Electronics crashes!

Two very disappointing electronic failures have occurred, just as we enter the final lap of Ms. Bettencourt's center cabin rehab project.

Please recall that last week I had made new dashboard mounts for the GPS chartplotter, the depth sounder, the VHF radio and the compass.

This week I started to install and test the instruments and, right off the bat, my 3-year-old Garmin GPSMAP 546s dropped dead.

Press the "on" button and the Garmin logo appears, then fades away, and that's all there is to see. Garmin tech support was helpful, suggesting some new software from their site and an attempt at a "boot block" start-up.

That didn't work, so the unit is on its way back to Garmin and I am $270 lighter for a rebuilt replacement with a 90-day warranty.

The next bad news came from my brand-new Standard Horizon GX1700 VHF radio. I bought this radio last June and didn't even open the package until last week. The unit was installed Saturday and its send and receive functions performed as expected.

One key feature failed to function, however. This is a DSC, or Digital Selective Calling, enabled radio. It has an emergency switch that can be used to notify the US Coast Guard should a Mayday event occur. This system is dependent on the vessel's unique Maritime Mobile Service Identity, or MMSI, number being entered into the radio transceiver.

The new radio will not toggle through the routine needed to enter Ms. Bettencourt's MMSI number. The unit is useless to me with this limitation. The retailer is off the hook, because they have a clearly-stated 10-day return policy on electronics, and June was four months ago.

So, now I am waiting from a call back from Standard Horizon to see what has to be done to enter a defective product claim.

I suppose it's better to learn this kind of news while tied to the dock, rather than in the middle of a cruise.

Some days it's very hard to stay positive.


UPDATE 11/6/13: Defender Industries, from whom I bought the radio, went the extra mile and helped me work through the problem and get the MMSI number entered. John at Defender provided excellent phone coaching to get the job done. At the same time, Juan at Standard Horizon never let  go of the issue and I was presenting multiple alternatives by email. I am impressed with both firms' customer service.

I am now a relatively happy camper, awaiting only receipt of my replacement GPS from Garmin.