Intermittent position fix loss on RD30

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PO46Camelot

New member
I have an RD30 at the cockpit helm station slaved to a GP32. This was installed in 2008 and I am now getting intermittent loss of the position fix data at the RD30 -the GP32 is operating just fine - it hasn't skipped a beat for 14 years (even surviving the lightning strike of 2012 when everything else died! :furuno ). I am still getting depth/temperature readings on the RD30 through the AUX cable and the unit stays powered up with no problem. I have reseated the existing cables and everything _looks_ ok.... any thoughts on this?
 
Experience has shown that the RD30 turns on and works or it doesn't turn on. I would expect the problem lays with the GP32 NMEA output. Maybe the NMEA chip was broken down by the strike and has giving up. Being that the GP32 has also had the GPS rollover; it might be more effective to replace that out for a GP39 that is very close to the same physical size. You can reuse the existing coax antenna to save pulling that cable. Another option would be to send it into the repair center to test and maybe replace the NMEA output chip. Output chips are more prone to fail than input chips are, so the problem would more than likely be there than with the RD30. You could always disconnect the GPS and run something else into that input to see if it stays or continues being intermittent.
 
Thank you for this. The RD30 is sitting in an exposed environment at the cockpit helm station. I am wondering if the plug at the end of the coax cable into the unit has become compromised in some way :huh perhaps by seawater/spray ingress? Is there a way to clean those plugs without removing them?
 
If you remove the connections and clean them with isopropyl alcohol and a camel hair brush to clean them nicely and let dry before reconnecting; that normally does the job. You can do the same on the cable side just make sure to also disconnect the other end so there is no signal or power present until fully dry.
 
HI thank you for the help so far. I cleaned the contacts on both sides of the cable but it has made no difference -the SOG still drops off. I note now that SOG when it is displayed on the RD30 does not always match what is being displayed on the main GP32 (I can see both from the cockpit helm). Does this suggest a further comms error with the NMEA chip?
Cheers
 
It almosts sounds like you have two sources of SOG being send to the RD30 and it is confused when it has both; so shows nothing during that time. Do you have a wiring diagram of the how this is wired on both ports?
 
PO46Camelot":1o2ugqmj said:
Hi will look into this and get back to you, but there is only 1 gps peoviding this data. Cheers
Click to expand...

Got another source of GPS?

Like GPS from a VHF? or a Plotter? Or got a local dealer nearby with a NMEA0183 style GPS? Just to double-check, I might try putting another source of GPS onto the RD30 to see if it'll accept that over what coming from the GP32. If it doesn't like the second source and you get the same results than it's the RD30. If the opposite, GPS comes back to the RD30 than like Johnny said, it's the NMEA transceiver build into the GP32.

You could send in the GP30 to our Camas, Wa. service repair center and we can evaluate what's going on as well.

Just a thought, :sail

- Maggy
 
You also must be careful of data loops/data flow. You can pass data from the unit to other items. If you send data back at the same source you can really mess things up. Whenever you send data back that the same source (the GPS or RD30) it will cause problems. Data flow is very important.
 
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