NavNet VX2 - Radar not working

I have a NavNet2 with what I think is a 1834C (I'll confirm next time I'm at the boat) radar. I've only used it a couple of times (over a year ago) and its worked before, today I got stuck in thick fog and tried to run it. I hear the antenna rotating and there is a colored radar 'signal' (red/yellow pixels that move) on the overlay screen that is immediately around the boat - but it doesn't show anything in the distance.

I'm guessing something got goofed up in my setup. Anything basic/obvious to look for that would cause this behavior? I just tried reading the doc - and it looked awfully complicated... the only thing that jumped out was "When the magnetron has expired, distant targets cannot be seen on the display".

Good morning Blue Defender,

Thank you for your inquiry. Yes it would be best to confirm that exactly what model the display unit is and also what model the radar antenna is. From there we will need to verify some settings.

It would also be good to post a photo of the radar screen so we can see what you are seeing.

It would also be helpful to get a photo of diagnostics screen for the display. please perform the following procedure and post a photo of the information.



C-Bass

thanks - i'll get that done and report back!

Finally had a chance to get to the boat and run the diagnostics. Here's what I found:

Radar pod says it's type "RSB-0071" S/N: R200-1223.
Vx2 firmware is 4.03,07

Here's a shot over the overlay-mode where the green radar trace just shows immediately around the boat and no shore-line etc in the distance.



And first two diagnostic pages (most in next post as there's a limit of 3)

View attachment 1

and the final two pages:



In main menu, the settings read:

Radar Display:
EBL Ref: Relative
Cursor Pos: RNG & BRG-REL
Tuning: Auto
Tx Sector Blanking: OFF 000 001
Noise Reection: Low
2nd Echo Rejction: Off
Watchman Time: 5 min
Range: nm
Trail Mode: TRUE

Radar Range Setup:
0.125nm through 3nm: ON
4nm - 72 nm: OFF

ARP Setup:
ARP Target Info: External ARP
Cancel All Targets: NO
ARP Vector Mode: Relative
ARP Vector Time: 30m
History Interval: OFF
CPA: OFF
TCPA: 30s
Auto Acq Area: OFF
Target ID Number: OFF



the settings on the right of the overlay screen read:

Signal Process:
I Rej [Off]
E Avg [Off]
[Pulse Greyed out]
E Str [Off]

Display:
Shift
Rings: [Low]
HL [Off]

Hey there,

Anything else I can do to help troubleshoot deeper? Did I get the right info you needed?

Thanks

Good afternoon Blue Defender-

Thank you for the information.

After reviewing the self test I wanted to get a better idea of how much TX time the radar has. Which shows just over 71 hours, which not all that much. I inquired about this to see if a larger TX time was evident which might indicate a failing magnatron. Even with low TX hours if it is an old radar the magnatron could still be failing. You would see a dramitic decrease in performance.

Couple of other things to check.

When you are in the radar display, please hit the [Menu] key,
Then choose Radar Display Setup:
We want to look at tuning: Your previous post shows tuning in auto: can you confirm how much tuning bar in the auto mode is available. You could always try to use manual tuning and to try and tune manual to see if you can pick up more targets. That is an easy test to perform.

Outside of that your other option is to send the radar in for evaluation. It appears the vessel is located in Rosario Harbor- I love the San Juan Islands! But it is likely your off season so it might be a good time to get it evaluated.

Your other option is to call our tech support line the next time your on the vessel during a weekday M-F 8:00am - 5:00pm and walk through a couple of things with our techs over the phone to see if we can get some improvement.


Kind Regards,
C-Bass.

@C-Bass sorry for long delay, things got busy. I pulled the boat onto trailer and was able to go through some of your suggestions with the tuning bar.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so a video must be worth a thousand pictures, so here's a video of me fumbling with the radar settings (of which I don't comprehend ) to no avail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23f6P_RyWKE

So is it most likely the magnetron? Are they easy to swap out or should I just buy a whole new dome.

ps: Yeah - we're on Orcas Island - we love the SJI so much we moved here full-time.

Good afternoon Blue Defender,

You could always send it in to our service center located in Camas, WA for evaluation. They will be able to bench test it and determine the point failure and the cost of repair.

If that is something you would like to do please ship to the following address:

Furuno USA
Attn: Service Department
4400 NW Pacific Rim BLVD
Camas, WA 98607.

Please include your contact information, a description of the failure, and a link to your YouTube Video.


C-Bass

To close the loop on this thread... for anyone with similar symptoms. I ended up shipping it to Camas for bench testing. Turned out the magnetron was fine but the return “mic” ? had failed. They replaced the part and it seems to be working much better. Fast turn around too!