New-and-improved i-Pilot remote...grrrrrrrr!

[Corker]

After several failures of the rubber cover on my Ver. 1 i-P remote control (discussed here), I got one of the new Ver. 2 type (shown on the left.)

The new unit's keypad is re-engineered using hard plastic keys and cover instead of the rubber. At first, I really appreciated the ease of operation of the buttons. I'm learning, however, that there's a downside to the new-and-improved remote--accidental key strokes.

The Ver. 2's keys require a fairly light stroke...so light that the unit will respond to accidental contact. Yesterday, for example, I'm running from spot to spot at power level #8. I left all 8 cork rigs in the water, but swung my rodholders out to the sides to keep them away from the prop. The remote is always on the lanyard around my neck. While autopilot's controlling the course, I'm busy doing other things. Apparently, I leaned into something or the remote got hung up in my clothes, and the SpotLock button was pressed. On the original remote, this could not happen. The new unit proceeded to lock the spot's location and immediately determined that the boat had moved off the mark (because it was running at more than 3 mph toward my next spot). SpotLock took control, did a 180 and throttled up to #10. It's a good thing I was seated and I'm lucky that only one line was caught and wrapped around the prop shaft. After removing the prop and clearing the line, I put the Ver. 2 remote away and used my Ver. 1 backup unit for the rest of the day.

This time it was SpotLock. Other times it's been the Bunny Button and other controls that do things I'm not expecting. Maybe the improvements to the i-P remote control are too much of a good thing. If there's a Ver. 3 in the works, I vote for reduced key sensitivity and some kind of lock-out option for the Bunny Button.

Am I the only one experiencing this problem?