This is my attempt to educate the general public with news of changes affecting owners and prospective owners of John Deere Precision Ag products and services. I do NOT represent corporate John Deere. I do NOT represent any John Deere dealers. Content on this website should be considered as-is without warranty or guarantee. Please contact your local John Deere dealership with any questions, comments or concerns. Note: This post was NOT written by any form of AI (artificial intelligence).
John Deere Makes Changes to SF2 Ready / RTK Ready Activations, and SF2 Signal Subscriptions on StarFire™ 3000 GPS Receivers
The following activations will no longer be available to purchase NEW from John Deere beginning November 22, 2025:
- SF2 Ready Activation (for StarFire™ 3000 GPS Receiver only)
- RTK Ready Activation (for StarFire™ 3000 GPS Receiver only)
Existing SF2 and RTK activations on StarFire™ 3000 GPS receivers will continue to function, be transferable between StarFire™ 3000 GPS receivers. SF2 and RTK Activations will continue to be upgradable to StarFire™ 6000 GPS Receivers for $350. RTK Activations will continue to be upgradable to StarFire™ 7000, and StarFire™ 7500 GPS Receivers for $1,850 - the ability to transfer and upgrade is expected to end sometime in November of 2030
Used Activations for SF2 Ready and RTK Ready and package of SF2 Ready and RTK Ready will continue to be available for purchase on BuySellGPS.com for up to November 2030.
Last day to Purchase SF2 Subscriptions is November 20, 2026
John Deere has decided to end sales of the SF2 signal subscriptions on November 20, 2026. That will be the last day to purchase 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year subscriptions - in other words, some may be able to utilize the SF2 signal until November 20, 2027, if they purchase a 1 year subscription on the last day of sales.
How will this affect my existing StarFire™ 3000 GPS Receivers?
- SF1 (free signal) - no changes to existing operations
- SF2 (paid subscription signal) - you'll no longer be able to buy SF2 signal after November 20, 2026. After your SF2 subscription runs out, the 3000 will default back to SF1.
- RTK - no changes to existing operations
What is the final end date StarFire™ 3000 GPS receivers will continue to function on SF1 or RTK?
There is no known end date to StarFire™ 3000 GPS receivers being able to receive a SF1 or RTK signal. Even with the transferability of SF2 and RTK activations ending in November of 2030, Deere has not communicated an end date to 3000's being able to function on SF1 or RTK.
You may hear terminology that the StarFire™ 3000 is 'no longer supported', however 3000's will continue to function on SF1 and RTK for an indefinite amount of time (Personal opinion: I could even see them working past November of 2030). In January of 2026 dealers will no longer be able to submit cases to corporate Deere for technical assistance. Consider that corporate hasn't supported dealers on 8x20 and older tractors for years, however you see how many of those are still out in the field.
What about StarFire™ 6000 / 7000 / 7500 GPS Receivers?
At time of this post, there is no change in activations, subscriptions, or end date of functionality for John Deere StarFire™ 6000, StarFire™ 7000 and StarFire™ 7500 GPS Receivers