T&T: Auto vs. NAV

[Greg Bowers]

Hi all,

This thread has gone on a while and I have put off jumping in because it has
pretty much all been said.  I am weighing in now because I have an issue
that has not come up yet.

First,  We use NAV almost exclusively in open water, 2X a year when heading
from St Jo MI to Cal Harbor and back, and again when running up and down the
lake.  There is always someone in the helm chair (generally me or the
admiral) and the procedure for any emergency is:  1. hit the stand-by button
and steer.  2. Yank out the plug.  (ours is a Sitex with a corded hand held
unit only)  3.  Switch off the power. (I have installed a remote switch at
the helm).  By the way, ours holds to track very well with no erratic course
adjustments.

When we make our annual runs back and forth to AL for the winter, we almost
always use AUTO to steer a compass course when in open channels but never
when going under bridges or near barges or other metal structures which
could affect the magnetic heading sensor.  With my Sitex, you can push the
port or starboard button once to adjust your course one degree at a time.
When approaching  big bends or metal objects, you just hit the standby
button and steer around it then push AUTO again.

Now for the issue:

As you might imagine, our method of operation results in a whole lot of port
and starboard button pushing.  Still better and more accurate than all that
steering.  Our Sitex came with the boat so we have been using it since 1998
and have no real idea how old it is but it still works great except for the
hand controller.  About 2 years ago mid trip the buttons stopped working and
we had to steer. I opened the hand control up and cleaned the circuit board
where the buttons contact and used some contact cleaner etc but wound up
finally having to call Sitex and have them ship me a new one to the next
marina up river $399.00 plus overnight OUCH.

Now on our trip down this fall, this new controller began doing the same
thing.  I took it below and opened it up as well and using the admirals hair
dryer I warmed it up and dried it out and cleaned the contacts etc and got
it sealed up as best I could and got it working again but still lost
confidence in it.  I brought both the old and new controller home with me
after we got to our southern slip and intend to call Sitex and talk to them.
Both times this happened were in the fall and the weather was cold and damp.

Do you think these things just don't hold up to (thousands??) of button
pushing's?  The circuit board/button setup doesn't look any different than
my cell phone or laptop.  We are planning on changing boats in another year
or two and I really don't want to spend another 400 for yet a third hand
held controller.

Any Sitex users out there?  Any one else have similar issues or am I just
using this hand controller in a way it was not designed to be used?  Am I
expecting too much out of it?  I think I am a safe and responsible operator
and I know everyone will have opinions on that portion of this thread but
can we please focus only on the malfunctioning condition of my hand held
controller?  ; < )

Greg & Jane Bowers

Heart of Gold

http://www.seaplanetearth.com/