Lowrance electronic iFINDER Hunt User Manual

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Pub. 988-0148-771
Handheld Color GPS Receiver
Operation Instructions
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Copyright © 2005 Lowrance Electronics, Inc.
All rights reserved.
No part of this manual may be copied, reproduced, republished, trans­mitted or distributed for any purpose, without prior written consent of Lowrance. Any unauthorized commercial distribution of this
manual is strictly prohibited.
iFINDER HUNTc is a trademark and iFINDER
and Lowrance® are registered trademarks of Lowrance Electronics, Inc. MapCreate, FreedomMaps and NauticPath are trademarks of LEI. Fishing Hot
Spots ter Point Technologies, Inc. Navionics onics, Inc. DURACELL RAYOVAC gizer
is a registered trademark of Fishing Hot Spots Inc. LakeMas-
and Pro Maps are trademarks or registered trademarks of Way-
is a registered trademark of Duracell, Inc.
and e
is a registered trademark of Rayovac Corporation. Ener-
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are registered trademarks of Energizer Holdings, Inc.
is a registered trademark of Navi-
Points of Interest Data in this unit are by infoUSA, copyright 2001-2005, All Rights Reserved. infoUSA is a trademark of infoUSA, Inc.
eXitSource Database, copyright 2001-2005 Zenrin Co. Ltd. Exit Authority and eXitSource are trademarks of Zenrin Co. Ltd.
Lowrance 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 features and specifications subject to change without notice. All screens in this manual are simulated. This manual was written for software version 1.0.0.
For free owner's manuals and the most current information on
this product, its operation and accessories,
visit our web site:
www.lowrance.com
Lowrance Electronics Inc.
12000 E. Skelly Dr.
Tulsa, OK USA 74128-2486
Printed in USA.
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Table of Contents
Section 1: Read Me First!......................................................... 1
Capabilities and Specifications: iFINDER
How the iFINDER Works............................................................. 5
Introduction to GPS, WAAS and EGNOS ................................... 7
How to use this manual: typographical conventions .................. 9
Arrow Keys................................................................................ 9
Keyboard ................................................................................... 9
Menu Commands ...................................................................... 9
Instructions = Menu Sequences ............................................... 9
Section 2: Installation & Accessories.................................. 11
Power........................................................................................... 11
Batteries...................................................................................... 11
Cigarette Lighter Power Adapter .............................................. 13
Headphone Adapter .................................................................... 13
NMEA Cable Connections .......................................................... 14
MMC or SD Memory Card Installation ..................................... 14
FreedomMaps.......................................................................... 16
External Antenna ....................................................................... 16
R-A-M
Bracket Mounting Systems .......................................... 17
Other Accessories........................................................................ 18
Section 3: Easy Mode Operation .......................................... 19
Keypad......................................................................................... 19
Power/lights on and off ............................................................... 20
Main Menu .................................................................................. 20
Pages ........................................................................................... 21
Satellite Status Page .............................................................. 22
Compass Page ......................................................................... 23
Navigation Page...................................................................... 23
Map Page................................................................................. 25
Special Hunting Details.......................................................... 27
iFINDER
HUNTc™ Easy Mode Quick Reference................... 29
Find Your Current Position........................................................ 30
Moving Around the Map: Zoom & Cursor Arrow Keys ............. 30
Selecting Any Map Item with the Cursor.................................. 31
Searching..................................................................................... 31
Set Home Waypoint .................................................................... 33
Set Man Overboard (MOB) Waypoint........................................ 34
Navigate to Cursor Position on Map.......................................... 35
Navigate to a Point of Interest................................................... 36
Creating and Saving a Trail ................................................... 37
Displaying a Saved Trail ........................................................ 37
Navigating or Backtracking a Trail ........................................... 38
i
HUNTc™ ............... 3
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Clearing or Erasing a Trail .................................................... 39
Transfer Custom Maps and GPS Data Files ............................. 39
Custom Maps:.......................................................................... 39
GPS Data Files:....................................................................... 40
Switch to Advanced Mode........................................................... 41
Switch to Hunting Mode............................................................. 42
Section 4: Advanced Mode Operation................................. 43
Keypad......................................................................................... 43
Power/lights on and off ............................................................... 44
Main Menu .................................................................................. 44
Pages ........................................................................................... 45
Satellite Status Page .............................................................. 45
Status Menu ............................................................................ 46
Digital Data Page..................................................................... 46
Sleep Mode .............................................................................. 47
Instant-On Compass ............................................................... 47
Compass Page ......................................................................... 48
Compass Menu........................................................................ 49
Navigation Page...................................................................... 49
Navigation Menu .................................................................... 50
Music Mode Page .................................................................... 50
Map Page................................................................................. 51
Map Menu ............................................................................... 52
Find Distance From Current Position To Another Location .... 52
Find Distance From Point to Point ............................................ 53
Find Your Current Position........................................................ 53
Icons............................................................................................. 54
Load GPS Data Files from an MMC .......................................... 55
Navigate ...................................................................................... 56
Navigate Back Home ..............................................................56
Navigate Back to Man Overboard Waypoint......................... 56
Cancel Navigation................................................................... 57
Navigate a Route..................................................................... 57
Navigate to Cursor Position on Map...................................... 57
Navigate to an Icon................................................................. 57
Navigate to Point of Interest (POI) ........................................ 57
Navigate to a Waypoint .......................................................... 57
Navigate a Trail ...................................................................... 58
Routes.......................................................................................... 59
Create and Save a Route ........................................................59
Delete a Route ......................................................................... 61
Save GPS Data Files to an MMC............................................... 61
Searching..................................................................................... 62
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Switch to Easy Mode................................................................... 63
Switch Back to Advanced Mode from Easy Mode .....................64
Switch to Hunting Mode............................................................. 64
Switch Back to Advanced Mode from Hunting Mode ............... 64
Trails ........................................................................................... 64
Create and Save a Trail.......................................................... 64
Clear a Trail ............................................................................ 65
Delete a Trail .......................................................................... 65
Edit a Trail Name ................................................................... 65
Edit a Trail Color .................................................................... 65
Edit a Trail Pattern ................................................................ 65
Transfer Custom Maps and GPS Data Files ............................. 66
Utilities........................................................................................ 67
Alarm Clock............................................................................. 67
Sun/Moon Rise & Set Calculator............................................ 67
Trip Calculator........................................................................ 67
Trip Down Timer..................................................................... 67
Trip Up Timer ......................................................................... 67
Weather Prediction (barometer) ................................................ 67
Interpreting Weather Information......................................... 68
Sleep Mode .............................................................................. 71
Waypoints.................................................................................... 71
Create a Waypoint .................................................................. 71
Select a Waypoint ................................................................... 73
Delete a Waypoint................................................................... 73
Edit a Waypoint ...................................................................... 73
Waypoint Name................................................................... 73
Waypoint Symbol ................................................................ 73
Waypoint Position ............................................................... 73
Waypoint Altitude............................................................... 74
Waypoint Audio Note.......................................................... 74
Section 5: System & GPS Setup Options ............................75
Alarms ......................................................................................... 75
Auto Satellite Search.................................................................. 76
Check MMC Files and Storage Space........................................ 77
Com Port Configuration ............................................................. 77
Configure NMEA ........................................................................ 78
Use WAAS/EGNOS..................................................................... 79
Coordinate System Selection...................................................... 79
Customize Page Displays ........................................................... 82
External Passive Antenna.......................................................... 83
GPS Simulator ............................................................................ 84
Map Auto Zoom........................................................................... 85
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Map Data..................................................................................... 85
Show Map Data....................................................................... 86
Popup Map Information.......................................................... 86
Draw Boundaries ....................................................................86
Fill Water with White............................................................. 86
Map Overlays (Range Rings; Lat/Long Grid) ........................ 86
Map Datum Selection ................................................................. 87
Map Detail Category Selection................................................... 88
Map Orientation ......................................................................... 89
Navionics
Charts....................................................................... 90
Pop-up Help................................................................................. 96
Reset Options .............................................................................. 97
Screen Contrast and Brightness ................................................ 97
Set Language .............................................................................. 99
Set Local Time ............................................................................ 99
Software Version Information.................................................. 101
Sounds and Alarm Sound Styles.............................................. 102
Track Smoothing....................................................................... 103
Trail Options ............................................................................. 103
Update Trail Option.............................................................. 104
Update Trail Criteria (Auto, Time, Distance) ..................... 105
Trail Update Rate (Time, Distance)..................................... 105
Delete Trail ........................................................................... 106
New Trail............................................................................... 106
Trail Visible/Invisible and Other Trail Options .................. 106
Units of Measure....................................................................... 107
Section 6: Searching .............................................................109
Selected Item............................................................................. 110
Destination................................................................................ 111
Recent Finds ............................................................................. 111
Current Route ........................................................................... 111
Find Addresses.......................................................................... 112
Find Home Waypoint................................................................ 114
Find Interstate Highway Exits ................................................ 115
Find Map Places or Points of Interest (POI) ...........................117
Find Streets or Intersections.................................................... 119
Find Waypoints (Advanced Mode only) ................................... 122
Section 7: Hunting Mode...................................................... 125
iFINDER
HUNTc Quick Reference.................................... 126
Compass Page ....................................................................... 127
Calibrate Compass................................................................ 128
Set Hunting Waypoint.............................................................. 130
Scout Plots................................................................................. 130
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Switch to Land Mode ................................................................ 132
Section 8: Music Mode .......................................................... 133
The Music Mode Display and Keyboard Commands .............. 133
Using the Play Control Buttons ........................................... 134
Using the FIND key to Launch Music Browser .................. 134
Music Mode Practice Run ...................................................136
Play Lists................................................................................... 137
Getting the Music onto Your iFINDER ............................... 137
The Music Menu ....................................................................... 137
Use Indoors ............................................................................... 138
Sounds Menu............................................................................. 138
Shuffle (On/Off)..................................................................... 138
Repeat (On/Off) ..................................................................... 139
Section 9: Supplemental Material .....................................142
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A CAREFUL NAVIGATOR NEVER RELIES ON ONLY ONE METHOD TO OBTAIN POSITION INFORMATION.
When showing navigation data to a position (waypoint), a GPS unit will show the shortest, most direct path to the waypoint. It provides navigation data to the waypoint regardless of obstructions. Therefore, the prudent navigator will not only take advantage of all available navigation tools when traveling to a way­point, but will also visually check to make sure a clear, safe path to the waypoint is always available.
When a GPS unit is used in a vehicle, the vehicle operator is solely re­sponsible for operating the vehicle in a safe manner. Vehicle operators must maintain full surveillance of all pertinent driving, boating or fly­ing conditions at all times. An accident or collision resulting in damage to property, personal injury or death could occur if the operator of a GPS-equipped vehicle fails to pay full attention to travel conditions and vehicle operation while the vehicle is in motion.
WARNING!
CAUTION
WARNING!
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Section 1: Read Me First!
How this GPS and manual can make you a better hunter.
We know; the last thing you want to do after buying your new iFINDER the batteries and head outside, please give us a moment or two to ex­plain how our manual and GPS can make you a better hunter.
If you're like most hunters, you probably purchased your iFINDER HUNTc to keep from getting lost in the big woods. That's the most im­portant function, but this rugged GPS will also lead you to new hunting grounds, help you find more game by better scouting, improve your hunt planning and help you recover downed game. (But it won't give you tighter groups…you'll just have to spend more time at the range for that!)
The original iFINDER HUNT and its companion mapping software, MapCreate USA Hunting Topo, made up the first and only GPS­mapping package on the market with features developed especially for hunters. The two products were introduced in the Summer of 2004, but additional hunting functions are already under development. In 2005 we added color to the mix, releasing the iFINDER HUNTc. Periodically, we offer free features and enhancements that may be downloaded at our web site. We strongly recommend you check the Lowrance web
site, www.lowrance.com, for free downloads of updated software and instruction manuals.
Our goal for this book is to get you out to the woods fast, with a mini­mum of fuss. Like you, we'd rather spend more time hunting, and less time reading the manual!
So, we designed our book so that you don't have to read the whole thing from front to back for the information you want. At the start (or end) of each segment, we'll tell you what content is coming up next. If it's a concept you're already familiar with, we'll show you how and where to skip ahead for the next important topic. We've also made it easy to look up any tips you may need from time to time. Here's how:
The manual is organized into eight sections. This first section is an in­troduction to Lowrance GPS. It tells you the basics you need to know before you can make the unit look around and tell you where you are.
Section 2 will help you get the batteries and MultiMedia Card (MMC) correctly installed in your iFINDER. We'll also tell you about some of the accessories available for your unit.
Section 3 is the heart of our book, Easy Mode Operation. It will intro­duce you to the basic GPS functions.
HUNTc is to look inside the manual. But before you grab
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This section includes a one-page Easy Mode Quick Reference. (If you've already figured out how to load the batteries yourself, and you just can't wait any longer, turn to the Quick Reference on page 29 and head outside with your iFINDER!)
NOTE:
When you turn on the unit, it is in iFINDER to scroll down to
EASY MODE, press MENU|MENU, then use the ↑ ↓ keys to
DISABLE HUNTING MODE and press ENT. A message will
appear asking if you are sure you want to turn
. Use the key to select YES and press ENT. Now, press
MODE
MENU|MENU to get back to the main menu. Scroll down to EASY MODE and press ENT. A message will appear asking if you are sure
you want to switch to
EASY MODE. Select YES and press ENT.
Remember: When you are in
ADVANCED MODE. To switch the
ON LAND NAVIGATION
EASY MODE, you will NOT be able to
take advantage of the iFINDER's specialized hunting features. You will have to switch back to
ADVANCED MODE, then enable the Hunting
Mode to enjoy all the iFINDER HUNTc has to offer.
To switch back to
MENU, then scroll down to ADVANCED MODE and press ENT. A message
will appear asking if you are sure you want to enter Select
YES and press ENT. Now, scroll down to ENABLE HUNTING MODE
ADVANCED MODE or to ENABLE HUNTING MODE, press
ADVANCED MODE.
and press ENT. A message will appear asking if you are sure you want to turn on
HUNTING MODE. Select YES and press ENT.
The rest of Section 3 contains short, easy-to-scan lessons that follow one another in chronological order. They're all you'll need to know to find your way in the wilderness quickly.
Easy Mode operation will meet the navigation needs of many users. But, after you've learned the basics (or if you already have some GPS experience), you may want to try out some of the iFINDER's many ad­vanced navigation features. That brings us to Section 4, Advanced Mode Operation. After we introduce the Advanced Mode menus and submenus, this section contains the rest of the iFINDER's command functions (except for the hunting features), organized in alphabetical
order.
When you come to a GPS menu command on the iFINDER screen, you can look it up in the manual by skimming over the table of contents or index, just flipping through Section 3 or scanning through the command portion of Section 4.
Your iFINDER is ready to use right out of the box, but you can fine tune and customize its operation with dozens of options.
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We describe how to use general system options along with GPS options in Section 5, System Setup and GPS Setup Options. This section covers all operation modes.
In Section 6, we go into more detail on one of the iFINDER's most re­markable capabilities — Searching. We'll introduce a couple of search examples in both the Easy and Advanced Mode sections, but there are so many map items you can search for, we had to give this function its own section in the manual! For example, did you know the iFINDER can look up business phone numbers, functioning as a virtual Yellow Pages? We’ll show you how in Section 6.
In Section 7, we describe the unique hunting features in Hunting Mode Operation. When the unit is first turned on, it begins operation in Hunting Mode.
Finally, in Section 8, we offer Supplemental Material, including a list of the GPS datums used, warranties, and customer service information.
Now, if you're into the fine details, glance over the next segment on specifications to see just how much GPS power you hold in your hand. It's important to us (and our power users), but if you don't care how many waypoints the iFINDER can store or how long the batteries last, skip ahead to important information on how the iFINDER works, on page 5.
Capabilities and Specifications: iFINDER HUNTc
General
Display:............................ 2.62" (6.65 cm)diagonal high contrast Film
SuperTwist color display.
Resolution:...................... 240 pixel x 160 pixel resolution; 38.400 total
pixels.
Backlighting:.................. White LED screen backlighting for night and
low-light viewing.
Input power:......................3 volts DC (two 1.5v AA batteries); operates up
to 12 hours on batteries when using one-second position updates (longer update rates further extend battery life, but will reduce GPS accu­racy). Cigarette lighter power adapter in­cluded.
Case size:......................... 5.6" H x 2.5" W x 0.9" D (142 x 65 x 25 mm);
water resistant to IPX-7 standards.
Weight:..................................8.48 ounces (242 grams) with alkaline batteries.
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GPS
Receiver: ......................... Internal, 16 parallel channel GPS+WAAS; ex-
ternal active or passive antennas optional.
Active Antenna
Voltage:............................ 3 volts DC.
Recording: ...................... Removable MMC or SD memory cards for
recording GPS trip details, displaying cus­tom maps, adding audio notes to waypoints, upgrading operating system software and transferring trip data to personal computer without a slow serial connection.
MMC slots: ...................... One, inside battery compartment. Accepts
non-proprietary MMC or SD memory cards.
Background map:.......... Built-in custom, detailed Lowrance map.
Contains: low-detail maps of the whole world (containing cities, major lakes, major rivers, political boundaries); and medium-detail maps of the United States (containing all in­corporated cities; Interstate, U.S. and state highways; Interstate highway exits and exit services information; large- and medium­sized lakes and streams.)
Custom mapping: .......... Accepts custom, higher-detail MapCreate 6
mapping on memory cards, with searchable Points-of Interest database of hotels, restau­rants, shopping, services, hunting areas and more. Navionics
charts on MMC cards op-
tional.
Mapping memory: ......... Up to 1 GB on one MMC (MultiMedia Card)
or SD (Secure Digital Card.)
Position updates: .......... Every one second.
Position points: ............. 2,000 waypoints; 1,000 event marker icons.
Graphic symbols for
waypoints or event
marker icons: ................. 42 basic icons with 17 additional hunting-
specific icons.
Routes:............................. 100; up to 100 waypoints per route.
Plot Trails: ...................... 99 savable; up to 9,999 points per trail.
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Scout Plots:..................... 100 savable scout plots.
Man Overboard:............. MOB feature precisely marks man overboard
location with special icon, then automatically displays navigation data to that position.
Audible alarms: ............. Arrival/off-course/destination passed/anchor.
Com Port: ........................ One serial communications port, NMEA 0183
version 2.0 compatible. Allows exchange of position data with another device, such as an autopilot or personal computer. Optional combination serial/power cable available.
Zoom range:.................... 40 ranges; 0.02 to 4,000 miles.
NOTE:
The above memory capacities refer only to the iFINDER's on-board memory. The amount of GPS data you can record and save for re­call later is only limited by the number of MMC cards you have.
How the iFINDER Works
You'll navigate faster and easier if you understand how the iFINDER scans the sky to tell you where you are on the earth — and, where you're going. (But if you already have a working understanding of GPS receivers and the GPS navigation system, skip ahead to Section 2, In- stallation & Accessories on page 11. If you're new to GPS, read on, and later you will impress your friends with your new-found knowledge.)
First, think of your iFINDER as a small but powerful computer. (But don't worry — we made the iFINDER easy to use, so you don't need to be a computer expert to find your way!) The iFINDER includes a key­pad and a screen with menus so you can tell it what to do. The screen also lets the iFINDER show your location on a moving map, as well as point the way to your destination.
This pocket-sized computer also contains an antenna and specialized scanning receiver, something like your car radio. But instead of your favorite dance tunes, this receiver tunes in to a couple of dozen GPS satellites circling the earth. (It will also listen in to the WAAS satellites in orbit, but we'll tell you more about that in the upcoming segment introducing you to GPS and WAAS.)
The iFINDER listens to signals from as many satellites as it can "see" above the horizon, eliminates the weakest signals, then computes its loca­tion in relation to those satellites. Once the iFINDER figures its latitude and longitude, it plots that position on the moving map shown on the screen.
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While the screen is updated once a second, your iFINDER is making these internal calculations and determining its position several times a second!
The performance doesn't stop there. Stored in the permanent memory of each iFINDER is a basic background map of the entire world. We lock it in here at the factory — you can't change or erase this map.
Another portion of the iFINDER's onboard memory is devoted to re- cording GPS navigation information, which includes waypoints, event marker icons, trails and routes. This lets you look back the way you came. Think of this data storage like the hard drive memory in a com­puter or a tape in a cassette tape recorder. You can save several differ­ent GPS data files, erase 'em and record new ones, over and over and over again. Like any computer file, these GPS Data Files (file format *.usr) can be shared between iFINDERs, other Lowrance GPS or so­nar/GPS units and even personal computers.
Your iFINDER has one more thing in common with a personal com­puter. Just as computers have a floppy disk drive for storing and ex­changing files, the iFINDER has a slot for an MMC (MultiMedia Card) or SD (Secure Digital) Card flash memory card. These solid-state mem­ory devices are about the size of a postage stamp, but can hold data ranging from 8 MB to 512 MB in size. (Compare that to a floppy disk's
1.44 MB capacity!) The iFINDER uses all that MMC space for two key purposes.
First, you can backup your onboard GPS Data Files by copying them to the MMC. Since the MMC is removable (like a floppy disk or a cassette tape), you can store these GPS Data Files on a personal computer equipped with an MMC card reader. (Or store them on a pocketful of MMCs, if you don't have a computer.) Our MapCreate mapping software can save, edit or create its own GPS Data Files, which can be copied to the MMC and then loaded from the MMC into the iFINDER's memory. (NOTE: No matter where they come from, GPS Data Files must be loaded from the MMC into memory before the iFINDER can use them.)
The other key GPS use for MMCs is storage of special high-detail, cus­tom maps, which you can produce on your computer with our MapCre­ate software. These MapCreate custom maps contain much greater de­tail than the basic background map. These Custom Map Files (file format *.lcm) can also be shared between the iFINDERs, other Lowrance GPS or sonar/GPS units and personal computers.
You make your own Custom Map Files with our MapCreate software, but you don't have to. We also sell ready-to-use FreedomMaps. These custom maps are pre-loaded on MMCs. (No computer work required!).
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The iFINDER automatically reads Custom Map Files directly from the MMC or SD Card. To use a custom map, all you need to do is slide an MMC containing a map into the unit.
Introduction to GPS, WAAS and EGNOS
Well, now you know the basics of how the iFINDER does its work. You might be ready to jump ahead to Section 2, Installation & Accessories, on page 11, so you can install the batteries. Or you might want to see how our text formatting makes the manual tutorials easy to skim. If that's the case, move on to "How to Use This Manual" on page 9. But, if you want to understand the current state of satellite navigation, look over this segment describing how GPS and its new companions WAAS and EGNOS work together to get you where you're going.
The Global Positioning System (GPS) was launched July 17, 1995 by the United States Department of Defense. It was designed as a 24­hour-a-day, 365-days-a-year, all weather global navigation system for the armed forces of the U.S. and its allies. Civilian use was also avail­able at first, but it was less accurate because the military scrambled the signal somewhat, using a process called Selective Availability (SA).
A minimum of three satellites are required to determine a 2D fix.
GPS proved so useful for civilian navigation that the federal govern­ment discontinued SA on May 2, 2000, after the military developed other methods to deny GPS service to enemy forces. Reliable accuracy for civilian users jumped from 100 meters (330 feet) under SA to the present level of 10 to 20 meters (about 30 to 60 feet.)
Twenty-four satellites orbit 10,900 nautical miles above the Earth, passing overhead twice daily. A series of ground stations (with precisely surveyed locations) controls the satellites and monitors their exact loca­tions in the sky. Each satellite broadcasts a low-power signal that identi­fies the satellite and its position above the earth. Three of these satellites are spares, unused until needed. The rest virtually guarantee that at
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least four satellites are in view nearly anywhere on Earth at all times. The system requires signal reception from three satellites in order to determine a position. This is called a 2D fix. It takes four satellites to determine both position and elevation (your height above sea level — also called altitude). This is called a 3D fix. Remember, the unit must have a clear view of the satellites in order to receive their signals. Unlike radio or television signals, GPS works at very high frequencies. These signals can be easily blocked by trees, buildings, an automobile roof or your body.
Like most GPS receivers, the iFINDER 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. Therefore, in order for the iFINDER 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 or trolling speeds — it will. There will be more "wandering" of the data shown on the display.
GPS alone is plenty accurate for route navigation, but the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has special aircraft navigation needs that go beyond basic GPS. So, the FAA has developed a program to boost GPS performance with its Wide Area Augmentation System, or WAAS. The FAA commissioned the system on July 11, 2003. EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) is the European equivalent of WAAS. Like WAAS, it was created to make GPS position calculation more accurate.
WAAS is designed to increase GPS accuracy to within 7.6 meters vertically and horizontally, but it consistently delivers accuracies within 1-2 meters horizontal and 2-3 meters vertical, according to the FAA. It does this by broadcasting correction signals on GPS frequencies. Your unit automati­cally receives both GPS and WAAS signals.
There, however, are some fringe areas of the U.S., including parts of Alaska, that do not yet receive robust WAAS coverage. Continued WAAS development is planned to extend WAAS coverage in the years to come.
WAAS boosts the accuracy of land GPS navigation, but the system is designed for aircraft. The satellites are in a fixed orbit around the Equator, so they appear very low in the sky to someone on the ground in North America. Aircraft and vessels on open water can get consis­tently good WAAS reception, but terrain, foliage or even large man-made structures can sometimes block the WAAS signal from ground receivers.
You'll find that using your GPS receiver is both easy and amazingly accurate. It’s easily the most accurate method of electronic navigation
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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 map or chart and a compass.
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 destination, for example. It’s up to you to safely navigate around obstacles, no matter how you’re using this product.
How to use this manual: typographical conventions
Many instructions are listed as numbered steps. The keypad and arrow "keystrokes" appear as boldface type. So, if you're in a real hurry (or just need a reminder), you can skim the instructions and pick out what menu command to use by finding the boldface command text. The fol­lowing paragraphs explain how to interpret the text formatting for those commands and other instructions:
Arrow Keys
The arrow keys control the movement of dotted cross-hair lines on your mapping screen called the cursor. The arrow keys also help you move through the iFINDER menus so you can execute different commands. They are represented by symbols like these, which denote the down ar-
row key, the up arrow, the left arrow and the right arrow: ↓ ↑ ← →.
Keyboard
The other keys perform a variety of functions. When the text refers to a key to press, the key is shown in bold, sans serif type. For example, the "Enter/Save" key is shown as
Menu Commands
A menu command or a menu option will appear in small capital letters, in a bold sans serif type like this: are to select this command or option from a menu or take an action of some kind with the menu item. Text that you may need to enter or file names you need to select are shown in italic type, such as trail name.
Instructions = Menu Sequences
Most functions you perform with the iFINDER are described as a se­quence of key strokes and selecting menu commands. We've written them in a condensed manner for quick and easy reading.
ENT and the "Menu" key is shown as MENU.
ADVANCED MODE. These indicate that you
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For example, instructions for backtracking a trail in Easy Mode would look like this:
1. Press
MENU| to NAVIGATE TRAIL|ENT.
2. Now, begin moving and follow your iFINDER.
Translated into complete English, step 1 means: "Press the Menu key. Next, press the down arrow key to scroll down the menu and select (high­light) the Navigate Trail menu command. Finally, press the Enter key."
Also note that throughout this text, we will refer to the iFINDER HUNTc as the iFINDER, or as the unit.
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Section 2:
Installation & Accessories
Power
The iFINDER operates from AA batteries or on 3 volts DC using an optional external power cable with a cigarette lighter adapter. When the power cable is used, the iFINDER automatically switches to it if the external power is greater than the battery voltage. If the external power fails, the unit automatically switches to the batteries.
Flash memory will keep your stored data safe and accessible for the life of the product — after the unit is turned off, no battery or external power is needed to store your data.
Batteries
The unit requires two, 1.5 volt AA batteries. We recommend that you use alkaline batteries for the best trade-off between battery life and cost. We recommend DURACELL If you're looking for an extended-life battery, the Duracell tery has performed well in our tests.
You can also use rechargeable AA alkaline batteries, such as those made by RAYOVAC
, or rechargeable AA nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries. We do not recommend nickel cadmium (NiCd) rechargeable batteries because we tend to get poor battery life from them.
Rechargeable alkaline batteries will not last as long as standard alka­line batteries. However, rechargeable NiMH batteries should give you suitable battery life.
Lithium batteries are lighter than alkaline, and with some brands of lithium battery the IFINDER HUNTc will float. We've tested the iFINDER HUNTc using Energizer mained afloat.
NOTE:
The battery gauge on the Satellite Status Page may not read accu­rately with some battery brands because discharge rates can vary significantly. This is especially true for rechargeables. This battery gauge was calibrated for alkaline batteries.
Do not mix different battery types. Mixing battery types may cause leak­age. (For example, don’t use both alkaline and NiMH batteries at the same time, and don't use standard alkalines with rechargeable alkalines.)
brand, but other brands will work.
2
e
lithium batteries, and it re-
ULTRA bat-
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Battery Installation
Turn the unit over so the back is facing you. With your thumb or nail, pull back on the small clip to release the battery cover latch as shown in the following images. Once the latch is released, pull the battery cover up out of the grooves in the bottom of the case.
Remove the iFINDER's battery cover. (For clarity, an iFINDER H2O
is shown in these installation photos. Your HUNTc works the same.)
Install the batteries according to the embossed signs in the battery com­partment, which shows the correct polarity. Point the positive pole of the upper battery to the left; point the positive pole of the bottom battery to the right.
NOTE:
Inside the battery compartment is a rotating MMC card lock. The grip on this lock must be turned parallel with the direction of the batteries for them to fit properly.
Replace the battery compartment cover. First align the latch tabs at the bottom of the cover with the slots at the case's base. Press the cover into place, and then firmly push up on the clip at the top of the cover until it latches in place. There is usually an audible click when the latch engages.
Replace battery compartment cover. Align tabs with slots
in the base (left). Press latch firmly until it clicks (right).
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Cigarette Lighter Power Adapter
To use external DC power: Plug the power cable's cigarette lighter adapter into a cigarette lighter receptacle. Next, pull aside the rubber cover on the bottom of the unit and insert the other connector as shown in the following image. A small clip on the connector should hold the connector in place.
Attach external power cable to the iFINDER.
WARNING:
Do not remove the cigarette lighter adapter and splice the exposed wires directly to a 12-volt power system. The cigarette lighter adapter contains in the plug a protec­tive fuse and a voltage regulator to convert 12 volts down to about 3 volts. Without this regulator, connecting your unit to a 12-volt power source will destroy the unit. This damage will not be covered by your warranty.
The iFINDER can use two other optional external cables to supply a NMEA/serial data connection or a combination of power and data. These cables are discussed in the following segment on NMEA connections.
Headphone Adapter
The iFINDER PhD comes with a cable adapter that allows you to plug in your headphones. To use this adapter: Plug your headphones into the standard audio socket on the adapter. Next, pull aside the rubber cover on the bottom of the unit and insert the other connector as shown in the following image. A small clip on the connector should hold the connector in place.
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Attach headphone adapter to iFINDER.
NMEA Cable Connections
NMEA is a standard communications format for marine electronic equipment. For example, an autopilot can connect to the NMEA interface on this unit and receive positioning information. The unit can exchange information with any device that transmits or receives NMEA 0183 data.
To exchange NMEA data, Lowrance offers an optional data only cable and a power/data combo cable:
The PC-DI7 is a NMEA/serial communications cable. It has a standard female DB-9 connector on one end to attach your unit to a computer's serial communications port.
The PC-DI8 combines a cigarette lighter power adapter with a DB-9 plug for a NMEA/serial com port connection to a laptop computer or other device. This is our favorite cable for connecting the iFINDER HUNTc to a laptop computer in an RV or other vehicle. By transmitting NMEA data to the computer, you can get live position data for GPS­compatible mapping software.
You can also run one of our free Lowrance GPS emulators on your lap­top, and operate it with real-time position information.
To use it, plug the power adapter into a cigarette lighter socket, plug the DB-9 connector into a serial port on the computer and attach the cable to the iFINDER. Then see "Com Port Configuration" in Sec. 5.
MMC or SD Memory Card Installation
Your iFINDER uses a MultiMedia Card to store information, such as custom maps, waypoints and other GPS data. The unit can also use Se­cure Digital Cards (SD cards) to store information.
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NOTE:
Throughout this manual, we will use the term MMC, but just re­member that your unit can use an MMC or SD card to store data.
Both of these solid-state flash memory devices are about the size of a postage stamp, but can hold data ranging from 8 MB to 1 GB. (Compare that to a floppy disk's 1.44 MB capacity!) Additional MMC cards are available from LEI Extras; see ordering information inside the back cover of this manual. MMCs and SD cards are also available at many consumer electronics stores.
The MMC slot is located in the battery compartment, beneath the bat­teries on the right side of the unit. The contact pins are springy, to make it easier to insert and remove the MMC card.
To remove an MMC
1. Remove battery compartment cover.
2. Remove batteries, if present.
3. Hold unit facedown in right hand. Use your thumb or index finger and press down on the center of the MMC label.
Remove an MMC Card.
4. Drag the MMC from the slot into the battery compartment.
5. Turn the iFINDER face up and give it a shake to dump the MMC into your hand or onto a work surface.
To add an MMC or SDC
1. Remove battery compartment cover.
2. Remove batteries, if present.
3. Hold unit facedown in right hand. Drop the MMC card into the slot, label-up, with the notched edge toward the right.
4. Press down on the center of the label and slide the card to the right.
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Add an MMC Card.
5. Turn the plastic rotating card lock until it holds the card firmly in place, with the grip parallel to the direction of the batteries.
6. Replace the batteries and battery cover.
FreedomMaps
FreedomMaps are pre-made custom maps that cover multiple states, provinces, countries or other geographic regions on a single memory card. They give you all the features found in our MapCreate™ mapping software, but without the necessity of using a computer. FreedomMaps are available for the United States, Canada and Europe.
Like custom maps built in MapCreate, the custom map on a FreedomMap card contains all of these features: rivers/lakes/tributaries; more than 60,000 critical navigation aids; more than 10,000 wrecks/obstructions in coastal and Great Lakes waters; interstate/federal/state highways; inter­state exit services; searchable Points-of-Interest (POI) database including: airports, hotels, restaurants, entertainment, emergency services; rural roads and city streets; cities and towns; railways; key landmarks; search­able street intersections and street addresses; national parks and forests with boundaries; wildlife preserves and more!
FreedomMaps come to you preloaded on a single 128 or 256 MB mem­ory card. Insert the memory card into your Lowrance GPS unit, and you're ready to go.
FreedomMaps are available through LEI-Extras. To order a card (or for a list of the areas available) see the ordering information in the back of this manual.
External Antenna
A GPS antenna requires a clear view of the sky for optimum operation. Inside a vehicle, your iFINDER can sometimes maintain satellite lock while sitting on the seat beside you, but we don't recommend this for optimum performance.
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Since the view is restricted to what can be seen through the windows, this operating mode will reduce position accuracy and will increase the chance of losing satellite lock. Inside a vehicle, the unit operates best with an optional external antenna mounted on the windshield, on the dash or on the top of the vehicle.
The optional external antenna can use a magnetic base that allows temporary mounting on any flat ferrous metal surface. A suction-cup mount allows you to attach the antenna to a windshield.
The iFINDER HUNTc can use the passive FA-8 antenna or the active RAA-3 antenna. The active antenna offers a further performance boost by amplifying the satellite signals it receives. This is especially helpful when operating in areas such as dense forests, which can obstruct GPS signals. Your unit will automatically switch between the active RAA-3 and its internal antenna (located in the top of the case). If you purchase the passive FA-8, you must use a menu check box to manually switch between it and the internal antenna. See the topic "External Passive Antenna" in Sec. 5.
Attach the iFINDER antenna to windshield bracket with two screws.
You may achieve good results by placing the external antenna on the top of the dash, at the base of the windshield. A piece of the rubber non­skid shelf liner material available in recreational vehicle supply stores will also help hold the antenna in place.
To use the antenna: Mount it in a location with an unobstructed view of the sky. Plug the connector into the unit's antenna socket, located on the back, in the upper left corner of the case.
R-A-M Bracket Mounting Systems
Several R-A-M mounting brackets are available for your iFINDER. There are permanent mounts and temporary mounts suitable for virtu­ally any boat, aircraft or other vehicle, even motorcycle handlebars.
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Two R-A-M mounting systems for your unit.
One model has a mounting arm and cradle attached to a swivel ball plate that can be screwed or bolted to a supporting surface. Another has a moldable, weighted, rubber foot and gooseneck for support virtually anywhere without screws or adhesives. R-A-M even has suction cup bases for attachment to windscreens or fiberglass surfaces. See your Lowrance dealer or visit the LEI web site for the latest options. Acces­sory ordering information is on the inside back cover of this manual. For a complete look at the many mounting options, visit the R-A-M web site at www.ram-mount.com.
Other Accessories
Other iFINDER accessories include MMC cards, MMC card readers and MapCreate™ 6 custom mapping software for your computer. (The iFINDER HUNTc Plus model ships with the GPS Accessory Pack, which is composed of the MapCreate CDs, the card reader, and one memory card.)
If these accessories are not available from your dealer, see the acces­sory ordering information on the inside back cover of this manual.
MapCreate™ 6 CD-ROM and MMC card reader for USB ports.
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Section 3:
1
2
8
9
635
Easy Mode Operation
This section addresses Easy Mode operation for the iFINDER's main GPS functions. The principles are the same in both operating modes, so this also serves as a good introduction to Advanced Mode work.
NOTE:
When you turn on the unit, it is in iFINDER to scroll down to
EASY MODE, press MENU|MENU, then use the ↑ ↓ keys to
DISABLE HUNTING MODE and press ENT. A message will
appear asking if you are sure you want to turn on
MODE. Use the key to select YES and press ENT. Now, press MENU|MENU to get back to the main menu. Scroll down to EASY MODE and press ENT. A message will appear asking if you are sure
you want to turn on
EASY MODE. Select YES and press ENT.
Remember: When you are in take advantage of the iFINDER's specialized hunting features. You will have to switch back to
ADVANCED MODE, then enable Hunting
Mode.
Before you turn on the iFINDER and find where you are, it's a good idea to learn about the different keys, the four Page screens and how they all work together. BUT, if you just can't wait to get outside, grab the batteries and turn to the one-page Quick Reference on page 29.
Keypad
ADVANCED MODE. To switch the
LAND NAVIGATION
EASY MODE, you will NOT be able to
4
iFINDER HUNTc keypad.
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1. PWR/LIGHT (Power & Light) – The PWR key turns on the unit and off and activates the backlight.
2. PAGES – Pressing this key switches the unit between the four page screens in Easy Mode. (Satellite, Compass, Navigation and Map.) Each page represents one of the unit's major operation modes.
3. MENU – Press this key to access menus, where you will be able to select or adjust iFINDER features.
4. ARROW KEYS – These keys are used to navigate through the menus, make menu selections, move the map cursor and enter data.
5. ENT/SAVE (Enter & Save) – This key allows you to save data, ac­cept values and execute menu commands.
6. EXIT – The Exit key lets you return to the previous screen, clear data or close a menu.
7. FIND – The Find key launches iFINDER search menus and some navigational functions.
8. ZOUT – (Zoom Out) – This key zooms out the screen allowing you to see a larger geographic area on the map. Less detail is seen as you zoom out.
9. ZIN – (Zoom In) – This key zoom in the screen so you can see greater detail in a smaller geographic area on the map.
Power/lights on and off
To turn on the unit, press PWR. To turn on the backlight, press PWR again. Pressing PWR a third time will turn off the backlight. (Press EXIT to clear any message or alarm displays.)
Turn off the unit by pressing and holding the
PWR key for 3 seconds.
Main Menu
Easy Mode has a single Main Menu, which contains some function and setup option commands. The tutorial in this section will deal only with functions — the basic commands that make the iFINDER do something. For these lessons, the iFINDER will work fine right out of the box with the factory default settings. But, if you want to learn about the various options and settings, see Sec. 5, System Setup and GPS Setup Options.
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Main Menu, Easy Mode.
The Main Menu commands and their functions are:
Go To Cursor: navigates to the current cursor position on the map.
Cancel Navigation: turns off the navigation command after you have
reached your destination.
Screen: changes the contrast or brightness of the display screen and backlight delay.
Sounds: enables or disables the sounds for key strokes and alarms and sets alarm style.
Navigate Trail: sets up navigation back to the start of the current trail.
Clear Trail: clears all points stored in a plot trail.
Sun/Moon Calculations: finds the rising and setting time of the sun
and the moon.
Units of Measure: changes the unit of measure for speed and dis­tance. It also is used to change heading, time and temperature formats.
Set Local Time: sets the time for your local time zone.
Advanced Mode: used to switch from Easy Mode to Advanced Mode.
Easy Mode shows only the most commonly used features to simplify operation.
Transfer My Data: used to load or save GPS data files to an MMC card.
Software Info: shows the product name and software version of the unit's operating system software, as well as copyright notices.
Pages
Easy Mode has four Page displays that represent the four major oper­ating modes. They are the Satellite Status Page, Compass Page, Navi-
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gation Page and the Map Page. The pages are accessed by pressing the
PAGES key. Pressing PAGES repeatedly scrolls through the four screens
in an endless loop.
Satellite Status Page
The Satellite Status Page, shown in the following images, provides de­tailed information on the status of the iFINDER's satellite lock-on and position acquisition. To get to the Satellite Status Page, press
PAGES
repeatedly until it appears on the screen. No matter what page you are on, a flashing current position indica­tor/question mark symbol and flashing GPS data displays indicate sat­ellite lock has been lost and there is no position confirmed. This page shows you the quality and accuracy of current satellite lock-on and po­sition calculation.
WARNING:
Do not begin navigating with this unit until the numbers have stopped flashing!
Satellite Status Page showing a 3D position fix (latitude, longitude and
altitude) with WAAS reception.
This screen shows a graphical representation of the satellites that are in view. 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. You can use the chart to see which satellites are obstructed by obstacles in your immediate area, if you hold the unit facing north. The GPS receiver is tracking satellites that are in bold type. The re­ceiver hasn't locked onto a satellite if the number is grayed out. The grayed out satellite is not being used to resolve your position. Beneath the circular graph are bar graphs, one for each satellite in view.
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Since the unit has 16 channels, it can dedicate one channel per visible satellite. The taller the bar on the graph, the better the unit is receiv­ing signals from the satellite.
The Estimated Position Error (horizontal position error), shown in the upper right corner of the screen, is the expected error from a bench­mark location. In other words, if the EPE shows 50 feet, then the posi­tion shown by the unit is estimated to be within 50 feet of the actual location. This also gives you an indicator of the quality of the fix the unit currently has. The smaller the position-error number, the more accurate the fix. If the position error displays flashing dashes, then the unit hasn't locked onto the satellites and the number shown isn't valid.
Compass Page
This Page has a compass rose. It shows the direction you are facing and the direction to a selected destination. When you're not navigating to a waypoint or other destination, the navigation screen looks like the one in the image below. No graphic course information is displayed. An ar­row on the edge of the compass represents your facing direction.
Track or compass heading indicator, showing facing direction
Compass
rose
Navigation information data boxes
Battery power indicator
Navigation Page, recording a trail, traveling east. Page looks like this
when the iFINDER is not navigating to a waypoint, following a route,
or backtracking a trail.
Navigation Page
Like the Compass Page, the Navigation Page also has a compass rose. It shows your direction of travel and the direction to a recalled way­point. When you're not navigating to a waypoint or other destination, the navigation screen looks like the one in the following image. No
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graphic course information is displayed. Your position is shown by an arrow in the center of the screen. Your trail history, or path you've taken, is represented by the line extending from the arrow. The arrow pointing down at the top of the compass rose indicates the your current track (direction of travel).
Track or compass heading indicator, showing direction of travel
Present position
arrow
Trail line
Recording a trail on the Navigation Page. The page looks like this
when the iFINDER is not navigating to a waypoint , following a route,
or backtracking a trail.
Compass
rose
Navigation information data boxes
When navigating to a waypoint or following a route, the Navigation screen looks like the one shown in the following image. Your ground speed, track, distance and bearing to your destination are all shown digitally on this screen.
The current cross track error is shown in the XTK box. This is the dis­tance you are off-course to the side of the desired course line. The course line is an imaginary line drawn from your position when you started navigating to the destination waypoint. It's shown on the navi­gation page as a vertical dotted line.
Lines on either side of the present position show the current cross track error range.
The default for the cross track error range is 0.20 mile. For example, if the present position symbol touches the right cross track error line, then you are 0.20 mile to the right of the desired course. You need to steer left to return to the desired course. You can use the
ZIN or ZOUT
keys to change the cross track error range.
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A circular representing your destination (waypoint) appears on the screen as you approach the waypoint as shown on the screen below. Travel Time is the time that it will take to reach your destination at your present closing speed. Arrival Time is the local time it will be when you arrive at the destination, based upon your present closing speed and track.
Current track or heading, shown in degrees
Cross track error range (off course indicator)
Destination name
Navigation Page, going to cursor. Driver is headed east (a 68º track)
toward a cursor location 68º (bearing) away. The cross track error
range (white corridor) is 0.20 miles either side of the course.
Compass bearing to destination
Bearing arrow
Trail line
Navigation information data boxes
Map Page
The map screens show your course and track from a bird's-eye view. By default, this unit shows the map with north always at the top of the screen. (This can be changed using options in Advanced Mode. See the topic Map Orientation, in Sec. 5.) If you're navigating to a waypoint, the map also shows your starting location, present position, course line and destination.
NOTE:
When our text says, navigating to a waypoint, we really mean navi­gation to any selected item, whether it is a waypoint, a map feature or an item (like a restaurant) from the POI database.
Using the map is as simple as pressing the
PAGES key. A screen similar to
those in following images appears. The arrow flashing in the center of the screen is your present position. It points in the direction you're traveling. The solid line extending from the arrow is your plot trail or path you've taken. (Remember: flashing question mark on the arrow symbol or flashing text displays means the iFINDER has not yet calculated a position.)
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The map zoom range is shown in the lower left corner of the screen. In the first example below, the range is 4,000 miles from the left edge of the map to the right edge of the map.
The Zoom Out and Zoom In keys enlarge or reduce the map's coverage area and the amount of mapping detail shown. There are 40 available map zoom ranges, from 0.02 miles to 4,000 miles.
Map Page opening screen (left). Zoomed to 100 miles (center) and
zoomed to 6 miles (right). Over Zoomed means you have reached the
detail limits in an area covered only by the basic background map.
Zooming in any closer will reveal no more map details because a high-
detail custom map has not been loaded on the MMC for this area.
If you're using only the factory-loaded background map, the maximum zoom range for showing additional map detail is 8 miles. You can zoom in closer, but with the exception of a few major city streets, the map will be enlarged without revealing more map content. Load your own high-detail custom map made with MapCreate and you can zoom in to
0.02 miles with massive amounts of accurate map detail.
Map Pages with high-detail map of an urban area loaded on the MMC.
Arterial streets appear at the 4-mile zoom range, with a few Point of
Interest icons visible (left). Numerous dots representing POIs become
visible at the 3-mile range (center). At a 0.4-mile zoom, you can see an
interstate highway with an exit, major and minor streets as well as
POI icons (right).
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Background map vs. MapCreate map content
The background map includes: low-detail maps of the whole world (con­taining cities, major lakes, major rivers, political boundaries); and me­dium-detail maps of the United States.
The medium-detail U.S. maps contain: all incorporated cities; shaded metropolitan areas; county boundaries; shaded public lands (such as national forests and parks); some major city streets; Interstate, U.S. and state highways; Interstate highway exits and exit services informa­tion; large- and medium-sized lakes and streams and more than 60,000 navigation aids and 10,000 wrecks and obstructions in U.S. coastal and Great Lakes waters
MapCreate custom maps include massive amounts of information not found in the background map. MapCreate comes in a hunting topo and non-topo version, and the non-topo program contains: the searchable Points of Interest database, all the minor roads and streets, all the landmark features (such as summits, schools, radio towers, etc.); more rivers, streams, smaller lakes and ponds and their names.
What's more important is the large-scale map detail that allows your GPS unit to show a higher level of position accuracy. For example, the background map would show you the general outline and approximate shape of a coastline or water body, but the higher detail in MapCreate shows the shoreline completely and accurately (finer detail). Many smaller islands would not be included in the background map, but are in MapCreate.
Special Hunting Details
MapCreate USA Hunting Topo version was developed specifically for the iFINDER HUNT family. It contains all the higher detail in the non­topo version, but the addition of topographical contour lines makes it great for hikers, aviators and hunters.
MapCreate Topo contains an amazing amount of special information for hunters, including: public hunting boundaries and their names from 47 states, along with game management unit boundaries from 22 states; boundaries for state and federal wildlife refuges; state and federal for­ests; city, state and federal parks; higher resolution hydrography (wa­ter bodies) including intermittent streams; USGS 1:24000 scale topo quadrangle map boundaries and more!
MapCreate USA Hunting Topo is the first GPS mapping software on the market to offer this type of extensive hunting database.
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POI Markers
School POI
Cursor lineInterstate Major Street
Restaurant POI
POI Pop-up
Zoom Range
When the map is zoomed out far enough, most POIs appear as square dots (left). As you zoom in closer, the symbols become readable icons.
In the 0.3-mile zoom example (right), the cursor has selected the Cho-
lita's Mexican Restaurant POI, which triggers a pop-up box with the
POI name. This pop-up box works on POIs at any zoom range.
Position, distance and bearing data
Tip:
In some urban areas, businesses are so close to one another that their POI icons crowd each other on the screen. In the preceding figure, you can see a packed string of POIs all along the west half of 11th Street. You can reduce screen clutter and make streets and other map features easier to see by turning off POIs you don't need to see on the display. (To see how, check the text on Map Detail Category Selection, in Sec. 5.
It shows how to use the Map Categories Drawn menu to turn indi­vidual POI displays off and on.) Even though their display is turned off, you can still search for POIs and their icons will pop-up when your unit finds them for you.
The following page contains a 12-step quick reference for Easy Mode operation. If you don't want to carry the manual with you as you prac­tice with the iFINDER, you might consider photocopying this quick ref­erence page and tucking it into your pocket.
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iFINDER HUNTc™ Easy Mode Quick Reference
Start outdoors, with a clear view of the open sky. As you practice, try navigating to a location a few blocks away. Navigation in too small a space, like a backyard, will constantly trigger arrival alarms.
1. Install two AA batteries and an MMC card in the battery compart­ment on back of case. (See installation details beginning on page 11.)
2. To turn on the iFINDER, press and release the
3. Opening screen displays map of North America at the 4,000-mile zoom range. Rotate through the four main Page screens (Map Page, Satellite Status Page, Compass Page and Navigation Page) by repeat­edly pressing
PAGES key.
4. Wait while unit locates satellites and calculates current position. Process is visible on Satellite page. This takes an average of 1 minute or less under clear sky conditions (unobstructed by terrain or structures.) When the unit acquires position, a tone sounds and a position acquired message appears.
5. With position acquired, press the
PAGES key to display the Map
Page, which shows a bird's eye view of the earth. You can move around the map by:
Zooming in closer to see greater detail: press Zooming out to see more area with less detail: press out key.) Scroll map north, south, east or west using arrow keys .
To stop scrolling and return to current position on map, press
6. Set Home waypoint at your current position so you can navigate back it: press
ENT|ENT.
7. Zoom/scroll map to find a nearby object or location. Use arrow keys to center cursor crosshairs over the map object or location.
8. To navigate to the selected location: press steering arrow on Map Page or compass bearing arrow on Navigation Page.
9. At destination, Arrival Alarm goes off. To clear it, press Cancel navigation: press
MENU| to CANCEL NAVIGATION|ENT|. A message
will appear asking if you want to cancel navigation. Select press
ENT.
10. Navigate back home by press
FIND|ENT, then follow navigation arrows. To Navigate Trail:
press
MENU| to NAVIGATE TRAIL|ENT. Wait while route is calculated,
GO HOME or NAVIGATE TRAIL. To Go Home:
then follow the navigation arrows.
11. Back home, when Arrival Alarm goes off, press navigation: press
MENU| to CANCEL NAVIGATION|ENT| | YES| ENT.
12. To turn off the iFINDER, press and hold
PWR key.
ZIN (zoom in key.)
ZOUT (zoom
EXIT key.
MENU|ENT|EXIT. Follow
EXIT. To
YES and
EXIT. To Cancel
PWR key for three seconds.
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Find Your Current Position
Finding your current position is as simple as turning on the iFINDER. Under clear sky conditions, the unit automatically searches for satel­lites and calculates its position in approximately one minute or less.
NOTE:
Clear sky means open sky, unobstructed by terrain, dense foliage or structures. Clouds do not restrict GPS signal reception.
If for some reason satellite acquisition takes longer, you may be inside a structure or vehicle or in terrain that is blocking signal reception. To correct this, be sure you are positioned so the unit has as clear a view of the sky as possible, then turn the unit off and back on again.
Moving Around the Map: Zoom & Cursor Arrow Keys
The map is presented from a bird's eye view. The current zoom range shows in the lower left corner of the screen.
1. Press the a smaller geographic area.
2. Press the detail, but a larger geographic area.
When you are walking or riding in a vehicle, the map will automatically move as you move. This keeps your current location roughly centered on the screen.
You can manually pan or scroll the map northward, southward, east­ward or westward by using the arrow keys, which launches the cross­hair map cursor. This allows you to look at map places other than your current position. To clear the cursor, press back to the current position or the last known position.
ZIN key (zoom in) to move in closer and see greater detail in
ZOUT key (zoom out) to move farther away and see less map
EXIT, which jumps the map
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Selected airport
Cursor line
The selected airport to the northwest is 4.2 miles away.
Cursor line
Distance measured by cursor
Tip:
Use the cursor to determine the distance from your current position (or last known position, when working indoors) to any map object or location. Use the arrow keys to position the cursor over the object or place. The distance, measured in a straight line, appears in the data box at the bottom of the map. Press
EXIT to clear the cursor.
Selecting Any Map Item with the Cursor
1. Use the zoom keys and the arrow keys to move around the map and find the item you wish to select.
2. Use the arrow keys and center the cursor crosshairs on the desired ob­ject. On most items, a pop-up box will give the name of the selected item.
You will also notice a red ring surrounds the item as it becomes se­lected. Once that happens, press with an extra option at the top of the list: the Waypoint Information screen for the selected item.
FIND and the Find Menu will pop up
SELECTED ITEM. Press ENT to see
Searching
Now that you've seen how the iFINDER can find where you are, let's search for something somewhere else. Searching is one of the most powerful new features in the Lowrance GPS product line.
In this example, we'll look for the nearest fast-food restaurant. For more information on different types of searches, refer to Sec. 6, Searching.
NOTE:
This example requires the Point of Interest (POI) database included in a high-detail MapCreate 6 custom map.
After the iFINDER has acquired a position:
1. Press
FIND| to MAP PLACES|ENT| to POI-RESTAURANTS.
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2. You could search the entire restaurant category, but in this example we will narrow our search. Press to launches the Waypoints menu with two options:
NAME. Find Nearest is already highlighted, so press ENT.
FAST FOOD CHAINS|ENT. That
FIND NEAREST AND FIND BY
Find Map Places Menu (left). Category Selection menu (center) and list
of the nearest restaurants (right).
3. The iFINDER says it is calculating (Busy), then a list of restaurants appears, with the closest at the top of the list, and the farthest at the bottom of the list. The nearest is highlighted.
4. If you wanted, you could scroll through the list to select another res­taurant, but for now we will just accept the nearest one, so press
ENT.
5. The POI's Waypoint Information screen appears. (This is how you can use the iFINDER as a business phone directory!) If you wanted to navigate there, you could press Enter, since the highlighted. But we just want to see it on the map, so press to
MAP|ENT.
GO TO command is
FIND ON
POI information screen for fast food restaurant nearest this position. Screen shows name, street address, phone number, latitude/longitude, distance to the restaurant and its compass bearing. Go To command is
selected (left); Find on Map is selected (right).
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6. The iFINDER's map appears, with the cursor crosshairs highlighting the restaurant's POI symbol. A pop-up name box identifies the POI. A data box at the bottom of the screen continues to display the location's latitude, longitude, distance and bearing.
Map screen showing Finding Waypoint,
the result of a restaurant search.
7. To clear the search and return to the last page displayed, press EXIT repeatedly. (Before you completely exited out of the Search menus, you could have gone looking for another place.)
NOTE:
Search works from mapping and POI data loaded in the iFINDER. If you do not have a high-detailed custom map (containing POI data for the area you are searching) loaded on the MMC, you may not find anything.
Set Home Waypoint
A waypoint is an electronic address, based on the latitude and longi­tude of a position on the earth. Easy Mode allows you to save two way­points (Home and Man Overboard).
To save a Home Waypoint:
1. Press and release
2. The
SAVE AS HOME WAYPOINT? prompt appears, with YES highlighted. To
accept yes, press named Home.
ENT.
ENT. The waypoint appears on the map as an X,
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Pop-up box
Save Home Waypoint menu (left). Home waypoint, with X symbol and
name (right). When selected by the cursor, the pop-up box appears.
The example shows waypoint set at the cursor location. If the cursor was not active, the point would be placed at the current position.
Caution:
Saving a new Home waypoint will overwrite and erase the pre­vious Home waypoint.
Navigate Back Home
This command will automatically take you back to the Home waypoint you created.
1. Press
FIND, use to select GO HOME and press ENT, then follow navi-
gation arrows on the Map Page or the compass rose on the Navigation Page.
To cancel navigation, press sage will appear asking if you want to cancel navigation press
ENT. The iFINDER stops showing navigation information.
MENU| to CANCEL NAVIGATION|ENT. A mes-
. Select YES and
Set Man Overboard (MOB) Waypoint
One of boating's most terrifying events is having a friend or family member fall overboard. This situation can be deadly on any body of wa­ter. It's particularly dangerous at night or if you're out of sight of land. Of course, the first thing to do is remain calm and try all standard safety measures to try and rescue the person.
This unit has a man overboard feature that shows navigation data to the location where the feature was activated. To activate it, press the
ZOUT and ZIN keys at the same time. Your position at the time these
keys are pressed is used as the man overboard position.
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Caution:
Saving a new "Man Overboard" waypoint will overwrite and erase the previous "Man Overboard" waypoint.
Navigate Back to MOB Waypoint
Find your way back to the accident position with the Navigation Page or Map Page. When MOB is activated, the Navigation Page automati­cally shows the compass rose with its bearing arrow pointing toward the man overboard position, and the destination name says Going To Man Overboard. The Map Page displays a Man Overboard waypoint, represented by a human figure, and the steering arrow points where to steer to reach that position.
The man overboard position is also stored in the waypoint table for fu­ture reference. In Advanced Mode, it can be edited the same as any other waypoint. This prevents the inadvertent loss of the current Man Overboard position.
Tip:
You don't need to have an emergency to use the MOB waypoint. It is the only way you can set an additional waypoint other than Home in Easy Mode. When you set the MOB point, just cancel navigation and then use MOB like a regular waypoint. (Remember, you can set 1,000 waypoints in Advanced Mode.)
To cancel navigation to MOB, press A message will appear asking if you want to cancel navigation. Select
YES and press ENT.
MENU| to CANCEL NAVIGATION|ENT. .
Navigate to Cursor Position on Map
The GO TO CURSOR command navigates to the current cursor position on the map. It's a quick and handy way to navigate to anything you can see on the map display.
1. Use the cursor (controlled by the arrow keys) with the zoom in and zoom out keys to maneuver around the map until you find a location you want to go to.
2. Center the cursor over the location to select it. See the example be­low. (Many map items such as waypoints, Points of Interest, towns, etc. can be selected, and appear highlighted with a pop-up box. Other fea­tures, such as a river or a street intersection will not appear high­lighted, but the cursor will take you to those locations just the same.)
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Navigate to cursor. In this example, the cursor has selected the town of
Oologah, Oklahoma.
3. Press MENU|ENT and the iFINDER will begin navigating to the cur­sor location.
The Map Page will display a line from your current position to the cur­sor position. The Navigation Page displays a compass rose showing navigation information to your destination. See the following examples.
The 15-mile zoom figure (left) clearly shows the course line connecting
your current position to your destination. The 60-mile zoom (center)
shows both current position and destination on screen. The Navigation
Page (right) will also show navigation information.
To stop navigating to the cursor, use the Cancel Navigation command: press
MENU| to CANCEL NAVIGATION|ENT. A message will appear asking
if you want to cancel navigation
. Select YES and press ENT. The
iFINDER stops showing navigation information.
Navigate to a Point of Interest
For POIs that are in view on the map, you can easily use the Navigate to Cursor command above, just use the cursor to select the POI.
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Another method involves searching for POIs with the Find Map Places command, launched with the
FIND key. (See the searching example
earlier in this section, or turn to Sec. 6, Searching, for detailed instruc- tions on POI searches.)
After you have looked up an item with the Find Map Places command, use the to make sure the tom of the screen, then press
GO TO command is highlighted at the bot-
ENT. The iFINDER begins showing navi-
gation information to the item.
To cancel navigation, press sage will appear asking if you want to cancel navigation press
ENT. The iFINDER stops showing navigation information.
MENU| to CANCEL NAVIGATION|ENT. A mes-
. Select YES and
Creating and Saving a Trail
A trail, or plot trail, is a history of the path you have taken. On the screen, trails are represented by a solid line extending from the back of the position arrow.
With the default auto setting, the iFINDER creates a trail by placing a dot (trail point) on the screen every time you change directions. (The method used for creating a trail and the trail update rate can both be adjusted in Advanced Mode. See Sec. 5 for Trail Options.)
In Easy Mode, this unit automatically creates a plot trail when turned on. It is automatically saved in memory when the unit is turned off. The iFINDER continues recording the same trail until you clear the trail, which erases the old trail and starts creation of a new trail.
NOTE:
The iFINDER can record up to 9,999 points per trail, which may be adjusted in Advanced Mode. The default setting is a maximum of 2,000 points. When trail length exceeds the maximum setting, the unit begins recording the trail over itself.
In Advanced Mode, you can save and recall up to 10 different plot trails, which may be copied to your MMC for archiving.
Caution:
You also have the option of turning off trail recording in Ad­vance Mode. If the option is left turned off, it will cancel the automatic trail creation feature in Easy Mode.
Displaying a Saved Trail
The trail is automatically displayed in Easy Mode by default. Trail dis­play can be selectively turned off and on only in Advanced Mode.
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Navigating or Backtracking a Trail
There are two methods for following your back trail. The simplest re­quires no menu commands at all, but provides no navigation informa­tion during the trip, such as the time to your destination. The other requires only three keystrokes and provides a full range of navigation data. Try both methods and see which you prefer. When hiking at walking speed, we often just use visual back trailing because it is better at following each little turn on a footpath. At faster speeds, like travel­ing on the highway or cruising on the water, the Navigate Trail com­mand is handy.
Visual Back Trailing
1. On the Map Page, zoom (
2. Begin moving and watch the Map Page (or Navi­gation Page, if you prefer). Walk or steer so that your current position arrow traces along the trail you have just made.
Navigate a Back Trail
1. Press
MENU| to NAVIGATE TRAIL|ENT.
2. Begin moving and let your iFINDER guide you.
NOTE:
If you are already located at or near the begin­ning of your back trail, the arrival alarm will go off as soon as you hit Enter. Just press to clear the alarm and proceed.
ZIN or ZOUT) so your trail is visible.
EXIT
Navigate Trail
menu.
North
Back trail dotted line
Trail point
Present
position
arrow
Steer arrow
Navigate trail, map views: Driver is southbound heading straight to­ward trail point 6 (left); steer arrow says steer straight. Southbound
driver (right) has reached point 6 and must turn east to follow trail.
Steer arrow swings around to say turn left (east), toward the next trail
waypoint (arrival alarm message turned off for clarity.)
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Track or compass heading indicator
Present position
Trail waypoint symbol
Trail line
Navigate trail, navigation page (compass rose) views: Driver is east-
bound heading straight toward trail point 5 (left); bearing arrow
shows the trail point is due east (straight ahead.) Driver has reached
trail point 5 (right) and must turn south to follow the trail. Arrival
alarm goes off and bearing arrow swings around to say turn right
(south), toward the next waypoint, trail point 6. iFINDER now shows
navigation information to point 6, which is 2.07 miles away.
Compass
rose
Cross track error range (off course indicator)
Bearing arrow
3. When you reach your destination, be sure to cancel your navigation: press
MENU| to CANCEL NAVIGATION|ENT. A message will appear asking
if you want to cancel navigation. Select
YES and press ENT.
Clearing or Erasing a Trail
You can erase the current trail and automatically begin recording a new one by using the Clear Trail command.
WARNING:
Clearing a trail will erase the trail from the iFINDER's memory. You will not be able to backtrack to that trail if it is erased. If you need to preserve the trail, switch to Advanced Mode and use the in­structions in Sec. 4 for Creating and Saving a Trail.
1. Press want to Clear all trail points. Select
2. Return to the page by pressing
MENU| to CLEAR TRAIL|ENT. A message appears asking if you
YES and press ENT.
EXIT.
Transfer Custom Maps and GPS Data Files
Custom Maps:
Custom maps work only from the MMC card or SD card. When a card containing a Custom Map File is loaded into the unit, the iFINDER automatically loads the map into memory when the unit is turned on.
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Instructions for copying Custom Map Files to an MMC are contained in the instruction manual for your MMC card reader and MapCreate 6 software. For instructions on inserting an MMC into the iFINDER, see Sec. 2, Installation/Accessories.
GPS Data Files:
GPS Data files contain waypoints, routes, trails and event marker icons. Instructions for copying GPS Data Files between your computer and an MMC are contained in the instruction manual for your MMC card reader and MapCreate 6 software.
GPS data automatically recorded in the unit's internal memory must be saved to the MMC (as a GPS Data File) in order to store it on your per­sonal computer. GPS Data Files stored on an MMC must be copied from the card to the iFINDER's internal memory before the unit can read them. Here's how:
1. Insert the MMC into your unit. Press
DATA|ENT and the screen below appears.
MENU| to TRANSFER MY
The Transfer My Data submenu asks if you want to save data to the
MMC or load data from the MMC into the iFINDER's memory.
2. The Transfer My Data menu includes a message which tells you if an MMC is present or not. If no MMC is present, you must first insert a card into the iFINDER in order to activate the Load or Save commands.
To transfer data from the iFINDER to the MMC: press
SAVE.)
ENT (for
To transfer data from the MMC to the iFINDER: press to
LOAD|ENT.
3. Saving: To accept the default name "Data" for the GPS Data File, press to below), press
SAVE|ENT. If you wish to rename the file (as in the example
ENT to activate the selection box.
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Press or to change the first character, then press to the next character and repeat until the name is correct. Then, press
SAVE|ENT.
ENT| to
The unit will display first a progress then a completion message when the data transfer is finished. To return to the Page view, press
EXIT|EXIT.
These figures (from left to right) show the menu sequence for naming
and saving a GPS Data File from an MMC into iFINDER's memory.
4. Loading: There may be more than one GPS Data File (*.USR) on the card. To select a file, press to highlight the file, then press to
LOAD|ENT. The unit will display a completion message when the
data transfer is finished. To return to the Page view, press
ENT to activate the selection box, use or
ENT to accept the selection. Next, press
EXIT|EXIT.
These figures (from left to right) show the menu sequence for loading a
GPS Data File from an MMC into iFINDER's memory.
Switch to Advanced Mode
To leave Easy Mode and switch to Advanced Mode:
1. Press
2. Unit asks Are you sure you want to enter Advanced Mode?
3. Select
MENU| to ADVANCED MODE|ENT.
YES and press ENT to switch the unit to Advanced Mode.
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Switch Back to Easy Mode from Advanced Mode
To leave Advanced Mode and switch back to Easy Mode:
1. Press
2. Unit asks Are you sure you want to turn on Easy Mode?
3. Select
MENU|MENU| to EASY MODE|ENT.
YES and press ENT to switch the unit to Easy Mode.
Switch to Hunting Mode
There's also a powerful Hunting mode in this unit, but it cannot be ac­tivated directly from Easy Mode. To switch to Hunt Mode, you must switch to Advanced Mode. See further instructions in Sec. 4 and Sec. 7.
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Section 4:
1
2
8
9
6
3
5
Advanced Mode Operation
Keypad
4
iFINDER HUNTc keypad.
1. PWR/LIGHT (Power & Light) – The PWR key turns the unit on and off and activates the backlight.
2. PAGES – Pressing this key switches the unit between the six different page screens in Land Mode. (Satellite, Digital Data, Compass, Music, Navigation and Map.) Each page represents one of the unit's major opera­tion modes.
3. MENU – Press this key to show the menus, which allow you to select or adjust a feature from a list.
4. ARROW KEYS – These keys are used to navigate through the menus, make menu selections, move the chart cursor and enter data.
5. ENT/SAVE (Enter & Save) – This key allows you to save data, ac­cept values or execute menu commands.
6. EXIT – The Exit key lets you return to the previous screen, clear data or close a menu.
7. FIND – The Find key launches the iFINDER search menus and some navigation functions.
8. ZOUT – (Zoom Out) – This key lets you zoom the screen out to see a larger geographic are on the map. Less detail is seen as you zoom out.
9. ZIN – (Zoom In) – This key lets you zoom the screen in to see greater detail in a smaller geographic area on the map.
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Power/lights on and off
To turn on the unit, press PWR. To turn on the backlight, press PWR again. Pressing PWR once again will turn off the backlight. (Press EXIT to clear any message or alarm displays.)
Turn off the unit by pressing and holding the
PWR key for 3 seconds.
Main Menu
Advanced Mode has a single Main Menu, which contains some function commands and some setup option commands. The instructions in this section will deal only with functions — the basic commands that make the iFINDER do something. For these instructions, the iFINDER will work fine right out of the box with the factory default settings. But, if you want to learn about the various options, see Sec. 5, System Setup and GPS Setup Options.
1. To get to the main menu from any page press the menu screen and return to the page display, press
Main Menu, Advanced Mode.
Screen: changes contrast or brightness of display screen and backlight delay.
Sounds: enables or disables sounds for key strokes and alarms and sets the alarm style.
Transparency: adjusts the level of transparency for menus.
Alarms: changes alarm thresholds and allows users to turn on or off
GPS alarms.
Route Planning: allows you to plan, view or navigate routes.
My Trails command: used to show, create, edit or delete trails.
Cancel Navigation: turns off the navigation command after you have
reached the end of a back trail or your destination.
MENU|MENU. To clear
EXIT.
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Enable Hunting Mode: changes the unit mode of operation from Land Navigation mode to Hunting mode.
GPS Setup: gives access to GPS receiver options, like GPS Simulator, Track Smoothing and GPS Auto Search.
System Setup: give access to general configuration options like, Units of Measure, Set Local Time, Reset Options, Popup Help and Transfer My Data.
Utilities: allows users to modify settings for Sun/Moon calculator, Trip Calculator, Timers and Alarm Clock.
Easy Mode: used to switch from Advanced Mode to Easy Mode. Easy Mode shows only the most commonly used features to simplify the in­terface and operation.
Browse MMC Files: load from or save to an MMC card GPS Data Files containing waypoints, routes, trails and event marker icons.
Pages
Advanced Mode also referred to as Land Mode, has six Page displays that represent the six major operating modes. They are the Satellite Status Page, Digital Data Page, Compass Page, Navigation Page, Music Mode Page and Map Page. They are accessed by pressing the key. Pressing PAGES scrolls through the six screens in an endless loop.
Each Page has a submenu screen associated with it. You access a Page Submenu by pressing the
MENU key one time while the page is dis-
played. (Pressing the Menu key twice takes you to the Main Menu.)
Satellite Status Page
This page provides detailed information on the status of the iFINDER's satellite lock-on and position acquisition. No matter what page you are on, a flashing current position indicator/question mark symbol and flashing GPS data displays indicate satellite lock has been lost and no position is confirmed. This page shows you the quality and accuracy of the current satellite lock-on and position calculation.
WARNING:
Do not begin navigating with this unit until the numbers have stopped flashing!
NOTE:
Refer to Sec. 2, Easy Mode Operation, for further explanation and more illustrations of the Satellite Page.
1. To get to the Satellite Status Page: press
PAGES repeatedly until it
appears on the screen.
2. To get to Satellite Status Menu: press
MENU.
PAGES
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Satellite Status Page (left) with Satellite Status Menu (right).
Status Menu
The Satellite Status Menu allows you to set your own GPS options such as track smoothing and use indoors, which preserves battery life by stopping the GPS engine's search for satellites.
Digital Data Page
The Digital Data display can show a variety of information, including ground speed, bearing, and current compass heading. Some of the most useful information on this display is the pressure history and weather prediction utility.
When the iFINDER is on, it takes barometric pressure and altitude readings once every hour. By monitoring the trend in these readings, the iFINDER can predict the weather.
The top of the Digital Data display is a bar chart (seen in the following image) representing the pressure history available in the iFINDER.
The Digital Data page with Digital Data menu.
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If you want the iFINDER to record your altitude as well, you must cali­brate the altimeter by providing the known altitude at a current loca­tion. To do this, from the Digital Data display, press
CALIBRATE ALTITUDE. You can accept the altitude value provided by your
MENU then choose
GPS position, or manually enter the altitude of your current location. Then select
SAVE CALIBRATION and press ENT. The iFINDER will now
track your altitude with its built-in altimeter.
You can use the arrow keys to move back and forth through the avail­able pressure history. Use to move back in time, selecting previous readings, or to move forward in time. The exact value of the selected reading is displayed on screen. You can also use to switch to altitude values, position values, or ↓ to return to atmospheric pressure values.
Sleep Mode
We've designed the iFINDER with a Sleep Mode that allows it to con­serve battery life, while occasionally waking up just enough to take pressure readings for the altimeter and weather prediction. This allows the unit to continue to build an accurate history even when you're not actively using it.
There are a couple of ways to enable Sleep Mode. If you're viewing the Digital Data page, press
ENT.
MENU and select ENABLE SLEEP MODE, then press
If you're viewing one of the other displays, press
SYSTEM SETUP|ENT| to ENABLE SLEEP MODE|ENT. A dialog will ask you to
confirm your choice. Choose
YES, and the iFINDER will appear to turn
MENU|MENU| to
off.
NOTE:
Sleep mode can be activated from any page by holding down the
PAGES key for 5 seconds.
When the iFINDER is in Sleep Mode, you can return to normal operation by pressing
PWR. You can also use the Instant-On Compass feature to
briefly display the compass reading, without reactivating the entire unit.
Instant-On Compass
When the iFINDER is in Sleep Mode, you can still quickly check your compass bearing by pressing and holding the
PAGES key. This activates
the screen and shows the current Compass display, including your cur­rent heading and any information you are displaying in the customiza­ble data boxes. As soon as you release the return to
SLEEP MODE.
PAGES key the iFINDER will
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Compass Page
This Page has a compass rose. It shows the direction your are facing and the direction to a selected destination. The navigation screen looks like the one in the following image when you're not navigating to a waypoint or other destination. No graphic course information is dis­played. Your facing direction is shown by an arrow on the edge of the compass rose.
You can choose how to display the Compass's orientation. The options are "North Up," "Heading Up," and "Bearing Up."
With North Up, the unit always places North at top of the screen. As you turn and change your facing direction (your heading), the heading indi­cator arrow will move along the edge of the compass rose.
When using Heading Up, the unit keeps your heading indicator arrow at the top of the screen, so no matter which way you turn, the arrow stays up. The compass rotates under it to show which direction you're facing.
When you're navigating to a waypoint or any other destination, you can turn on Bearing Up, which keeps the direction to your destination at the top of the screen while your heading indicator swings around the compass rose. That way, all you have to do to navigate to your destination is keep turning so that your heading indicator/arrow points closer and closer to the top of the screen.
Track or compass heading indicator, showing facing direction
Compass
rose
Navigation information data boxes
Compass Page, recording a trail, traveling east. Page looks like this
when the iFINDER is not navigating to a waypoint, following a route,
or backtracking a trail.
Battery power indicator
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When navigating to a waypoint or following a route, the Navigation screen looks like the one shown in the following image. Customizable data boxes on this screen can show information such as your ground speed, track, distance and bearing to destination.
Compass bearing
Current track or heading, shown in degrees
Navigation information data boxes
The compass is in Bearing Up mode. The facing direction is Northwest (a
321º heading) moving toward the waypoint at 321º (bearing). Since we are
navigating to a waypoint, the waypoint's icon appears on the edge of the
compass rose, indicating the proper direction.
to destination
Track or compass heading indicator, showing facing direction
Battery power indicator
Compass Menu
The Compass Menu allows you to set compass orientation, as well as compass calibration (described in Sec. 7).
Navigation Page
This screen has a compass rose that not only shows your direction of travel, but also the direction to a recalled waypoint. The navigation screen looks like the one below when you’re navigating to a waypoint. Your position is shown by an arrow in the center of the screen. Your trail history, or path you’ve taken, is illustrated by the line extending from the arrow. The large arrow pointing down at the top of the com­pass rose indicates your current track (direction of travel).
NOTE:
Refer to Sec. 2, Easy Mode Operation, for further explanation and more illustrations of the Navigation Page.
1. To get to Navigation Page, press
PAGE repeatedly until it appears on
screen.
2. To get to Navigation Page Sub Menu, press
MENU.
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Navigation Page (left) with Navigation Menu (right).
Navigation Menu
The Navigation Menu allows you to cancel navigation, set up alarms, and plan or edit your route.
Music Mode Page
The Music Mode Page allows you to play both MP3 and Ogg Vorbis mu­sic files. It can also recognize m3u-style play list files. The Music page contains a battery power indicator and a volume display for quick ref­erence.
Most of the music player's commands are available at the touch of a single button. The most important tools are the play control buttons:
ENTER (Play and Pause), EXIT (Stop), (Previous Song) and (Next
Song). If you hold down the key you will be able to fast forward through a song. You can also press the
FIND button to open the file
browser and choose a new song or play list.
NOTE:
Refer to Sec. 8, Music Mode, for a detailed explanation of how to get the most out of the iFINDER's music playing feature.
1. To get to Music Mode Page, press
PAGE repeatedly until it appears
on screen.
2. To get to Music Mode Page Sub Menu, press
MENU.
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Music Mode Page (left) with Music Mode menu (right).
Map Page
The map screens show your course and track from a bird’s-eye view. By default, this unit shows the map with north always at the top of the screen. (This can be changed. See the topic Map Orientation, in Sec. 5.) If you’re navigating to a waypoint, the map shows your starting loca­tion, present position, course line and destination. You, however, don’t have to navigate to a waypoint to use the map.
The Zoom In and Zoom Out keys zoom the map to enlarge or reduce its coverage area and the amount of mapping detail shown. There are 40 available map zoom ranges, from 0.02 miles to 4,000 miles.
NOTE:
Refer to Sec. 3, Easy Mode Operation, for further explanation and more illustrations of the Map Page.
1. To get to Map Page: Map page is the default when the iFINDER is turned on.
To switch from another page to the Map Page, press
PAGES repeatedly
until it appears on the screen.
2. To get to Map Page Menu, press
MENU.
NOTE:
The screen shows an indicator of what the iFINDER's microproces­sor is doing, similar to the floppy drive light on a PC. In the lower right corner of the screen, a special icon (MMC symbol) will appear and disappear from time to time. When this icon appears, the iFINDER is reading information from the MMC.
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Map Page (left) with Map Menu (right).
Map Menu
The map menu allows you to find distances, change the orientation of your map, view map data and aids users in the execution of other help­ful map functions.
Moving Around the Map: Zoom & Cursor Arrow Keys
The map is presented from a bird's-eye view. The current zoom range shows in the lower left corner of the screen. If the zoom range says 4 mi, the map shows an area 4 miles wide from the left edge of the screen to the right edge of the screen.
1. Press the a smaller geographic area.
2. Press the detail, but a larger geographic area.
You can pan or scroll the map northward, southward, eastward or westward by using the arrow keys, which launches the map's cursor crosshairs. To clear the cursor, press to the current position or the last known position.
ZIN key (zoom in) to move in closer and see greater detail in
ZOUT key (zoom out) to move farther away and see less map
EXIT, which returns the map back
Find Distance From Current Position To Another Location
1. While on the Map page press: MENU| to FIND DISTANCE|ENT.
2. Center your cursor over the position you want to find the distance to. A rubber band line appears, connecting your current position to the cursor's location. The distance along that line will appear in the lower left-hand corner of the screen.
3. Press
EXIT|EXIT to return to regular operation.
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The distance to Dallas from the starting point is 211.1 miles.
Find Distance From Point to Point
You can also measure distance between two other points on the map.
1. While on the Map page press:
MENU| to FIND DISTANCE|ENT.
2. Center your cursor over the first position. (A rubber band line ap­pears, connecting your current position to the cursor's location.) Press
ENT to set the first point, and the rubber band line disappears.
3. Move the cursor to the second position. The rubber band line reap­pears, connecting the first point you set to the cursor. The distance along that line will appear in the lower right-hand corner of the screen.
4. Press
EXIT to clear the command and return to the page screen.
Find Your Current Position
Finding your current position is as simple as turning on the iFINDER. Under clear sky conditions, the unit automatically searches for satel­lites and calculates its position in approximately one minute or less.
NOTE:
Clear sky means an open sky, unobstructed by terrain, dense foli­age or structures. Clouds do not restrict GPS signal reception.
If for some reason satellite acquisition takes longer, you may be inside a structure or vehicle or in terrain that is blocking signal reception. To correct this, be sure you are positioned so the unit has as clear a view of the sky as possible, then turn the unit off and back on again.
If you have the cursor activated, any information the unit gives you will be based on the cursor position, not your own. If you want to find where you are, just press back on your position.
EXIT until the cursor goes away and the map snaps
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Icons
Icons are graphic symbols used to mark some location, personal point of interest or event. They can be placed on the map screen, saved and re­called later for navigation purposes. These are sometimes referred to as event marker icons. The iFINDER has 42 different symbols you can pick from when creating an icon.
Icons are similar to waypoints, but they do not store as much informa­tion (like names) as waypoints do. You can't use a menu to navigate to icons as you can with waypoints.( But, you can use the map cursor and navigate to any icon on the map.)
You can create an icon at the cursor position on the map, or at your current position while you are navigating.
Create Icon on Map
1. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor to the place where you want to make an icon.
2. Press and hold release the
ENT key.
3. Press or or or to select your icon symbol, then press The icon appears on the map.
ENT until the screen shows a Save Icon menu, then
ENT.
Save icon menu (left) with Select symbol menu (right).
Create Icon at Current Position
1. While you are traveling, press and hold ENT until the screen shows a Save Icon window, then release the
3. Press or or or to select your icon symbol, then press
ENT key.
ENT.
The icon appears on the map.
Delete an Icon
You must be in Advanced Mode to delete an icon. You can delete all the icons at one time, all icons represented by a particular symbol, or use the cursor to delete a selected icon from the map.
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1. Press
2. Press to press
3. If you choose to
DELETE ALL ICONS? Press ENT to proceed.
4. If you decide to Select the icon you want to delete and press
MENU| to DELETE MY ICONS|ENT.
DELETE ALL ICONS, DELETE BY SYMBOL, or DELETE FROM MAP and
ENT.
DELETE ALL ICONS, the following message will appear:
DELETE BY SYMBOL, the Select Symbol chart will appear.
ENT, which will clear that
icon off the map.
5. Choosing Delete From Map will launch the following message: Move the cursor over an icon and press the
ENT key to delete it. To delete an
icon, use the ↑ ↓ → ← keys to center the cursor crosshairs over an icon and press
ENT.
Delete icons menu.
Load GPS Data Files from an MMC
GPS Data files, containing waypoints, routes, trails and event marker icons, must be copied from an MMC to the iFINDER's internal memory before the iFINDER can read them. Here's how:
1. Press and the screen below appears.
MENU|MENU| to SYSTEM SETUP|ENT| to TRANSFER MY DATA|ENT
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The Transfer My Data submenu asks if you want to save data to the
MMC or load data from the MMC into iFINDER's memory.
2. The Transfer My Data menu includes a message which tells you if an MMC is present or not. If no MMC is present, you must first insert a card into the iFINDER in order to activate the Load or Save commands.
To load data from the MMC to iFINDER: press to
LOAD|ENT.
3. Loading: There may be more than one GPS Data File (*.USR) on the card. To select a file, press highlight the file, then press
LOAD|ENT. The unit will display a completion message when the data
transfer is finished. To return to the Page view, press
ENT to activate the selection box, use or to
ENT to accept the selection. Next, press to
EXIT|EXIT|EXIT.
Navigate
Navigation is one of the most powerful reasons for owning an iFINDER. With the navigation options available you can get accurate information about where you want to go, how to get there, how long it will take and other useful trip information.
Navigate Back Home
You can navigate to the Home waypoint created in Easy Mode, but you must use Advanced Mode's procedure for navigating to a waypoint. See the entry: Navigate to a Waypoint later in this section.
Navigate Back to Man Overboard Waypoint
This unit has a man overboard feature that shows navigation data to the location where the feature was activated. To activate it, press the
ZOUT and ZIN keys at the same time. Your position at the time these
keys are pressed is used as the man-overboard position. The unit auto­matically begins navigating to the MOB waypoint. For further details, see this subject in Sec. 3, Easy Mode Operation.
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Cancel Navigation
In Advanced Mode
Press MENU|MENU| to CANCEL NAVIGATION|ENT. A message will appear asking if you want to cancel navigation. Choose
YES and press ENT.
Navigate a Route
1. From the press
MENU|MENU| to ROUTE PLANNING|ENT.
2. Press ↓ to select route name|
NAVIGATION PAGE, press MENU|ENT or from the MAP PAGE,
ENT|ENT.
3. Upon arrival at your destination, cancel navigation.
Navigate to Cursor Position on Map
1. Use arrow keys to center cursor crosshairs over a map object or loca­tion.
2. To navigate to the selected location press
MENU|ENT|EXIT. Follow
steering arrow on Map Page or compass bearing arrow on Navigation Page.
Navigate to an Icon
Use the Navigate to Cursor command above, and use the cursor to se­lect the icon.
Navigate to Point of Interest (POI)
For POIs that are in view on the map, you can easily use the Navigate to Cursor command above. Just use the cursor to select the POI. The other method involves searching for POIs with the Find command. (see Sec. 6, Searching, for detailed instructions on POI searches.)
Whenever you locate a POI, the Point of Interest information screen appears (with phone number, position, etc.) and the
GO TO command is
automatically highlighted in the command box. To navigate to that POI, press
ENT and the iFINDER begins displaying navigation informa-
tion to that location.
Navigate to a Waypoint
You can select any waypoint visible on the Map Page with the cursor, then use the Navigate to Cursor command. You can avoid scrolling the map to pick your waypoint, if you use the Find commands.
1. Press nearest waypoint, press
entire waypoint list), press
FIND, scroll down to MY WAYPOINTS and press ENT. To look up the
ENT, or to look by name (and scroll through the
TO FIND BY NAME|ENT.
2. If your waypoint list is a long one, you can spell out the waypoint name in the
FIND BY NAME box. (Press ↑ or to change the first character, then
press to move the cursor to the next character and repeat until the name is correct, then press
ENT to jump to the list below.)
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3. If the list is short, you can jump directly to the pressing waypoint information screen appears with the
4. To begin navigating to the waypoint, press
ENT. Use or to select the waypoint name, press ENT and the
GO TO command selected.
ENT.
FIND IN LIST box by
Navigate a Trail
1. Press
MENU|MENU| to MY TRAILS|ENT and a screen similar to the
one below appears.
Trails Menu, Advanced Mode.
2. Use to to select a trail to navigate.
3. With the trail name highlighted, press
ENT| to NAVIGATE|ENT.
4. Wait while iFINDER creates a route from the trail. When the prog­ress message disappears, the unit displays a trail information screen, with the
NAVIGATE ROUTE command highlighted in the top command box.
Tip: Back Track a Trail
Running the Navigate command will lead you along the trail from its starting point to its ending point. You can also back track a trail, or follow it in reverse order (from its ending point to its starting point.) In Easy Mode, this is done automatically with the most recently cre­ated active trail. In Advanced Mode, you must first select the Reverse command to reverse the trail point order before you start navigating: press to
5. To follow the trail, press data along the trail. Follow the steering arrow on the Map Page or the compass bearing arrow on the Navigation Page.
NOTE:
If you are at or near the start of the trail, the arrival alarm will go off as soon as navigation begins because of your proximity to the trail's first point. Just press
REVERSE ROUTE|ENT| to NAVIGATE.
ENT. The unit begins showing navigation
EXIT to clear the alarm.
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6. Upon arrival at your destination, cancel navigation: press
MENU|MENU| to CANCEL NAVIGATION|ENT. A message will appear
asking if you want to cancel navigation. Choose
YES and press ENT.
Routes
A route is a series of waypoints, linked together in an ordered sequence that is used to mark a course of travel. You can visualize a route as a string of beads: The beads represent waypoints and the string repre­sents the course of travel connecting waypoint to waypoint.
The course from one waypoint to the next is a leg. Routes are composed of one or more legs. The legs of all GPS routes are based on straight lines between waypoints.
A route provides the automatic capability to navigate through several waypoints without having to reprogram the unit after arriving at each waypoint. Once programmed into the GPS unit, a route gives the option of navigating forward through the route waypoints or in reverse order (you can even begin navigating in the middle of a route!).
Create and Save a Route
In the iFINDER, routes can be created, edited and navigated only in Advanced Mode. You have the option of creating a route in the unit or on your computer, if you have purchased our MapCreate 6 software.
PC-created Routes
MapCreate is the easiest method for preparing a route, because your PC's larger screen, keyboard and mouse are easier to manipulate than the pocket-sized iFINDER.
To load a MapCreate route into iFINDER, follow instructions in Map­Create's manual for creating a route and saving it as part of a GPS Data File (file format *.usr). Copy the GPS Data File to an MMC and insert the MMC in the iFINDER. (See Sec. 2 for instructions on in­stalling MMCs. To load the GPS Data File into iFINDER memory, see the entry on Transferring GPS Data Files between the iFINDER and a Computer in this section.)
Routes Created in the iFINDER
You can create a route by selecting existing waypoints from the way­point list or you can set a series of route waypoints on the map with cursor arrows and the Enter key. In this example, we'll create a route from the map.
1. From the press
MENU|MENU| to ROUTE PLANNING|ENT.
NAVIGATION PAGE, press MENU|ENT or from the MAP PAGE,
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2. Press to
MAP|ENT. The Map Page appears with the cursor showing.
NEW ROUTE|ENT. Press to (ROUTE END)|ENT| to ADD FROM
3. Use the Zoom keys and arrow keys to move the map and cursor until the cursor is centered on the spot where you want your route to begin. (If you are starting at your current position or the current cursor posi­tion, you are already at the starting spot.)
4. Press
ENT to set route waypoints. In this example we moved to the
intersection of 11th Street and 145th E. Ave. to start our route to a public hunting area next to a river.
1. 2. 3.
Route creation sequence (from left): Fig. 1. Set route waypoint (1) at 11th St. & 145th Ave. Fig. 2. Zoom in; move cursor north to set point (2) at 145th & Admiral. Fig. 3. With point (2) set, move cursor east to mark
interstate on-ramp with waypoint (3). In figures 2 and 3, notice the
rubber band line extending from the previously set waypoint to the
cursor. This line will become the course for the route.
4.
5. 6.
Route creation sequence, continued: Fig. 4. Point (3) set at on-ramp
turn. Fig. 5. Waypoint (4) set at highway exit to frontage road leading
to river. Waypoint (5) ends the route at a tree stand in the hunting
area. Fig. 6. Press EXIT to save the route and you return to this screen.
5. Move the cursor to the next point in the route, a spot where you need to turn or change direction, and press
ENT to set the next waypoint.
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6. Repeat step five until the route reaches your destination.
7. To save your route, press
EXIT. The iFINDER reverts to the Route
screen, where the route has automatically been named Route 1 and stored in the iFINDER's internal memory.
Edit Route Name highlighted in the top command box.
8. You can edit the name if you wish. Press to select the screen's top command box, then press to
EDIT ROUTE NAME|ENT. Press ↑ or to
change the first character, then press to move the cursor to the next character and repeat until the name is correct, then press
9. You also can execute other route commands, such as
ENT.
NAVIGATE ROUTE.
With the command box active, press to highlight a different com­mand, then press
ENT.
10. If you are finished with the route for now, you can r et urn t o the last page displayed by pressing
EXIT repeatedly.
Delete a Route
1. From the
NAVIGATION PAGE, press MENU|ENT or from the MAP PAGE
press MENU|MENU| to ROUTE PLANNING|ENT.
2. Press to the route list and use ↓ or ↑ to select a route name|
3. Press ←→ to
want to delete the route.
DELETE ROUTE|ENT. A message will appear asking if you
Select YES and press ENT.
ENT.
Save GPS Data Files to an MMC
1. Press MENU|MENU| to SYSTEM SETUP|ENT| to TRANSFER MY
DATA|ENT.
2. The Transfer My Data menu includes a message which tells you if an MMC is present. If no MMC is present, you must first insert a card into iFINDER in order to activate the Save command.
3. To save data from iFINDER to the MMC: press
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ENT (for SAVE).
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4. To accept the default name "Data" for the GPS Data File, press to
SAVE|ENT. (If you wish to rename the file, press ENT to activate the se-
lection box. Press or to change the first character, then press to the next character and repeat until the name is correct. Then, press
ENT| to SAVE|ENT.)
The unit will display a progress message, followed by a completion message when the data transfer is finished. To return to the Page view, press
EXIT repeatedly.
Searching
In this example, we'll look for the nearest hotel or motel. For more in- formation on different types of searches, refer to Sec. 6, Searching.
After the iFINDER has acquired a position:
1. Press
FIND| to MAP PLACES|ENT| to POI-LODGING.
2. You could search the entire lodging category, but in this example we will narrow our search. Press to
HOTELS/MOTELS|ENT|ENT.
3. The iFINDER says it is calculating, then a list of hotels and motels appears, with the nearest location at the top of the list and the location farthest from you at the bottom of the list. The nearest is highlighted.
Find Map Places Menu (left), Category Selection menu (center), and
list of the nearest motels (right).
4. If you wish, you could scroll or here to select another motel or hotel, but for now we will just accept the nearest one. Press
ENT.
5. The POI information screen appears. (This is what makes the iFINDER handy as a business phone directory!) If you wanted to navi­gate there, you could press Enter, since the lighted. But we just want to see it on the map, so press to
MAP|ENT.
GO TO command is high-
FIND ON
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POI information screen on fast food restaurant nearest this position.
Screen shows name, street address, phone number, latitude/longitude,
distance to the restaurant and its compass bearing. The Go To com-
mand highlighted (left); Find On Map command selected (right).
6. The iFINDER's map appears, with the cursor crosshairs highlighting the restaurant's POI symbol. A pop-up name box identifies the POI. A data box at the bottom of the screen continues to display the location's latitude and longitude, distance and bearing.
Map screen showing the result of a lodging search.
7. To clear the search and return to the last page displayed, press EXIT repeatedly. (Before you completely exited out of the Search menus, you could have gone looking for another place.)
Switch to Easy Mode
To leave Advanced Mode and switch to Easy Mode:
1. Press
2. A message will appear asking if you are sure you want to turn on Easy Mode.
3. Select
MENU|MENU| to EASY MODE|ENT.
YES and press ENT.
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Switch Back to Advanced Mode from Easy Mode
To leave Easy Mode and switch back to Advanced Mode:
1. Press
2. A message will appear asking if you are sure you want to enter ad­vanced mode.
3. Choose
MENU| to ADVANCED MODE|ENT.
YES and press ENT.
Switch to Hunting Mode
To leave Advanced Mode and switch to Hunting Mode:
1. Press
2. A message will appear asking if you are sure you want to turn on hunting mode.
3. Select
MENU|MENU| to ENABLE HUNTING MODE|ENT.
YES and press ENT.
Switch Back to Advanced Mode from Hunting Mode
To leave Hunting Mode and switch back to Advanced Mode:
1. Press
2. A message will appear asking if you are sure you want to turn on land navigation mode.
3. Choose
MENU| to DISABLE HUNTING MODE|ENT.
YES and press ENT.
Trails
A trail, or plot trail, is a string of position points plotted by the iFINDER as you travel. It's a travel history, a record of the path you have taken. Trails are useful for repeating a journey along the same track. They are particularly handy when you are trying to retrace your trip and go back the way you came.
Easy Mode only allows you to work with one trail. Advanced Mode lets you save up to 10 trails in the iFINDER's memory. Since you can copy these trails to MMCs in the form of GPS Data Files (*.usr format), the only true limit on the number of trails you can record is the number of MMCs you can carry in your pocket.
(For various trail options, see the Trail Options entry in Sec. 5.)
Create and Save a Trail
The iFINDER is set at the factory to automatically create and record a trail while the unit is turned on. It will continue recording the trail un­til the length reaches the maximum trail point setting (default is 2,000, but the unit can record trails 9,999 points long). When the point limit is reached, the iFINDER begins recording the trail over itself.
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To preserve a trail from point A to point B, you must turn off the trail by making it inactive before heading to point C or even back to point A. When a trail is set to inactive, the iFINDER automatically creates and begins recording a new trail.
Clear a Trail
This is the command Easy Mode uses to erase an active trail and im­mediately begin recording a new one. It's only available in Easy Mode.
1. Press if you want to clear all trail points.
MENU| to CLEAR TRAIL|ENT. A message will appear asking you
Select YES and press ENT.
Delete a Trail
This is the command Advanced Mode uses to erase or delete a trail: Press
MENU|MENU| to MY TRAILS|ENT| to trail name|ENT| to DELETE
TRAIL|ENT. A message will appear asking if you want to Delete this
trail? Select
YES and press ENT.
Edit a Trail Name
To edit a trail name, press name|
ENT|ENT. Press ↑ or to change the first character, then press
to the next character and repeat until the name is correct. Press
MENU|MENU| to MY TRAILS|ENT| to trail
EXIT
repeatedly to return to the previous page display.
Edit a Trail Color
To edit a trail color, press name|
ENT. Press COLOR and press ENT. Use the keys to select the
desired color and press
MENU|MENU| to MY TRAILS|ENT| to trail
ENT. Press EXIT repeatedly to return to the main
page display.
Color highlighted on the Edit Trail menu (left); Scrolling through color
options (center); Customizing the trail pattern (right).
Edit a Trail Pattern
To edit a trail name, press name|
ENT. Press to PATTERN and press ENT. By default, the pattern
MENU|MENU| to MY TRAILS|ENT| to trail
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will consist of a series of asterisks. To erase or add an asterisk in the series, use the keys. To move on to the next asterisk in the series,
press the key. When you are satisfied with the new pattern, press
ENT. Press EXIT repeatedly to return to the previous page display.
Transfer Custom Maps and GPS Data Files
Custom Maps:
Custom maps work only from the MMC card or SD card. When a card containing a Custom Map File is loaded into the unit, it automatically loads the map into memory when the unit is turned on.
Instructions for copying Custom Map Files to an MMC are contained in the instruction manual for your MMC card reader and MapCreate 6 software. For instructions on inserting an MMC into the iFINDER, see Sec. 2, Installation/Accessories.
GPS Data files:
GPS Data Files contain waypoints, routes, trails and event marker icons. Instructions for copying GPS Data Files between your computer and an MMC are contained in the instruction manual for your MMC card reader and MapCreate 6 software.
GPS data automatically recorded in the unit's internal memory must be saved to the MMC (as a GPS Data File) in order to store it on your per­sonal computer. GPS Data Files stored on an MMC must be copied from the card to the iFINDER's internal memory before the unit can read them. Here's how:
1. Insert the MMC into your unit. Press
SETUP|ENT| to TRANSFER MY DATA|ENT.
MENU|MENU| to SYSTEM
2. The Transfer My Data menu includes a message which tells you if an MMC is present or not. If no MMC is present, you must first insert a card into the iFINDER in order to activate the Load or Save commands.
To transfer data from the iFINDER to the MMC: press
SAVE.)
ENT (for
To transfer data from the MMC to the iFINDER: press to
LOAD|ENT.
3. Saving to MMC: To accept the default name "Data" for the GPS Data File, press to press
ENT to activate the selection box. Press or to change the first
SAVE DATA|ENT. If you wish to rename the file,
character, then press to the next character and repeat until the name is correct. Then, press
ENT| to SAVE DATA|ENT.
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The unit will display first a progress then a completion message when the data transfer is finished. To return to the Page view, repeatedly press
EXIT.
4. Loading to unit memory: There may be more than one GPS Data File (*.USR) on the card. To select a file, press tion box, use or to highlight the file, then press selection. Next, press to
LOAD|ENT. The unit will display a completion
ENT to activate the selec-
ENT to accept the
message when the data transfer is finished. To return to the Page view, press
EXIT|EXIT|EXIT|EXIT.
Utilities
Utilities are useful tools for traveling or for outdoor activities.
Alarm Clock
To get to the alarm clock menu: press to
ALARM CLOCK|ENT.
Sun/Moon Rise & Set Calculator
To get to the Sun/Moon menu: press
TIES
|ENT|ENT.
Trip Calculator
To get to the Calculator menu: press to
TRIP CALCULATOR|ENT.
Trip Down Timer
To get to the Down Timer menu: press
|ENT| to DOWN TIMER|ENT.
TIES
MENU|MENU| to UTILITIES|ENT|
MENU|MENU| to UTILI-
MENU|MENU| to UTILITIES|ENT|
MENU|MENU| to UTILI-
Trip Up Timer
To get to the Up Timer menu: press to
UP TIMER|ENT.
MENU|MENU| to UTILITIES|ENT|
Weather Prediction (barometer)
Hunters and other people active in the outdoors should always be weather-aware. Weather affects the movement and behavior of game and fish. It makes our outdoor adventures pleasant or miserable. And, weather can even injure or kill us if we're unprepared.
No weather forecast is perfect, but public and private weather reporting services have reduced the guesswork when preparing for outdoor activi­ties. There are times, however, when conventional weather reports are unavailable or not completely accurate for the current conditions at your specific location. This is especially true in remote areas, far from news or government weather broadcasts.
When you can't get a professional forecast, you need to watch the sky and interpret the signs based on your woodsman or mariner skills. The
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recording barometer in your GPS unit can sharpen your weather skills by tracking changes in barometric pressure at your location. It will tell you if local atmospheric pressure is steady, rising or falling — and how fast. Knowing this pressure history — and how to interpret it — will make you a better forecaster and a better hunter. Here's how it works:
A barometer measures air pressure in the atmosphere. Most U.S. weather reports list barometric pressure in inches, which is based on the height of a column of mercury in a commercial barometer. Chang­ing air pressure changes the height of the mercury.
Your HUNTc has a digital barometer that records air pressure in milli­bars. Bar is the metric pressure equivalent of pounds per square inch, and a millibar is 1/1000 of one bar. For example, a barometric reading of 29.82 inches is equal to 1,009.1 mb. The unit of measure isn't par­ticularly important here…the critical factor is determining the trend, whether the air pressure is steady, rising or falling over time.
A larger number means higher pressure; a lower number means lower pressure. When barometric pressure is higher than average, good weather is expected. Low pressure indicates clouds and precipitation.
The relative change in pressure over time is an indication of a future change in weather. This is feasible because a change in air pressure al-
ways occurs ahead of a change in weather conditions. (The air pressure changes as a weather front moves through the area.) The pressure change during an interval of about two to three hours is the best indica­tor for a weather forecast.
Interpreting Weather Information
The iFINDER HUNT's Weather Prediction utility is found in two data boxes on the Digital Data page. (This page is only available in Ad­vanced Mode.) The Pressure History box at the top has a bar chart. Each bar represents a past hourly pressure reading (up to 23 hours old), plus the current reading. The Weather Symbol box at lower left reflects the current trend shown in the Pressure History bar chart.
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Pressure History box shows hourly barometer readings.
Weather Symbol box shows icon indicat­ing current weather trend.
Digital Data page with barometric Pressure History box at the top and
Weather Symbol box at lower left.
When the iFINDER is first turned on and determines its position and the local time, it takes a barometric pressure reading. As long as the unit is on or in Sleep Mode, it records a pressure reading every hour.
Each reading is shown as a vertical bar in the Pressure History box. The bar at far right is always the current pressure; the oldest reading is at the
left side of the chart. You can press the and keys to scroll through these readings. (You can also use to switch to altitude values, or the GPS Position display, or to return to atmospheric pressure values.)
Reading 6 hours ago, selected by left arrow key
Reading 23 hours ago
Current reading
Current air pressure
Pressure of selected hour
Pressure History box, where the unit has been recording in Sleep
Mode for several hours. Air pressure peaked 11 hours ago, and has
been steadily dropping for the last 10 hours. The prediction is rain.
The unit has recorded 23 hourly readings, with the minimum pressure
at 981 millibars, the maximum at 989 mb and the average at 986 mb.
When the unit is first turned on, the Weather Symbol box is blank be­cause there is no history — no trend has been established. When three hourly readings are recorded, the HUNTc interprets the data and dis-
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plays one of five weather symbols in the Weather Symbol box. This symbol reflects the current trend shown in the Pressure History bar chart. By monitoring the trend (steady, rising or falling), the iFINDER can predict how the weather will likely behave.
Weather Symbol box, showing Rain symbol.
The following weather symbols are based only on the last 3 hours of data:
Sun symbol: indicates an unstable higH pressure trend. Barometer is typically rising very quickly. Predicts a rapidly
increasing chance of clear or clearing skies.
Partly Cloudy symbol: indicates a stable high pressure trend. Barometer is typically rising. Predicts an increasing chance of
partly cloudy to clearing skies.
Cloudy symbol: indicates a stable mid-range pressure trend. Barometer is typically steady. Predicts a stable weather pattern,
which could be either overcast or sunny.
You should expect no immediate, significant change in the current con­ditions. Whatever it is, the present weather should continue until you see the symbol change.
Rain symbol: indicates a stable low pressure trend. Barometer is typically falling. Predicts an increasing chance of some rain or
other precipitation from an approaching low pressure weather front.
Storm symbol: indicates an unstable low pressure trend.
Barometer is typically falling very quickly. Predicts a rapidly increasing chance of an approaching thunderstorm or a snowstorm if temperatures are freezing.
Whenever the Weather Symbol box switches to the Storm symbol, the unit will display a "Weather Storm Watch" alarm message. The mes­sage will remain until you clear it by pressing the
ESC key.
NOTE:
If the unit fails to add a new reading in the last three hours, it will delete all the old history and start over again. This usually occurs when the unit is turned on after being completely turned off for more than three hours.
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Sleep Mode
Of course, when the iFINDER has more information to work with, it can provide better predictions. In order to help with this, we've de­signed the iFINDER with a Sleep Mode that allows it to conserve bat­tery life, while occasionally waking up just enough to take a pressure reading. This allows the unit to continue to build an accurate pressure history even when you're not actively using it.
Caution:
If you want to record pressure history for weather prediction, you must first acquire a 3D position fix before putting the unit into Sleep Mode. Once it has a fix and an accurate local time reading, the unit will continue recording correctly timed pres­sure readings even if the unit loses its position.
There are three ways to enable Sleep Mode:
1. If you're viewing the Digital Data page, press
SLEEP MODE, then press ENT. A dialog will ask you to confirm your choice.
Choose
YES, and the iFINDER will appear to turn off.
2. If you're viewing one of the other displays, press
SYSTEM SETUP|ENT| to ENABLE SLEEP MODE|ENT. You will be asked to con-
firm your choice. Choose
YES, and the iFINDER will appear to turn off.
MENU and select ENABLE
MENU|MENU| to
3. Sleep mode can also be activated from any page by holding down the
PAGES key for 5 seconds.
When the iFINDER is in Sleep Mode, you can return to normal operation by pressing
PWR.
Waypoints
A waypoint is an electronic address, based on the latitude and longi­tude of a position on the earth. A waypoint represents a location, spot, or destination that can be stored in memory, then recalled and used later for navigational purposes. You can create a waypoint at the cursor position on the map or at your current position while navigating.
Create a Waypoint
These techniques use the Quick Save method, the fastest and easiest way to create a waypoint.
Create Waypoint on Map
1. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor to the place where you want to make a waypoint.
2. Press name with a sequential number, such as "waypoint 001." The waypoint symbol and number appear on the map.
ENT|ENT. The waypoint is saved and automatically given a
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Create Waypoint at Current Position
1. While you are traveling, press ENT|ENT. The waypoint is saved and automatically given a name with a sequential number, such as "way­point 002." The waypoint symbol and number appear on the map.
Create a Man Overboard Waypoint
This unit has a man overboard feature that shows navigational data to the location where the feature was activated. To activate it, press the
ZOUT and ZIN keys at the same time. Your position at the time these
keys are pressed is used as the man overboard position. The unit auto­matically begins navigating to the MOB waypoint. For further details, see this subject in the Easy Mode Operation section.
Create a Waypoint by Average Position
This feature sets a waypoint at the current position after taking several position readings and averaging them. This boosts waypoint position accuracy by helping to eliminate errors caused by atmospheric condi­tions and other factors.
1. Press
CREATE)|ENT.
ENT| to AVERAGE POSITION|ENT (cursor jumps to highlight
2. Wait while the unit takes points to average for the position. (The greater the number of points, the greater the accuracy.)
When the desired number of points accumulates, press
ENT to create and
save the waypoint.
3. The Edit Waypoint menu appears. You can save the waypoint by pressing
Create a Waypoint by Projecting a Position
EXIT|EXIT or you can edit the waypoint.
This feature sets a waypoint at a point located a specific distance and bearing from a reference position. The reference position can be se­lected from your waypoint list, a map feature or from the Points of In­terest list.
1. Press
CREATE)|ENT.
2. Press to place or Highway Exit. When the point has been selected, press
ENT| to PROJECTED POSITION|ENT (cursor jumps to highlight
SET REFERENCE|ENT. Use and to select a waypoint, map
ENT
and the point's position appears as the reference position.
3. Press to
DISTANCE|ENT. Press ↑ or to change the first character,
then press to the next character and repeat until the distance is cor­rect. Press
4. Press to
ENT.
BEARING|ENT. Press or to change the first character,
then press to the next character and repeat until the bearing is cor­rect. Press
ENT.
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5. Press to save the new projected waypoint by pressing the waypoint. (Press
PROJECT|ENT. The Edit Waypoint menu appears. You can
EXIT|EXIT or you can edit
ENT if you want to immediately begin navigating
to the new waypoint.)
Select a Waypoint
To select a waypoint on the map (for navigation, editing, etc.) use the arrow keys, centering the cursor over the waypoint. A red halo will ap­pear around the waypoint.
Delete a Waypoint
To delete a waypoint: press
NAME and press ENT|ENT. Scroll down to waypoint name, press ENT|
to
DELETE|ENT. The following message will appear: Delete this way-
point? Select
EXIT repeatedly.
YES and press ENT. To return to the previous page, press
FIND||MY WAYPOINTS|ENT. Select FIND BY
Edit a Waypoint
Waypoint Name
To edit waypoint name: press FIND||MY WAYPOINTS|ENT|. Choose FIND
BY
NAME and press ENT|ENT. Scroll down to waypoint name and press
ENT| to EDIT NAME|ENT.
Use the ↓ ↑, ← → keys to change the waypoint name, then press To return to the previous page, press
Waypoint Symbol
EXIT repeatedly.
ENT.
To edit waypoint symbol: 1. Press FIND||MY WAYPOINTS|ENT|. Choose
FIND BY NAME and press ENT|ENT. Scroll down to waypoint name and
press
ENT| to EDIT SYMBOL|ENT. 2. Use arrow keys to select the de-
sired symbol and press
ENT. To return to the previous page, press EXIT
repeatedly.
Waypoint Position
To edit waypoint position: 1. Press FIND||MY WAYPOINTS|ENT|. Choose
FIND BY NAME and press ENT|ENT. Scroll down to waypoint name and
press
ENT| to EDIT POSITION|ENT.
2. Latitude: press
ENT, then press or to change the first character,
then press to the next character and repeat until the latitude is cor­rect. Press
3. Longitude: press |
EXIT.
ENT, then press or to change the first charac-
ter, then press to the next character and repeat until the latitude is correct. Press
EXIT.
4. When latitude and longitude are correct, return to the previous page by presssing
EXIT repeatedly.
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Waypoint Altitude
To edit waypoint altitude: 1. Press FIND||MY WAYPOINTS|ENT|. Choose
FIND BY NAME and press ENT|ENT. Scroll down to waypoint name and
press
ENT| to EDIT ALTITUDE|ENT.
2. Press or to change the first character, then press to the next character and repeat until the altitude is correct, then press
3. To return to the previous page press
Record Audio note selected from a waypoint information window.
Waypoint Audio Note
EXIT repeatedly.
ENT|EXIT.
Audio notes are most helpful when you only have time to quick save a waypoint and move on. After saving the waypoint, you can record an audio note, giving specific information related to the waypoint that would have otherwise, been undocumented.
To record an audio note: 1. Press
FIND BY NAME and press ENT|ENT. Scroll down to waypoint name and
press
ENT| to RECORD AUDIO NOTE|ENT.
FIND||MY WAYPOINTS|ENT|. Choose
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Section 5:
System & GPS Setup Options
Alarms
This unit has several GPS alarms. The factory default setting has all the alarms turned on. You can turn the alarms off and on and change their distance settings.
You can set an arrival alarm to flash a warning message and sound a tone when you cross a preset distance from a waypoint. For example, if you have the arrival alarm set to 0.1 mile, then the alarm will flash a message when you come within 0.1 mile of the recalled waypoint.
The off course alarm warns you when your track drifts too far to the right or left of the course line to the waypoint. For example, if the alarm is set to 0.1 mile, then the alarm flashes a message if you drift
0.1 mile or more to the right or left of the line to the waypoint. The anchor alarm is triggered when you drift outside of a preset radius.
Again, using the 0.1 mile as an example, if you're anchored and your boat moves more than 0.1 mile, the alarm will flash a message and sound a tone.
You can only adjust alarm distance settings or turn alarms off or on in Advanced Mode. (Switch from Easy to Advanced:
MODE|ENT. A message will pop up asking if you're sure you want to en-
ter Advanced Mode
. Press |ENT.
MENU| to ADVANCED
Alarms command (left); Alarm menu (right).
To change alarm settings:
1. Press
2. Scroll or to select the desired category, then press uncheck the enabled box. This turns the alarm on (checked) or off (un­checked).
MENU|MENU| to ALARMS|ENT.
ENT to check or
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3. To change distance settings, scroll or to select the desired cate­gory, then press change the first character, then press to the next character and re­peat until the distance is correct.
4. When your adjustments are finished, return to the last page dis­played by repeatedly pressing
IMPORTANT ALARM NOTES:
Anchor Alarm: The anchor alarm may be triggered even when you're sitting still. This typically happens when using small (less than 0.05 mile) anchor alarm range.
Arrival Alarm: If you set the arrival alarm's distance to a small number and you run a route (see the Navigate Routes segment), this unit may not show navigation data to the next waypoint once you arrive at the first waypoint, since you may not be able to come close enough to the first waypoint to trip the arrival alarm.
ENT to activate the distance dialog box. Press or to
EXIT.
Auto Satellite Search
To lock onto the satellites, the GPS receiver needs to know its current position, UTC time and date. (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. The unit begins searching for the satellites using data that it acquired the last time it was turned on. This was probably at the factory. Since it's almost certain that you're not at our factory, it's probably looking for the wrong satellites.
If it doesn't find the satellites it's looking for after a short time, it switches to Auto Search. The receiver looks for any satellite in the sky. Due to advanced technology, the auto search time has shrunk signifi­cantly from the early days of GPS.
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 haven't moved more than approximately 100 miles from the last location it was used.
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Satellite Status Menu.
You can force the unit to immediately kick into auto search mode. Here's how:
1. While in Advanced Mode press
PAGES until you are on the Satellites
Page.
2. Press appear: Perform GPS Auto Search? Press to
MENU| to GPS AUTO SEARCH|ENT. The following message will
YES|ENT.
Check MMC Files and Storage Space
To check MMC Files:
1. In Advanced Mode, press
MENU|MENU| to MMC FILES|ENT.
Main Menu (left), MMC File Browser (center & right).
Com Port Configuration
The iFINDER has one NMEA 0183 version 2.0 compatible communica­tion port (com port). The Com Port Menu, which in Advanced Mode is accessed from the System Setup Menu, allows you to configure the communications port to send data to another electronic device, such as an autopilot.
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Menus for changing Com Port settings.
For connectors and wiring information for another device, consult the factory. Phone numbers are in the back of this manual.
To set Com Port Configuration:
1. Press
2. Press to
MENU|MENU| to SYSTEM SETUP|ENT.
COM PORT|ENT.
Configure NMEA
You can configure the unit to use specific NMEA sentences.
1. Press
2. Press to
3. A menu appears showing the prefixes of the available NMEA sen­tences. A check mark next to a prefix means the prefix is in use. Use to select a prefix, then press
ENT again to check the box and turn on a prefix.)
MENU|MENU| to SYSTEM SETUP|ENT.
COM PORT|ENT| to CONFIGURE NMEA|ENT.
ENT to turn off the prefix. (Press
Configure NMEA menus (left); All GPS prefixes are turned on (right).
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NOTE:
The names of the NMEA sentences are abbreviated in this menu. These are the functions of the various selectable prefixes:
GLL transmits latitude and longitude of present position, time of
position fix, and status.
RMC and RMB transmit navigation information messages.
APB transmits autopilot information.
GGA transmits time, position and fix related data.
GSA and GSV transmit fix mode, DOP values and satellites in
view information.
4. When the desired prefixes are checked or unchecked, press peatedly to return to the previous page.
EXIT re-
Use WAAS/EGNOS
The iFINDER HUNTc has a new feature that allows users to turn WAAS and EGNOS reception on and off. The default value is on. EG­NOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) is the European equivalent of WAAS. Like WAAS, it makes GPS position calculation more accurate. To determine the accuracy in your area, place yourself in a known location and turn on the GPS. Note your lo­cation on the map with WAAS/EGNOS on, then turn it off and check again. Use the setting that is most accurate in your area.
To Turn off WAAS or EGNOS:
1. Press
2. Press to off (uncheck) the feature. Press setting can only be accessed in Advanced Mode or Hunting Mode.
MENU|MENU| to GPS SETUP|ENT.
USE WAAS/EGNOS|ENT, which will turn on (check) or turn
EXIT to clear the menus. Note that this
Coordinate System Selection
The Coordinate System Menu lets you select the coordinate system to use when displaying and entering position coordinates. Access this function only in Advanced Mode.
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Menus for changing coordinate system used to display positions.
To get to Coordinate System Selection:
1. Press
2. Press to
MENU|MENU| to GPS SETUP|ENT.
COORD SYSTEM|ENT.
This unit can show a position in degrees (36.14952°); degrees, minutes and thousandths of a minute (36° 28.700'); or degrees, minutes, seconds and tenths of a second (36° 28' 40.9"). It can also show position in: UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) projection; MGRS (Standard); MGRS (Standard + 10); Map Fix; Loran TD; British, Irish, Finnish, German, New Zealand, Swedish, Swiss, Taiwan, Greek and Military grids.
UTM's are marked on USGS topographic charts. This system divides the Earth into 60 zones, each 6 degrees wide in longitude.
British, Irish, Finnish, German, New Zealand, Swedish, Swiss, Taiwan, and Greek grid systems are the national coordinate system used only in their respective countries. In order to use these grid systems, you must be in the respective country. This unit will pick the matching datum for you when you select the grid. See the entry on Map Datum Selection for more information.
The military grid reference system (MGRS) uses two grid-lettering schemes, which are referred to as standard and alternate MGRS on this unit. The position and datum you are using determine whether you should use standard or alternate MGRS. If you use standard, and your position is off significantly, then try the alternate.
NOTE:
When the position format is changed, it affects the way all positions are shown on all screens. This includes waypoints.
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To select a coordinate system:
To change the coordinate system, press
SYSTEM is highlighted. Use the ↑ or arrow keys to highlight the desired
format. Press
ENT to select it. Press EXIT repeatedly to get back to the
ENT|ENT while COORDINATE
main display.
To set up Loran TD:
NOTE:
If the Loran TD conversion is chosen, you must enter the local Lo­ran chain identification for the master and slaves. Do this by se­lecting SETUP LORAN TD and pressing ENT|ENT, then choosing the ID. Press
EXIT to close this menu.
Configure Loran TD menu.
Map Fix
Map Fix is used with charts or maps. This system asks for a reference position in latitude/longitude, which you take from a marked location on the map. It then shows the present position as distance on the map from that reference point.
For example, if it shows a distance of UP 4.00" and LEFT 0.50", you then measure up four inches and to the left a half-inch from the refer­ence point on the map to find your location.
To configure a map fix:
To use this format, you need to follow these steps in order. First, take your map of the area and determine a reference latitude/longitude. (Note: in order for this system to work, the latitude/longitude lines must be parallel with the edge of the map. USGS maps are parallel, others may not be. Also, this works better with smaller scale maps.) The refer­ence position can be anywhere on the map, but the closer it is to your location, the smaller the numbers you'll have to deal with.
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Once you've decided on a reference position, you can save it as a waypoint. See the waypoint section for information on saving a waypoint. Save the reference position as a waypoint, then
Now press
|ENT| to SETUP MAP FIX|ENT. The following screens appear, and MAP
TEM
SCALE is highlighted. Press ENT and enter the map's scale. This is gener-
MENU|MENU| to GPS SETUP|ENT| to COORDINATE SYS-
EXIT the waypoint screens.
ally at the bottom of the paper map. It's shown as a ratio, for example 1:24000. Press
EXIT and the unit returns to the Configure Map Fix screen.
Configure a map fix so the iFINDER can find your position on a
printed chart or topographical map.
Press to SELECT ORIGIN|ENT|ENT (MY WAYPOINTS) if you saved the refer­ence point as a waypoint. From the waypoints menu, select
NAME| ENT|ENT from the Waypoints menu, then choose the waypoint
name you assigned to the reference point and press
ENT. The unit dis-
plays a waypoint information screen with the command
FIND BY
SET AS ORIGIN
selected. Press ENT and the unit returns to the Configure Map Fix menu. Finally, press
SYSTEM|ENT, select MAP FIX from the list and press ENT. All position in-
EXIT to close the menu. Now press to COORD
formation now shows as a distance from the reference point you chose.
Customize Page Displays
The Digital Data, Navigation, and Map pages all have customizable options that are available in Advanced Mode. These options determine what information will be displayed on each page.
Customize Digital Data Page
The Customizable Digital Data page has six boxes you can customize. While on the Digital Data Page, press data box will start to flash. Use the arrow keys to select the box you want to change.
MENU| to CUSTOMIZE|ENT. A
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With the display box highlighted and flashing, press of options. Scroll ↓ or ↑ to select a different data option, then press
ENT to open a list
ENT.
You can repeat these steps to change the display in another box. When all your changes are finished, press
EXIT to return to the page display.
Customize Navigation Page
While on the Navigation Page press or to select a display option. With the option highlighted, press
MENU| to CUSTOMIZE|ENT. Press
ENT to
check it (turn on) and uncheck it (turn off.) After all options are set, press
EXIT to return to the page display.
Customize Map Page
While on the Map Page press select a display option. With the option highlighted, press
MENU| to CUSTOMIZE|ENT. Press or to
ENT to check
it (turn on) and uncheck it (turn off.) After all options are set, press
EXIT to return to the page display.
External Passive Antenna
The iFINDER HUNTc can be used with an optional external antenna. While we recommend the powerful external active antenna, the unit can operate with an external passive antenna as well. To do this, you have to let the unit know it's looking for the antenna signals in a different way.
From the Satellite Status page, press
ENT to turn on (check) or turn off (uncheck) the command.
MENU| to EXT PASSIVE ANT. Press
External Passive Antenna highlighted on Satellite Status Menu.
WARNING:
As long as the External Passive Antenna command is acti­vated, the iFINDER will only monitor GPS signals from an external passive antenna. If you have this command acti­vated and are not using an external passive antenna, the unit will not be able to accurately lock on.
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To switch back to using the iFINDER's internal antenna (or to use an optional external active antenna), be sure to turn off this command. From the Satellite Status page, press
ENT to uncheck the box.
MENU| to EXT PASSIVE ANT. Press
GPS Simulator
The GPS simulator lets you use the unit as if you were navigating out­doors. You can set the starting location in latitude/longitude (Starting Position) or from a stored waypoint, map place or POI location (Select Starting Waypoint). You can steer your position on the map by using the arrow keys ( the boxes provided on simulator screen.
To get to the GPS Simulator:
1. Press
MENU|MENU| to GPS SETUP|ENT.
2. Press to
STEER W/ ARROWS) or by setting the track and speed in
GPS SIMULATOR|ENT.
GPS Setup Menu (left); GPS Simulator Menu (right).
Choose the desired settings, then turn on the simulator by highlighting the
SIMULATOR ON box and pressing the ENT key. Press EXIT to close this
menu. A message appears periodically, reminding you the simulator is on. To turn off the simulator, repeat the above steps or turn off the unit.
While in simulator mode, you can press
EXIT to clear the steering and
speed boxes from the screen while continuing the simulation. This will allow you to use the map cursor during a simulation. To turn on the steering and speed boxes again, return to the GPS Simulator menu, select the
STEER WITH ARROWS command, and press ENT. Press EXIT re-
peatedly to return to the previous page.
Simulating Trail or Route Navigation
In Simulator mode, your unit can automatically follow a trail or route without manual steering if you use these steps:
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1. From the Map Page, go to the simulator menu. Pick a
SITION
at or near the beginning of your trail/route. Enter an approximate
TRACK (shown in compass degrees) that will point you toward the start
STARTING PO-
of the trail/route.
2. Set
SPEED to zero. Select STEER WITH ARROWS command and press ENT,
which turns on the simulator and returns you to the Map Page.
3. Begin navigating along the trail/route. (If you are close enough to the first waypoint, the arrival alarm will usually go off as soon as naviga­tion begins. Press press (since you're using the Simulator's
EXIT to clear the alarm.) When navigation starts,
STEER WITH ARROWS command)
to increase speed to the desired level.
4. Press
EXIT to turn off the steering and speed boxes. The unit now will
automatically steer along the trail or route. When you arrive at your destination, cancel navigation.
Map Auto Zoom
The iFINDER HUNTc has an auto zoom feature that eliminates much of the button pushing typical of other brands of GPS receivers. It works in conjunction with the navigation features.
First, start navigation to a waypoint. (See the waypoint section for more information on navigating to a waypoint.) Then, with the auto zoom mode on, the unit zooms out until the entire course shows, from the present position to the destination waypoint. As you travel toward the destination, the unit automatically begins zooming in — one zoom range at a time — always keeping the destination on the screen.
To turn on this feature, from the
ZOOM|ENT. Repeat these steps to turn it off.
MAP PAGE, press MENU| to AUTO
Map Data
This menu lets you turn off the map (which will turn the map screen into a GPS plotter); turn off or on the pop-up map info boxes; draw the map boundaries or boxes around the areas of detail and fill land areas with gray. You can also turn on or off Map Overlays, which display lati­tude and longitude grid lines or range rings on the map. This menu also lets you select Navionics Maps. For more instructions, see the Navion- ics Charts entry in this section.
To get to Map Data:
1. From the Map Page, press
MENU| to MAP DATA|ENT.
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Map Menu (left), Map Data Menu (right).
Show Map Data
Press
MENU| to MAP DATA|ENT. Press ENT to enter the EARTH MAP DETAIL
selection list and choose how much detail you want, from Off (so the unit operates like a GPS plotter) to High. After the option is set, press
EXIT repeatedly to return to the main page display.
Popup Map Information
Press
MENU| to MAP DATA|ENT. Press ↓ to POPUP MAP INFORMATION. With
the option highlighted, press (turn off.) After the option is set, press
ENT to check it (turn on) and uncheck it
EXIT repeatedly to return to the
main page display.
Draw Boundaries
Press
MENU| to MAP DATA|ENT. Press ↓ to DRAW BOUNDARIES. With the
option highlighted, press off.) After the option is set, press
ENT to check it (turn on) and uncheck it (turn
EXIT repeatedly to return to the main
page display.
Fill Water with White
Press
MENU| to MAP DATA|ENT. Press ↓ to FILL WATER WITH WHITE. With
the option highlighted, press (turn off.) After the option is set, press
ENT to check it (turn on) and uncheck it
EXIT repeatedly to return to the
main page display.
Map Overlays (Range Rings; Lat/Long Grid)
The map screen can be customized with four range rings and/or grids that divide the plotter into equal segments of latitude and longitude.
Range rings are handy for visually estimating distances on the map. The ring diameters are based on the current zoom range. For example: at the 100-mile zoom, the screen will show two rings with your current position in the center. The large ring touching the left and right sides of
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the screen is 100 miles in diameter (same as the zoom range). The sec­ond smaller ring is 50 miles in diameter (always 1/2 the zoom range).
The distance from your current position to the smaller ring (the ring's radius) is 25 miles (always 1/4 the zoom range). With the arrow keys and map cursor, you can scroll the map to see the third and fourth rings. In this example, the distance to the third ring is 75 miles and distance to the fourth ring is 100 miles from your current position.
To set range rings: Press
RINGS. With the option highlighted, press ENT to check it (turn on) and
uncheck it (turn off.) After the option is set, press
MENU| to MAP DATA|ENT. Press to RANGE
EXIT repeatedly to
return to the main page display.
To set Lat/Lon Grid Lines: Press to
LAT/LON GRID LINES. With the option highlighted, press ENT to check it
(turn on) and uncheck it (turn off.) After the option is set, press
MENU| to MAP DATA|ENT. Press
EXIT
repeatedly to return to the main page display.
Map Datum Selection
Maps and charts are based on a survey of the area that's covered by the map or chart. These surveys are called Datums. Maps that are created using different datums will show the same latitude/longitude in slightly different locations.
All datums are named. The GPS system is based on the WGS-84 da­tum, which covers the entire world. Other datums may also cover the entire world or just a small portion of it. By default, your position is based on the WGS-84 datum. The iFINDER, however, can show your position using one of 191 different datums.
Different datums can only be selected in Advanced Mode. (To switch from Easy to Advanced press sage will appear asking you if you are sure you want to enter Advanced Mode. Select
YES and press ENT.
To change the datum:
1. Press
MENU|MENU| to GPS SETUP|ENT| to DATUM SELECTION|ENT.
2. Scroll or to select the desired datum, then press
3. Press
EXIT repeatedly to return to the main display.
A list of datums you can use with this unit is in the back of this man­ual.
MENU| to ADVANCED MODE|ENT. A mes-
ENT.
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GPS Setup Menu (left), Map Datum Menu (right).
Map Detail Category Selection
This menu determines which of the mapping features are shown on the screen. This includes waypoints, trails, icons, cities, highways, etc. You can selectively turn on or off any of these items, customizing the map to your needs. Map Detail Categories can only be turned off and on in Ad­vanced Mode. (To switch from Easy to Advanced press
ADVANCED MODE|ENT. A message will appear asking if you are sure you
want to enter Advanced Mode. Select
YES and press ENT.
To get to Map Categories:
1. Press
MENU| to MAP CATEGORIES|ENT.
2. Press ↑ or ↓ to select a category or subcategory. Press off (unchecked) or on (checked).
3. To return to the last page displayed, press
EXIT repeatedly.
MENU| to
ENT to turn it
Map Menu (left), Map Categories Menu (right).
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Map Orientation
By default, this receiver shows the map with north always at the top of the screen. This is the way most maps and charts are printed on paper. You, however, can change the map orientation to Track Up, Course Up or Heading Up, in Advanced Mode.
In Track Up mode, the map shows "N" and arrow to indicate north.
Map orientation shown in north up (left) and track up (right).
The default North Up setting is fine if you're always traveling due north. What you see to your left corresponds to the left side of the map, what you see to your right is shown on the right side of the map and so on. If, however, you travel any other direction, the map doesn't line up with your view of the world.
To correct this problem, a track-up mode rotates the map as you turn. Thus, what you see on the left side of the screen should always be to your left and so on.
Another option is course-up mode, which keeps the map at the same orientation as the initial bearing to the waypoint. With the fourth op­tion, heading up, the map rotates to keep your heading at the top of the screen. When track-up, course-up or heading-up mode is on, an "N" shows on the map screen to help you see which direction is north.
The option you use is a matter of personal taste. We sometimes switch back and forth depending on the circumstances. For example, when we are in an area we know fairly well, we usually run the unit in default North Up. But, we'll sometimes switch to Track Up when we're in an unfamiliar area and want to instantly coordinate what we see around us with what we see on the screen. Try all four modes to find what works best for you.
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To change map orientation: from the Map Page, press
ORIENTATION|ENT. Press or to select an orientation option, then press ENT. Press EXIT repeatedly to return to the main page display.
MENU| to MAP
Map Menu (left); Map Orientation menu with
the Heading Up option selected (right).
Navionics Charts
Your unit can display Navionics electronic charts on MMCs. Both the GOLD and CLASSIC format charts are accepted. They work just like a MapCreate custom map on an MMC.
Entrance to Aransas Pass (left) in a MapCreate 6 custom map, 4-mile zoom. Remaining images (from left to right): same position on Navion­ics GOLD chart at 8-mile, 4-mile and 1-mile zoom ranges.
WARNING:
You should never format the MMC containing your Navionics chart. Formatting the MMC will permanently erase the chart from the card.
To display a Navionics chart:
1. Install the Navionics MMC in the memory card compartment and turn on the unit. (For full card install instructions, see Sec. 2.)
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2. From the Map Page, press
CHOICE|ENT. Use or to select the Map Name, then press ENT repeat-
MENU| to MAP DATA|ENT| to MAP
edly.
These figures show menu sequence (from left to right) for selecting a
Navionics chart for the West Gulf of Mexico area.
3. To turn off a Navionics chart, From the Map Page, press MENU| to
MAP DATA|ENT| to MAP CHOICE|ENT. Use or to select LOWRANCE, then
press
ENT|EXIT|EXIT, which will take you back to the main display.
Port Information
Navionics charts contain Port Services information, represented by an­chor icons on the map display. These icons appear at the 2 nautical mile zoom range. An example is displayed in the following figures.
To view Port Services information:
1. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor over a Port Services icon. When selected, a pop-up name box appears.
2. Press
FIND|FIND to display the Port Services Information screen.
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Port Services
icon
Pop-up name box
Cursor lines
Navionics chart showing Port Services icon selected by cursor. When
first highlighted, the Pop-Up name box appears. After a few seconds, the name box disappears, and the position, distance and bearing are
displayed at the bottom of the screen.
The Port Services information screen has two windows. The top window lists the various service categories. The lower window lists the detailed services available in each basic category.
3. To scroll through the Service Categories window, press
ENT then use
or to see the types of services available. As you highlight a different category, the list in the lower window changes. To return to the Map Page, press
EXIT|EXIT.
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