GPS loss of signal explanation

In rec.aviation.piloting Jay Honeck wrote:
I don't know why...I've never had a lick of trouble out of any of it.

You are apparently among the blessed few who have not had problems
(yet). May it ever be thus!

Atlas has two Narco coms, a Narco DME, and two Narco GS/VORs. All work
perfectly, all the time.

I've not quite figured out where the anti-Narco sentiment come from,
but it's almost as insidious as the anti-Microsoft attitudes out there.

Actually, Jay, it is from those of us who have experienced multiple
failures of Narco equipment, and been unable to get it repaired or
replaced is a timely fashion... because Narco REFUSED to provide
schematics and parts to the local avionics shop and INSISTED that
the equipment be sent to Narco for repair, and then the equipment
would come back MONTHS later with "no problem found", and the
equipment won't even turn ON, so you can tell that they did not even
attempt to fix the problem. It is those of us who have had BAD
experience with Narco "customer service" (read SEVERE lack thereof),
who will NEVER purchase Narco equipment again. It is us who had
Terra equipment that needed service (and Narco bought Terra) and put
it out of business. It is US who tell our FRIENDS to stay away from
Narco, and tell our non-friends to purchase Narco.

For the few of you with Narco equipment that have not had problems,
may it always be well for you. You are the blessed few.

Best regards,

Jer/ "Flight instruction and mountain flying are my vocations!"
--
Jer/ (Slash) Eberhard, Mountain Flying Aviation, LTD, Ft Collins, CO
CELL 970 231-6325 EMAIL jeratfrii.com http://users.frii.com/jer/
C-206 N9513G, CFII Airplane&Glider FAA-DEN Aviation Safety Counselor
CAP-CO Mission&Aircraft CheckPilot BM218 HAM N0FZD 240 Young Eagles!

B A R R Y wrote:
Jay Honeck wrote:


I've not quite figured out where the anti-Narco sentiment come from,
but it's almost as insidious as the anti-Microsoft attitudes out there.


I've had several $300 Narco auto-dimming EL displays fail. According to
some very reputable local avionics businesses, Narco isn't easy to deal
with.

"Not easy to deal with" because Narco won't supply them parts or
approved repair manuals. For the owner though, it is a pretty good deal
except you aren't going to drop into a shop and have them fix it while
you wait.

Units sent to Narco for factory repair are brought up to the latest mod
level and are 100% checked before they are returned to you. After the
repair, the whole unit is warrantied for 90 days. If anything breaks on
it during the warranty period (anything, not just the repair), they fix
it at no additional cost. As an owner, you can take comfort in knowing
it is fixed correctly, completely calibrated to factory spec, and
brought up to the latest revision. The shop rate is, I believe,
$105/hr, which is a little higher than most avionics shops, but they
also generally fix it in fewer hours. You can also get the unit
evaluated before it is repaired for a flat fee of (IIRC) $105, then if
you decide to repair it, that evaluation fee is applied toward the
repair. You also have the option of trading it in for another radio,
although the trade-in terms are not all that generous. I haven't found
the factory service to be hard to deal with at all as an owner.

On the other hand, I've got some horrendous stories dealing with
avionics shops that applied bandaid fixes to radios, and the warranty
most shops I've dealt with offer covers only the repair that they did,
and expires more or less as soon as your wheels leave the ground. From
the avionics shop's perspective, yeah, Narco gave them a raw deal and is
hard to deal with because they won't let the avionics shops service the
radios. The Narco radios are not any worse than other radios of the
same vintage. Face it, aircraft panels are a harsh environment for
avionics, and after being in there for 20 years you are bound to have
problems. Buying 20-30 year old used equipment, even if the seller
tells you it is like "now" is a crap shoot. You can't blame the
manufacturer for that.

Ray Andraka wrote:

On the other hand, I've got some horrendous stories dealing with
avionics shops that applied bandaid fixes to radios, and the warranty
most shops I've dealt with offer covers only the repair that they did,
and expires more or less as soon as your wheels leave the ground. From
the avionics shop's perspective, yeah, Narco gave them a raw deal and is
hard to deal with because they won't let the avionics shops service the
radios.

FWIW, one of the avionics shops I mention is good enough to have a
popular "Flying" columnist 1300+ miles for a GPS installation. They
don't do band-aids... G

Every one of our failed EL displays was replaced by Narco's "factory
service". We also had audio output issues were Narco returned the
radios and blamed the panel and wiring. On both occasions, the radios
WERE screwed up, and we paid Narco AGAIN to fix them.