Lowrance LGC-3000 aerials

[BruceB]

Who supplies spares in the UK at reasonable prices and is there any way of checking whether an aerial is working or not with basic tools?
My Lowrance LGC-3000 stopped working today about 20mins after launching, the network still sees it and says its OK but its not picking up satellites.
Checked the various connections I could esily get to and all seems OK, it was dark when I got home so still need to play around with it some.
Is there a way if plugging it direct to the plotter still doesn't work to check outputs before replacing? its an expensive thing to just try a swop to see what happens.......

[Chris]

saw an LGC-4000 on ebay earlier...

[jyasaki]

Best bet would be to swap in and out if you can borrow one from someone with a similar system. The earlier antennae (2000 series) were somewhat vulnerable to being fried by nearby radar sets; haven't heard about the 3000's (mine's been fine for the last 3 or 4 years.)

jky

Should mention that any NMEA 2000 antenna that you can connect to your wiring should work; doesn't necessarily have to be Lowrance.

[BruceB]

Is the Lowrance black connector the same as the red network connection?
I see a lot of used LGC-4000 aerials for sale on ebay at a lot less than new and was going to buy one, they all seem to be black connectors though and I have only seen red or blue (my network is all red)
Is this another standard connect or is it compatible?

[Chris]

Originally Posted by BruceB

Is the Lowrance black connector the same as the red network connection?
I see a lot of used LGC-4000 aerials for sale on ebay at a lot less than new and was going to buy one, they all seem to be black connectors though and I have only seen red or blue (my network is all red)
Is this another standard connect or is it compatible?

Most of mine on Timebandit were black and they were the same size as red.

[BruceB]

I just found details on a septic website saying the same thing.
Will just buy an aerial and see what i get

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by BruceB

Is the Lowrance black connector the same as the red network connection?

The difference is size. Lowrance started with a large size connector on the LGC-2000 (about 3/4" in diameter), and changed to the small industry standard connector (about 3/16" diameter) with the LGC-3000 and up. They used to color code them (blue was large, red was small); other manufacturers don't adhere to the color code (black, silver, whatever.)

The large connector will work with a small connector network (and vice versa) with an adaptor.

jky

[BruceB]

I had resigned myself to a £200+ new upgraded aerial and was about to buy online when I called Navico to try and get the mounting spat for it as nobody had one.
Thanks be I did. I've to send the aerial in and if its gubbed they will replace with a new upgraded one for around £45 within the week.
Whoo- hoo !

[Ian M]

Bruce, How did this go. I have got problems with my GPS set up, an LGC 3000 connected to a Lowrance 5200C. It can flash "Positon Lost" and then "Position Acquired" in quite rapid succession. I have been through the nework connections and can see no obvious problems - cleaned the connectors etc. I was thinking the next move would be to buy a spare cable and go round replacing each cable in turn, but what a game! If it is possible to get the antenna checked that may be the way to go.

[BruceB]

I sent the aerial on the 7th Dec with an expected turnaround of about 7-10 days back in my hand.
I have heard nothing and haven't been able to contact anyone at Lowrance for over two weeks that can even tell me if they have it (it was sent recorded/insured)
Getting ever so slightly p**ed off now as the boat has been stripped down for nearly a full month waiting for the areail to turn back up to be fitted.