Northstar EXPLORER 443SP Installation Guide

Explorer 443s/443sp

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 avoid possible 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 443s/443sp 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 .......................................................................................................................................... 5

2 Gettin g started ......................................................................................................................................6

2-1 Simulation Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

3 Operati on ..............................................................................................................................................7

3-1 Alarms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

3-2 HISTORY screen operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

3-3 HISTORY screen interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3-4 ZOOM screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

3-5 SONAR screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

3-6 NAVIGATE screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

3-7 DATA screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

3-8 RANGE menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

4 SETUP menu ......................................................................................................................................... 17

4-1 ALARMS menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

4-2 UNITS menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

4-3 FISH SYMBOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

4-4 CONTRAST menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

4-5 ZOOM SPLIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

4-6 LOG menu (Explorer 443sp ONLY) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

4-7 INSTALL menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

4-8 CALIBRATION menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

4-9 Resetting to Factory Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

5 Instal lation .......................................................................................................................................... 23

5-1 What comes with the Explorer 443s/443sp? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

5-2 Options and Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

5-3 Mounting the Explorer 443s/443sp Display Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

5-4 Wiring Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

5-5 Connecting an Explorer 443s/443sp to other instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Append ix A - Specifica tions ..................................................................................................................... 27

Append ix B - Troubleshootin g ................................................................................................................. 28

Northstar Explorer 443s/443sp Installa tion and Op eration Ma nual

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 fishfinders are set up with default units of feet, °F (Fahrenheit) and knots.

Please refer to sec tion 4-2 of this manual to change the units.

Northstar Explorer 443s/443sp Installation and Operation Manual

1 Introduction

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

This manual describes the installation and oper atio n procedures for the Explorer 443s/443sp.

The Northsta r Fishfinder

The Explorer 443s/443sp is an ultrasonic fishfinder with four levels of greyscale. It provides powerful software and a large, high-resolution screen with a zoom facility and a choice of fish symbols. As well as detecting fish, the E xplorer 443s/443sp measures the water depth, battery voltage, engine hours and water temperature.

The Explorer 443sp also measures boat speed and has two distance logs (Trip Log and Total Log).

An installed Explorer 443s/443sp has two parts:

- 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, spreading out into a cone shape. When the pulse meets an object, such as a fish or the bottom, some of the pulse is reflected back up towards the boat and is received by the transducer. The depth of an object can be calculated by measuring the time between sending the pulse and receiving its echo. The Northstar Explorer 443s/443sp will detect the bottom down to 600 feet (180 metres), depending on the clarity of the water and the type of transducer used.

The strength of an echo can vary for a number of reasons. Larger fish usually return stronger echoes, and so do fish in the middle of the cone, where the pulse is strongest. Reasons for weak echoes include the fish or object being in deep water, turbid water or in the edge of the cone where the pulse is weakest. Turbid water scatters the ultrasonic pulse and is difficult to ‘see’ through. Turbidity can be caused by air in the water (e.g. from another boat’s wake) or by mud in the water.

Important

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

All of the Nor ths tar 400 Series fishfinders use proprietary SBN Technology for sonar processing to improve signal enhancement, bottom recognition and noise rejection. SBN Technology uses the latest in digital adaptive filter algorithms to enhance all returned signals. At the same time, SBN Technology uses active noise control to reject inter ference, which can often be mistaken by fishfinders for true returns. Using SBN Technology, the Explorer 443s/443sp analyses the reflec tions from each pulse, filters false returns, and displays what is in the water under the boat.

The distinctions bet ween the four levels of shading help the user to better interpret what is in the water and what type of bottom is under the boat.

Assisting with navigation

The Explorer 443s/443sp can be used to find fish, to locate features on the bottom such as reefs or wrecks, and to help recognise favorite fishing spots from the profile of the bottom. Use the Northstar fishfinder to assist navigation by following the depth contours marked on charts.

CAUTION

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

How to find fish

Underwater features like reefs, wrecks and rocky outcrops attract fish. Use the Explorer 443s/443sp to find these features, then look for fish by passing over the feature slowly several times using the ZOOM screen (see section 3-4). Where there is a current, the fish will of ten be found downstream of the feature.

Northstar Explorer 443s/443sp Installation and Operation Manual

For deep-sea fishing with the Explorer 443s/443sp, a rapid change in temperature may indicate the edge of a warm or cold current. The temperature difference can form a barrier, and the fish may not swim through this. Search for fish on either side of the barrier.

Cleaning a nd maintenance

The Explorer 443s/443sp should be cleaned with a damp cloth or mild detergent. Avoid abrasive cleaners and petrol or other solvents. Always cover or remove a transom-mounted

2 Getting started

transducer when repainting the hull. If painting over a through hull transducer with antifouling paint then use only one coat of paint. When repainting the transducer, remove previous coats of antifouling paint by sanding it lightly.

When not in use, the Explorer 443s/443sp can either be removed from the installation bracket and stored in a safe, dry, cool place such as the Northstar carry bag, or lef t on the installation bracket and securely covered with the optional sun cover.

Power and transd ucer connection

Explorer 443s

One end of the integrated transducer/power cable has an 8 pin LT connector plug. Push this plug into the socket located on the rear of the display unit, then turn the collar to lock. Make sure that the collar is secure for a water tight connection.

Explorer 443sp

One end of the power cable has a black 8 pin LT connector plug. Push this plug into the lower socket, which has a black nut and is located on the rear of the display unit, then turn the collar to lock. Make sure that the collar is secure for a watertight connection.

One end of the transducer cable has a blue 8 pin LT connector plug. Push this plug into the upper socket, which has a blue nut and is located on the rear of the display unit, then turn the collar to lock. Make sure that the collar is secure for a watertight connection.

If the transducer is not connected, the message “NO TRANSDUCER DETEC TED. ENTER SIMULATION MODE?” will appear. Press switch between YES, NEVER or NO. (More information on the simulation mode can be found in the following section). Press to confirm the selection and the startup sequence will continue.

(Note: If the transducer was not intentionally disconnected, turn the display unit off and refer to the section on Troubleshooting in Appendix B.)

Names of keys:

Cursor key

key

+ gain key

- gain key

Power key

Definition of Press and Hold in this manual:

· Press means to push the key for less than one second.

· Hold means to push and hold the key down for more than one second.

Power o n

To turn the fishfinder on press .

Note: if the unit is wired for Auto Power (see section 5-4) the fishfinder will turn on automatically when the boat’s ignition is turned on.

A title screen briefly appears which displays basic product information, including the software version.

The Explorer 443s/443sp then automatically displays the screen that was last used.

Northstar Explorer 443s/443sp Installation and Operation Manual

Power off

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

Note: If the unit is wired for Auto Power (see section 5-4) the fishfinder can only be turned off when the boat ’s ignition is turned off.

Language selection

To check which language is currently selected, press to display the MAIN MENU.

Follow these steps to change the language:

1. Power off the unit.

2. While the unit is off, hold down the

3. Keep holding down the on the unit.

key and power

key.

2-1 Simulation Mode

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

In Simulation mode the word “SIMULATION” flashes on the bottom of the screen. The fishfinder generates data so that all the main screens appear to be operational. Any changes

3 Operation

4. The screen displays a list of languages. Press the Cursor or key to highlight a language, then press the Cursor key to select it. The fishfinder will continue the startup sequence.

Backlighting

Use the button to adjust the backlighting to suit individual preferences.

Press

once, at any time, to see the backlight

bar. This is displayed at the bottom of the screen and shows the current setting.

Press repeatedly until the desired backlighting level is achieved. The backlight bar will disappear two seconds after the last press.

made to the contrast, backlighting, alarms or the display setup are saved.

To turn the Simulation mode ON or OFF, press SETUP highlight SIMULATE .

MAIN MENU screen

Northstar fishfinders are menu driven. Press

to display the MAIN MENU screen.

Press

or to highlight an option, then press to select it.

The MAIN MENU options are summarized below and fully explained in the following sections.

Northstar Explorer 443s/443sp Installa tion and Op eration Ma nual

HISTORY screen (see sectio n 3-2)

Displays the echoes received over time, with the most recent events on the right of the screen. Use this screen when travelling to show the bottom so reefs, wrecks and fish can be found.

ZOOM screen (see se ction 3-4)

This screen is split into two par ts. On the right is the Full Range Section which shows part of the HISTORY Screen and to the lef t is the Zoom Section. Use this screen for taking a closer look at interesting underwater features.

SONAR screen (see sec tion 3-5)

Displays the strength and depth of the echoes returned from each ultrasonic pulse. The depth range is displayed in the lower right corner. This screen is a power ful aid, ideal for showing the bottom hardness and the fish species.

This screen can also be used to adjust the display shading on the HISTORY and ZOOM screens.

NAVIGATE screen (see section 3-6)

Prominently displays the water depth as a digital readout. The corresponding bottom trace is also shown. These two complimentary features are particularly useful for understanding depth trends when travelling at speed.

It also displays the boat speed and the enabled alarms.

3-1 Alarms

DATA screen (see section 3-7)

The DATA screen displays the water temperature and water temperature histor y over the last 40 minutes. It also displays the boat batter y voltage, log, engine-hours counter, boat speed, water depth and enabled alarms.

SETUP menu (see section 4)

Use this option to customise the Explorer 443s/443sp to suit the boat and individual preferences.

RANGE menu (see section 3-8)

Use this option to select either Auto or Manual Range and to change the selected depth range.

Alarms can be enabled to automatically detect certain conditions, such as the water being too shallow. The trigger settings for the alarms can be defined to suit the boat and individual preferences.

The fishfinder has six alarms, TOO SHALLOW, TOO DEEP, FISH ALARM, TEMP VALUE, TEMP RATE and LOW BATTERY.

The alarm symbols and beeper cycles for all of the alarms are shown in section 4-1. The FISH ALARM is three short beeps, the TOO SHALLOW ALARM is a rapid continuous beep while all others are a slower continuous beep.

When an alarm condition is met, then:

· The beeper sounds.

· The ALARMS menu is displayed on the screen with the activated alarm(s) flashing.

Press any key to acknowledge the alarm, stop the beeping and remove the ALARMS menu. This does not disable the alarm. The symbol will continue to flash until the alarm condition is no longer present.

Northstar Explorer 443s/443sp Installation and Operation Manual

Alarms automatically re-enable

The TOO SHALLOW, TOO DEEP and LOW BATTERY alarms automatically re-enable when the value moves outside the alarm trigger setting.

The TEMP VALUE alarm automatically re -enables when the temperature is more than 0.45°F (0.25°C) above or below the alarm trigger setting.

The TEMP RATE alarm automatically re-enables when the rate of temperature change falls below the trigger setting by more than 0.2°F (0.1°C) per minute.

Enabling Alarms and Changing Trigger Values

See section 4-1 for information about enabling alarms and changing the trigger values.

3-2 HISTORY screen operation

Select MAIN MENU - HISTORY to display the HISTORY screen.

The HISTORY screen displays the most recent echoes on the right of the screen and the oldest echoes on the left. These eventually disappear off the screen.

The vertical bar on the right edge of the screen is the zoom bar. This shows the zoom range. To adjust the zoom range (see section 3-4).

Fish symbol with depth

Zoom bar

Bottom

Alarms

The HISTORY screen does not show a fixed distance travelled by the boat; rather, it displays what has passed below the boat during a cer tain period of time. The actual display depends upon the boat speed and the depth of the water.

As the boat travels through shallow water, the echoes have less distance to travel between the objects and the boat. This means that the HISTORY screen display moves across the screen more quickly than when the boat is travelling in deep water. In deep water, the echoes take longer to travel between the objects and the boat, producing a display that moves across the screen more slowly.

Note 1: Different fish symbols can be selected (see section 4-3).

Note 2: The depth of bottom can be adjusted for keel offset (see section 4-7).

Selected depth range (0 to 150’)

Range

Range is the depth of water displayed vertically. The Northstar fishfinder has two range modes, Auto Range and Manual Range:

· In Auto Range, the fishfinder adjusts the depth range automatically so that the bottom is always shown in the lower part of the screen. The use of Auto Range is recommended.

· In Manual Range, the fishfinder shows only a selected depth range. In areas of rapidly changing bot tom depth, such as the sea floor around pinnacles, it can be useful to prevent the screen from rescaling to always show the bottom. If the bottom is deeper than the specified depth range, it will not be shown on the display screen.

To change the range mode, (see section 3-8).

Changing t he Gain Mode

Gain (sensitivity) controls the amount of detail displayed on the screen. The fishfinder has two gain modes, Auto Gain and Manual Gain:

· In Auto Gain, the gain is automatically adjusted to compensate for water depth and clarity. The use of Auto Gain is strongly recommended when learning to use a fishfinder, or when travelling at speed.

· In Manual Gain, the user can adjust the gain to compensate for water depth and clarity. Manual settings range from 1 to 9. High settings may amplify normal background noise until it appears as random pixels on the screen. The ideal set ting produces only a small number of random pixels. Normally the best results with a fishfinder are obtained in Manual Gain but practice and experience are required to understand how to adjust the gain correctly.

To change between Auto Gain and Manual Gain, hold

+ or -. The Gain mode will be displayed

briefly at the bottom of the screen.

When in Manual Gain the gain symbol shown at the top of the display, followed by the gain level. Press + to increase the gain level or press - to decrease the gain level.

Northstar Explorer 443s/443sp Installa tion and Op eration Ma nual

Fish detecti on and display

The fish symbol option can be customized, or switched off altogether so that the echoes are not converted to fish symbols on the screen. Section 4-4 explains how to do this. The differences between Fish symbols on and off are:

Fish symbols ON

Using Northstar’s SBN sonar technology

the fishfinder analyses all return signals and eliminates most false signals and clutter so that remaining targets are most likely fish. Depending on the strength of the remaining signals, they are displayed as either small, medium or large fish

3-3 HISTORY screen interpretation

symbols with or without depth. Whilst the SBN processing is very sophisticated it is not foolproof and there will be times when the unit will not be able to differentiate between large air bubbles, rubbish containing air, fishing floats etc and genuine fish returns.

Fish symbols OFF

For experienced users this will always

provide the best information as every sonar return signal is displayed, whether it is surface clutter, a thermocline or a fish.

Fish A rches

In ideal conditions and with Fish sym bols tu rned OFF, a fish passing through the cone-shaped ultrasonic pulse is displayed on the screen as a fish arch:

As the fish enters the weak edge of the sonar cone it generates a weak return signal that turns on the first pixel on the fishfinder screen. As the boat moves closer to the fish the distance between the transducer and the fish reduces and the return signal is displayed at progressively shallower depths, producing the start of an arch. When the fish is directly beneath the transducer and in the middle of the beam then the returned

Northstar Explorer 443s/443sp Installation and Operation Manual

signal is even stronger so the arch becomes thicker. As the fish passes out of the cone the reverse happens with a progressively weaker and deeper return.

In reality there are many reasons why fish arches can’t be seen. For example:

· Poor transducer installation - please refer to the Transducer Installation Guide.

· If the boat is anchored then fish will tend to show on the display as horizontal lines as they swim into and out of the transducer sonar beam. Slow speeds in deeper water give best fish arch returns.

· Range is important. It will be much easier to see fish arches when using Northstar’s split screen zoom mode to concentrate on a particular section of water rather than just displaying everything from the surface to the bottom. Zooming increases screen resolution and is necessary for good fish arches.

· It is almost impossible to get fish arches in shallow water as the transducer sonar beam is very narrow near the surface and fish do not stay within the beam long enough to display an arch. Several fish in shallow water tend to display as randomly stacked blocks of pixels.

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