Cambridge Aero: Repair Situation Update

[Chip Bearden]

Just wanted to report that Cambridge is still in the repair business
with good results.

Two weeks before the New Castle (USA) regionals, my CAI Model 20
GPS/NAV stopped working. The green light that normally blinks stayed
on full time, the box made a clicking noise every couple of seconds,
and the LNAV and PocketNAV both had a "GPS Off" message. No amount of
powering off/on or fiddling with the cables made a difference and,
after a while, even the clicking stopped.

On Monday morning, I called CAI in Horn Lake, Mississippi. After
speaking with Gary Kammerer, who's in the process of relocating there
from Vermont, I shipped the box overnight to CAI with the assurance
that the company had adequate spare parts in stock. That got it into
the queue as the #4 job. Technician Brian Rutherford finally got to it
the following week and replaced a circuit board containing the UART
chip (used for serial communications), an expensive ($340) but, as it
turned out, effective repair. There was a mix up at CAI and the box
didn't get shipped until the next day, Thursday, the height of the
hurricane that hammered the East Coast of the U.S. Even so, UPS
delivered it on Friday and I was able to leave the next morning for
New Castle where the box worked flawlessly.

This was perhaps not quite as speedy as the CAI of yore ("ship by
Monday, receive repaired unit by Friday" seemed to be the norm) but
the work got done and I missed only one weekend. And the company
seemed to appreciate the urgency when I told them I needed it before
the contest. The woman who answered the phone, in particular, was a
real gem: she was there early in the morning local time, tracked down
people I needed to speak with immediately, and followed up with me
after the shipping flub to make certain UPS could deliver the day
after the hurricane.

Thanks, CAI. I hope the company is able to recover quickly from its
current legal troubles and rebuild what was once one of the premier
names in soaring instrumentation. Based on this limited experience,
the owners seem intent on supporting the current user base.

Chip Bearden

[Thomas F. Dixon]

>
> I hope the company is able to recover quickly from its
> current legal troubles and rebuild what was once one of the premier
> names in soaring instrumentation. Based on this limited experience,
> the owners seem intent on supporting the current user base.
>
> Chip Bearden

Chip:
I missed hearing about CAI's legal problem. Would you,or someone who
knows the real story, tell the uninformed again. Is this the reason
that CAI is not listed as an exhibitor at the SSA Convention - Air
Expo 2004 ?
Tom
Idaho

[Chip Bearden]

> That's one awfully expensive UART. Most UART chips go for less that
> US$20. Whack that on a PCB and maybe you're up to US$100 for a
> sophisticated board (brand new). These days with such high-level
> integration of PCB components (just look at what an 18 pin PICMicro
> MPU running at 20MHz can do), and such a small space behind an
> instrument panel, there's not too many things that could go wrong
> apart from the basic building blocks of CPU, sensors, switches, power
> supplies and display/output devices. I'm sure if they can do
> something in software to save some hardware, that's what they'd do in
> the quest for space saving.
>
> There's nothing much that can fatally damage glider instrument
> circuitry except for a lightning strike. I would expect that even if
> a board were removed and replaced with a new one of the shelf,
> Cambridge would be able to refurbish it relatively easily if their
> repair lab is up to scratch (and will re-sell it on a subsequent
> repair).
>
>
> > Thanks, CAI. I hope the company is able to recover quickly from its
> > current legal troubles and rebuild what was once one of the premier
> > names in soaring instrumentation. Based on this limited experience,
> > the owners seem intent on supporting the current user base.
>
> I'm sure at $340 a pop for what sounds like a simple repair, their
> books will be healthier by the day and they can afford plenty of
> lawyers if they need them !
>
> CU
>
> Jason

Believe me, I wasn't happy with the cost of the repair. On the other
hand, IF repairs are limited to board swapping (and I don't know that
this is true) and IF CAI has a limited supply of boards (same
comment), and IF it took the tech a few hours to trace/fix the problem
(at the customary hourly rates), then my choices were to pay CAI OR to
buy a new FAI-approved flight recorder at close to $1,000.

I also neglected to mention that CAI included a fresh recalibration so
the "value" side of the equation is a little higher than I implied
(even though I anticipate no real need for it).

The market for soaring instrumentation is extremely small even for one
manufacturer. Throw in a half dozen other companies who have related
products and the high costs of developing and manufacturing low-volume
products plus the FAI's/SSA's insistence on a level of security that
not only exceeds that achievable by previous documentation methods but
also essentially mandates the use of proprietary recording devices and
we have a recipe for my $340 repair.

In other words, don't blame CAI. We brought this on ourselves. :)

Chip Bearden