VHF RADIO

[Lenny and Louise]

Have any of you had this problem with the Garmin 210 VHF Radio?

We have a 2018 R31 Sedan. The factory installed radio has the worst of all possible faults -- the intermittent problem. Periodically it will commence shifting to the weather channels. All of a sudden it drops 16 and starts with weather. I reset it and a minute or so it does the same thing again. It has rendered the radio useless. I called Garmin and they were very nice about it, but had never heard of such a situation. They suggested I take a video of it, but it is hard to do that underway when the failure is so unpredictable. And of course, it never does it at the slip. I even tried idling the engine in the slip and could not make it fail.

Suggestions?

 

[Scotty Mac]

Could you be on Search on the radio and the weather is a strong signal so when no activity on 16 it shifts to the next strongest which would be the weather station. Also there is a search function that will only look at channels that you’ve selected ie. 16 and weather.

 

[Crewdog]

maybe want to try doing a system reset?

page 34 of the Garmin VHF 200 owners manual:

 

[NorCal]

Hi Lenny, We had a very similar problem with our Garmin 200 radio. On ours it would toggle back and forth between weather and the station we were on. Very sporadic. When it got in this mode it was useless. Power cycling did not help.

I would contact Ralf in the warranty department at Ranger and ask his advice. He is very helpful. We ended up having our radio replaced by Garmin.

John

 

[Namaste]

Try disconnecting the mic to see if the problem remains. The wires in the mic cord are thin and may be "cross-talking" making the radio act as if someone were pushing the 16/9 button.

 

[Lenny and Louise]

Thanks to all for the suggestions. I have done the obvious checks -- loose connections, cut wires, etc. I had a new antenna installed (for other reasons) by a very reputable shop. I have reset to factory settings, all to no avail. Yesterday i sent an e-mail to Ralf and know that he will have some suggestions about the next steps. Thanks again.