SC50 Sat Compass - Antenna Issue?

A

Anonymous

Guest
Hi All,

I am seeing a loss of heading infrequently and it takes cycling the power a few times to get it to track all sats again and then calculate the heading. In the past few months, I have only seen this a couple of times, but it happens when in autopilot and so that is bad enough. Messages I see are are Rate Error and Aborting and Aborting Calc then it drops out completely. I didn't catch the antenna signal strengths until after rebooting it... From the antenna signal strengths while booting it seems that Ant2 shows a little weaker signals on the some of the same sats. I also saw for a shrt period that the top 3 sats (showing in attached pic "Ant2_showing_bad_signals_for_a_short_period") were not even showing a signal, but it did eventually start tracking them. I understand that the antenna was replaced a few years ago and it is mounted high and clear of the radars, however the BDE control unit is a bit older. I had to replace the backup battery recently but everything inside looks pristine.

Here are some shots of the antennas and screens. I can get the serial number but that will take a few more days as I am not aboard right now.

I have many more screenshots that show the other antennas but this forum only lets me attach 3 images... I'll post another with the other screenshots for comparison of the different ants.

Any ideas on what to check? We leave for Cabo in a few weeks and I want to resolve this soonest.

Scott
 

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  • Ant2 showing bad signals for a short period.png
    Ant2 showing bad signals for a short period.png
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  • NotYetLockedOn A2.png
    NotYetLockedOn A2.png
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  • LockedOn A2.png
    LockedOn A2.png
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Here are the 3 ants while booting.
 

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  • NotYetLockedOn A1.png
    NotYetLockedOn A1.png
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  • NotYetLockedOn A2.png
    NotYetLockedOn A2.png
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  • NotYetLockedOn A3.png
    NotYetLockedOn A3.png
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here are the tracking status screeens
 

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  • TrackingStatusWhile in Alarm.png
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  • TrackingStatusWhile rebooting.png
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this is the antenna location...
 

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  • SC50AntLoc.jpg
    SC50AntLoc.jpg
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Hi All,

Does anyone have any input on this issue? I am getting close to heading to Mexico for 5 months and would like to see if I can resolve the issue.

Regards,
Scott
 
Captain-
Your issues seem to relate to the installation of the antenna. The amount of blockage and reflection based on your installation picture seems quite extreme.

I suggest you contact one of our authorized dealers to come down to the boat and take a look..
 
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