PTx Trimble has pulled the wraps off its latest guidance controller, the NAV-960, choosing to debut it at a major farm show in Brazil, where the improved capabilities it offers can really help solve some of the bigger challenges farmers there face.
But the 960 will be available here as well.
“The product is available for ordering from dealers today,” says Wade Stewart, senior product manager at PTx Trimble. “We launched it back in late April. Shipments started in late May.
“It’s the next generation in the line of receivers. It has the latest Trimble GNSS receiver technology. We refer to it as the fifth generation.”
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The NAV-960 is the updated version of the NAV-900. It offers a significant jump in processing power as well as more RAM storage. It will be the base platform to handle features the company expects to offer in the future, including implement applications.
“It’s quite a substantial change from the NAV-900,” Stewart says. “We’re adding implement applications now as well, which run on the receiver itself. There are greater demands for overall processing power, so we massively upgraded that. We now have a multicore processor with the new Linux operating system.”
The 960 will come with PTx Trimble’s recently introduced IonoGuard technology, which helps limit interference and signal interruptions from solar flare activity. It was possible to get that feature in the previous NAV-900 guidance controller, but it offers enhanced performance in the new 960.
“It’s even better (in the 960), because it has more advanced processing, an upgraded antenna, and upgraded GNSS receiver,” Stewart says.
One other key improvement is the steering accuracy offered by the 960, using the brand’s ProSwath steering system.
“When we moved to the NAV-900 portfolio, that was an upgrade to the overall steering controls,” Stewart says. “Now we’ve done yet again another change to the ProSwath. We talk about it being a 35 to 50 per cent overall improvement.
“The big difference they (farmers) are going to see is the overall movement and amount of adjustments and changes in the steering system of the tractor. We’re really trying to work to filter out a lot of intermittent disturbances and make the path on line as smooth as possible.”
ProSwath also improves steering response and accuracy during end-of-row turns at the headlands, making them tighter and more precise.
The NAV-960 is compatible with displays going back to 2017, including the GFX-750, which debuted that year; the GFX-1060 and 1260, which were introduced a few years later; and the seven-inch GFX-350, which launched in 2019.
