We received word from John Deere that effective Jan 1, 2021, Starfire ITC GPS Receivers will no longer be able to receive the SF1 or SF2 corrections required for machines to Autotrac. ITC receivers will still be able to show coverage, document, and be used for sectional control (in some cases) using the WAAS signal. This was not a decision made by John Deere or INMARSAT (the company that provides the bandwidth for our SF1 and SF2 correction signals). This change is happening because of a government satellite update where new satellites broadcasting the L5 signal are replacing the older signals. The hardware inside an ITC receiver will not allow it to receive the newer data. Starfire 3000s and 6000s are not affected by this change.
The complete government document can be found here: See page 59 (Section 3.2.8) for more details.
If you still have an SF2 or RTK activation on an ITC receiver, John Deere has extended the transfer deadline again for you to transfer these activations to an SF3000 or SF6000 receiver. This deadline is quickly coming up on August 1st, 2018. Contact us today at 217-693-6209 if you have any questions about this transition.
Unfortunately, we are in the same position as our customer’s and we currently have too many Starfire ITC receivers in stock, so we can no longer accept trades.
Sloan Support is written by the product support team at Sloan Implement Co., a 20 location John Deere dealer in Illinois and Wisconsin. Learn more at www.sloans.com
Sloan Support 
Just for clarification, one would still be able to use the ITC to receive the WAAS correction signal for auto steer?
The ITC is supposed to still be able to use the WAAS signal, but WAAS is not compatible with autotrac.
I’m think about planter guidance
I’m trying to decide between active or passive and checking into the details of each. I was wondering about the height of the receiver on the planter, does it have communicate with the receiver on the tractor, what I getting at does there have to be a line of site for the receivers or is all communications done through the isobus. Any help would be appreciated
Thanks Ron
Hi Ron,
The receivers do communicate with each other to share the signal. Example: if you have a SF6000 with RTK on the tractor and a SF6000 with SF1 on the planter, Shared Signal makes the planter receiver RTK with no added cost or activation. There is some fine print if you are mix matching receiver models though. You basically, want the planter receiver to be a little higher than the CCS or fertilizer tanks, so they have a clear view of the sky. Deere makes some implement mast brackets that work well, but inventory maybe in issue for this spring. You can make your own also. Many customers have been moving to Gen 4 displays for its added features like Passive Implement Guidance and AutoPath. We noticed that the Gen 4 Passive Implement Guidance worked very well with the 20-3 software update this fall. Deere currently has a program to trade in older GS2/GS3 displays for Gen 4 as well. If you have questions, give me a call 608-575-9507.
Thanks,
Joe Brunker
Sloan Implement
Monroe, WI