B & G Radio set-up

Gunni

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Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
I’m pretty much a Navico-system boat. An early adopter. Lots of integration between a chartplotter/MFD, ships systems monitors, RADAR, AIS, satellite radio, network busses, etc. Nothing like the old stand-alone boat hardware. When I started looking at an upgrade to this stuff I quickly determined that the install exceeded my ability to as they say, see the unknown unknowables. This radio thing is a good example. You have to drill down past ‘assumptions’ and read the product documentation to know how to proceed in a DIY install.

So, I’m a sailor, not a technology support guy. Talking with Navico it became quickly apparent that they don’t really cater to the guy trying to install their networked systems and technology on their own. They directed me to several authorized dealer/installers. After discussing my immediate and long-term goals, and getting quotes I retained the services of a qualified, ABYC marine tech company and they did the installation turnkey. It was not cheap, but it was worth the cost. I paid list price for hardware. There were several problems with both the hardware, and the software, there were also some small issues with installation that were directly related to the idiosyncrasies of Navico systems requirements. My MFD was warranty replaced by Navico and the installer three times - no cost. One time was hours before leaving on a blue water transit and I was not too happy. But Navico and their dealer got it done, no whining involved. Very professional. In the end I can confidently say that I have an extremely reliable and robust system install and if I had been in charge of installation, warranty claims, change-outs and down time I would have paid a higher price.

Just my $.02 cents - like my sport sedan I think the days of working on boat navigation systems and networks is coming to a close, especially if you aren’t willing to do the heavy product research necessary to make informed decisions or pay yourself more than $.02/hour. I do software upgrades, charting updates and leave the rest to the ground crew.
 
Oct 26, 2008
6,045
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
That's a good point. If I had known anything about VHF radios, I probably would have looked at the box upon delivery and discovered the mistake immediately, instead of 1.5 years later. I want to be clear that I am not dismissing my own failings in this situation. I consider this a pretty minor setback and I'm really not concerned that greatly about how it is going to get resolved. I'll get it done and it isn't setting my hair on fire. It's simply a good discussion. That said, I have been enjoying doing my own nav system upgrades. I hope to have everything functioning for early season next Spring!
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
That's a good point. If I had known anything about VHF radios, I probably would have looked at the box upon delivery and discovered the mistake immediately, instead of 1.5 years later. I want to be clear that I am not dismissing my own failings in this situation. I consider this a pretty minor setback and I'm really not concerned that greatly about how it is going to get resolved. I'll get it done and it isn't setting my hair on fire. It's simply a good discussion. That said, I have been enjoying doing my own nav system upgrades. I hope to have everything functioning for early season next Spring!
The big lesson in this is caveat emptor when dealing with unknown retailers.
 

Ward H

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Nov 7, 2011
3,645
Catalina 30 Mk II Barnegat, NJ
I've learned the hard way that when buying electronics, open and set up right away. Waiting to open/use always has a risk. I have a EV-100 I bought last March. No returns to dealer with that if there is a problem. A risk I chose to take. (I did replace the old AP drive wheel with the newer one from the EV-100 box so that made it worth it)

Scott did a sweet, neat, setup. The radio is just a small glitch in the electrical/electronics upgrade he's finishing up.
Who would have thought you have to check that a new VHF radio is programed for use in the US?
Luckily, on the BB we get along fine with a portable VHF.
 
Jan 7, 2011
4,727
Oday 322 East Chicago, IN
Well, I pretty much expected as much … The retailer through Amazon, from whom I purchased the radio, Jarboys Outdoors & Marine Supplies, from Hackensack, NJ, did not provide any satisfaction. They called their supplier, whom said it was over a year ago … too bad. I'm guessing it is exactly as David indicated … a cheaper European source to entice me with a lower price via Amazon. I should have known not to trust a dealer with whom I'm not familiar. I generally trust what I buy through Amazon, even though I don't often use that source for marine items. This one is going to cost me $150+. Once I get it out of the boat and ready to ship, I'm going to verify with B&G that when they re-program, I should get essentially a US model that gives me the toggling options between the channel bands, not just the US band only. I'll also ask again if they will do this free of the service charge.
I bought mine from Jarboys. Guess I got lucky.

If they are still talking to you, there is still hope.

Let him know how many people are reading this thread...maybe he will replace the unit to keep from losing us all as potential customers.

Greg
 
Oct 26, 2008
6,045
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
Well, good news on this update! B & G did me a solid and took my radio and reprogrammed without a charge. I finally retrieved the radio a few weeks ago and called tech service to alert them I was sending it in. I didn't even have to ask for the favor. They just offered it right away and then sent me the packaging instructions via e-mail. They may have been alerted ahead of time, I suppose, because I did post a review on Amazon to express my displeasure. However, I even took down the review before I called them.

B & G Tech service was amazingly friendly and I talked with him at length about my total installation. They re-programmed the radio and then they called to tell me within just a few hours of receiving the radio that they were returning it to me, all checked out now. I think it really makes a difference that they called me without even being prompted by a call from me.

Now, I'm excited to be on the water with an entire instrument system in NMEA 2000 installed and integrated, including an older wind display and wheel pilot that functions in NMEA 0183. The AT10 converter works flawlessly! The display works via simnet port and the wheel pilot receives the "transmit" sentences from the wiring, so it was only necessary to utilize just one converter for both receivers.

Defender really had a great deal on the entire package that included 2 transducers (Wind & D-S-T), 2 Triton displays, an external Compass/GPS antenna (ZG 100), cables and the backbone starter kit. It really was an attractive price and I highly recommend it.

So, BIG SHOUT OUT to B&G! They came thru for me. They made it simple and painless to resolve this problem, even though time had passed before I discovered the issue.
 
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Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
Scott, glad this all worked out for you! And to find out that their phone tech support is far superior to their online tech support.
 
Feb 2, 2010
373
Island Packet 37 Hull #2 Harpswell Me
I am curious to see how this turns out. Why make three radios when one can make a single radio with three options. It is all software driven.
I don't think it is 3 different radios. I think it much more likely that depending upon the initial destination when purchased, that is the country is pre set for. With in the settings, it should be switchable to US, certainly my Raymarine radio is. For some reason he has an EU set, which i think is INT setting.
 
Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
I don't think the issue is really the radio or the manufacture. I think it is the EU. They seem to want to create their own standards so that any US product before being sold in the EU must meet their standards. Why can't the EU and the US agree on VHF channel band plan which is universal no matter where one goes? Even the ham bands are like this.
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
I don't think the issue is really the radio or the manufacture. I think it is the EU. They seem to want to create their own standards so that any US product before being sold in the EU must meet their standards. Why can't the EU and the US agree on VHF channel band plan which is universal no matter where one goes? Even the ham bands are like this.
The EU might ask the same question of us. :)

I think there are probably several reasons, chief among them that both regions are so deep into the established channel designations that it would be a monumental task to change them and it would immediately make many radios out dated. Additionally, unlike Amateur radio operators, marine VHF users are not nearly as sophisticated and may not have the understanding or skills to deal with a change. And finally, the real number of people that it actually affects is pretty small, so there is little political will to change.

The change needs to happen at the manufacturer's level. Icom, Stadard Horizon, Navico, et al. need to make the radios universal. Add a GPS chip and automatically select the correct set of frequencies for the geographic region the radio is in. That would be a whole lot easier and cheaper than trying to move several large governmental organizations to make the change and deal with any consequences of the change. Not to mention the cost of swapping out all the old radios on the commercial ships.
 
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Ward H

.
Nov 7, 2011
3,645
Catalina 30 Mk II Barnegat, NJ
@Scott T-Bird Excellent news! Glad they came through for you. Really interested in seeing the complete setup and seeing it in action this spring.
 
Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
That was my original point. Software fix since the frequency range is not that wide.