DRS4D problems

[Anonymous]

My 3 year old DRS4D on TZT based network is giving me a lot of grief: it makes noise like a cricket, works for a while (could be 20 min or 12 hrs) then disappears from network, and the WX200 connected to its N2K port is not showing on the sensors list. The weather station disappeared first about 2 years ago, but I blamed it and not radome. The replacement did not work, even with new cable. Then the "radar connection lost" message started to appear, both in STBY and TX mode. Taking the fuse out of PSU for a few seconds and rebooting TZT brings everything back to normal. Please help, I take it that some circuitry needs to be replaced, just need to figure out which. Since problem cannot be shown on demand it is difficult to troubleshoot with dealer/tech.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Johnny Electron]

Is the WX200 connected to the Dome or your normal NMEA 2000 bus?
What software version are you running on the TZT?
Was the dome purchased at the same time you got your TZT?

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry, was out sailing :sail

The WX200 is connected into N2K input inside the dome. TZT is running 3.12, and initial glitches (WX200 disappearing and intermittent radar disconnects) started happening when TZT was running 2.01. Updates did not fix the problem.
The dome was purchased at around the same time, maybe a few months before the TZT. It was around the time TZT was just released and I had to wait for it to finish the install. The dome could have been sitting in dealer's stock for a bit.

 

[Johnny Electron]

My best guess is that your radar scanner cable connection is flaky somewhere. It might be the ends need recrimping, a tie wrap is too tight into the cable someplace, or one of the RJ45s not fitting well. Your problem isn't related to the software update you did. Although we have even newer software than you are currently running, updating to the newest will not make a difference for this issue. When your radar loses data connection, so does your connected item (WX200). If it was just a problem with the WX200 you wouldn't have radar problems. If you didn't conduct a factory clear after programming, then you might want to do so. After units are reprogrammed there are buffers that tend to build up trash that should be flushed/cleaned. Back up your data and factory clear the unit. If recrimping, reseating, clearing the unit doesn't help then you might consider trying a bypass network cable from the scanner (bypassing the normal RJ45 data cable part of the scanner cable). If it runs good you know it is a scanner cable problem. If problem still happen, then the scanner might need to visit the service center for full evaluation.