Quote Originally Posted by rnvinc View Post
Terry ...I understand your frustration...

Testing the external antenna on your 788 (in this case) is not to determine accuracy of marking waypoints....(so it doesn't matter that the antenna is at the other end of the boat)...

The test is determine positively that the internal antenna is not performing satisfactorily ...

I would suggest unhooking all Ethernet cables and plug the external antenna into the 788 and see if the speed and direction issues disappear....

If it does, then you have ample positive results to explain your case to HB that an external antenna is the only way to fix this issue of unsatisfactory internal antenna operation...

Rickie
Rickie, it's GREAT have'n a friend that's a little OCD. You are very analytical and that really comes in handy.

I really didn't want to have to tear my boat apart to pull that antenna wire. Like I said I don't have a spare antenna. I did however take your advise and went out & took my wiring harness to my 998 apart and hooked my 788 into the power and gps antenna. I sat in the boat and held the 788 in my hand and had my son-in-law pull me down the road on the trailer. At dead stop it registered 0 mph and the donut. Never jumped around or anything. NOT ONCE. I told him to pull me down the road at about 5 mph. Again little to no variation of the speed and NO jumping around of the directional arrow. While pulling me down the road the course line was steady even around curves at faster & slower speeds. I am tickled to death with it when it is hooked directly to the external antenna. It does the some when hooked to it via Ethernet. There is no doubt it's an antenna problem. That's what I told them the first time they "FIXED" it. I even sent them a note telling them what I had done to test it. I did basically the same thing I just mentioned. They never did tell me what they did to it, but it ain't fixed!

My concern is I'm gonna send it back in. It will get back while I'm gone and I won't be able to check it until I get back. When I get home it will be "PRIME TIME" and I don't want to be hit in the butt with a "surprise" screwed up unit while I'm home off the boat. I'm only home 28 days and I have to maximize my time. If I had to send it back again I'd loose at least a week of fishing! Boy... Talk about be'n PO'd if that happened!

I sent it in last August & hadn't gotten to fish much since I got it back. I don't know why it took me so long to figure out that it was using the 998's antenna via Ethernet, making me think it was fixed. I was LIVID when I switched it to it's own internal antenna and it went nuts! I thought about kick'n the darn thing in the lake!

Another thing... Say I want to sell the thing and upgrade my front unit. I don't wanna pass this problem on to the next guy!

The more I think about this the madder I get!