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NorthStar Explorer 538 Installation And Operation Manual

Manual is about: NorthStar Chartplotter Installation and Operation Manual

Summary of Explorer 538

  • Page 1

    Www.Northstarnav.Com explorer 538/538i chartplotter installation and operation manual.

  • Page 2: Danger

    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 ...

  • Page 3: Important

    Industry canada operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference, including interference that may cause undesired operation of the device. It is your sole responsibility to install and use northstar’s i...

  • Page 4: Contents

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 4 contents important ................................................................................................................................................3 quick reference ..........................................................

  • Page 5

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 5 8 gauges display ..................................................................................................................................... 30 9 data display ......................................................................

  • Page 6: Quick Reference

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 6 feature type see requires general how to use the keys and displays 2 troubleshooting appendix b simulate mode 2-6 glossary of special names appendix c specifi cations appendix a mob man overboard key 2-4 navigation overview of how to nav...

  • Page 7: 1-1 Overview

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 7 1-2 cleaning and maintenance the explorer 538/538i screen is covered by a proprietary anti-reflection coating. To avoid damage, clean the screen only with a damp cloth and mild detergent when dirty or covered in sea salt. Avoid abrasive...

  • Page 8: Changing The Plug-In Card

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 8 handle plug-in cards carefully. Keep them in their protective cases when not plugged into the explorer 538/538i. Keep the holder in place in the explorer 538/538i at all times to prevent moisture from entering the card compartment. 1-4 ...

  • Page 9: 2 Basic Operation

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 9 2 basic operation overview of the keys go back to an earlier menu or display. Any changes made are ignored. In chart mode, centres chart at boat’s position. Show a menu of the main displays. To go to a display, select it from the menu (...

  • Page 10: 2-2  Using The Menus

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 10 c) to change a name or number: 1 press to display the name or number: 2 press or to select a letter or digit to change. Press or to change the letter or digit. Repeat this to change other letters or numbers. 3 press to accept the new v...

  • Page 11: 2-4 Backlight and Night Mode

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 11 mob will not work if the explorer 538/538i does not have a gps fix. The mob feature saves the boat’s position and then navigates back to this point. 1 press . The explorer 538/538i stores the boat’s position as a waypoint called mob. 2...

  • Page 12: 2-7 Simulate Mode

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 12 2-7 simulate mode in simulate mode, the explorer 538/538i ignores data from the gps antenna and other transducers and sensors and the explorer 538/538i generates this data itself. Otherwise, the explorer 538/538i functions normally. Th...

  • Page 13

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 13 other menu and displays note: press to go from an other display back to your last chart display..

  • Page 14: 2-8-1 Dual Displays

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 14 2-8-1 dual displays the explorer 538/538i can show two displays at once, for example chart + gauges. One of the displays, called the active display, has a yellow border and is controlled by the user. To change the active display, press...

  • Page 15: 2-8-3 Compass

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 15 the chart and highway displays can show a compass at the top of the display. The compass always shows the boat’s course over ground (cog), a red symbol in the middle. When the boat is navigating to a point, the compass also shows beari...

  • Page 16: 3-1-1 Navigating To A Point

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 16 a waypoint is a position that you can set on the explorer 538/538i chart, for example a fishing spot or a point on a route (see section 5). Going to a waypoint from the chart display 1 go to the chart display. 2 move the cursor to the ...

  • Page 17: 3-1-3 Following A Route

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 17 preparing a route is a list of waypoints that the boat can follow (see section 6). To create waypoints before creating the route, see section 5-2-1. To create a route, see section 6-2-1. Starting a route from the chart display: 1 go to...

  • Page 18: 3-2 Chart Display

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 18 a typical chart display shows: 3-2 chart display to go to the chart display, press , select chart, then select chart. A data header. To turn the data off or on or to change what data is displayed, see section 2-8-2 b compass (see secti...

  • Page 19: 3-2-1 Chart Modes

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 19 the chart scale is displayed at the top left of the chart: 3-2-2 latitude and longitude latitude and longitude can be displayed in the data header. The display is degrees and minutes to three decimal places, about 2 m (6 ft) resolution...

  • Page 20: 3-2-5 Finding Places

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 20 3-3 distance and bearing calculator the distance and bearing calculator can plot a course of one or several legs and show the bearing and length of each leg, as well as the total distance along the course. The completed course can be c...

  • Page 21: 3-5 Tracks And Tracking

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 21 tracking records the boat’s position to memory at regular intervals, which can be: time intervals. Or distance intervals. The track of where the boat has been can be displayed on the chart. The explorer 538/538i can display one track w...

  • Page 22: 5 Navigation: Waypoints

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 22 4 navigation: highway display the highway display has a bird’s eye view of the boat’s course to a destination. To go to the highway display, press , select other, then select highway. The highway display shows: a optional data header (...

  • Page 23: 5-1 Waypoints Display

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 23 5-1 waypoints display to go to the waypoints display, press , select other, then select waypoints. The waypoints display is a list of the waypoints that have been entered, each with waypoint symbol, name, latitude and longitude, distan...

  • Page 24: 5-2-3 Editing A Waypoint

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 24 5-2-3 editing a waypoint editing a waypoint from the chart display 1 in the chart display, move the cursor to the waypoint to edit. 2 press and select edit. 3 change the waypoint data (see section 5-2-7). Select save. Editing a waypoin...

  • Page 25: 5-2-8 Sort Waypoints

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 25 5-2-9 navigating to a waypoint see section 3-1-2. 5-2-8 sort waypoints to change how the waypoints list is displayed: 1 press and select sort by. 2 select how to display the list: name: in alphabetical order by name. Icon: grouped by i...

  • Page 26: 6-2 Managing Routes

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 26 2 to insert a waypoint in the route by breaking one leg into two: i move the cursor to the leg you want to break. Ii press and select insert. Iii move the cursor to where the new route waypoint will be. Iv press . 3 to move a waypoint ...

  • Page 27: 6-2-2 Editing A Route

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 27 4 to insert a waypoint in the route: i select where the waypoint will be: to insert the first waypoint in a new route, select leg 1. To insert a waypoint at the end of the route, select the unused leg at the end of the list of waypoint...

  • Page 28: Gps Worldwide Navigation

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 28 gps worldwide navigation the us government operates the gps system. Twenty-four satellites orbit the earth and broadcast position and time signals. The positions of these satellites are constantly changing. The gps receiver analyses th...

  • Page 29: 7-1 Satellite Display

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 29 the satellite display has information about the gps satellites and gps position. To go to the satellite display, press , select other, then select satellite. The satellite display shows: 7-1 satellite display a c d b e g f a status of ...

  • Page 30: 8 Gauges Display

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 30 8 gauges display the gauges display shows boat data, such as water speed, as analog or digital gauges. To go to the gauge display, press and select chart, then select chart+gauges. If necessary, press twice to switch to the gauges disp...

  • Page 31: 9 Data Display

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 31 9 data display the data display has large numeric data fields. To go to the data display, press , select other, then select data. To select what data is displayed: 1 press and select data setup. 2 change a data field: i press the curso...

  • Page 32: 10-2 Fuel Display

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 32 10-2 fuel display fuel display without engine rpm fuel display with engine rpm to go to the fuel display, press , select other, then select fuel. The display is different if engine rpm is available (requires smartcraft to be installed)...

  • Page 33

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 33 6 the explorer 538/538i then asks you to set the throttle to achieve a target rpm. For a twin engine boat set both engines to about the target rpm. When the engine rpms are correct, the target rpm box will turn green. Now, do not chang...

  • Page 34

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 34 10-3-2 managing fuel consumption curves record several curves for different conditions. Renaming a curve 1 press one or more times until the setup menu is displayed, then select fuel. 2 select fuel consumption curve. Select name, press...

  • Page 35: 11 Tides Display

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 35 a c b i h j k d e g d f n l m 11 tides display the tides display is available on c-map charts. The tides display shows tide information at a tide station for the selected date. Note: the tides display requires the local time offset to ...

  • Page 36: 12 User Card Display

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 36 12 user card display a c-map™ user card is an optional plug-in card that can store data files (see section 1-4). There are three types of files: waypoints, routes or a track. To go to the user card display, press , select other, then s...

  • Page 37: 13 About Display

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 37 13 about display to show the about display, press , select other, then select about. The about display shows: the software version and date. The world chart version. Any card fitted. The number of waypoints, routes and tracks in the ex...

  • Page 38: 14-1 Setup  > System

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 38 press 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 and greek. Tip: in...

  • Page 39

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 39 smartcraft (see the smartcraft gateway installation and operation manual) setup option menus factory default settings are shown. The setup data available will depend on the optional sensors and instruments installed. System (see 14-1) ...

  • Page 40: 14-2 Setup  > Chart

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 40 rotation the options for chart rotation are: north up: north is always at the top of the chart display. Track up: the chart is rotated so that the boat direction is to the top of the display. This option is useful for navigating narrow...

  • Page 41

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 41 setting map datum 1 in the chart setup menu, select map datum. 2 select the map datum for the paper chart you are using. 3 if you select a datum other than wgs 84 the explorer 538/538i asks if you want to apply the nmea datum offset (s...

  • Page 42

    General submenu plotter mode normal: only scales available on the chart card can be displayed. If you press or to select a chart scale which is not available, on the chart card, the chart display will change to this scale but will only display the boat position and track (if enabled). The rest of th...

  • Page 43: Gps Source

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 43 press once or more until the setup menu is displayed, then select gps: gps source • internal: use the internal gps antenna (explorer 538i) or the external gps antenna supplied (explorer 538) (see section 15-5). • nmea: use an external ...

  • Page 44: 14-4 Setup > Fuel

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 44 fuel setup requires optional petrol/gasoline or smartcraft sensors to be installed. Set num engines first to enable the fuel functions. Press one or more times until the setup menu is displayed, then select fuel: tank full tells the ex...

  • Page 45: 14-5 Setup > Track

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 45 the flow filter can be set from 0 to 30 seconds. Use the lowest value which gives a stable flow. Usually a value of 5 to 10 seconds will give a satisfactory result for two-stroke carburettor engines. Fuel injected or four-stroke engine...

  • Page 46: 14-6 Setup > Logs

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 46 14-6 setup > logs press one or more times until the setup menu is displayed, then select logs: the values can be changed independently of each other. These log values are saved when the unit is turned off. Reset trip dist this resets t...

  • Page 47: 14-8 Setup > Units

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 47 14-8 setup > units press one or more times until the setup menu is displayed, then select units: the default units are shown above. Distance nm (nautical miles), mi (miles) or km (kilometres) speed kn (knots), mph (miles per hour) or k...

  • Page 48: Fuel

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 48 press once or more until the setup menu is displayed, then select calibrate: fuel see section 14-4. Speed range the maximum reading to display on an analog boat speed gauge (see section 10). Choose a range suitable for your boat. Max f...

  • Page 49: 15 Installation

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 49 • c-map™ nt-max, nt+ or nt chart cards. • c-map™ user cards (3 v) for storing data. (the older 5 volt cards are not supported) • northstar carry bag. • northstar navbus junction boxes simplify wiring, particularly if several instrument...

  • Page 50: Connections

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 50 optional sensors and instruments external alarms: lights or sounders in the boat to sound alarms through the boat (see section 15-4). Gps or dgps antenna: for gps navigation, see section 15-5. Fuel sensors: for fuel functions. The expl...

  • Page 51: 2 Bracket Mounting

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 51 2 bracket mounting requires a panel for mounting the bracket. Ensure that the panel is not likely to deform and is not subject to excessive vibration. The bracket can be tilted and rotated. The display unit can be removed when it is no...

  • Page 52

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 52 power/data cable red yellow black external beepers or lights main switch 12 v dc] fuse 2a the power/data cable has a black locking collar and flying leads. 1 wire the explorer 538/538i for auto power to have the explorer 538/538i turn ...

  • Page 53: Selecting An Antenna

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 53 selecting an antenna fit one of these gps antennas: • normally use the internal gps antenna (explorer 538i) or the gps antenna supplied (explorer 538). • an optional differential beacon dgps antenna to give enhanced accuracy within ran...

  • Page 54

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 54 black power/data cable orange blue navbus wires to other navbus instruments if the boat has one or two smartcraft capable mercury petrol/gasoline engines, connect the explorer 538/538i to the smartcraft engines with an optional smartcr...

  • Page 55: Setup and Test

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 55 during setup to send nmea data to other instruments, set nmea out to and specify the nmea data to send (see section 14-9). Setup and test 1 put a blanking cap on any unused connector on the back of the display unit. Ensure all connecto...

  • Page 56: Appendix A - Specifications

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 56 general size: 126 mm h x 126 mm w x 65 mm d (5.0” x 5.0” x 2.6”) display: 3.8” diagonal, tft color, 240 x 320 pixels backlight: display and keys supply voltage 10 to 16 v dc. Supply current: at 13.8 v 120 ma min - no backlighting 220 m...

  • Page 57: List Of Datums

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 57 list of datums adindan afgooye ain el abd 1970 american samoa 1962 anna 1 astro 1965 antigua island astro 1943 arc 1950 arc 1960 ascension island 1958 astro beacon ‘e’ 1945 astro dos 71/4 astro station 1952 astro tern island (frig) 196...

  • Page 58: B-1 General Problems

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 58 1-1 the explorer 538/538i won’t turn on: a the explorer 538/538i is designed to operate on a 12 volt battery system, where the voltage may vary from 10 to 16 volts. If an excessive voltage is supplied, a fuse will be tripped, turning t...

  • Page 59: B-2 Gps Navigation Problems

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 59 2-1 no gps fix or long time to get fix at startup: a may occur occasionally if the antenna does not have a clear view of the sky. The satellite positions are constantly changing. B antenna cable not connected to display unit. C restart...

  • Page 60

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 60 note: for the explorer 538/538i to measure fuel consumption, the optional fuel flow kit must be fitted. 3-1 fuel used or remaining seem inaccurate: explorer is not wired for auto power (see section 15-4). B in rough seas, fuel may surg...

  • Page 61: Glossary

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 61 attention area - an important area on a chart, such as a restricted anchorage or a shallow area (see section 14-2). Bathymetric line - a depth contour line on the chart. Chart card - a plug-in card that stores chart data for a region (...

  • Page 62: Navigation Data

    Northstar explorer 538i/538 installation and operation manual 62 navigation data the boat is sailing from the start to the destination and has moved off the plotted course from the start to the destination. Brg bearing to destination: bearing to the destination from the boat. Brg bearing to cursor: ...

  • Page 64

    Made in new zealand mn000594a-g americas 30 sudbury road, acton, ma 01720, usa ph: +1 978.897.6600 ph: +1 800.628.4487 fax: +1 978.897.7241 sales@bntmarine.Com europe unit 2, ocean quay, belvidere rd, southampton, so14 5qy, england ph: +44 2380 339922 fax: +44 2380 330345 northstaruk@northstarnav.Co...