Brunswick Landing Marina - Georgia
Magic Friday
Phil, Di and Annelise
Mon 22 Jan 2018 18:23
Monday morning dawned cold but bright and sunny.
First job to check the new NMEA 2000 bus lead on the AIS system - would we get other instrumentation readings on the bus when the AIS is re-plugged back into the SIMNET bus.? No.same problem - no lat, long, no wind instruments etc. So, the AIS pulling the system down was not a lead or poor connection problem. Pity. Next the troubleshooting - was it the AIS dedicated GPS? No. Was it the VHF AIS transmission antenna? No. Nothing left but the system box itself . even when not powered on it still brought the system down.very strange. Several phone calls later with NAVICO (now Simrad) technical helpdesk (who were most helpful in checking the terminator resistances of the NMEA bus - which strangely ready 31.7 ohms and not the recommended 60 ohms (120 on each terminator) with or without the AIS system connected (but not powered) . the only conclusion could be a faulty AIS transceiver (we think). Oh, but could we buy the exact replacement.of course not! The system has been "improved and upgrade" from the 300 version - In fact, several times to the 500 version - earlier version naturally have been "discontinued"!! West Marine to the rescue (actually the best price), a large dent on the credit card and a new 500 version ordered BUT no delivery date as yet as not in stock. End of story (so far)!
Meanwhile, boat re-provisioned and washed down .. Well done Di!
As the sun dropped below the horizon, the temperatures plummeted again, heater on, dinner cooked and a movie for the evening.
Phil and Di