B&G V50 radio issues

[leftbrainstuff]

We're preparing a full instrumentation upgrade next year.

B&G Zeus2, radar, forward sonar, go free and related bits.

It seems the ability of these vendors to build reliable mission and safety critical systems is a challenge.

What are your overall impressions of B&G?

Sent from my SM-N900T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[northwestsailor]

B&G is far from perfect but I don't know if they are any better or worse than the competition. One thing that it is a plus is that you have a very wide selection of charts that will work with their plotters. Perhaps not as wide as with a PC based system but still huge compared to Garmin.

[northwestsailor]

Originally Posted by Yeti

Check manual section 4-8-1 and turn the tone alert to off. It seems to have made the difference for me.

I will try this soon. I did speak to B&G support yesterday and they said a new software update is expected any day now which will address that issue but now that I know this I am not going to wait.

Thanks again for the information.

[DeepFrz]

Originally Posted by Yeti View Post
Check manual section 4-8-1 and turn the tone alert to off. It seems to have made the difference for me.

The only problem with this is you don't have any weather alerts.

[Rusty007]

Update is out now

V50 Software Update

[Yeti]

Originally Posted by Rusty007

Update is out now

V50 Software Update

So is this good for the RS35 as well? Nothing new noted on the Simrad website about radio software. I certainly could be looking at the wrong places though.

[Rusty007]

Originally Posted by Yeti

So is this good for the RS35 as well? Nothing new noted on the Simrad website about radio software. I certainly could be looking at the wrong places though.

RS35 software should be out on Monday.

[JayH]

From the installation instructions:

"If you have a H50 wireless handset it will also need to be updated to V2.84 in order for
the handset to operate correctly with V50, this will require the H50 to be returned to a
Navico authorized dealer for updating as it cannot be updated in the field."

[Rusty007]

Originally Posted by JayH

From the installation instructions:

"If you have a H50 wireless handset it will also need to be updated to V2.84 in order for
the handset to operate correctly with V50, this will require the H50 to be returned to a
Navico authorized dealer for updating as it cannot be updated in the field."

It should work with needing an update, but if you can get it to a dealer for an update it would be good to do so.

[CaptTom]

Great. This week, my B&G started experiencing the bug where it switches to a weather channel while the display still says 16.

I don't have a B&G MFD. Does that mean I can't install the fix?

[JayH]

Thanks Rusty007. I upgraded my V50 without doing anything to the H50.

The V50 screen now shows GPS information where previously it only showed "No GPS Information". The "Call" button on the Zeus2 AIS page is now enabled, though I did not try it. The WX switching problem and other weird network problems were very intermittent before, so I can't really test if those have been corrected.

The H50 still works. The GPS information doesn't show on the screen correctly, and the MENU is slightly messed up (the selected menu item does not show on the screen). I'm pretty pessimistic about finding someone to upgrade the H50. If that proves difficult, I think it is probably usable as-is.

[Rusty007]

Originally Posted by CaptTom

I don't have a B&G MFD. Does that mean I can't install the fix?

What MFD do you have? If it is Simrad or Lowrance you can use that. Or if you have a USB to N2K converter, like a ST10, you can use your PC.

Software Upgrade Tool - Simrad Marine Electronics

Tip when using this tool, Only have the N2K backbone and the device being upgrades powered on.

Or contact support and they will be able to tell you where you can take it to get upgraded.

[capbillh]

I called Navico today. They stated that if the H50 is not updated the graphics will not match up with the updated H50. Fawcetts is Annapolis will have the tool(cable) to update the handset by this weekend.

[Steve Lavigne]

I upgraded my RS35 today. Seemed to have bricked the first time around, but I specifically found a strange name on the NMEA2000 network and did the upgrade again with success. I did not disconnect my 12 other NMEA2000 devices, as recommended here but not mentioned in the Simrad documentation.

Calling seems to now be available from the chartplotter. Also, I previously had a small number of 'Fast packet errors' logged on my Zeus2. With the RS35 upgrade, the 'Fast packet errors' seem to have gone to zero. FYI, my bus load sits around 9%, I have 14 NMEA2000 devices, and I always have zero Errors and Overruns.

RS35 /HS35 Software Update - Simrad Marine Electronics

[Rusty007]

Originally Posted by Yeti

So is this good for the RS35 as well? Nothing new noted on the Simrad website about radio software. I certainly could be looking at the wrong places though.

RS35 update is out now

RS35 /HS35 Software Update - Simrad Marine Electronics