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Anyone having "APRS failure" problems after 1-3 years of service?

thinkn9a

Well Known Member
I'm now aware of 2 failures after some time in service. (150-300 hrs) Wondering if others have experienced this, and if so any idea of what may be the cause? (background, for my install, the receiver, antenna, and unit are all in the wingtip)

Anyone know if any vendor is having more issues than another? My failure was on a Byonics unit(don't think they sell that type any longer), not sure which company made the other unit that failed.
 
I'm now aware of 2 failures after some time in service. (150-300 hrs) Wondering if others have experienced this, and if so any idea of what may be the cause? (background, for my install, the receiver, antenna, and unit are all in the wingtip)

Anyone know if any vendor is having more issues than another? My failure was on a Byonics unit(don't think they sell that type any longer), not sure which company made the other unit that failed.

I can't tell from your post if you experienced an APRS system failure or if the tracker itself is dead. If the tracker has died you need to contact Allen at Byonics to get things sorted out.

If the tracker is still alive but you can't get APRS to the internet, be sure you check all your connections very carefully. I thought I had tracker problems recently, turned out the center pin in the BNC connector at the antenna had come loose. Reworked the connector and all is well again. I had been transmitting on just the coax!

My Byonics MT-8000 has been in service nearly five years and still works fine even after tolerating who knows what kind of SWR from using just the coax for an antenna.
 
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Antenna?

Hi Wallace,

I think you have one of our antennas - I'd be happy to check it out for you. We've not had any go bad, but it certainly is possible.

Drop me a PM and we can talk.
 
Thanks for the responses,....

Sam, Yes, what I meant was, I wasn't dropping any bb's along the way. I did not give it a thorough check on the connections, but a quick look did not see anything shifted, loose or corroded.

Pete, Thanks for the offer. (and all the prior help) Do not think it is the antenna, as a new unit has been working with the existing antenna.


Might be just luck of the draw, or I picked just the wrong location and style of mounting, and it did not like the vibration.

Wonder what the APRS unit count and run time is for the RV community? No one else has raised a hand on having issues.
 
I had an issue once....found out the GPS antenna connection came loose. The Byonic unit is solid as a rock. If I did have issues with it....I would send it back to Allen for a check up. He's really good to work with.
 
I am the other fellow with an inop APRS that my brother was talking about.
I have an Micro-Trac RTG unit mounted in the wingtip that has worked fine for the last 150 hours. Right up until I left for Oshkosh last week. I have not had a chance to do any trouble shooting other than to verify that the fuse was not blown. I will update this thread when I finally get an opportunity to trouble shoot.

John Goodloe
 
Update

I am the other fellow with an inop APRS that my brother was talking about.
I have an Micro-Trac RTG unit mounted in the wingtip that has worked fine for the last 150 hours. Right up until I left for Oshkosh last week. I have not had a chance to do any trouble shooting other than to verify that the fuse was not blown. I will update this thread when I finally get an opportunity to trouble shoot.

John Goodloe

I finally had a chance to check out my failed APRS, turns out all that was wrong was a loose connector at the unit. I hoping it was caused by combination of vibration, turbulence and aggressive maneuvers (0 to +4 g's)
 
What have we learned?

So......I guess the premise of this thread is really......what? Make sure there are no loose connections?

Hope Byonics didn't suffer any collateral damage...
 
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