Is your multiplexer open to the air or is it potted, like Noland's,
where only the rust-proofed terminals are exposed? In the Icom the
whole thing is exposed.

The chinzy board connector failed before we ever got it to sea last
weekend. This is the connector that connects the antenna tuner
control cable to the main radio cabinet. The owner had bumped it
sideways while installing a red/white light into the nav station,
bending the cheap, flimsy contacts inside the cable connector. You
can hardly crimp them on the cable without distorting them and Icom
gives you NO SPARES in case you destroy one installing it. How
stupid. It needs a REAL connector. A twist-lock connector like goes
on the M602 would be nice. There's plenty of room inside the air
plenum for it where it is currently mounted.

Why does pleasure boat electronics have to be so damned cheap?



On Wed, 8 Oct 2003 06:54:03 +0200, "Meindert Sprang"
wrote:

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
What bothers me about the M802 is its openness. The case is open.
The cooling fan is INSIDE pulling the boat's salt-soaked, humid air
into the case where ALL the boards, those cheap little white
connectors they use on the antenna tuner and control cable connection
are all over the boards INSIDE the case. Nothing is sealed, nada.

I was working on a 96 ft yacht, some weeks ago. I was also wondering about
this. Many units from expensive equipment were open: power supply units from
the Sailor VHF's and even the black boxes from all (3) satellite systems.

OTOH, I recently received one of my multiplexers back after a year of
cruising: no oxidation whatsoever. And these are also open to salt air.

Meindert




Larry W4CSC

3600 planes with transponders are burning 8-10 million
gallons of kerosene per hour over the USA. R-12 car air
conditioners are responsible for the ozone hole, right?