RDP-148 & RSB-0071 will not power up unless 8 wire connector unpluged off board

[tazzy0429]

I bought this unit with the boat. When I hooked up the cable I got with the unit it had been spliced two times already and I felt with the issues I was having I would buy one that had not been spliced to eliminate that as part of the problem. I found several issues but have figured out some of them already. I Initially the radar did not turn , The screen says No Heading data, and the c-map card does not seem to be recognized. I hooked up the new cord and the radr unit still did nit turn but when I unhooked the 8 pin connector from the board and if by magic the radar started turning. After like 20 seconds an alarm went off that I am not sure what was for.

So, first do I have to have a GPS sensor, and is the GPS Sensor and the heading sensor the same exact thing? Second, do I have to have a mapping card installed for the radar to function? Or will it recognize the obstacles in the water but just not show those the obstacles relationship to land? And finally, what does the 8 pin connector have to do with the radar turning when it is unhooked?

Thanks for all your help

 

[Magnetron]

Hi Tazzy,

The option for adding a GPS or not is up to you, Furuno sells compatible sensors. GPS is a spot (Latitude/Longitude) not a compass, heading is a compass so they're separate things. If you added a GPS and a compass, you would be able to see your position on the chart and orient the radar/chart to North. C-Map is a chart maker company, you could contact them to see if they're offering updated cartography. I don't know for sure what you meant by the 8-pin connector, or why that happened. The remote display connector on the board has 8 pins so perhaps it had a FMD-811, 1832, or GD-280/380 remote display at one time.

- Maggy

 

[tazzy0429]

Maggy - Thanks for the reply, I did call support today and I think it has left me with more questions than answers. The 8 pin connector is one connector out of the 3 that plug into the boards located inside the radar dome and that connect the display unit to the radar. I was given instructions on how to stop the radar from turning to see if I could see a strobe on the display. This was to test the module board in the radar to see if this could narrow down my issue. The problem is the first step of that process was to connect the cable completely. If I do that the display unit will not power up. If I disconnect the 8 pin plug it will turn on but immediately gives an alarm that sounds 3 short beeps that repeat until I clear the alarm. It does not say what the alarm is for. I did follow the instructions from support to go into INST mode and under radar setup change antenna rotation to "stop". I was also successful in doing a factory reset on the software.

After completing both steps I tried to plug the 8 pin connector into the radar dome and it immediately powered off the display unit. I could not turn it back on until I unplugged that same connector. It then turned back on. I was unable to see any strobes on the screen but since the way I understood tech support today without having that connector plugged in the display unit is not sending the transmit signal to the radar. So I am stuck at the moment. I also forgot to include that my radar unit is an RSB-071-058. Just to clarify things. The dome is a 1734C. I am hoping maybe this makes more sense now that I have provided better details. I am new to radars so still learning, again thank you so much for your help!

 

[Magnetron]

Hmm, some components in the radar dome might be having an issue (like circuit protection), however it's difficult to troubleshoot what those issues are over a forum thread. You could take the dome to a servicing dealer, or send it into Furuno's Camas, WA. service center for an evaluation and estimate. Otherwise, if it's a 'new to you' boat maybe you might explore looking at our current lineup of electronics and consider an upgrade and learn Radar on the latest solid-state models such as the NMEA Multiple Year Award Winning DRS4D-NXT radar.

- Maggy