Navman Tracker500/500i, Tracker 500, Tracker 500i User Manual
NAVMAN
1Tracker500/500i User Manual T500i/ENG/1F
Contents
1. 0 Tracker500/500i Introduction ................................................................... 3
1.1 The Global Positioning System (GPS)................................................................ 3
1.2 Commonly Used T erms.......................................................................................3
1.3 Operating the Tracker500/500i .......................................................................... 4
2. 0 Overview.................................................................................................... 6
3.0 Man Over Board (MOB) Function .............................................................. 7
4.0 Start-up Sequence .................................................................................... 8
4.1 Satellite Status Screen....................................................................................... 8
4.2 Acquisition Period .............................................................................................. 9
5.0 Moving Around the Screens ................................................................... 10
5.1 Menus ............................................................................................................... 10
5.2 Changing Names or Numeric Values within data fields ..................................10
5.3 Screen Summary ............................................................................................. 11
6. 0 Trackplot Screen..................................................................................... 1 2
7.0 Position Screen....................................................................................... 13
8.0 Highway Screen ...................................................................................... 14
9.0 Fuel Screen (Tracker500i only) .............................................................. 15
9.1 Fuel used reset ................................................................................................ 16
9.2 Fuel used calibration (Transducer calibration) ............................................... 17
9.3 Fuel remaining change ..................................................................................... 18
9.4 Fuel remaining low alarm ................................................................................. 18
10.0 GoTo.......................................................................................................... 19
11.0 Waypoints ................................................................................................ 20
11.1 Waypoints Screen ........................................................................................... 20
11.2 Creating Waypoints .......................................................................................... 2 1
Creating a New Waypoint ............................................................................. 21
Saving the current boat position................................................................... 21
Saving the current cursor position ............................................................... 22
11.3 Viewing Waypoint Details ................................................................................ 22
11 .4 Changing Waypoint Details .............................................................................. 23
11.5 Displaying a Waypoint ...................................................................................... 2 4
11 .6 Deleting a Waypoint .........................................................................................24
11.7 Distance Calculations....................................................................................... 2 5
Tracker500/500i User Manual2
12.0 Marks ....................................................................................................... 26
12.1 Converting Marks to Waypoints ....................................................................... 2 6
13.0 Routes ...................................................................................................... 2 7
13.1 Creating a New Route ...................................................................................... 2 7
13.2 Adding and Deleting Waypoints in a Route ..................................................... 2 8
13.3 Starting and Cancelling Routes........................................................................ 29
13.4 Deleting a Route ............................................................................................... 30
14.0 Setup ........................................................................................................ 31
15.0 Chart Datums........................................................................................... 33
Appendix A – Specifications............................................................................ 36
Appendix B – T racker500/500i Installation ..................................................... 37
Appendix C – Trouble Shooting Guide............................................................. 39
3Tracker500/500i User Manual
1. 0 T racker500/500i Introduction
Congratulations on purchasing a Navman Tracker500/500i track plotter. The Tracker500/
500i is a compact, ruggedly built, highly integrated navigation instrument that has been
designed for ease of use. With this instrument you will be able to display your boat’s
position, track and destination. Complex navigation functions can be performed with a few
simple key presses, taking the hard work out of navigation. Tracker500i owners have the
option of using the integrated fuel computer to keep track of their boat’s fuel usage. The fuel
computer is suitable for all petrol engine boats, either inboard or outboard, and single or
twin engine. Fuel transducers must be purchased separately.
1.1 The Global Positioning System (GPS)
The GPS constellation comprises 24 satellites orbiting the earth, providing a worldwide
system for determining position. From any one point on the earth’s surface up to 12
satellites are “visible” to the GPS receiver. The positions of these satellites are constantly
changing. The Tracker500/500i antenna tracks all visible satellites simultaneously and
selects four or more satellites that produce the optimum geometry and signal quality for
determining an accurate value of the boat’s latitude and longitude. The superior
performance achieved with the Tracker500/500i 12 channel receiver provides increased
accuracy and reduced Time to First Fix (TTFF).
Note: The USA Department of Defence introduces a varying offset,
known as Selective Availability (SA), to degrade the accuracy of the
civilian GPS signal. As an approximate guideline it is generally
assumed that the accuracy obtained with SA active causes the GPS
derived position to be within 100 metres of the true position 90% of the
time and within 50 metres of the true position 50% of the time. On brief
occasions the SA can cause the position error to exceed 300 metres.
The constantly varying SA offset causes small errors in the indicated
boat speed and heading that may be noticeable at speeds of 5 knots or
less. The position, speed and heading errors have been deliberately
designed into the system and affect all GPS receivers in the same way.
They can be eliminated by connecting a differential (DGPS) receiver to
the Tracker500/500i. This receives corrections from a fixed base
station that is able to measure the introduced SA offset.
In times of military conflict, the USA Department of Defence has been
known to turn the civilian GPS signal off. This is an extremely rare
event, but should be guarded against by always having a secondary
means of navigation to fall back on. The warning screen that appears
each time the Tracker500/500i is turned on has a reminder to this effect.
1.2 Commonly Used T erms
Waypoints Positions such as fishing spots, favourite anchorages, dive locations and trip
destinations can be saved in the Tracker500/500i memory. These are referred
to as waypoints. Up to 500 waypoints can be stored in memory. The Tracker500/
500i will automatically allocate a name to a waypoint or the user can specify a
name. Waypoints are created by saving the boat position, saving the screen
cursor position or by entering the latitude and longitude of a location.
Marks Marks are temporary waypoints. They are created by a single press of the power
on/off key. Marks can be created at any time, regardless of the screen currently
Tracker500/500i User Manual4
displayed. Pressing the Mark key will save the current boat position with a
temporary name in the range of MARK0 to MARK9. Marks are saved separately
from normal waypoints. They are simpler to create and display and are
intended to provide a simple method of marking temporary locations such as
fish strikes. See section 12.0 Marks for a more detailed description.
Route Two or more waypoints can be linked in sequence to form a route. The route
has a start and end waypoint and can be traversed from start to finish or in
reverse. Up to 20 routes can be stored in memory.
Legs Legs are the division of a route between waypoints. A route consisting of four
waypoints will have three legs.
GoTo The Goto function allows you to navigate from your current position to any
waypoint or mark. The Tracker500/500i will guide you to your destination with
a graphical highway screen and continuously updated navigational data.
1.3 Operating the Tracker500/500i
You can use your Tracker500/500i to get you back to a good fishing spot or to sail all the way
around the world. It has been designed to be easy to use for those with no formal navigation
training, but also provides accurate navigational information for the long distance sailor. No
matter how long or short your journey, it will take you straight to where you want to go.
If your main interest is in returning to previously visited locations such as good fishing spots,
you should start by reading section 11.2 on saving the current boat position as a waypoint,
then section 10.0 on how to “goto” a waypoint. It is normally advisable to take the time to
enter a descriptive name for the waypoint as it quickly becomes difficult to remember which
is which when the number of waypoints has built up. Be sure to save the position of the
launching ramp before you start out so that you can use the Tracker500/500i to find your
way back if there is fog, rain, or it gets dark on the return journey. This also applies to any
point on your outward journey where you have to change course, such as a channel
between two islands.
Note the warning in section 1.1 on the position errors introduced by SA. If you do not have
a differential (DGPS) receiver, don’t try and navigate through narrow channels in reduced
visibility or darkness unless you have a secondary method of determining a safe course,
such as a marine chart and a depth sounder.
Working With Charts
If you want to navigate to a location that you don’t already have saved as a waypoint, you
will need to obtain its latitude and longitude from a marine chart. See section 11.2 on how
to create a new waypoint and enter Lat/Lon values. A pair of dividers is normally used to
measure latitude and longitude on a chart. To measure the latitude of a location, place one
point of the dividers on the location and then adjust the dividers until the other point is
straight above or below the first one and on the nearest horizontal grid line. Move the
dividers along the grid line to the latitude scale on the side of the chart. Put one point on
the grid line and the other on the latitude scale and read the value. It will be a number like
43°52·13´ N. A minute (´) is one sixtieth of a degree. The N indicates this location is in the
northern hemisphere. Unless you have a chart that covers a very small area, you won’t be
able to read the latitude scale more accurately than two decimal places of minutes. The
Tracker500/500i allows for three decimal places, so just put zero in the last place. The same
method is used to measure the longitude, using a vertical grid line and the longitude scale
at the top or bottom of the chart. The longitude will be a number like 010°32·95´ E. Three
5Tracker500/500i User Manual
digits are used for the degrees as longitudes can be as large as 180°. The E indicates this
location is east of Longitude 000°, a vertical line through Greenwich (London). If you don’t
have a pair of dividers, you can use a ruler or even two pencil marks on the edge of a strip
of paper.
When entering the Lat/Lon of a waypoint from a chart, it is essential that the Tracker500/
500i is set to the same Lat/Lon datum that the chart uses (see section 15.0 Chart Datums).
This also applies if you are plotting the current boat position onto a chart. The datum will
be given in the chart’s title block.
If you use waypoints from a chart, it is a good idea to clearly mark the waypoints on the chart.
Then, before you start navigating to a waypoint, you can draw a straight line from the boat’s
current position to the waypoint and check that it doesn’t pass too close to any rocks or
shoals. A similar idea is to enter any isolated rocks in your area as waypoints with the rock
symbol (
). When you start navigation to a waypoint, the Tracker500/500i draws a line from
the current boat position to the waypoint on its Trackplot screen. By looking at this screen
you can check whether your intended course passes too close to any isolated rocks.
Fuel Functions
The fuel computer functions available in the Tracker500i enable you to keep track of how
much fuel you have used, how much you have remaining, the rate at which fuel is being
consumed, and how far you are travelling for every litre or gallon of fuel used. All this
information is shown on one screen. The fuel used value can be cleared to zero at any time
so that you can keep track of the amount of fuel used for each trip, or for each season, or
since you bought the boat, according to your preference. The fuel remaining value, on the
other hand, must be updated each time you refuel so that you always know how much fuel
is left in the tank. There is a low fuel alarm associated with the fuel remaining value that can
be set to warn you when the fuel in the tank falls below the alarm level. You can set the
alarm level to suit the size of the boat’s engine and the distance you intend to travel.
The fuel consumption (titled FLOW on the screen) in litres or gallons per hour is shown. For
twin engine installations, the consumption for each engine is shown separately. This is
useful for checking that both engines are under the same load.
As the Tracker500i has both boat speed and fuel consumption values, it is able to calculate
the current economy rate. This is the distance the boat is travelling for every unit of fuel
used. The economy rate figure, depending on which distance unit and fuel volume unit the
Tracker500i is set to, will have units like miles per gallon or kilometres per litre. As the speed
error cause by Selective Availability becomes significant at low boat speeds, the economy
rate is not displayed for speeds of 5 knots or less. If the Tracker500i is receiving corrections
from a differential receiver, the economy rate is displayed whenever the boat speed is
above 1 knot.
Tracker500/500i User Manual6
NAVMAN
Escape Key
‘Escape’from screen or menu
Also backlighting on/off
Screen Cursor
Boat Track
Display is backlit for
Night Operation
Boat Symbol
Power On/Off
and Marks
Man Over Board
Tracker500
mark
zoom-in
zoom-out
ctr
MOB
on
Move screen cursor
and select menu
items
Increase Trackplot Scale
Centre Boat on Trackplot Screen
Reduce Trackplot Scale
Active Route
Power On/Off and Mark Key
The power on/off key performs a number of functions. Firstly, to switch on the
Tracker500/500i, momentarily press the Power on/off key. To switch off, press and
hold the key until the display becomes blank.
The Power on/off key also functions as the mark key. The mark key provides a quick
method of saving the current boat position. See section 12.0 Marks.
-MOB- Keys
Press the power on/off key and the zoom-in key together to activate the Man Over
Board (MOB) function. See section 3.0 Man Over Board (MOB) Function for further
details.
Escape Key
The key is used to back out of sub screens or sub menus. When stepping through
Tracker500/500i screens you can press the
key to return to the screen previous to
the one currently displayed. Each time the
key is pressed you will ‘step back’ one
screen. The key is also used to control backlighting level. Press and hold the key
to automatically step through five backlight levels. Release the key when the
required backlight level is obtained.
Cursor Keys
The cursor keys control the movement of the screen cursor while in track plot mode.
Movement in eight directions is possible. The cursor keys are also used to select and
edit data such as setup information in the setup screens, waypoint data, and route
configurations. See section 5.0 for further details. In simulation mode these keys
control the simulated speed and heading.
2.0 Overview
7Tracker500/500i User Manual
3.0 Man Over Board (MOB) Function
The MOB function allows the boat position to immediately be saved as a waypoint named
MOB, and to immediately start navigating to it. The MOB function can be activated from
any screen.
The following sequence activates this function:
1. Momentarily press the keys labelled MOB (two left most keys). The current boat
position is stored as a waypoint with the name MOB.
2. The Tracker500/500i beeps ten times to indicate that the MOB function has been
initiated.
3. A user prompt will appear asking if you are ready to start navigating to the MOB
location. This gives you the opportunity to disable the autopilot, if it is currently active.
If the autopilot is not active, press the
key to immediately start navigating to the
MOB location.
4. The display mode is automatically changed to the Highway screen, with the
Tracker500/500i navigating to the MOB waypoint.
zoom-in, zoom-out keys
The Zoom In and Zoom Out functions are only active while the Track Plot screen is
displayed. The scale of the displayed track plot area can be instantly changed by
pressing the zoom-in or zoom-out key. To see more detail press the zoom-in key. To
see a larger area but less detail press the zoom-out ke y. When any list is displayed,
such as waypoints or datums, the zoom-in key will step down through the list a screen
at a time. The zoom-out key will step up through a list in the same manner.
-ctr- Keys
The centre function is also only active while the Track Plot screen is displayed. The
centre function positions the boat in the centre of the Trackplot screen. Momentarily
press the -ctr- keys to activate this function. This function is also an effective method
of ‘finding’ the boat when initially not displayed on the screen.
Tracker500/500i User Manual8
4.0 Start-up Sequence
Press the power key to switch power on.
To switch power off, press and hold the power key until the display goes blank.
Immediately after power-up the unit will display the software version number and a GPS
navigation warning.
zoom-outzoom-in
mark
ctr
MOB
on
Press any key to proceed and start normal Tracker500/500i operation. The satellite status
screen will be displayed until the Tracker500/500i receives a valid position fix from the
antenna or the
key is pressed.
4.1 Satellite Status Screen
zoom-outzoom-in
mark
ctr
MOB
on
During satellite acquisition the satellite status screen displays the following information.
• The top left corner of the display indicates satellite acquisition status.
ACQ Receiving satellite data and acquiring a position fix.
3D NAV Obtained a valid three dimensional position fix.
2D NAV Obtained a limited, two dimensional, position fix. The altitude is locked to
the last known altitude. This situation arises if the GPS receiver does not
have a clear view of the sky and is unable to track all available satellites.
9Tracker500/500i User Manual
DIFF Operating in differential GPS mode. Indicates that Tracker500/500i is
receiving valid RTCM 104 data and that lat/lon values provided by the
Tracker500/500i have had differential corrections applied.
Using differential GPS (DGPS) will improve receiver accuracy to 5-10 metres,
regardless of errors induced by the USA Department of Defense Selective Availability
program.
• The top right corner indicates the geometric accuracy of the position fix. A low number
indicates a more accurate position fix.
• The central area of the display indicates the position of each satellite. The outer circle
represents the horizon (north = top centre), while the inner circle represents 45° above
the horizon. The centre point is directly overhead. Satellites used in the current position
calculation are shown highlighted (reverse text).
• The lower part of the display is made up of a bar graph, indicating the signal strength of
each satellite. Each of the horizontal lines is spaced 5dBHz apart with the lowest line
representing 25dBHz.
The above information will remain displayed for 5 seconds after a position fix has been
obtained. The acquisition process is fully automatic and requires no user intervention
Following the above power-up sequence the Tracker500/500i will display the main
selection screen. See section 5.0 for more details.
4.2 Acquisition Period
The time from initial power-up to the time the Tracker500/500i calculates the latitude and
longitude of the current position is known as the Time To First Fix (TTFF). The TTFF varies
in relation to a number of factors, but primarily varies due to the amount of time that has
passed since the Tracker500/500i last obtained a fix. If the Tracker500/500i has a clear view
of the sky it will typically acquire a position in 45 seconds. The TTFF may extend out to a
few minutes if the Tracker500/500i has not been used for periods longer than a few months.
If the Tracker500/500i has moved a significant distance, typically greater than 500 km,
since the last time it was used, it will automatically go into a cold start mode and “search”
the sky for satellites. This is fully automatic and requires no user intervention. In cold start
mode the TTFF may extend out to 8 minutes in the worse case. The TTFF is also influenced
by the current satellite geometry and position of the antenna. The antenna must have an
unobstructed view of the sky.
The Tracker500/500i will always do a cold start the first time it is turned on. Once it has
obtained a fix, switch to the Trackplot screen and press the -ctr- keys to initialise the
Trackplot screen boat and cursor positions.
Tracker500/500i User Manual10
5. 0 Moving Around the Screens
After the power-up sequence has completed, as described in the previous section, the Main
Selection screen will be displayed, as shown below.
All Tracker500/500i screens are accessed from this screen. Graphical screens showing boat
position and navigation data are available from this screen, along with waypoint and route
management features and instrument setup screens. The Satellite Status screen, displayed
at power-up, can also be viewed using this menu.
zoom-outzoom-in
mark
ctr
MOB
on
5.1 Menus
The cursor keys are used to highlight menu items on screens such as the Main Selection
screen, Setup, Waypoints and Routes screens. Press the or key to step up/down the
menu items to highlight the item you wish to change or view. Press the key to select the
highlighted item and move to the associated sub-screen. Press the
key to return to the
previous level.
The sub-screen selected may provide another list of related screens. The cursor keys can
then be used to select a screen from the list, stepping down to the next level. This
hierarchical approach of stepping through various levels of screens is used throughout the
Tracker500/500i. It is important to note that you are able to step back to previous screens by
pressing the
key. Each time the key is pressed you will return to the previous screen
displayed. Eventually, by repeatedly pressing the
key, you will return to the Main
Selection screen.
5.2 Changing Names or Numeric Values within data fields
The method described above also applies when a name or multi-digit number needs to be
changed, for example waypoint names and waypoint lat/lon values. See section 11.0
Waypoints for a detailed explanation of waypoints. Once information for a particular
waypoint is displayed the or keys can be pressed to highlight the name or data you wish
to change (waypoint lat/lon, symbol, etc).
11Tracker500/500i User Manual
Two graphical screens simplify
navigation. The
provides you with a graphical
representation of your previous travel
as well as your planned route. The
provides graphical
birds-eye-view roadway guidance to
your destination
Trackplot Screen
Highway Screen
Highway Screen
Trackplot Screen
Three data screens enable
easy access to essential
information such as
navigation data, satellite
status information, and fuel
consumption/economy/used
information.
Satellite Status
Navigation Data
Navigation functions,
waypoint and route
construction and
general setup
parameters are
accessed from five
main screens.
Fuel Data
After a value has been selected by pressing the key, the display will highlight the first
character, indicating that you are able to change it. Press the or key to scroll through
the letters of the alphabet and numbers 0-9. After you have reached the required letter or
number press the
key to move to the next character within the name or data. When you
have completed all changes press the key to finish editing the value.
5.3 Screen Summary
Tracker500/500i User Manual12
6.0 Trackplot Screen
The Tracker500/500i features a Trackplot Screen that plots your current position and
course. The current vessel speed and heading are also shown in the lower section of the
screen. To display the Trackplot screen select the TRACK function from the Main Selection
screen. Details of the Trackplot screen are shown below.
zoom-outzoom-in
ctr
MOB
Destination Waypoint details
such as distance to go, bearing
to waypoint and time to go.
The Trackplot screen shows the track of
the boat as it moves. The boat position is
saved in memory at regular intervals.
These intervals can be time intervals or
distance intervals.
The Trackplot cursor is
used to identify objects
on the display and to
move the viewable
trackplot area. Shift the
cursor off the edge of
the screen to change
the viewable area.
Holding the cursor keys
down will activate rapid
movement.
If the cursor is moved,
the latitude and
longitude of the cursor
position will be
displayed in the upper
section of the display
for 5 seconds.
The scale of the displayed track plot
area can be instantly changed by
pressing the zoom-in or zoom-out
keys. To see more detail press the
key. To see a larger area but
less detail press the key.
zoom-in
zoom-out
Current boat speed and heading
Waypoint symbol. Seven
waypoint symbols are
available for indicating
waypoints on the
Trackplot screen. They
are described in section
.To
display a waypoint’s
name, move the cursor
over the waypoint
symbol. The name will
appear in the upper
section of the display.
11.0 Waypoints
The keys centre the boat on the screen.
Momentarily press both keys to centre
the boat. This method allows centring of the
boat when initially not displayed on the
screen.
ctr-
ctr---
mark
on
Scale
The scale is momentarily displayed in the upper left corner of the Track Plot display
whenever the cursor is moved or a zoom key is pressed. The scale can be adjusted from 0.1
to 500 miles/kilometres by pressing the zoom-in or zoom-out keys. The figure displayed is
the vertical distance from the top to the bottom of the displayed area.
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