Eagle Explorer Installation and Operation Manual

Eagle Explorer
INSTALLATION AND
OPERATION INSTRUCTIONS
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TM
TM
Copyright © 1996 Eagle Electronics All rights reserved.
Eagle Explorer™ is a trademark of Eagle Electronics Eagle® is a registered trademark of Eagle Electronics
WARNING! USE THIS UNIT ONLY AS AN AID TO NAVIGATION. A CAREFUL NAVIGATOR NEVER RELIES ON ONLY ONE METHOD TO OBTAIN POSITION INFORMATION.
Never use this product while operating a vehicle.
CAUTION
When showing navigation data to a position (w aypoint), this unit will show the shortest, most direct path to the waypoint. It provides na vigation data to the waypoint regardless of obstructions. Theref ore, the prudent naviga­tor will not only take advantage of all a v ailable navigation tools when tra v­elling to a waypoint, but will also visually check to make certain a clear, safe path to the w a ypoint is always available.
The storage temperature for y our unit is from -4 degrees to +167 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 to +75 degrees Celsius). Extended storage temperatures higher or lower than specified will cause the liquid crystal display to fail. Neither this type of failure nor its consequences are covered by the war­ranty. F or more information, consult the f actory customer service depart­ment.
All features and specifications subject to change without notice. Eagle Electronics may find it necessary to change or end our policies,
regulations, and special offers at any time. We reserve the right to do so without notice.
All screens in this manual are simulated.
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INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 5
INSTALLATION.............................................................................................................. 6
BATTERY INSTALLATION........................................................................................ 6
EXTERNAL POWER................................................................................................ 7
KEYBOARD .................................................................................................................. 7
OPERA TION ................................................................................................................. 8
TURNING POWER ON............................................................................................ 8
MENUS .................................................................................................................... 8
FINDING YOUR POSITION ..................................................................................... 8
COLD ST AR T...................................................................................................... 8
INITIALIZATION .................................................................................................. 9
POSITION/NA VIGATION DISPLAYS ....................................................................... 11
NAVIGATION SCREENS .................................................................................... 11
PLOTTER SCREENS .............................................................................................. 14
PLOTTER CURSOR........................................................................................... 14
PLOTTER OPTIONS .......................................................................................... 15
PLOTTER ORIENTA TION .............................................................................. 15
CLEAR PLOT TRAIL ...................................................................................... 16
GRID LINES................................................................................................... 17
PLOTTER UPD ATE ........................................................................................ 17
ICONS ................................................................................................................ 17
PLACE ICON - CURSOR LOCATION ............................................................ 18
ERASE ICONS............................................................................................... 18
WINDOWS............................................................................................................... 19
SA TELLITE INFORMATION SCREEN ........................................................... 20
CLOCK........................................................................................................... 20
CLOCK ALARM.............................................................................................. 21
TIMERS.......................................................................................................... 21
REPROGRAM BO XES ............................................................................................ 22
WAYPOINTS ............................................................................................................ 23
SAVING YOUR PRESENT POSITION (QUICK SA VE) ...................................... 23
SAVING CURSOR POSITION............................................................................ 23
SAVING YOUR PRESENT POSITION................................................................ 24
EDIT WAYPOINT LA T/LON ................................................................................. 25
EDIT WAYPOINT NAME ..................................................................................... 25
MO VE A WA YPOINT........................................................................................... 26
DIST ANCE BETWEEN WA YPONTS................................................................... 27
WAYPOINT OPTIONS ........................................................................................ 27
DELETE A WAYPOINT ....................................................................................... 28
ROUTES .................................................................................................................. 28
CREATE A ROUTE............................................................................................. 28
SELECT WA YPOINTS FOR ROUTE ............................................................. 29
FINISHING THE ROUTE................................................................................ 30
DELETE A W AYPOINT FROM ROUTE.......................................................... 30
EXPLORER WA YPOINT DETAIL ................................................................... 30
FOLLOW A ROUTE............................................................................................ 31
DELETE A ROUTE............................................................................................. 32
NAVIGATION................................................................................................................. 32
NAVIGA TE TO A WA YPOINT ................................................................................... 32
NAVIGATE TO A CURSOR LOCATION ................................................................... 32
NAVIGATING TO A WA YPOINT USING THE PLOTTER ......................................... 33
CANCEL NAVIGATION ............................................................................................ 33
SYSTEM SETUP .......................................................................................................... 34
CONTRAST ............................................................................................................. 34
UNITS OF MEASURE.............................................................................................. 34
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POSITION FORMA T ................................................................................................ 35
NMEA/DGPS ........................................................................................................... 35
NMEA OUTPUT.................................................................................................. 36
DGPS.................................................................................................................. 36
SERIAL COMMUNICA TION SETUP .................................................................. 38
RESET OPTIONS.................................................................................................... 38
RESET GROUPS .................................................................................................... 38
SYSTEM INFO......................................................................................................... 39
GPS SETUP ................................................................................................................. 39
EXECUTE GPS COLD START ................................................................................ 39
D ATUM..................................................................................................................... 40
PCF ....................................................................................................................... 40
POSITION PINNING ................................................................................................ 41
ALARMS ....................................................................................................................... 42
MESSAGES.................................................................................................................. 43
SIMULATOR.................................................................................................................. 43
ST A RTING POSITION ............................................................................................. 44
USER ARRO W KEYS T O STEER ........................................................................... 44
BACKLIGHT.................................................................................................................. 45
DEFINITION OF TERMS/ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................. 45
WINDOW GROUPS...................................................................................................... 47
WARRANTY STA TEMENT............................................................................................ 49
UPS RETURN SERVICE.............................................................................................. 50
ACCESSOR Y ORDERING ........................................................................................... 51
HOW T O OBTAIN SERVICE - INTERNATIONAL .............................INSIDE BACK COVER
HOW TO OBT AIN SERVICE - U.S.A. ONLY ..................................................BACK COVER
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Congratulations!
You have purchased one of the finest 12-channel GPS receiv ers Eagle™ has ever made. With its high contrast LCD screen, easy to use menus, and outstanding performance, we think you’ll be happy with your Eagle Explorer™ for many years.
GPS works from satellites that transmit information to the world at very high frequencies. One disadvantage to this frequency is that it’s “line-of­sight”. In other words, the signals don’t bounce around like your local radio or television. If you don’t have a clear view of the sky, or if you’re inside a building (such as a house), the unit probably won’t be able to pick up the signals from the satellites. This is common among all GPS receivers.
Like most GPS receivers, your Eagle Explorer doesn’t have a compass or any other navigation aid built into it. It relies solely on the signals from the satellites to determine its position. Speed, direction of travel, and distance are all calculated from position information. Therefore, in order for it to determine the direction you’re tra velling, you m ust be moving, and the faster - the better. This is not to say the unit won’t work at walking speeds - it will. But the faster you travel, the easier it is for the unit to determine your direction.
Another factor that influences the GPS’ position and navigation capabili­ties is called selective availability or S/A. This is small errors purposefully injected into the transmitted signal from the satellites. The government does this to degrade the system’s accur acy to civilian and foreign users. Even with S/A, GPS is the most accurate navigation system e v er invented on such a large scale. The Government’s accuracy specification is 100 meters horizontally and 150 meters vertically 95% of the time. In other words, the position shown on your Eagle Explorer could be up to 100 meters in any direction from your actual position, and the altitude could be plus or minus 150 meters from what’s shown on the screen, 95% of the time.
There are two ways around the S/A problem. One is to have the govern­ment simply turn it off. In fact, there is gr owing pressure on them to do that, but it’s not likely to happen anytime soon. The other method is to purchase a DGPS receiver and connect it to y our Eagle Explorer . A DGPS receiver (commonly called a beacon receiver), picks up correction sig­nals broadcast from ground stations. The Eagle Explorer takes these corrections and applies them to the position and altitude screens, giving you much better accuracy.
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Even with S/A on, and without a DGPS receiver, your Eagle Explorer gives you outstanding position and navigation information. Most people are amazed when they actually use a GPS receiver and see what it does .
Please sit down with the unit and this manual and familiarize yourself with them before using the Eagle Explorer in the “real world”. A simulator is built in, which lets you practice.
INSTALLATION
The Explorer will operate from four AA batterie s, one DuraCell® recharge­able battery , or from 6 to 16 volts DC . An optional cigarette lighter adapter is available to plug into a car or boat’s electrical system. The Explorer automatically switches to external power when it’s plugged into the unit. If, for an y reason, the external power f ails, the unit will automatically switch to the batteries.
The Explorer does not require batteries when the external power is in use, however they make a good backup in case of power failure.
BATTERY INSTALLATION
For battery operation, the Explorer requires four AA batteries or the op­tional DuraCell® rechargeable battery . We recommend DuraCell® alkaline batteries, but other brands will work. You can also use rechargeable ni­cad batteries (however, they won’t last as long as standard alkalines). Rechargeable alkaline batteries such as RayOVac® Renewals® will also work.
Do not use heavy-duty batteries or any battery type other than the ones listed above. Do not mix different types of batteries. (For example, don’t use both alkaline and ni-cad batteries at the same time.)
To install the batteries, first turn the over on its back. Now push the two tabs to the left and raise the battery cover as shown below. The bottom part of the case holds the batteries.
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There are “+” and “-” marks on a decal at the bottom of the battery com­partment. Place the batteries into the compartment according to the marks and replace the battery cover. The Explorer is now ready for use.
EXTERNAL POWER
Instead of batteries, the Explorer can operate on 6 to 16 volts DC from an external power source. To use external power, an adapter cable must be purchased (model CA-2) that will plug into your vehicle’s cigarette lighter. To use this cable, simply plug one end into the connector on the Explorer and the other end into the cigarette lighter.
KEYBOARD
The keyboard has twelve keys. The arrow keys are tied to most of the features, letting you easily move the plotter’s cursor, navigate through the menus, make selections from menus, and other tasks.
MODE
MENU
ZOUT ZIN ENT PWR
WPT
EXIT
The WPT key lets you create , s av e, and recall wa ypoints and routes. The MODE key s witches the unit between the three major displa ys: windo w s, navigation, and plotter. To select different features, or to modify func­tions, press the MENU ke y . The Z-IN and Z-OUT ke ys zoom-in and zoom­out your view on the plotter screen. The ENT and EXIT keys let you enter or erase selections. The PWR key turns both the Eagle Explorer and it’s lights on and off.
Note: T o pre vent an accidental power shutdown, you m ust hold the PWR key down for a few seconds in order to turn the unit off.
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OPERATION
Turning Power On
To tur n the Eagle Explorer on, simply press the PWR key. A screen similar to the one at right ap­pears. Read the message on the screen, then press the EXIT key to erase it. The Explorer is now ready for use.
MENUS
Most of the Eagle Explorer’s adjustments and f ea­tures are found on “men us”. Pressing the MENU key lets you vie w the menus. Different men u items are added to the basic list, depending on which mode (plotter, na vigation, or windows) the unit is in. This gives you the features that are specific to the mode you are in, but also has items that are used on all modes.
Pressing the up or down arrow keys moves the black box to highlight different menus on the list. Pressing the right arrow key selects the high­lighted menu item.
To erase a menu, press the EXIT key.
Finding Y our Position
Cold Start
When the Eagle Explorer is turned on for the very first time, it doesn’t know where it is, nor what the local time or date is. I f you tell it your position, time, and date, the unit will tak e much less time to lock-on to the satellites and give you a fix or position.
However, if you don’t want to push buttons at this time, that’s fine. The Eagle Explorer will lock onto the satellites and giv e y ou a position without any input from you. This is called a “cold-start” . It simply means that the unit is searching without help for the satellites that are in orbit. A cold­start can take over two minutes to acquire enough satellite data to deter­mine your position, although it typically takes less time than that.
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To use your Explorer , first make certain you have a clear view of the sky, free from any obstructions such as trees or buildings. Also, don’t try to use it under a carpor t , covered boat dock, or inside a building. Turn the power on, press the EXIT key to erase the opening message and watch the display.
As you wait for the Eagle Explorer to find your position, you’ll see numbers flashing on the dis­play. Anytime y ou see flashing numbers , it means the Eagle Explorer does not have a position! Do not rely on any data that is flashing! Once the Explorer locks on to the satellites and finds your position, it shows a “Position Acquired” message on the screen. It also stores the satellite data in its memory. The next time you use the unit, it should take much less time to lock on.
That’s all you have to do to find your position. Your local time display may not be correct when the cold start method is used. See the initialization section for details on changing the time.
Finding Y our Position
Initialization
A cold-start as descr ibed above can take over two minutes to find your position. A faster method is to initialize the Eagle Explorer manually. To do this, first press the PWR key. Next, read the message on the screen and press the EXIT key to erase it. Now press the MENU key.
Press the up or down arrow keys until the “GPS SETUP” menu is highlighted. No w press the right arrow key. Next, using the down arrow key, high­light the “INIT GPS” (initialize GPS) menu, then press the right arrow key. The screen shown at right appears.
This is the GPS initialization screen. The posi­tion, altitude, time, and date the Eagle Explorer is currently using to find the satellites is shown at the bottom of this screen. Changing these values to your local position and time will speed the po­sition lock.
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To change the position, press the right arrow key while the “LAT/LON EDIT” box is highlighted. The screen shown at right appears.
If your latitude is south, press the up or down ar­row key to change it. If it is north, press the right arrow key to mo ve the change box to the first n um­ber in the latitude. No w press the up arrow k ey to increase the number or the down arrow key to decrease it. Once the first number in the latitude is set, press the right arrow key once to move to the next number in the latitude.
Keep pressing the arrow keys until the latitude and longitude are set to your local position. (Note: This position does not have to be very accu­rate. If you can get it within one degree of y our actual position, that will be fine.) When it’s set, press the ENT key. The Explorer accepts your entr y and returns to the GPS setup menu.
Now change the local time and date (if they’re incorrect) on this screen. (Don’t worry about altitude.) When everything is acceptable, press the EXIT key repeatedly to return to a mode screen. The Explorer will in­stantly use the data you entered to find the satellites in the sky. (The unit knows which satellites will be av ailable at the position, date , and time you entered. Therefore, it will only look for those satellites , making the search time much shorter than a cold start which looks for all of the satellites until it finds three.)
Once the Eagle Explorer finds and locks on to three satellites, it stops flashing the numbers on the display. (Note: Altitude will still flash until the unit locks on to the fourth satellite. It takes four satellites to determine altitude.)
IMPORTANT!
If the data shown in digital numbers on any screen is flashing, it means that data is invalid. DO NOT RELY ON ANY NUMBERS THAT ARE FLASHING! Usually, this happens when the Eagle Explorer has lost its lock on the satellites. The data that is flashing was the last known when the unit lost its navigational capability.
DO NOT NAVIGATE WITH THIS UNIT UNTIL THE DATA STOPS
FLASHING!
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POSITION/NAVIGATION DISPLAYS
The Eagle Explorer has navigation, plotter, and windows group modes. These screens were designed to show data that is used most often. The three default screens are shown below.
NA V-1 PLO T-1 GROUP A
To change screens, simply press the MODE key. A screen similar to the one at right appears. No w press the up or down arrow ke ys to change modes. (The windows displa y is shown as "GRP" (groups). For example, Group A is the first windows group on the MODE menu.) Press the right arrow key to see more screens on each mode. When the de­sired screen appears, press the EXIT key to clear the menu.
Note: For a list of abbreviations used on the dis­plays, see the back of this manual.
Navigation Screens
There are two na vigation screens. Na v screen number one shows a graphi­cal view of your trip , the other screen sho ws all na vigation details in large digital numbers. You can customize the na vigation screens to show differ­ent data than the ones chosen by Eagle. See the “Customize Screen” section for more details.
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Nav Screen #1
This screen is dominated by a compass rose (See the screen at right.) Your position is in the center of the circle, designated by an arrow that always points straight up. Your trac k (direction of trav el) is indicated by an arrow pointing down toward the compass rose at the top center of the screen. Your track in digital numbers is also shown to the right of the arrow. On the screen shown at right, the track is 167°. The line extending behind the arrow in the center shows your track history, or path you’ve travelled.
Your speed over ground or Ground Speed (GS) shows in the digital box in the bottom left corner of the screen. The screen looks lik e the one above when you’re not navigating to a waypoint. (See page 28 for information on waypoint navigation.) If you navigate to a waypoint, the screen looks like the one at right.
The bearing to the destination waypoint is shown in the upper left corner of the screen. Bearing is also shown by the large arrow pointing up to the compass. The bearing is 176° on the screen at right.
NAV-1
The lines on either side of the present position arrow show the cross track error range. In other words, (using the screen abo ve as an example) if the arrow crosses the line on either side, y ou are .10 miles to the left or right of the desired course.
A circle depicting your destination appears on the screen as you approach the waypoint as shown on the screen at right.
The digital box es on the bottom of the screen show your distance to go to the destination (DIS), g round speed (GS), cross track error (XTK), and course (CRS).
Course (CRS) is the bearing from your starting location to your destination. (Remember, course
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has nothing to do with your present position, except for your starting location.) It’s shown as a dotted line on the NAV 1 display. This is shown as a reminder so that if you deviate from your original course, you can easily return to it. (A “course” is a proposed path over the ground. A “track” is your actual path over ground.)
Nav Screen #2
This navigation screen shows na vigation informa­tion in large digital numbers. To view this screen, press the MODE key, then press the up arrow key until the “NA V 1” label is highlighted. No w press the right arrow key. A screen similar to the one at right appears. Press the EXIT key to erase the mode menu.
This screen is composed of eight digital display boxes, showing your track (TRK), and ground speed (GS). The other box es show navigation data when a waypoint is recalled, including bearing to the waypoint (BRG), course (CRS), distance to waypoint (DIS), estimated time en route (ETE), and cross track error (XTK) along with a CDI. See below for more infor­mation on the CDI.
Course Deviation Indicator (CDI)
The CDI shows your distance to the left or right of the desired course. You must recall a waypoint or run a route to use the CDI. The vertical line in the center of the box shows the direction to the desti­nation. For example, if you’re travelling straight to­wards the destination, the line sta ys in the center of the CDI. If you turn to the right, the line moves to the left, showing that the destination is to your left.The CDI’s range shows in the upper left corner. The default is 0.25 mile. The dots at the far right and left side of the CDI represent 0.25 mile. If the line is on either of these dots, then y ou are 0.25 miles off course. Remember, if the bar moves to the left, then you are too far to the
right
of the desired course line, and vice-versa. On the indicator shown above, we are almost 0.2 mile to the left of the de­sired course. You can adjust the CDI’s range through the “ALARMS/CDI” menu .
Using the CDI with the plotter helps you visualize your position in relation to the course. The CDI is on several of the Explorer’s windows.
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Plotter
The plotter lets you see your course and track from a “birds-eye” view. If you’ve recalled a way­point, the plotter show your starting location, present position, and destination. However, you don’t have to recall a waypoint to use the plotter.
To use the plotter, simply press the MODE key, then press the up or down arrow keys until the “Plot” label is highlighted. Press the EXIT key to erase the mode menu. A screen similar to the one at right appears. This is plot-1. The diamond flash­ing in the center of the screen is your present position. The solid line extending from the diamond is your track, or path you’ve travelled. The plotter’s range is shown in the lower left corner of the screen. In this example, the plotter’s range is two miles from the left edge of the screen to the right.
There are two different plotter screens available. Plot screen number 1 shows by default. Your current position displa ys at the center of the screen as a cross surrounded by a flashing diamond.
To view the other plotter screen, press the MODE key. Press the up or down arrow key to move the black bo x to the "PLOT" label. Now press the right arrow or left arrow key to select plot-2. This screen (as shown at right) has navigation data displa yed at the bottom of the screen in digital numbers. This data is active whene ver you’ve recalled a way ­point. Press the EXIT key to erase the mode menu .
This screen shows bearing to waypoint (BRG), distance to waypoint (DIS), ground speed (GS), and track (TRK).
Use the Z-IN and Z-OUT keys to enlarge or reduce the plotter area. This changes the plotter’s r ange. The available ranges are: 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.3,
0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 60, 80, 100,150, 200, 300, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, and 2000 miles.
Cursor
Pressing an arrow key while the plotter is on shows two dotted lines that intersect at your present position. These dotted lines are called a “cursor” and have a variety of uses.
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You can move the cursor around the display by pressing the arrow ke ys in the direction you want it to move. This lets you view different areas of the plotter , aw ay from your present position. When it’ s turned on, the zoom-in and zoom-out ke ys work from the cursor’s position - not the present posi­tion, so you can zoom in on any detail, anywhere while navigating. The latitude/longitude of the cur­sor shows in the box at the top of the plot-1 screen whenever the cursor is activated. The cursor is also used to place and erase icons and wa ypoints.
Press the EXIT key to erase the cursor.
PLOTTER OPTIONS
The Eagle Explorer lets you customize the plotter using the “Plotter Options” menu. To use this menu, first press the MENU key, then use the up or down arrow ke ys to highlight the “Plotter Options” label. Finally, press the right arrow key. The screen shown at right appears.
Plotter Orientation
Normally, the Eagle Explorer shows the plotter with north always at the top of the screen. Thi s is the way most maps and charts are printed on paper. This is fine if you’re always travelling due north. Wa ypoints y ou see to y our left corresponds to the left side of the plotter, to your right shows on the right side of the plotter, and so on.
However, if you travel any other direction, the plotter doesn’t line up with your view of the world.
To correct this problem, the Eagle Explorer has a track-up mode that rotates the plotter as you turn. Thus, what you see on the left side of the screen should always be to your left, and so on. It also has a course-up mode that keeps the plotter at the same orientation as your initial bearing to the waypoint.
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In the examples shown belo w , we're travelling southeast (about 150° mag­netic). In the north-up view, the present position indicator appears to move to wards the lo wer right corner of the screen. The anchor icon shown on the right side of the screen is actually on our left. North is always at the top center of this screen.
NORTH-UP MODE COURSE-UP MODE
TRACK-UP MODE
In the track-up view, the present position symbol (which has changed to an arrow) moves straight towards the top of the display. As you can see, the anchor icon is now shown in its proper orientation - to our right. A "N" shows to help you see which direction is north when the tr ack-up mode is on. Remember, in the track-up mode, the screen rotates as you change direction. It always keeps your direction of travel (track) heading towards the top of the screen.
In the course-up mode, the screen is locked into your original bearing to the recalled waypoint, regardless of your track.
To select the desired mode, highlight the “ROTATE” label on the “Plotter Options” menu, then press the left or right arrow keys until the desired mode appears. Press the EXIT key to leave this menu
Clear Current Plot Trail
The line extending from the present position diamond on the plotter shows the path you’v e t aken, This is the plot tr ail. To erase the plot trail, highlight the “ClearTrail” label on the Plotter Options menu, then press the r ight arrow ke y. A message bo x appears, asking y ou if you really want to erase the plot trail. Follow the directions on this message box. The Explorer returns to the plotter screen with the plot trail erased from the screen.
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Grid Lines
The Eagle Explorer can place grid lines on the plotter to help you see your position, or the posi­tion of waypoints and icons.
To do this, highlight the “Grid” label on the “Plotter Options” menu, then press the right arrow key to turn them on. Press the EXIT key to exit this menu. A plotter screen similar to the one at right ap­pears. The grid lines appear as vertical and hori­zontal dashed lines.
GRID LINES
Plotter Update
The plotter places a dot on your trail as you move. It determines when to place a dot depending on either time or distance. By default, it places a dot every three seconds.
To change the update method from time to distance, highlight the “Up­date By” label, then press the right arrow key. This moves the label from “TIME” to “DIST”.
If you want to change the update time or distance , simply highlight either the “UPDT RATE” to change the update time or the “UPDT DIST” to change the update distance, then press the left or right arrow keys until the desired setting appears. Press the EXIT ke y to erase the plotter menu.
ICONS
The Eagle Explorer has fifteen symbols or “icons” a vailable. These icons can be placed anywhere on the plotter screens. These can be used to mark fishing or hunting spots, boat ramps, rest stops, or whatever. You can place an icon at your present position, or at the cursor location.
Place Icon - Present Position
To place an icon at your present position, simply press the ENT key. The screen shown at right appears. Use the arrow keys to move the black box to the desired icon. Now press the ENT key. The plotter screen appears with the icon you se­lected placed at your position when you first pressed the ENT key, not your present position.
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