The Offshore Voyaging Reference Site

Silva Marine, NEXUS Network Wind Instruments, Problems

The Problem

In 2005, KVH abruptly stopped supporting the Quadra system, which had served us well for many years, albeit after its own set of teething problems. After considering most of the options and nearly settling on B&G, but finally being put off by a sudden and substantial increase to their already, in our opinion, ridiculously high prices, we settled on a NEXUS system from Silva Marine, a Swedish company.

We had some fairly complex issues in the configuration due to our need for a non-standard echo sounder transducer that would not interfere with our forward looking sounder. This meant tracking down a dealer who really understood the technology. We ended up with Jon Josephson of the JRJ Group (unfortunately, JRJ Group is no longer in business).

When we powered up the system for the first time, no matter how many times we followed the procedure in the manual, the system would not configure properly.

Dealer’s Response

Over the phone, Jon walked us through several reset strategies, but to no avail. After many calls and a lot of part swapping, we narrowed the problem down to two displays. Without waiting for us to return the defective ones, Jon sent us replacements by FedEx at his expense. When he tested the defective units he found that the factory had loaded the wrong firmware (program) into them.

The Outcome

The NEXUS system performed well on our cruise to Newfoundland in 2005. We find it easier to use and read than the KVH system.

Lessons Learned

  1. When selecting a dealer, go for knowledge, not proximity.
    JRJ group is on the west coast of the US and we were in Maine, but we were still a lot better off with Jon than we would have been with a typical marine electronics dealer.
  2. Don’t buy from big discounters.
    We would have really been in trouble if we had bought from a big discounter.
  3. Work with one committed small business person who really knows the gear.
    Sure the manufacturer in Sweden or the North American distributor in Canada might have eventually sorted it out, but I don’t think it would have been as quick and easy as working with Jon.
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Paulo Parra

Dear John,

Do you know how to reach Jon Josephson, from JRJ Group? Like you and some other sailors, Jon was very helpful and competent helping me integrate part of my electronic system (different manufacturers – Autonav, Navman, Silva, mixed together thru a multiplexer).

Thanks in advance.

Kind regards,

Paulo
ANAUE sailboat, Brazil

Bill

I heard that John was recruited by Garmin. Too bad as I used him as well and could use him now.