Sea Cock vs Sounder

I got up at five this morning when it hit me that I had forgotten something very important that  had to be taken care of while we are hauled out. We have a sticky sea cock for the toilet in the head. I can't believe that I forgot it. It was one of the main reasons we hauled out here and didn't wait until we hauled out in Guaymas. I will try to fix it this morning instead of finishing the wiring on the sonar first. If I have time I will finish the wiring after the sea cock. That means doing the wiring in the quarter berth in the heat of the day and it gets really hot in there. Hopefully I will have time to do both, so we will not have to attempt anchoring without the depth finder.

When reading the installation guide on the sonar I read where they say to hook up the power to the screen which controls the red control box. When I read the installation guide on the red control box it said to hook up the power to the red control box. The question is, do I hook up power to both, or just to the screen?... because you turn on the whole system with the screen on button, or is the red box supposed to be powered up at all times? They have options for using their screen, or using your computer or other type screens. They are not specific. I think I will give them a call. These companies need to have a normal every day person try to install their products using their tech's instructions and see if they are clear enough for the public. Most people are not electronic experts and do not understand their tech language, or what the techs take for granted that everyone knows! I don't know about you, but this frustrates the hell out of me. Why can't they remember "KISS"  KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID !

Another example of this is Garmin's instructions for their products. About six months ago we purchased a Garmin 78sc hand held chart plotter. The instructions that came with it were impossible to understand, so we went on the internet and downloaded their larger instruction manual. It still did not explain (in layman terms) how to operate the damned thing. We called Garmin and they informed us that we could purchase a video explaining how to use their product from an independent company on the internet. This went against my grain, but we had already invested about $500 in the unit, so we went on line and purchased the video. Yeah I know, chasing good money with bad! Anyway, the video does explain it well. The only problem is that they go through it so fast it's is impossible to keep up. So by the time you find the button to push that they show you, they are already six more steps ahead. As a result you have to either hit pause instantly, or start it over again. This becomes very frustrating and wears out the video in no time. They need to print out the video. No such luck, right?