ATT NV Backs

RRP: £39.99

Remote bite alarm systems are becoming the standard nowadays with anglers on the bank as they offer so many benefits over a standard alarm speaker. In the same way more and more anglers are using the iconic Steve Neville Roller Buzzer heads and are using them with the ATTx V2 dongle and reciever combination. The ATTx system means that the angler has to have a dongle sitting out of the alarms sounder box jack plug socket located on the rear of the alarm. Although this system works perfectly fine, anglers are becoming more and more "tarty" on the bank and in keeping with the minimalist look that seems to be the vogue at present, a lot of anglers think that having the dongle hanging down from the rear of the alarm looks "untarty". Another minor drawback of the Neville alarms is the shallow "V" where the rod sits, that on a savage take or fishing locked up where the rod cannot be pointed directly at the rig, the rod could be easily dislodged from the alarm unless a set of snag ears or a bankstick placed next to the rod was used. With these in mind, the clever guys at ATT developed a new replacement back panel for the Neville alarm that incorporates a built-in ATTx V2 transmitter as well as lengthening the uprights of the "V" to almost negate the requirements for snag ears. As soon as the whispers of these replacement backs reached UKMA, we were straight on the phone to ATT to find out more. After several months passing, UKMA received a parcel containing three of these new panels and we were straight on the case to fitting them to the alarms.

Contained inside the blister pack that the NV Backs are packaged, is the replacement back panel and two rubber gaskets. Any Neville alarm owner will know that when it comes to replacing the battery inside the alarm, the sticky gasket material used by Steve Neville is a pain as it gets everywhere, and to fully waterproof the alarm again on replacing the back, a new layer of the gasket material needs to be applied. This can be a messy job and is something that anglers don't like doing on the bank. To help the angler out in this situation, ATT have provided two rubber gaskets to suit the different types of casing that Steve Neville has used over the years. The thinner gasket is used where the alarm body has a recessed section around the opening (older alarms), and the thicker gasket with the screw holes is used on the alarms with the non-recessed body (later models including the digital alarms with the switch volume control).

To create the NV Back, ATT have taked the transmitter from the ATTx V2 dongle, and integrated it within an injection moulded casing, removing the requirements for a jack plug. The antennae for the transmitter has been cleverly integrated into the ears of the NV back giving a clearer signal to the receiver, rather than having it situated under the alarm where the signal can be obstructed by banksticks, buzzer bars or pods. ATT do recommend that metallic snag ears are not used with their systems as the metal used in them can degrade the signal being received by the receiver. This is not that much of a problem when fishing close to your rods in open space, but if you are within trees or undergrowth or fishing up the bank on continental inland oceans, this can limit the distance that you can setup away from your rods. Using metallic snag ears can also make the transmitter work harder to maintain a strong enough signal to the receiver which lowers battery life (in a similar vein to a mobile phone with low signal drawing more power from the battery to maintain reception). In the majority of times, snag ears are not required with the NV backs due to the extended ears.

The NV back itself looks very similar to the original back panel fitted to the Neville alarms, but has the aforementioned longer ears and the integrated ATTx V2 transmitter. As you can see from the picture above, the replacement back panel has two wires protruding from it. These wires are the connections required to make the transmitter work in conjunction with the roller wheel and indication system of the alarm.

To fit the ATT NV backs to the alarm requires some soldering and to make the process easy for the majority of Neville owners, we have created a step-by-step instructional guide below so that you can see how simple the process is.

DISCLAIMER: By following our guide below, UKMA or Advanced Technology Tackle (ATT) take no responsibility for any damage caused by yourself in the process of replacing the back panel of your Neville alarms. If you do not know how to solder, please ask someone who does to carry out the job or alternatively you can contact ATT or one of the larger tackle shops that stock these replacement backs to carry out the job for you (additional charges may apply).

Fitting the ATT NV Back Panel to the Alarm

Before you start you will require the following items to carry out the replacement of the back panel; a soldering iron, solder, sidecutter pliers, Philips screwdriver, 1mm or 1.5mm electrical heat shrink tube (angling shrink tube is not suitable for this job) or electrical insulating tape.

Using the Philips screwdriver, undo the screws on the reverse of the alarm and keep safe.
Gently peel the old back panel away from the main alarm body, exposing the internal circuit board. Wipe away the old gasket seal using a damp cloth.
Remove the 12v battery from the alarm. This is not essential but is good practice to always remove the power source from any electronic product that you may be working on.
Using the sidecutters, snip the wires connecting the back panel to the circuit board inside the alarm body. Leave yourself enough wire to comfortably be able to work with. Take note of which wire is the left and the right as it is important when connecting the new back panel wires that the polarity is correct else the NV transmitter will not work.
Strip back around 5mm of the outer sheath from the wires and using the soldering iron, "tin" the exposed wires with solder.
Take the replacement NV back and tin the exposed wires in the same way as you have done in the previous step. Tinning the wires allows for more solder to flow between the braided strands of the wire and gives a better eletrical connection, as well as more resitant to coming apart should the wires be pulled.
Cut two pieces of around 15mm in length of heat shrink tube and place a piece over each of the wires on the NV back.
Using the soldering iron, place the tip of the iron on the wire coming from the alarm and touch the wire from the NV back to the wire allowing the solder to flow together. Make sure that the polarity of the wires is correct as below; NV Back Black Wire - Alarm wire nearest to roller (left wire) NV Back Red Wire - Alarm wire nearest to alarm switch (right wire)
After the two wires have been soldered together, slide the heatshrink tube over the soldered connections and gently run the soldering iron over the tubing to shrink down. Do not leave the iron touching the shrink tube for too long else it will melt through and leave exposed sections. If this does happen, use a piece of electrical insultion tape to cover the exposed sections.
Insert the batteries for the two pieces into each, making sure that the battery polarity is correct for each part. The NV Back has + & - indicators to make this easy, and the flat part of the 12v battery for the main alarm is inserted to the larger spring of the battery holder.
Before proceeding further, it is good practice to test the connections. Take you ATTx V2 receiver and place it into programming mode (hold the side button down and switch on, before releasing the side button when the LED's illuminate and the first LED flashes). Rotate the roller on the alarm and the receiver should now bleep. If it does not do this, cut the shrink tube away from the connections and desolder the joints and repeat the soldering part. If you wish, you can test the connections before shrinking the tube down to ensure that you have the wires connected to the correct polarity.
Once the connection test has been successful, take the correct rubber gasket for your alarm and place over the ear section of the NV back and slide down before manipulating the lower section over the base of the NV back. Make sure that the wires are situated within the inner of the gasket. The larger gasket has a ridge side and a flat side. The ridged side should be fitted so that the ridge sits in the groove of the NV back.
To make things easier, place the four screws into the holes on the NV back and turn them so that they grip the gasket and hold it in place. This makes fitting the back easier as the gasket does not come away from the NV back when being fitted to the alarm body.
Tuck the wires into the alarm body alongside the base of the alarm and alongside the alarm battery compartment if required and locate the four screws to the holes on the alarm body.
Rather than screw the screws in a clockwise or anti-clockwise sequence, it is best to turn the screws one at a time, a full turn each, going from corner to opposite diagonal corner so that equal pressure is placed on the gasket. This stops the gasket bulging out at the sides, and ensures an even seal between the NV back and the alarm body itself.
Congratulations, you have successfully converted your standard Steve Neville alarm into a remote alarm. If you have more than one alarm (as most of us do), repeat the steps for each alarm. When all the alarms have been fitted with the NV backs, simply place your ATTx V2 receiver into programming mode, and in sequence, rotate the roller on the alarm once to link the alarm to the receiver (if you wish to skip certain colours of LED on the receiver, press the side button of the receiver once to skip to the next LED). When the alarms have been programmed to the receiver, switch the receiver off and then back on again to test that each head has been registered as you wish.

Final Thoughts

This is one innovation that has answered all my prayers with regards to the Steve Neville alarms. Not having to worry about fitting the dongles to the alarms upon setting up and making sure that the right dongle is plugged into the right alarm so it indicates on the correct LED on the transmitter is a God send. I also found that replacing the batteries on the ATTx V2 dongles was a precarious process in removing the old battery using a lever of some type and not breaking the battery terminals in doing so (as well as making sure that the battery was replaced in the correct polarity!), and now it is a simple task of undoing 4 screws and replacing the battery when required. When the alarm is switched off, the drain on the battery is minimal and you should still expect to get at least the same battery life from the NV backs as you did with the dongles (if not more with the extended ears and the antennae running through them above the metalware thehy are placed on).

Even if your soldering skills are not up to the job, you can fit them by twisting the wires together and wrapping with insulation tape as a short term measure (although this is not recommended as a permanent fitting). If you have Steve Neville alarms without the jack plug socket, the fitting process is slightly different as the internal wires are not present. If this is the case, it is highly recommended that ATT or one of their dealers that carry out the conversion job as it does require specialised expensive soldering equipment to solder the NV back wires to the main circuit board within the alarm, as well as very good soldering skills. It goes to say that the last thing you want to do is to ruin a working alarm for the sake of an extra few quid and a few days without the alarms.

During testing, the range of the NV backs is just as good, if not slightly better than the ATTx V2 dongles, and we had no problems getting a clear reception at over 75 yards distance (not in an angling situation as this would be poor angling ettiquette).

Obviously fitting the NV backs will invalidate your warranty with Steve Neville on the alarms, but if you have the conversion carried out by ATT and provide your sales receipt for both the alarms and the NV backs, they will take over the remainder of the warranty for your peace of mind. You do not get this peace of mind carrying out the conversion yourself, so before you attempt to do so, please be certain that you can do the job and also are fully aware of this.

The ATT NV Backs carry a RRP of £39.99 each (which is the same price as an ATTx V2 dongle) and offer a fantastic addition to the remote alarm systems on the market. These have already been a massive talking point on the various angling forums and are sure to be a huge seller in the shops. If you are a Steve Neville owner and want a cost effective solution for a remote system, get on these! You will not be sorry.

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