has been wiped clean. This is a process that some farmers might be comfortable with, while others may prefer to contact their Trimble dealer for assistance.
Taylor: If you’re on one of these legacy displays or are running a mix of older and newer devices, I would encourage you to consider your long-term data needs. For example, if you are in a high-compliance location like California, or retain a lot of data for 4R records, that’s going to fill a lot of hard drive space and could require manual data movement (where you risk losing information and having to recreate it).
In these cases, it may be worth upgrading to a new display model that offers cloud-based storage and AutoSync™ (available on GFX displays) that automatically transfers display data – including guidance lines, field information and boundaries – to the cloud. This will save you a lot of time moving data around on USB drives and provide backup storage so you don’t bog down your device’s hard drive.
