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From: Arild Jensen (no email)
Date: Wed Jul 02 2003 - 09:53:41 EDT
Thanks to Glenn for some interesting commentary on repair costs versus new.
- - - - - - - - quote - - - - - - - - - -
I have a Decca 060 with video processor 3.
The handbook shows it as being commissioned and tested on March 23, 1981.
It came with the boat and has given great service. >> snip<<
I was surprised at the lack of corrosion inside the dome and the obviously
robust build quality.
The tech said that if the problem was only the power supply, the old Decca would
give a few of the modern units a run for
their money, and I should save mine!
Sure, tuning is a bit of an art, but this old CRT radar has great clear
pictures and has got me through a couple of tight spots.
- - - - - - - - end quote - - - - - - - -
Glenn has obviously acquired great familiarity with his equipment and know
exactly how it functions.
This is probably of greater significance than having a lot of bells and
whistles with which he may not be familiar. or seldom use.
Recently a large new ship ran aground while under the control of a harbor pilot
when fog suddenly rolled in.
Neither the crew nor the pilot knew how to turn on the radar and the pilot
lacked familiarity with electronic navigation in general.
I mention this to point out that it is more important to be familiar with
whatever equipment you have than to acquire the latest and "presumably the
greatest" equipment while failing to really learn how to use it fully.
On the question of comparative quality older versus newer.
I think we as consumers ( buyers) should be more critical of highly touted
products that promise greater things while being sold at lower prices.
All too often companies revise a product for cheaper manufacturing costs but
attempt to sell the product to the unwitting public by promoting some glitzy
feature or other.
Ask some hard questions about actual design innovation; if possible, get a look
inside the case to see the actual design and construction details where
possible.
Hopefully this will compel the MBA driven companies to be a little more honest
regarding their products.
As another example of design changes:
Over the past six years every single defective water pump that I have seen has
failed for the same reason. The pressure switch quit.
In each case the pump itself still works, but the switch no longer triggers on.
The older models could be fixed with little effort.
The new models have the switch molded into the case and are sealed to the
point no adjustment or repair is possible.
Is this really progress? Or is this another example of deceptive packaging to
compel users to buy new instead of repairing the existing equipment.
My local garage mechanic gave me a fuel pump/tank gauge assembly he had to
replace in a van identical to mine.
The replacement cost of that whole assembly was $340 for parts plus
installation, plus tax on the whole job.
It took me all of one hour to strip down, clean and reassemble the whole thing
into working order.
He gave me this assembly knowing I could easily fix it.
However the automotive world is such that you cannot just buy the necessary
part, you have to buy a whole assembly.
It certainly looks like the boating industry is heading in the same direction.
Cheers
Arild
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