Topic: More issues with networked system

[johncos]

Granted I am a newbie to this linked system but I am really starting to think the whole ILink linked to multiple graphs setup is not fully baked.  I am extremely frustrated with the system and thinking it was a big waste of money.  If everything worked as advertised it would be an amazing system but it doesn't. Last week it was the software glitch that caused my units to re-boot - cost me a long day of driving and a wasted day on the lake.  This week two more issues.  The first one I am pretty sure is software related too.  I have a 899 on my console and an 859 on the bow.  I used the 899 for most of the day yesterday and did not even turn the 859 on until later in the day.  The 899 worked great until I turned on the 859.  Once I turned on the 859 and then turned it off to go beck to the console to troll the 899 started showing between 1 to 5 feet depth no matter how deep I was and the SI stopped showing up altogether.  First thought was that it was trying to use the transducer on the Terrova (even though it was off). So I went into the menu and it said it was pointing to the compact si transducer and there was no other option.  If I even tried to change that setting it would jump to another spot in the menu.  After messing around a bit I discovered that if I deployed the Terrova it would magically start working again, for about 2 minutes... Then it would start doing exactly the same thing.  Thats what makes me think its software related and not a bad transducer (which has only been used 4 times at this point).  I am all ears if anyone has any ideas.  Second issue was with the follow the contour feature.  I tried that out first thing (before I ever turned the second unit on and having the first issue I described).  It went strait to the contour line I selected (40') but it oscillated wildly once it got there.  it would correct 20' to port then overcorrect 20' to starboard.  I though maybe it would level off but it just got more and more pronounced.  Had I selected the 10' contour I would have wound up on the rocks.  As far as I can see the feature is useless.

[N9Phil]

I try and look at it as these are computers.  When you have something running and working and then you turn something else on or off you might get the computer to get confused.   When I get the boat in the water , I turn everything on and go from there.  If I run into a problem when I am on the water I might just shut everything down and start over.  I know that is not the answer you want to hear however you have to remember that these types of systems a relatively new so it is going to take some time to get all of the bugs out.  Look how long it took Microsoft to get a decent operating system that worked with out to many failures.  Learning these systems takes time and they can't be learned over night.   The follow the contour when you have it working is great.  I still haven't got it going with the Onix yet but I figure that is something that I am not doing right.  Some times I think that there just to many options to try and learn and we all want to use them right from the start.

Good luck with your equipment and let us know when you have it all figured out.

[johncos]

Well as it turns out I have been a software engineer for almost 20 years.  I work on networked systems every day, if I turn a device on the network off other devices on the network definitely should not get 'confused'.  Yes software always has bugs but these bugs essentially render the units useless.  When I spend this kind of money I expect things to work.  Thus far none of the issues I have had are operator error.  How hard is it to ensure the system is using the only transducer that is running? If I sold software that does not work right out of the gate to my customers I would not have customers for very long.  I understand that the follow the contour feature is a very hard problem to solve BUT if it doesn't work the way it is advertised to work then don't sell it until it does.  I did turn everything off, even the ethernet switch.  I secured power to the entire system and when it came back up it was still doing the same thing.  At this point I can't use my 899 - I paid a bunch for this thing - what am I supposed to do?  Hope that they care enough to solve the glitch and release a new patch?  How long is that going to take?  In the mean time I have a very expensive useless piece of equipment.  And even when the software is fixed I should not have to stand on one foot while grabbing my crotch with one hand and rubbing my head with the other in order to get the stupid thing to work.

[rnvinc]

Have you called HB with your issue ... ??

1-800-633-1468

Rickie

[johncos]

Yes I did call support and I have to give Matt the guy who helped me a thumbs up - he was helpful.  His suggestion was to reset everything to the factory defaults which I should have tried and didn't.  It still does not make sense to me that it worked prior to turning on the 859 which should still be at the factory defaults.  I'll give the reset a shot and post the result in case somebody else has the same issue.  Guess I need to be a little more patient...