B & G / Simrad (Navico)

August 2007

Wherever you go, boaters can be overheard complaining about customer service in regards to their toys. Can’t get anyone on the phone and when they do the techies have no idea what’s going on. Well if you want a switch, try the Navico West companies of Brooks and Gatehouse and Simrad.

First off, you get a real person answering the phone! Then when you get the techs on the phone, they are helpful? If they don’t know the answer the switch you to someone who does. All this without an hours wait listening to elevator music. Very helpful people and I can’t recommend them enough.

May 2008

No complaints.  Everything has worked fine with no glitches.  It would be nice to have the depth only display have the nice BIG digits that the speed display has.  Added the wind transducer to the masthead while in Marathon.  Nice to know how hard the wind is actually blowing.  Direction was a little hard to get used to as it’s relative to boat position only.

The autopilot is phenomenal.  Not a bit of trouble holding its heading no matter what kind of seas.  It has become my best friend.

May 2009

Well enough of the good comments about our B&G and Simrad products.

Since being acquired by Navico customer service is slipping. Now expect long waits on hold. I was on hold for an hour while in the Bahamas. I was lucky it was at 15¢ a minute instead of $2.99 a minute. Once you’ve made contact they are still helpful and located in the States.

The interface unit for the speed and depth (H1000) went out for the second time. This time in the Bahamas. A new unit was received promptly but what a hassle. The sea temperature is also not functioning.

I have been informed that the H1000 series instruments were obsolete when I bought them (news to me) and customer support will soon be unavailable. No customer support for units still in warranty? Unbelievable!

The autopilot (Simrad AP26 with AC10 computer and hydraulic drive) has now taken to wandering aimlessly. The compass does not stay in sync with the ship’s compass and as a result will sometimes lock into an unwanted heading. They are working on this.

August 2010

The fix on the depth is still working. I think they sold me a returned item originally. The cable had been trimmed. The instructions say not to trim the cable but it was real short. The new one is the same length as the speed.

The issue with the display size was a dumb ass moment on my part. All fixed. The autopilot issue was also my mistake. I had changed the bilge pump located near the flux gate compass. Apparently the magnets were bigger and affected the compass. Moved the pump and the pilot works fine.