Dear Capt. Paul:
I recently wrote to you about the data card on my Garmin 182c not reading, and you posted the article in the April Louisiana Sportsman magazine. I am writing today to give you the results.
First let me thank you for all the valuable information you wrote about backing up routes and waypoints, this was very helpful and beneficial.
After personally writing to you last month, I was flipping through the Louisiana Sportsman and I saw an advertisement by Sea-Trac out of New Orleans.
I thought I would give them a call.
I told the technician, Todd, about the unit and described the problem about the unit not reading memory cards. He said he thought they could fix it, thinking it may have been a bent pin or something minor on the card reader, so I sent the unit to them and he called me the very next day to say that he had it fixed.
He stated that a wire had come loose off the card reader and he soldered it back together. I received the unit yesterday, March 28, and everything is working fine. They did not lose any data, routes or waypoints while repairing the unit and also upgraded it to the newest version of operating software.
I am very pleased with the repair done, since I was able to repair my $1,000 color GPS for $150 including shipping and labor.
I guess this would be beneficial to your readers because I am sure there are a lot of GPS owners that just buy new ones because the manufacturer no longer supports these units.
I strongly suggest checking with Sea-Trac in New Orleans before buying another unit in this situation. I know I saved a lot of time by not having to run new wires and install a new unit in my 22-foot bay boat and the cost of a new unit.
Again thanks for your time and information and hopefully this will help other boaters or fisherman, because Sea Trac said they fix many of these units.
Hope to see you on the water one day.
Randal
Capt. Paul’s response:
Thanks for the kudos, and thanks again for letting our readers know that one of the prime advertisers in Louisiana Sportsman magazine, SEA-TRAC, repairs certain problems in GPS units.
SEA-TRAC is located at 114 Hickory Ave, New Orleans (Harahan) LA 70123, telephone 504-737-0591 or 800-899-0591.
I strongly suggest that you consult them before trashing your unit, as it may be repairable. At least give them a call to see if they could help.
Thanks again, Randal. I am glad that the repair worked out for you. Now don’t forget to back up all of your data.
Capt. Paul