Mammut Barryvox DOA
I'm posting this to point out that all transceivers are susceptible to having problems. With all the hype about the Pieps switches, a lot of folks are turning to the Mammut Barryvox and Barryvox S beacons. When looking for new units this season to replace my son's Tracker2 and for a spare unit for me, I decided I would give Mammut a try. I am still using a Pieps DSP Pro BT, and my son now has a Powder BT. I really like the Pieps transceivers, and am not buying into the Pieps/BD hate, but I have not had the customer service issues other people are experiencing.
For my new spare unit, I decided that the Barryvox was the ticket. I considered the Barryvox S, but ultimately decided to stick with the standard unit due to it's simplicity and ease of use. I do like some of the other functions of the S, and that's probably the next unit I will get.
Last night I opened the box, scanned the QR code for the extended warranty, put the provided batteries in and fired it up. I have to say that I do like the battery door and the switch. Both seem solid and easy to use.
But instead of the beacon firing up and going through it's self check cycle, it did nothing. The display did not come on and no sound came out. After a few seconds it beeped and the SEND light flashed, and this repeated every 30 seconds. I turned on my DSP and it did not detect another beacon. I also tried it with the Tracker 2 and got the same result - nothing. I tested both the DSP and Tracker 2 with each other and they were fine. I put both units in SEND and switched the Barryvox to SEARCH, and it continued to beep every 30 seconds with the SEND light flashing.
As when I posted about my broken DSP switch, or my BCA Tracker's bad battery door, I had never heard of this happening before. I'm sharing this experience with you guys to point out that ANY avalanche transceiver can have problems. These are sophisticated electronic devices that are not always perfect. I've sent an email to Mammut and hopefully they'll send me a new unit right away rather than wait to analyze it. I'll be sharing this with beaconreviews.com and Jonathon S.
I didn't believe in reincarnation when I was your age either.
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