BigBendFishing.Net

Went down to Keaton this past Saturday to see if we could do a little fishing before the fleet arrived for scallops. Had planned on trying some top water early but when I got shallow enough to need the trolling motor it was down. I had added the iPilot upgrade back in the spring and it has worked fine up until this trip. I really like the spot anchor feature but this was going to be the first time using it for close in work. I would press a button on the remote and it would light up but no response from the motor. Fortunately the tide was still moving in so I was able to slowly ease back out and ended up drifting the flats, but pretty aggravated. When I got back home I pulled the manual and the symptoms acted as if the remote had lost it's connection to the control unit. Tried to relearn the remote per the instructions but the control unit in the head would not make the tone when the "learn" button was pressed. At that point I assumed it was the control head but checked all connections, power etc. everything checked out other than the control head itself. Called Minn Kota Tech support this morning and after about 2 minutes of conversation about trouble shooting they advised it sounded like a bad control unit and they are shipping another one out today. Once received I have to return the old unit in a prepaid package. The young lady I was on the phone with was very helpful, did not request any type of purchase receipt etc. just said she would get it shipped today.

For any of you who may have an iPilot, per the tech at M-K the remote sends out a signal anytime it is activated and the control unit sends a signal back basically to sync up and only then are the remote commands sent via the radio signal. If the remote does not receive the signal it shuts down after about 3 seconds and the unit is totally inoperable. I still like the concept just hope this is a fluke and not a design issue. My iPilot is the newer model.

We ended up with a few short trout released, two short redfish released and one nice overslot redfish approx. 29 1/2" released. Never did see many people scalloping but we went north and I think most are going south to scallop.

I tried out my new I pilot Saturday and it worked for a little while then when I moved to another spot and tried to turn it on it would not operate. Looking at the remote screen I saw a flashing "F" symbol. Nothing suggested in owners manual worked. I took it to the MK service center in Dothan a couple days ago but haven't heard back. All my friends have the IP and their motors seem to work fine so I am hoping for a good outcome.
OD

Got my new iPilot control head in this morning, I talked with MK Monday about 8:00 AM and it arrived today about 10:00 AM. Pretty good turn around time from a customer service perspective. Now to just switch the head out and give it a try.

Saw mine get checked out on the test bench today, and it worked fine for the technician while I was standing there. Probably a connection problem on my boat . . .or between my ears.
OD