Lowrance electronic 12 User Manual

GlobalNav 12

INSTALLATION AND

OPERATION INSTRUCTIONS

GlobalNav™ 12 is a trademark of Lowrance Electronics, Inc. Lowrance® is a registered trademark of Lowrance Electronics, Inc.

WARNING! USE THIS UNIT ONLY AS AN AID T O NA VIGA TION. A CAREFUL NA VIGATOR NEVER RELIES ON ONLY ONE METHOD TO OBTAIN POSITION INFORMA TION.

Never use this product while operating a vehic le.

CAUTION

When showing navigation data to a position (wa ypoint), this unit will show the shortest, most direct path to the waypoint. It pro vides navigation data to the waypoint regardless of obstructions. Therefore, the prudent na vigator will not only take advantage of all a vailable na vigation tools when travelling to a waypoint, but will also visually check to make certain a clear, safe path to the wa ypoint is alw ays available.

The operating and storage temperature for y our unit is from -4 degrees to +167 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 to +75 deg rees 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 inf ormation, consult the f actory customer service department.

All features and specifications subject to change without notice. Lowrance Electronics may find it necessary to change or end our poli-

cies, regulations, and special off ers at any time. W e reserve the right to do so without notice.

All screens in this manual are simulated.

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1

S/A - What is it? .......................................................................................................... 2

Don’t Get Lost ............................................................................................................. 2

GETTING STA RTED ......................................................................................................... 3

Power .................................................................................................................... 3

BATTERIES ................................................................................................................. 3

Battery Installation ................................................................................................ 3

NiMH Battery ........................................................................................................ 3

External Antenna ........................................................................................................ 4

OPERATION .................................................................................................................... 4

Keyboard .................................................................................................................... 4

Menus .................................................................................................................... 4

Tur ning Power On ....................................................................................................... 5

Satellite Status Screen ............................................................................................... 5

Finding Y our Position................................................................................................... 6

Auto Search.......................................................................................................... 6

Quick Initialization ................................................................................................ 7

Full Initialization .................................................................................................... 7

Position Acquisition .............................................................................................. 8

POSITION/NAVIGATION SCREENS ......................................................................... 8

STATUS ................................................................................................................ 8

NAVIGATION ........................................................................................................ 8

PLOTTER ............................................................................................................. 8

WINDOWS ............................................................................................................ 8

Navigation Screens .............................................................................................. 9

Course Deviation Indicator (CDI)................................................................. 10

Plotter ................................................................................................................. 11

Cursor .......................................................................................................... 12

Plotter Options ............................................................................................. 12

Update Options ............................................................................................ 12

Plotter Orientation ........................................................................................ 13

Plot Trails ...................................................................................................... 14

Clear Trail .................................................................................................. 14

Range Rings/Grid Lines............................................................................... 14

GRIDS .......................................................................................................... 14

ICONS .......................................................................................................... 15

Place Icon - Present Position ................................................................... 15

Place Icon - Cursor Position..................................................................... 16

Icon Options ............................................................................................. 16

WINDOWS .......................................................................................................... 17

Reprogram Boxes ............................................................................................... 22

RESET GROUPS ............................................................................................... 22

WAYPOINTS....................................................................................................... 23

Waypoint Menu ............................................................................................ 23

Saving Your Present Position as a Waypoint (Quick Save Method)............ 23

Saving The Cursor Position as a Waypoint ................................................. 24

Saving Your Present Position as a Waypoint (Select Number Method) ...... 24

Selecting a Waypoint ................................................................................... 25

Waypoint Number ........................................................................................ 25

Waypoint List ................................................................................................ 25

Nearest Waypoint......................................................................................... 25

Editing a Waypoint ....................................................................................... 25

Edit Name ................................................................................................. 26

Edit Position.............................................................................................. 26

Edit Icon.................................................................................................... 26

WAYPOINT NAVIGATION ......................................................................................... 27

Navigating to a cursor location........................................................................... 27

Navigating to a Waypoint using the Plotter ........................................................ 28

OTHER WAYPOINT OPTIONS .......................................................................... 28

Move a Waypoint.......................................................................................... 28

DISTANCE BETWEEN WAYPOINTS .......................................................... 29

Project a Waypoint ....................................................................................... 30

Position Averaging ....................................................................................... 31

Delete a Waypoint ........................................................................................ 31

Delete All Waypoints .................................................................................... 31

ROUTES .................................................................................................................. 31

Create a Route ................................................................................................... 32

Delete a Waypoint .............................................................................................. 33

Waypoint Detail................................................................................................... 33

Following a Route............................................................................................... 34

Delete a Route.................................................................................................... 35

CANCEL NAVIGATION ............................................................................................. 35

Navigation Notes....................................................................................................... 35

SYSTEM SETUP ...................................................................................................... 35

Backlight ............................................................................................................. 35

Contrast .............................................................................................................. 36

Units of Measure ................................................................................................ 36

NMEA / DGPS .................................................................................................... 36

NMEA Output ..................................................................................................... 37

Configure NMEA Output .................................................................................... 37

DGPS.................................................................................................................. 37

Serial Communication Setup.............................................................................. 39

Reset Options..................................................................................................... 39

Reset Groups ..................................................................................................... 39

System Info ......................................................................................................... 40

GPS SETUP ............................................................................................................. 40

Position Format .................................................................................................. 40

DATUM................................................................................................................ 41

PCF (Position Correction Factor) ....................................................................... 41

POSITION PINNING .......................................................................................... 42

ALARMS .................................................................................................................. 43

MESSAGES.............................................................................................................. 44

SUNRISE/SET MOONRISE/SET CALCULATOR .................................................... 44

SIMULATOR .............................................................................................................. 45

DEFINITION OF TERMS/ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................ 46

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the e xciting world of GPS! Whether you’ re a first-time user or a professional navigator, you’ll find the GlobalNav 12 is a full-featured GPS receiver at a price that was impossible just a few years ago. The Rockwell® receiver built inside has 12 channels that will track all of the satellites that are in view of your location. It’ s acquisition time and tracking ability are second to none in its class.

The Global Positioning System (GPS) w as developed by the United States Department of Defense as a 24-hour a day, 365 days a year global navigation system for the military. Civilian availability was added with less accuracy using the same satellites. Twenty-f our satellites orbit the Earth. Three of these satellites are spares, unused until needed. The rest virtually guarantee that at least four satellites are in vie w of anyplace on Earth at all times.

The system requires three satellites in order to determine a position. This is called a 2D fix. It takes four satellites to determine both position and elev ation, (your height abov e sea le v el - also called altitude.) called a 3D fix.

Remember, the unit must have a clear view of the satellites in order to receiver their signals. Unlike radio or television, GPS works at very high frequencies. The signals can be blocked easily by trees, buildings, even your body. Fortunately, they do travel through glass and plastic, so your receiver will work in the car, if it has a clear vie w of the satellites through the windshield or side windows. Let someone else drive if you use it in a car or other vehicle.

Never use this GPS receiver while operating a vehicle!

The first time you use this unit, walk outside and turn it on in your backyard, an open field or park. Once it locks onto the satellites, you can experiment with it around buildings and trees. This will give you some idea of its sensitivity to blockage.

Like most GPS receivers, this unit doesn’t have a compass or any other navigation aid built inside. It relies solely on the signals from the satellites to calculate a position. Speed, direction of travel, and distance are all calculated from position information. Theref ore, in order for it to determine direction of travel, you must be moving and the faster, the better. This is not to say that it won’t work at walking speeds - it will. There will simply be more “wandering” of the data sho wn on the displa y.

S/A - What is it?

Another factor that greatly influences the receiver’s ability to deter mine position is SA. The United States government intentionally degrades the satellites signal for civilian users. They introduce small errors into the satellite’s signals that makes the GPS receiver less accurate. These errors are called selective av ailability , or SA. How bad is it? The y guarantee that the position reported by a GPS receiver that meets their specifications is within 100 meters horizontally and 150 meters vertically 95% of the time. (The position can be better than that or worse than that the other 5% of the time.) In other words, the position shown on your receiver is within 100 meters of your actual position, 95% of the time. That’s o ver 300 feet! Not exactly pinpoint accur acy, but then few people need positioning accuracy greater than this. However, if you do want better performance, (and who doesn’t?) many manufacturers (including Eagle) sell a DGPS receiver that attaches to your GPS receiv er . The DGPS system transmits correction signals that nullify the effects of SA. The DGPS receiver takes signals from these land-based transmitters and gives them to the GPS receiver which then uses them to show a more accurate position. The ironic part is the federal government implemented SA and is also operating many DGPS transmitters. (You can use the signals from all of the Coast Guard DGPS stations for free, b y the wa y.) The downside to this is it requires another piece of electronic gear (the DGPS receiver) which usually isn’t small enough to carry with you, but will work nicely on a vehicle. And you ha ve to be close enough to a station to receive the DGPS signals.

Don’t Get Lost

Generally, you find that using your GPS receiver without DGPS is both easy and amazingly accurate. It’s easily the most accurate method of electronic navigation available to the general public today. Remember, however that this receiver is only a tool. Always have another method of navigation available, such as a chart or map and a compass. It’s a good idea to carry spare batteries with you, especially if you’re venturing into unknown territory .

Also remember that this unit will always show navigation information in the shortest line from your present position to a waypoint, regardless of terrain! It only calculates position, it can’t know what’s between you and your camp, f or example. It’ s up to you to saf ely navigate around obstacles, no matter how you’re using this product.

GETTING STARTED Po wer

The Expedition operates from four AA batteries, or one DURACELL® NiMH rechargeable battery, or from 5 to 16 volts DC using the external power cable. If the power cable is used, the Expedition automatically switches to it if the external power is g reater than the battery voltage. If f or any reason the external power f ails, the unit automatically switches to the batteries.

BA TTERIES

The unit requires four AA batteries. W e recommend you use alkaline batteries for the best trade-off between battery life and cost. However, you can use nickel-cadmium (ni-cad), or lithium batteries. You can also use rechargeable alkaline batteries such as RayO V ac® Renew als®. With the exception of lithium, none of the abov e batteries will last as long as standard alkaline batteries. We recommend DURACELL® brand, but others will work. Do not use “heavy-duty” batteries or any 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.)

Battery Installation

First turn the unit so that its back is facing you. Push the two tabs to the left and remove the battery cover as shown at right. Install the batteries according to this diagram. (There’s a decal in the battery compartment showing the correct polarity, also.) Replace the battery compartment cover and the unit is ready f or use.

NiMH Battery

The DURACELL® DR-121 nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) battery replaces the four standard batteries. It is sold as an accessory , model BR-1 which includes a charger custom designed for the DR-121. The battery never needs to be removed from the unit, since the charger connects to the GPS receiver and charges the DR-121. You can even use the receiver while the battery is charging!

To install the NiMH battery, remove the battery cover and place the battery into the compar tment as shown on the next page. It will only fit one way, so if it’s difficult to install, simply turn it over and drop it into place.

Replace the compartment cover and follow the charging instructions included with the BR-1.

(Note: The DR-121 is the only batter y that can be recharged in this unit! Using the external power cable alone does not charge the battery! You must use a charger supplied by Eagle in order to charge the battery . Also , this charger will only charge a DR-121. It will not charge any other type of battery , including nicads or rechargeable alkallines.)

External Antenna

Although this GPS receiver is extremely sen- sitive, it can be used in locations where the built-in antenna simply cannot receive signals from enough satellites. A second connector on the back of the unit is for an external antenna. The Eagle model EA-2 antenna plugs directly into this connector. Other an- tennas may work. If you use an antenna other than Eagle, it will need to be a passive antenna. This unit does not supply power to the antenna.

OPERATION Keyboard

There are 12 keys on the k eyboard. Y ou na vigate through the menus, adjust the chart’s cursor, and enter data using the arro w keys.

P AGES WPT

The five major modes of operation are accessed using the PAGES key. Press the MENU key to select or adjust a f eature from a list. The Z-IN and Z-OUT keys zoom-in or

MENU EXIT

zoom-out the view on the plotter screen. The ENT and EXIT keys are used to enter or

ZOUT

PWR

ZIN ENT

clear data or screens. Save and edit waypoints using the WPT key. The PWR key turns the unit on and off. Pressing it once while the unit is oper ating turns on the screen’s backlight. To prevent an accidental shutdown, you must hold the PWR key down for a few seconds in order to turn the unit off.

Menus

Most of the unit’s f eatures are f ound on “men us’. Y ou can vie w the menus by pressing the MENU key. This product has “Intelligent Menus”. There are many menus that pertain to only the plotter, for example. When you press the MENU key and the plotter is sho wing, menu items for the plotter

show in addition to the normal menus. If the navigation screen is showing, and you press the MENU key, plotter menu items won’t show on the list. This helps you find the item you need without scrolling through unnecessary menus.

Turning Power On

T o turn the unit on, simply press the PWR ke y . A screen similar to the one at right appears. Read the message on the screen, then press the EXIT key to erase it or wait a few seconds and it automatically clears. The screen shown below appears next.

Satellite Status Screen

This screen appears each time you turn the unit on. It shows a graphical view of the satellites that are in vie w. Each satellite is shown on the circular chart relative to your position. The point in the center of the chart is directly overhead. The small inner ring represents 45° above the horizon and the large ring represents the horizon. North is at the top of the screen. Y ou can use this to see which satellites are obstructed by obstacles in your immediate area if you hold the unit f acing north.

The GPS receiver is tracking satellites that are surrounded by a black bo x. If the satellite number is not surrounded by a bo x, then the receiver hasn’t lock ed onto that satellite and it isn’t being used to solve the position.

Beneath the graph are the bar graphs, one for each satellite in view. Although the unit has twelve channels, it dedicates one channel per visible satellite. Therefore, if only six satellites are visible, only six bar charts show at the bottom of the screen. The higher the bar on the graph, the better the unit is receiving the signals from the satellite.

The number in the upper left corner is the “expected horizontal position error” or e xpected error from a benchmark location. In other words , if the expected error shows 50 f eet, then the position sho wn by the unit is estimated to be within 50 feet of the actual location. Ho we v er , this n umber is only valid if you’re using DGPS or if S/A is tur ned off. Due to S/A, the accuracy can only be less than 100 meters, 95% of the time, per U.S. government specifications. Although the expected error is not accurate unless you hav e a DGPS receiv er, it does give you an indicator of the fix

quality the unit currently has. The smaller the expected error n umber , the better (and more accurate) the fix is.

If the expected error is flashing, then the unit has not locked onto the satellites, and the number shown is not v alid.

A battery level indicator on the lower right side of the screen shows the approximately how much life is in the batteries. This runs from “F” (fully charged) to “E” (expired).

A light bulb indicator at the top right corner of the screen appears when the backlights are on.

You can press the EXIT key anytime to erase this screen. This automatically switches the unit to the lastused navigation, plotter , or windo w group screen.

Finding Y our Position Auto Search

To lock onto the satellites, the GPS receiver needs to know it’s current position, local time, and date. (Elev ation (altitude) is also used in the equation, but it’ s rarely required to determine a position.) It needs this data so that it can calculate which satellites should be in view . It then searches for only those satellites. When your GPS receiver is turned on for the first time, it doesn’t know what your position or elevation (altitude) is. It does know the current UTC time and date since these were programmed into it at the factory and an internal clock keeps the time while the unit is turned off. It begins searching for the satellites using the above data that it acquired the last time it was turned on. This probably was at the Eagle factory . Since it’s almost certain that you’ re not at the Eagle f actory , it’ s probably looking for the wrong satellites . If it doesn’t find the satellites it’ s looking for after five minutes, it switches to the Quick Initiailization screen. This lets you enter your location from a list of states and countries. If you simply press the EXIT key while the Quick Initialization screen is showing, after a few min utes the unit begins to search f or an y satellite. This is called “Auto Search”. Due to advanced technology, the auto search time has shrunk to about five minutes, so the longest time you should ever have to wait is ten min utes from the time you turn the unit on until it locks onto the satellites and shows a position. Once the unit locks onto the satellites, it should take less than a minute to find your position the next time it’s turned on, provided you ha ven’t mov ed more than approximately 100 miles from the last location it was used.

Quick Initialization

If you don’t want to wait for the Auto Search, then you can speed up the initialization process by using the “Quic k Initialization” f eature. To do this, first turn the unit on, then press the MENU key . The screen shown at right appears. Now press the down arrow key until the “GPS SETUP” label is highlighted. Press the right arrow ke y . The “INIT GPS” (Initialize GPS) label is highlighted. Press the right arrow key.The Quick Initialization label is highlighted. Press the right arrow key. The screen at right appears. All of the states in America are listed, along with most of the countries in the world. Using the up or down arrow keys, highlight the state or country that is closest to your location, then press the right arrow key. The unit returns to the initialize GPS menu. Press the EXIT key three more times to erase the menus. The unit returns to the satellite status screen.

Using the quick initialization method loads a position that’ s close to yours into the GPS receiver . It should now have position, time , and date, thereby giving it the data it needs to determine which satellites are in view. Once the satellites are known, the receiver searches for only those satellites, making a lock much faster than an auto search method.

Full Initialization

There are occasions when you will want or need to manually initialize the unit by entering the position, elevation, time, and date. To do this, press the MENU key, Now press the down arrow key until the “GPS SETUP” label is highlighted. Press the right arrow key. The “INIT GPS” (Initialize GPS) label is highlighted. Press the right arrow key. Now highlight the “FULL INIT” label and press the right arrow key. The screen at right appears.

This is the full initialization screen. The position, altitude, time, and date the GPS receiver is currently using to find the satellites shows at the bottom of the screen. To update these settings to the current values , simply highlight the desired label using the up or down arrow keys, then press the right arrow key. The position label (see at the top of the next page) was selected in this example.

To change a number in the position, highlight it using the right arrow key, then use the up or down arrow ke y to change its value . The left arrow k ey acts as a backspace. When the position is correct, press the ENT key.

The unit returns to the full initialization screen. Repeat this for each of the other settings until they’re

correct for your location and time. Note: The position doesn’t have to be very accurate. If you enter a position within one degree of your actual location, the unit will be able to acquire the proper satellites.

Press the EXIT key to erase the full initialization men u. The unit will use the data you entered to find the satellites that are currently in view. The receiver should lock onto them and show a position within a few min utes.

Position Acquisition

When the receiver loc ks onto and calculates a position, it shows the message “Position Acquired” on the screen. All position and navigation data flashes until the unit acquires a position.

flashing!

When the numbers are flashing, they represent the last known

Do not rely on any data that is

values when the unit lost it’ s loc k on the satellites . (Note: The altitude data may still flash even if the unit shows a “Position

Acquired” message and all other data is not flashing. The unit must be locked onto at least f our satellites to determine altitude. It only tak es three satellites to determine position. You can navigate with this unit if the altitude is flashing, simply ignore the altitude display until it quits flashing.)

REMEMBER, DO NOT NAVIGA TE WITH THIS UNIT UNTIL THE

NUMBERS STOP FLASHING!

POSITION/NA VIGA TION SCREENS

This unit has four modes: status , plotter , na vigation, and window groups . Use the PAGES and arrow keys to switch between the different screens. The four screens that show by def ault are sho wn belo w.

STATUS NAVIGATION PLOTTER WINDOWS

To change modes, simply press the PAGES key. A screen similar to the one at right appears. Use the up or down arrow keys to change modes. (The windows mode is shown as “GRP” (groups); group “A” is the first windows group.)

Press the right arrow key while the abov e menu is showing to switch between diff erent versions of each mode. When the desired screen appears, press the EXIT key to erase the menu.

Navigation Screens

There are two different na vigation screens. Nav screen number one shows a graphical view of your trip, Nav screen number 2 shows all navigation details in large digital numbers. You can also customize both navigation screens to show data other than the default. See the “Prog ramming Box es” section for more information.

Nav Screen #1

This screen has a compass rose that shows not only your direction of travel, but also the direction to a recalled waypoint. The navigation screen looks like the one at right when you’re

not

navigating to a wa ypoint. Your position is shown by an arrow in the center of the screen. Your trail history, or path you’ve taken is depicted by the line extending from the arro w. The arro w pointing down at the top of the compass rose indicates the current track (direction of travel) you are taking. This is also shown in the “TRK” (track) bo x in the upper right corner of the screen. On the example shown at right, the track is 355°. The current ground speed (GS) sho ws in the box in the lower left corner of this screen.

When navigating to a waypoint, Nav screen number one looks like the one at right. Bearing to the destination waypoint is in the bo x in the upper left corner. Bearing is also shown by the large arrow pointing up towards the compass, abov e the present position arrow . Distance from the present position to the waypoint (DIS) shows beneath the compass on the lower left side of the screen.

Lines on either side of the present position show the current cross track error range. Cross trac k error is the

distance you are off-course to the side of the desired course line. The course line is an imaginary line dra wn from your position when you started navigating to the destination waypoint. It’s shown on the screen as a vertical dotted line. The default f or the cross track error range is 0.25 mile. For e xample, if the present position symbol touches the right cross track error line, then you are .25 mile to the right of the desired course. You need to steer left to return to the desired course. The cross track error is also shown in the “XTK” box. Beneath this box is the course (CRS) box showing the direction from your starting position to the waypoint. Remember, a course is a proposed path from the starting position to the destination. Track is your actual direction of travel.

A circle depicting your destination (wa ypoint) appears on the screen as you approach the waypoint as sho wn on the screen at right.

Nav Screen #2

This navigation screen shows all navigation information in large digital numbers. To view this screen, press the PAGES key, then press the up arrow key until the “NAV1” label is highlighted. While it’s highlighted, press the right arrow key . The screen shown at right appears. Press the EXIT key to erase the menu.

This screen is composed of eight digital boxes. Track (TRK) and ground speed (GS) are all that show if you’ re not navigating to a wa ypoint. If y ou are na vigating to a waypoint, then bearing (BRG), distance to waypoint (DIS), estimated time en route (ETE), course (CRS), cross track error (XTK), and the CDI also operate. See below for more information on the CDI.

Course Deviation Indicator (CDI)

Once navigation to a waypoint is established, the CDI shows your distance to the left or right of the desired course. The vertical line in the box shows both the direction you must steer to get back on course and the distance to the course line. F or e xample, if y ou’ re tr av elling straight towards the destination, from the start, then the line stays

in the center. If you drift off course to the left, the line moves to the

right

This signifies that you need to steer to the right to get back on course. This is called “chasing the needle”. If y ou steer towards the line (needle), you’ll alwa ys be heading in the correct direction to get bac k on course .

The CDI’s range sho ws in the upper right corner of the CDI box. You can adjust the range by selecting the “ALARMS/CDI” label on the main menu. The default is 0.25 mile. This is also shown by the dots at the f ar left and right side of the CDI. If the line is on either of these dots , then you are 0.25 mile off course. Remember, if the line moves to the left, then you are too far to the right of the desired course line and vice-versa. On the CDI shown above, the w e are almost 0.125 mile to the left of the desired course.

Plotter

The plotter shows your course and track from a “birds-e ye” view. If you’ re navigating to a wa ypoint, the plotter shows your starting location, present position, course line, and destination. You don’t have to na vigate to a waypoint, howev er, to use the plotter.

Using the plotter is as simple as pressing the PAGES key, then highlighting “PLOT 1”. A screen similar to the one below appears. The diamond flashing in the center of the screen is your present position. The solid line extending from the diamond is your plot trail, or path you’ve taken. The plotter’s range shows 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 three different plotter screens av ailable . To view the other plotter screens, press the PAGES key, highlight the PLOT label, and press the right arrow key. Press the EXIT k ey to er ase the menu. Plot-2 (sho wn at right) has navigation data added at the bottom of the screen, beneath the plotter. The data includes bearing to waypoint (BRG), distance to wa ypoint (DIS), ground speed (GS), and track (TRK).

PLOT-1 PLOT-2 PLOT-3

Plot-3 (see at the top of the next page) is similar to plot-2. The major difference is the steering arrow and waypoint inf ormation at the bottom of the screen. When you navigate to a waypoint, the waypoint’s name and number show at the bottom of this screen. The steering arrow always points in the direction to the w aypoint.

The Z-IN and Z-OUT keys zoom-in and out all plotters to enlarge or reduce their coverage area. The availab le 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. Pressing both the Z-IN and Z-OUT centers the cursor’s position on the plotter screen.

Cursor

Pressing an arrow key turns on two dotted lines that intersect at the present position symbol. These lines are called a “cursor” and ha v e a v ariety of uses.

T o turn the cursor on, simply press the arrow k ey in the direction you want the cursor to move. This lets you view areas on the plotter that are away from your present position. The cursor’s latitude and longitude show at the top of plot-1’s screen. The zoom-in and zoom-out keys work from the cursor’s position when it’s activ e - not the present position. You can zoom in on any detail, anywhere. The cursor can also place icons and waypoints .

Press the EXIT key to erase the cursor.

Plotter Options

This unit lets you customize the plotter using the plotter options menu. To use this menu, press the MENU key , then highlight the “Plotter Options” label. The screen at right appears.

Update Options

By default, the plotter places a dot on the screen e very 3 seconds to create the plot trail. You can change this time from once per second to once every thirty minutes. The plot trail can also be updated by distance instead of by time. The distance update rate can be set from 0.01 to once every 10 miles.

From the Plotter Options menu, choose Update Options to change the update rate or type. Select the option that you wish to change, use the left or right arrow keys to adjust it, then press the EXIT key to erase the menu.

Plotter Orientation

Normally , the plotter shows north at the top of the screen. This is the way most maps and charts are printed. This is fine if you’re travelling northward. Waypoints on the plotter’ s left side should also be to your left, and so on. Ho wev er, if y ou trav el any other direction, the plotter doesn’t line up with your view of the world.

To solve the problem, this unit has a track-up mode that orients the top of the display to your trac k, or direction of trav el. It rotates the plotter as y ou turn. Thus, what you see on the left side of the plotter should alwa ys be on your left. The unit also has a course-up mode that loc ks the course to the top of the display.

On the example screens shown below, we’re trav elling southward (about 150°). In the north-up view, the present position indicator appears to mov e toward the lower 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 of this screen.

TRACK-UP MODENORTH-UP MODE COURSE-UP MODE

In the track-up view, the present position symbol (which has changed to an arrow) moves straight toward the top of the display. As you can see, the anchor icon is now shown in its proper orientation - to the left. A “N” shows to help see which direction north is when the track-up mode is on. Remember, in the track-up mode, the screen rotates as you change direction. It always keeps y our direction of trav el (track) headed tow ards the top of the screen.

The course-up mode locks the top of the screen into the original bearing to the waypoint when navigation was first started. (See the navigation section for more information on course, trac k, and w a ypoint na vigation.)

T o select a plotter orientation, highlight the “R OTA TE” label on the “Plotter Options” menu. Press the right or left arrow keys until the desired mode appears. Press the EXIT key to erase the menu.

PLOT TRAILS

The line extending from the present position is your plot trail, or path you’ve taken. The unit automatically saves the current plot trail in memory when you turn it off.

Clear Trail

To erase the current plot trail from the screen, select Clear Trail from the Plotter Options menu. A message appears, asking if you really want to er ase the plot trail. Follow the instructions on the screen. When the trail is erased, the unit returns to the plotter screen.

Record T rail

T o stop the plot trail from recording on the plotter screen, select “RECORD” from the plotter options menu, then press the left arrow key. To start recording the trail again, repeat the above steps , then press the right arrow key .

Range Rings/Grid Lines

The plotter screen can be customized with rings that are 1/4 of the range and/or grids that divide the plotter into equal segments of latitude and longitude. From the Plotter Options men u, choose either Range Rings or Grid and press the right arrow key to turn it on. A sample screen of each type shows below.

GRIDS

RINGS BOTH

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