Claas GPS-Pilot and Baseline HD: With its Baseline HD system, Claas offers a GPS signal accuracy that is said to be better than those from EGNOS and satellite subscription services – but without the need to invest in the ultimate precision and high cost of an RTK system. This test looks at how Claas’s Baseline HD package performs in work
While it’s possible to select a GPS correction signal with an accuracy suitable for a wide range of work, there can be a substantial cost attached. Bottom line: As precision increases, so does the price. Many operators may need a signal slightly more accurate than that from a satellite correction service, but they are unable to justify the cost of a full-blown RTK set-up. So what’s the answer?
This is where Claas steps in with its Baseline HD. Mounted on a tripod this may look like an RTK system, but it isn’t quite and comes with a reduced price tag to match. For £6,900 – more than £10,000 less than a full RTK package – Baseline HD system provides a claimed pass-to-pass accuracy of +/- 4-6cm. Critically, it can also work with most other manufacturers’ machines.
At 4-6cm, this is not only slightly more accurate than the higher quality satellite correction services, but Baseline HD also carries just a one-off cost that doesn’t entail any further annual subscriptions
Moreover, just like a full RTK system, the same signal can be shared among many different ag vehicles – unlike the satellite subscriptions that can only be used by one machine at a time.
Claas’s Baseline HD is a ‘single frequency’ system, which transmits a radio correction to the tractor. This is opposed to the full RTK system that is ‘dual frequency’, with two-way communication between the base station and tractor – and back again. The Baseline HD base station is a GPS receiver and 0.5W radio transmitter (4-800MHz) that is reckoned to cover a range of about 2-3 miles, assuming there are no obstacles.
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