Uniden... thumbs down on international service

[Tomm0]

I have a Uniden solara DSC vhf.
New boat, new MMSI.
I can accept that, while it is inconvenient, they have had to lock the radio after MMSI entry so it can't be changed. It has to have a hard reset done at a service centre.

Problem is I'm now in Australia.
Uniden has offices here and is a fairly major brand in stores, so it should be easy... But no.

Uniden Australia refuses to touch a Uniden product bought in the states... Bad luck if you're cruising past, or you moved and took anything with you! Unit has to be shipped back to the states and back at my expense at a cost which rivals a new radio.

Uniden Australia CAN reset it - they admitted this to me - they simply refuse.

I believe "WTF" sums up my thoughts on that.

Anyone else had international service issues like this?

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Tomm0

I have a Uniden solara DSC vhf.
New boat, new MMSI.
I can accept that, while it is inconvenient, they have had to lock the radio after MMSI entry so it can't be changed. It has to have a hard reset done at a service centre.

Problem is I'm now in Australia.
Uniden has offices here and is a fairly major brand in stores, so it should be easy... But no.

Uniden Australia refuses to touch a Uniden product bought in the states... Bad luck if you're cruising past, or you moved and took anything with you! Unit has to be shipped back to the states and back at my expense at a cost which rivals a new radio.

Uniden Australia CAN reset it - they admitted this to me - they simply refuse.

I believe "WTF" sums up my thoughts on that.

Anyone else had international service issues like this?

Did a little google research. Found one comment that said to do a factory reset is to turn unit on, whilst pressing SCAN and MEM buttons. Maybe give that a go.

[Tomm0]

Got it by trial and error! Yay!
For everyone's reference (everyone in the world, because no - google does not know how to do a hard reset on a Uniden Solara until this very moment...)

Hold down DSC and Up while turning on. "DSC" will flash on an otherwise blank screen.
With the unit on, hold down select and Hi/Lo for about a minute (unit will chirp).
Turn off, then on again - unit is reset!

I'm going to go back to all those forums where people asked the same question and answer them all.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Tomm0

Got it by trial and error! Yay!
For everyone's reference (everyone in the world, because no - google does not know how to do a hard reset on a Uniden Solara until this very moment...)

Hold down DSC and Up while turning on. "DSC" will flash on an otherwise blank screen.
With the unit on, hold down select and Hi/Lo for about a minute (unit will chirp).
Turn off, then on again - unit is reset!

I'm going to go back to all those forums where people asked the same question and answer them all.

Amazing! How long and how many tries did it take you to figure that out?

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Tomm0

I'm going to go back to all those forums where people asked the same question and answer them all.

Good on ya .

[Kettlewell]

Good work! I wish I could find a similar sequence for my old ICOM M412 that spontaneously lost its MMSI setting. Personally, I think this is a ridiculous regulation that you can't reset your MMSI yourself--and the Coast Guard is always complaining that so many DSC radios are in use with no number programmed. They should make it easier, not harder, to do so.

[Tomm0]

It took about an hour of the radio sitting on my knee while I watched TV and turned it off and on again with every combination I could do. There are only 7 buttons, so there are a limited number of combinations.
I thought I'd won after the first part, but then realised I must only be half way... the two steps MAY be interchangeable - if you do either one first you get to the same flashing DSC screen... and when you do both it resets.