Northstar EXPLORER 443D, EXPLORER 443DF Installation Guide

Explorer 443d/443df

Fishﬁ nder

Installation and Operation Manual

www.northstarnav.com

DANGER

WARNING

CAUTION

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

Please read carefully before installation and use.

This is the safety alert symbol. It is used to alert you to potential personal injury hazards, Obey all safety messages that follow this symbol to avoidpossible injury or death.

WARNING indicates a potentially hazardous situation which, if not avoided, could result in death or serious injury

CAUTION indicates a potentially hazardous situation which, if not avoided, could result in minor or moderate injury.

CAUTION

DISCLAIMER: It is the owner’s sole responsibility to install and use the instrument and transducers in a manner that will not cause accidents, personal injury or property damage. The user of this product is solely responsible for observing safe boating prac tices.

BRUNSWICK NEW TECHNOLOGIES INC. AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES AND AFFILIATES DISCLAIM ALL LIABILIT Y FOR ANY USE OF THIS PRODUCT IN A WAY THAT MAY CAUSE ACCIDENTS, DAMAGE OR THAT MAY VIOLATE THE LAW.

Governing Language: This statement, any instruction manuals, user guides and other information relating to the product (Documentation) may be translated to, or

CAUTION used without the safety alert symbol indicates a potentially hazardous situation which, if not avoided, may result in property damage.

has been translated from, another language (Translation). In the event of any conf lict between any Translation of the Documentation, the English language version of the Documentation will be the official version of the Documentation.

This manual represents the Explorer 443d/443df as at the time of printing. Brunswick New Technologies Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates reserve the right to make changes to specifications without notice.

FCC Statement

Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a normal installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.

Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.

Connect the equipment into an output on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is

connected.

Consult the dealer or an experienced technician for help.

A shielded cable must be used when connecting a peripheral to the serial ports.

Contents

1 Introdu ction .......................................................................................................................................... 6

1-1 Benefits of the Explorer 443d/443df . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

1-2 How the Explorer 443d/443df works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

2 Basic Op eration ......................................................................................................................................7

3 Setti ng up the Explore r 443d/443df ....................................................................................................... 9

3-1 Setup > System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

3-2 Setup > Sonar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

3-3 Setup > Fuel

3-4 Setup > Logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

3-5 Setup > Alarms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

3-6 Setup > Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

3-7 Setup > Comms (443df only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

3-8 Setup > Calibrate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

4 Using the E xplorer 443d/443d f ............................................................................................................. 17

4-1 Interpreting the display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

4-2 Single and Dual frequency fishfinding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

4-3 Fish detection and display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

4-4 Gain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

4-5 Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

5 The Disp lays ......................................................................................................................................... 24

5-1 Sonar display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

5-2 Sonar Zoom display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

5-3 Sonar Bottom display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

5-4 Sonar 83/200 display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

5-5 Sonar A-Scope display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

5-6 A-Scope perspective view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

5-7 Fuel display

5-8 Data display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

5-9 About display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

(available on 443df only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

(443df only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Northstar Explorer 443d/443df Installation and Operation Manual4

6 Instal lation and Mainten ance ..............................................................................................................29

Wiring Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

6-1 What comes with this product? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

6-2 Options and Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

6-3 Mounting and removing the display unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

6-4 Systems of several instruments

(443df 0nly) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

6-5 Cleaning and maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

Append ix A - Specifica tions .................................................................................................................... 34

Append ix B - Dimensions ........................................................................................................................35

Append ix C - Tr oubleshootin g ................................................................................................................. 35

Important

It is your sole responsibility to install and use Northstar’s instrument & transducers in a manner that will not cause accidents, personal injur y or property damage. Always observe safe boating practices.

The choice, location, angle and installation of the instrument & transducers are critical to performance of the system as intended. Follow instructions in this manual carefully. If in doubt, consult your Nor thstar dealer.

Ensure that any holes cut are in a safe position and will not weaken the boat’s structure. If in

doubt, consult a qualified boat builder.

Do not install plastic through hull transducers in solid wooden hulls. Leaking through the hull

may result.

Do not install bonze transducers in metal hulls. This will cause elec trolytic corrosion that may

result in damage to the hull or transducer.

Sonar Performance: The accuracy of the sonar depth display can be affected by many factors, including the type and location of the transducer and water conditions. Ensure that the transducer is located and used correc tly.

Fuel Computer: Do not rely on the fuel computer as the sole source of information regarding available fuel onboard. Fuel economy can change drastically depending on boat loading and sea conditions. Fuel Computer information should be supplemented by visual or other checks of the fuel load. This is necessary due to possible operator errors such as forgetting to reset the fuel used when filling the tank, running the engine with the Fuel Computer not switched on, or on other operator ac tions that may render the device inaccurate. Always carry adequate fuel onboard for the intended trip, plus a reserve to allow for unforeseen circumstances.

Failure to adhere to these warnings may lead to death, serious injury or property damage. Northstar disclaims all liability for installation or use of this product that causes or contributes to death, injury or property damage or that violates any law.

As Northstar is continuously improving this product we retain the right to make changes to the product at any time which may not be reflected in this version of manual. Please contact your nearest Nor thstar office if you require any further assistance.

Northstar Explorer 443d/443df Installation and Operation Manual 5

1 Introduction

Congratulations on choosing a Northstar fishfinder. For maximum benefit, please read this manual carefully before installation and use.

This manual describes how to install and set up the Explorer 443d/443df and the associated dual-frequency transom transducer. (If a through hull transducer is used, refer to the Installation Instructions supplied with that transducer.)

This manual also explains how to operate the Explorer 443d/443df effectively and provides troubleshooting information and performance tips.

1-1 Benefit s of the Explorer 443d/443df

The Explorer 443d/443df is a high quality, dualfrequenc y sonar fishfinder that is supplied with a dual-frequency transducer. It uses a 16 level greyscale FSTN display for easy daylight viewing that can be dimmed for night fishing. The bracket mounting option also allows the fishfinder to be tilted and swivelled for optimum viewing.

The dual frequency capabilit y enables the Explorer 443d/443df to operate and display:

• At a high frequency of 200 kHz.

• At a low frequency of 83 kHz.

• Both frequencies side -by-side on a split display.

• Both frequencies combined together into a single display.

This capability, combined with a variable power output of up to 250 watts, ensures that the Explorer 443d/443df operates effectively in shallow and deep water.

The Explorer 443d/443df can detec t the bottom to a depth of 750 feet (230 metres) depending on the clarit y of the water, the ultrasonic frequency chosen and the t ype of transducer used.

The Northstar fishfinder can be used to find fish, to locate features on the bottom such as reefs or wrecks and to help recognize favourite fishing spots from the bottom profile.

The Northstar fishfinder can also assist with navigation by providing depth information to help identify the depth contours marked on

Important

It is vital to the performance of the fishfinder that the transducer is installed in the best location. Please follow the installation instructions very carefully.

charts. The Explorer 443d/443df is particularly suited to work with the Explorer 538.

The two instruments can be connected together using either NavBus or NMEA, so they can share data. (only applies to Explorer 443df )

CAUTION

IMPORTANT NOTE ON USE. While any fishfinder can be used as an aid to navigation, accuracy can be influenced by many factors including the location of the transducer. It is the user’s responsibilit y to ensure that the Explorer 443d/443df is installed and used correctly.

With the optional fuel kit, the Explorer 443df also becomes a sophisticated and easy-to-use fuel computer.

All of the Northstar 400 Series fishfinders use new proprietary SBN-II Technology for sonar processing to improve Signal enhancement, Bottom recognition and Noise rejection.

SBN-II Technology uses digital adaptive filter algorithms to enhance all returned signals. At the same time, SBN-II Technology uses active noise control to reject interference, which can often be mistaken by fishfinders for true returns.

Using SBN-II Technology, the Northstar fishfinder analyses the reflec tions from each pulse, filters false returns and displays what is in the water under the boat. See section 4-1 Interpreting the display, for more information.

Northstar Explorer 443d/443df Installation and Operation Manual6

1-2 How the Explorer 443d/443df works

The Explorer 443d/443df has two par ts:

- the transducer attached to the hull

- the display unit.

The transducer generates an ultrasonic pulse (sound that is above the hearing range of the human ear), which travels down towards the bottom at a speed of about 4800 ft/sec (1463 m/sec), spreading out into a cone shape.

When the pulse meets an object, such as a fish or the bottom, it is partly reflected back up towards the boat as an echo. The depth of the objec t or bottom is calculated by the E xplorer 4 43d/443df by measuring the time taken bet ween sending a pulse and receiving the echo. When an echo has been returned, the next pulse is sent.

The Explorer 443d/443df converts each echo into an electronic signal, displayed as a vertical line of pixels. The most recent echo appears on

2 Basic Operation

Key Names

If a menu is not displayed then go to the sonar ESC display. If a menu is displayed then cancel any

changes and return to the previous menu.

DISP Shows the Display menu.

, Cursor keys move the selec tion highlight and , change settings.

MENU Press to show the Options menu on a display; press

again to show the Setup menu.

ENT Confirms any changes or from a sonar display shows

the Gain controls.

+ Increases the Range.

the extreme right of the display, with the older echoes being scrolled towards the lef t, eventually disappearing off the display.

The scroll sp eed depends upon the water depth and scroll speed setting. See section 3-2 Setup > Sonar and section 4-1 Interpreting the display, for more information.

The appearance of echoes displayed are affec ted by:

• the fishfinder settings (frequency selected,

range and gain settings)

• echoes (dif ferent fish types, dif ferent bottom

types, wrecks and seaweed)

• noise (water clarity and bubbles).

See section 4-1 Interpreting the display, for more information.

— Decreases the Range.

AUTO Select fishing/cruising or manual operating mode

Powers On and Of f; shows the Backlight control.

Northstar Explorer 443d/443df Installation and Operation Manual 7

Power On / Auto Power

Press to turn the fishfinder on.

If the fishfinder is wired for auto power, it turns on automatically whenever the boat’s ignition is turned on. This ensures that the engine hours counter and optional fuel f unctions are activated.

A title display appear s briefly. This is followed automatically by the Installation menu the fir st time the fishfinder is switched on. Use this menu to specify the l anguage (see section 3-1 Setup > System) and units (see section 3- 6 Setup > Units).

At all other times, the title display is followed by the display that was used most recently.

If the transducer is not connected, the message: Enter simulate mode? will appear. Press No or Never. (If the transducer was not intentionally disconnected, turn of f the fishfinder and refer to the section on Troubleshooting in Appendix B.)

switch between Yes,

Press ENT to confirm the selection and the startup sequence will continue.

Key Operatio n

The fishfinder is operated through menus.

To select a me nu item:

1. Press DISP or MENU

2. Press

3. Press ENT to select the item.

To change a number, word or setting:

1. Use the cursor keys, the number, word or setting and to make the change(s).

2. Press ENT to confirm ; ESC to cancel.

or to move the highlight to

the item.

, , ,

to highlight

Power Off

To turn the fishfinder off, hold . A countdown box appears. Continue to hold for 3 seconds until the fishfinder turns of f.

Note: If the unit is wired for Auto Power (sec tion 6-5 Wiring options) the fishfinder can be turned off only when the boat ’s ignition is turned off.

Backlight Adjustment

To change the backlight level:

1. Press

2. The display and keys are backlit, with a choice

Press

3. To change contrast:

4. Press ENT to save settings.

5. Press ESC to exit.

Press backlight setting and default contrast.

briefly to show the display

controls.

of 16 brightness levels.

to dim or to brighten.

i Press

ii Press <, > to adjust

twice to return to the maximum

Northstar Explorer 443d/443df Installation and Operation Manual8

Menu Note:

Some menu items in the Explorer 443d/443df menu’s utilize checkboxes.

If the box is selected or ‘checked’ (contains a check or tick), then that function is enabled or ON.

If the box is de-selected or ‘un-checked’ (does not contain a check or tick), then that function is disabled or OFF.

To select or de-select a checkbox, highlight the menu item and press ENT.

Simulate Mode

An internal simulator allows users to learn how to operate the fishfinder off the water.

In Simulate mode the word Simul ate f lashes on the bottom of the display. The fishfinder generates data so that all the main displays appear to be operational.

Use Setup > Simulate as follows:

1. Press MENU twice to show the Setup menu.

2. Highlight Simulate.

3. Press ENT to select or de -select.

Manual, Fish ing and Cruising Mode s

Press AUTO to select one of the three following operating modes:

• Cruise mode. Use this when on the move. The Explorer 443d/443df prominently displays the water

depth and automatically adjusts Range and Gain so that the bottom trace is displayed. Depth is displayed in large digits.

• Fishing mo de. Use this when fishing.

The Explorer 443d/443df prominently displays fish, the bottom profile, wrecks, rocks and all the details that help to find fish. Gain and Range are optimized automatically, increasing the sensitivity and fishfinding ability.

• Manual mode. Use this to fine-tune the fishfinding ability of the Explorer 443d/443df. Best

results are of ten achieved in manual mode, but practice and experience are required to obtain the optimum settings for dif ferent conditions. Gain, gain threshold and pulse power can all be adjusted. Manual mode stores the most recent settings, so these do not have to be reset each time manual mode is selected.

3 Setting up the Explorer 443d/443df

Press MENU twice, to show the Setup menu, then select a particular option using the or cursor keys. (Section 2 Basic Operation, describes the basic use of keys.)

The Setup menu and options are summarized below. The fac tory default s ettings are sh own where

applicable.

Each Setup menu option is explained in the following sections.

Northstar Explorer 443d/443df Installation and Operation Manual 9

The Setup menu a nd options

System - see section 3-1

Sonar - see section 3-2

Fuel - see section 3-3

Logs - see section 3-4

Alarms - see section 3-5

Comms - see section 3-7

Simulate - see section 2

Northstar Explorer 443d/443df Installation and Operation Manual10

Units - see section 3-6

Calibrate - see section 3-8

3-1 Setup > System

Press MENU once or more until the Setup menu is displayed, then select System :

Language

Select the language for the displays. The options are: English, Italian, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Portuguese, Finnish Greek and Croatian.

Tip: In case you can’t read the current langu age, the language settin g is found at the top of the system menu.

Backlight

Select this option to adjust backlighting and contrast controls.

Key beep

Enables or disables the beep when a key is pressed.

Auto power of f

Select to have the fishfinder power off automatically every time the boat’s ignition is switched of f. This applies only if the display unit is wired for Auto Power. See section 6-5 Wiring Options.

Snooze Mode

This power saving option slows the sounding rate (time between each ultrasonic pulse) to a user specified interval from 5 minutes to 2 hours. The fishfinder appears to turn of f, however all alarms operate normally. To return to normal operation, press Power button. Ideal to be used as an anchor alarm.

Factory re set

This option returns all of the fishfinder settings (except the language) to the default fac tory settings shown in section 3 Setting up the Explorer 443d/443df.

A warning bo x asks: Are you sure? Selec t Ye s and press ENT to conf irm.

Sonar (FISH 443df)

Select to enable sonar functions. Deselect if the unit is to be used as a Smar tCraft only display.

SmartCraft (FISH 443df)

Select to enable SmartCraft functions. SmartCraf t is only available with certain Mercur y engines, and requires an optional SmartCraft Gateway.

3-2 Setup > Sonar

Press MENU once or more until the Setup menu is displayed, then select Sonar:

Northstar Explorer 443d/443df Installation and Operation Manual 11

Beam

There is a choice of Narrow (200kHz), Wide(83kHz), Mixed and Auto. For more info about selecting a suitable frequency for water conditions, see section 4-2 Single and Dual Frequency Fishfinding.

Scroll speed

Use this to set the scroll speed on the display. There is a choice of: Ver y Fa st, Fast, Medium, Slow and Pause. The depth of the water also af fects the speed of the display.

Faster scroll speeds combined with a slow boat speed (typically between 2 and 6 knots) shows the most fish detail. Medium or Slow scroll speeds result in sonar information being displayed over a longer period, but with less detail. See Section 4-1 Interpreting the display, for more information.

Fish sy mbols

These appear only in the main sonar displays. Fish symbols can be shown in three ways:

• As a fish symbol (Sym bol).

• As a fish symbol with the depth

(Sym bol+ dept h). The depth is shown beside the fish symbol.

• As a depth (Dept h). The depth is shown above where the fish was detec ted

• Switched off (Off) so that echoes are not converted to fish symbols but are displayed directly.

See section 4-3 Fish detec tion and display, for more information about fish symbols.

3-3 Setup > Fuel (available on 443df only)

These features can be used only when the optional single or twin engine fuel kit has been installed.

Press MENU once or more until the Setup menu is displayed, then select Fuel:

It is recommended that the fuel tank capacity is measured by draining the fuel tank, then filling it to capacit y. After filling, note the reading from the fuel dispenser’s gauge.

Note: Beware of air pocke ts, especially in underf loor tanks .

Fish sensitivity

Use this function to adjust the minimum fish detection level. Select Low to reject noise and small fish. Select High to detect maximum number of fish.

Digit size

Use this to remove or change the size of the depth display on the sonar displays. There is a choice of: Small, Medium and Large.

Pale tte

Use this to selec t a color palette. Each color within the palette represents a different echo strength, as shown on the sonar displays.

There is a choice of three color palettes: Black, White and High Contrast.

Interference filter

This filters the echo signal to reduce high-level, spiky inter ference, such as engine noise and makes small fish harder to see.

Select to add filter.

Pulse power

This can be used to specif y the power output of the transmitted ultrasonic pulse. Low power output conserves the boat’s batter y, but only works in shallow water.

There is a choice of Auto, Low, Medium or High. The Auto setting is recommended.

WARNING

Northstar fuel kits are only suitable for petrol/ gasoline engines. Fuel consumption can change drastically depending upon the boat loading and the sea conditions. Always carr y adequate fuel for the journey, plus a reser ve.

Tan k full

Select Tank full each time the fuel tank(s) are completely refilled. When asked Are you sure? select Ye s. Otherwise, the reading on the Fuel display (see section 5-6 Fuel Display) and the Low Fuel Alarm (see section 3 -5 Setup > Alarms) are meaningless.

Northstar Explorer 443d/443df Installation and Operation Manual12

+ 28 hidden pages