KVH Tracphone Problem

[BrianW]

Folks,

We are getting geared up to go fishing next week, and the satphone decided to quit working. The local electronics guy doesn't seem to think he has the parts to fix it here. KVH (the manufacture) is talking about a couple grand to fix it, and I have to send the antenna unit to them. Here's a couple pictures of the antenna...



and the actual phone...


The last owner told me he had to have it repaired last year too. I starting to wonder if these things are tough enough for a commercial fishing boat.

I was wondering what kind of satphones you guys are running, and if your happy with them. Also, if anyone has some good info on getting these antenna units repaired reasonably, I'd like to hear it.

[Corpus Skipper]

Most satphone installations I've seen are KVH. Haven't heard any complaints. Sending the unit to KVH is your best bet. These guys are all tournament fishermen and run their boats from Texas to Costa Rica, then to the Bahamas, to Florida, around the Gulf back here. Lots of running and the antennas hold up. Most also have KVH Tracvision and again, no complaints.

[BrianW]

Thanks for the info!

I'm sure KVH can fix it, but it's starting to be a matter of expense. Globalstar seems to be a simpler unit, and that should cost less to repair in the future.