Pre-Charter AV Checklist: 10 Things to Test Before Departure
Why a Pre-Charter AV Check Matters
Charter guests paying six figures per week expect every screen, speaker, and streaming service to work flawlessly from the moment they step on board. "It was working last week" is not a defence when the owner salon display shows nothing but a blue screen during the welcome cocktail. A systematic pre-departure check takes 4-6 hours and prevents the kind of mid-charter failures that generate angry calls, refund requests, and damage to the vessel's reputation.
1. AV Source Routing
Verify every source (Apple TV, satellite receiver, Blu-ray, HDMI inputs) routes correctly to every display it should reach. Switch through every combination on the control system. Pay special attention to sources that cross HDMI matrices or video-over-IP encoders — these are the most common failure points after a power cycle.
2. Display Health Check
Power on every display on the vessel. Check for dead pixels, backlight bleed, colour drift, and correct resolution. Verify that displays wake from standby via the control system — a surprisingly common failure where the CEC or RS-232 command has drifted after a firmware update.
3. WiFi Load Testing
Connect 15-20 devices simultaneously and walk every guest area with a WiFi analyser. Check signal strength, handover between access points, and actual throughput. Many vessels have adequate coverage with one device but fall apart when a full charter party connects phones, tablets, and laptops. Test both guest and crew networks separately.
4. Firmware Audit
Document the firmware version of every Crestron processor, touch panel, Extron switcher, DSP, and network switch. Compare against manufacturer recommended versions. Update where safe to do so — but never update Crestron firmware the day before charter. If updates are needed, schedule them at least 72 hours before departure with time to test afterward.
5. Control Panel Walk-Through
Test every button, page, and gesture on every touch panel and keypad. Check that volume sliders actually control the correct zones, that lighting scenes recall properly, and that source labels match the actual connected devices. Relabel anything that has changed since the last charter season.
6. Audio Zone Verification
Play audio through every zone at moderate volume. Walk the vessel and listen for distortion, dead speakers, hum, and zones where audio cuts out. Check that DSP presets load correctly and that volume limits are set appropriately for guest comfort — nobody wants the sun deck at full power at 7 AM.
7. IPTV and Streaming
Tune through every IPTV channel to verify they load. Log into streaming accounts (Netflix, Disney+, etc.) and verify credentials are current. Test casting from a phone to the main salon display. Satellite TV can take 15-20 minutes to acquire signal after the system has been off — start this early.
8. CCTV Verification
Check every camera feed for image quality, correct angle, and recording status. Verify NVR storage capacity — many systems silently stop recording when the disk is full. Test night vision and low-light performance in interior corridors and exterior positions.
9. Documentation Handover
Ensure the vessel has an up-to-date as-built document with rack diagrams, IP addresses, VLAN schedules, and firmware registers. Leave a printed crew quick-reference card next to the main AV rack with basic reset procedures and emergency contact information.
10. Crew Briefing
Walk the chief steward/ess and at least one other crew member through basic operations: how to switch sources, adjust volume, reset a frozen touch panel, and reboot the WiFi router. Identify the "power cycle" sequence for common issues and make sure crew know which rack to access and in what order. A 30-minute briefing prevents 90% of mid-charter support calls.