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Magellan Trailblazer XL Reference Manual

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  • Page 1 Magellan GPS Satellite Navigator Reference Guide Trailblazer XL...
  • Page 2 Welcome from the Magellan crew. With the purchase of a Magellan Trailblazer XL GPS satellite receiver, you have joined the thousands of people who enjoy using GPS in their profes- sional and recreational activities. Since we introduced our first product more than six years ago, Magellan has established a reputation for product excellence and customer support.
  • Page 3 $30K — $39.9K $40K — $49.9K $50K — $59.9K $60K — $74.9K $75K — $99.9K $100K Where did you hear of Magellan GPS Satellite Navigators? Magazine Dealer Friend Other Which magazines do you read regulary? N o n e S i z e :...
  • Page 4 Place Postage Here Magellan Systems Corporation 960 Overland Court San Dimas, California 91773 Registration Card...

  • Page 5: Quick Start

    To get the fullest use out of your receiver and to interpret the displays, read the Refer- ence Guide thoroughly. POWER: The Trailblazer XL requires three AA batteries for operation and to maintain memory. The receiver can also be operated from external power (batteries are still required to provide memory backup).
  • Page 6 The receiver is now ready to get a location fix. GET A LOCATION FIX: You must be outside to get a location fix. Rotate the antenna so it is vertical, and hold the receiver at a comfortable angle. The receiver automatically displays the last-known coordinates an power-on while it looks for satellites to compute a new fix.
  • Page 7 SAVE THE LOCATION FIX AS A LANDMARK: Once the receiver has a fix and the first location fix has been saved as a landmark, start moving around. When you are at least 100 meters from your first location, try saving another location fix as a landmark.

  • Page 8: Table Of Contents

    Table of Contents Using Your Magellan Receiver ..General Information, 1 SETUP, 5 Setup/AUX Flow Charts, 5 LOC, 16; Location Flow Charts, 17; GOTO, 28; GOTO Flow Charts, 28; Quick Find Index, 40. GPS Navigation ........ Navigation Screens, 43; Coordinate Systems, 48 Lat/Lon, UTM, 49;...
  • Page 9 USE PROPER ACCESSORIES Use only Magellan cables and antennas; the use of non-Magellan cables and antennas may severely degrade performance or damage the receiver, and will void the warranty.

  • Page 10: Using Your Magellan Receiver

    Your Magellan GPS receiver has the advanced navigation features that experienced navigators expect, yet is easy enough for the novice navigator to use. This chapter is broken into four sections. The first section describes the conventions used in this guide. The others describe the features accessed by the three function keys: SETUP, LOC, and GOTO.
  • Page 11 They appear when the arrow keys can be used to make selections in a menu or enter data. If the inverted UP/DOWN ARROWs appear an a menu display... pressing the UP ARROW or the DOWN AR- ROW will move the highlight bar from one line to the next. Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 12 We've already discussed the arrow icons, which appear in the far right of the status line. The number of satellites being used to compute the current location fix appears on the left. Between the number of satellites and the arrow icons, several other icons or messages may appear. Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 13 (less if the light is on). The receiver will turn itself off before there is a risk of losing data. This warning will replace the number of satellites on the status line. Using Your Magellan Receiver...

  • Page 14: Setup

    You may select, for example, which coordinate system will be used, or whether eleva- tion is shown in meters or feet. Setup also includes the Initialize feature. You should use this feature to enter an initial location when using the Trailblazer XL for the first time after purchase.
  • Page 15 Both the Setup and AUX menus are ac- cessed from this display. The time displayed by the Trailblazer XL is received from the satellites, then converted to your local dock. Since each satellite carries an atomic clock, the receiver's time is extremely accurate.
  • Page 16 ENTER is pressed; if the mistake is on the previous line or if ENTER has been pressed, press SETUP, select INITIAL- IZE, and start over.) Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 17 The most commonly used system is Lat/Lon, which uses the imaginary lines of latitude and longitude. Other coordinate systems used by the Trailblazer XL are UTM and OSGB. You may also enter any grid system manually. These systems are described in Chapter 4.
  • Page 18 If you rely on your map and compass to plot your course without compensating for the difference, you may find yourself very far off your planned path. The Trailblazer XL can reference information to either true north or magnetic north. The default is MAGNETIC.
  • Page 19 Very soon you may collect so many landmarks that it may be difficult to find and highlight the landmark you are looking for in the landmark library. To simplify these searches, you may select the order that they are displayed, either ALPHABETICAL or Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 20 Use the RIGHT/LEFT ARROW to select "INCHES" or "CM." (Use the units you are most comfortable with.) Press ENTER. Alarm. Your Magellan receiver has the ability to sound an external alarm when you arrive at your destination (ARRIVAL); have moved a predefined dis- tance from the place where you set your anchor (AN- CHOR);...
  • Page 21 SA to produce highly accurate location fixes. (SA is described in Chapter 5.) The Trailblazer XL can use broadcast differential corrections. This requires the use of a differential radio beacon receiver. Contact your dealer to find out if DGPS is for you and what additional equipment you will require.
  • Page 22 To turn DGPS off, press the ENTER key again. The Trailblazer XL can accept broadcast differential corrections only when it is con- nected to a compatible differential radio beacon receiver and DGPS is turned on.
  • Page 23 This feature turns the output dataport on and off. To output data, the Trailblazer XL must be connected to a compatible NMEA device with the Power/Data Cable. The receiver must be on and computing location fixes before the dataport and the NMEA device are turned on.
  • Page 24 Erase LLOC. Erase LLOC will erase everything in the Last Loc buffer. We suggest eras- ing the buffer before starting on a trip if you think you may want to use the Last Location fixes to create a Backtrack route. Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 25 1 screen appears with the coordinates of the last-known location. (This will be either the last location fix or the initial location, which- ever is more recent.)" SEARCHING " is dis- played, indicating that the receiver is search- ing the sky for satellites. Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 26 LOC Flow Chart Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 27 Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 28 Location 2. To view the Location 2 screen, press LOC a second time. The Trailblazer XL uses two coordinate systems at the same time, so you can display the present location in both Lat/Lon and UTM (these are the defaults) or in whichever systems you selected in Setup.
  • Page 29 Press the LEFT ARROW from the Location 1 screen. Last Loc fixes are given temporary names in the format +LLC plus a number. The higher the number, the older the Last Loc fix is. Fix +LLC18 is older than +LLCO2. Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 30 "LOC" is automatically displayed as the "to" location; press the RIGHT/LEFT ARROW to use a recent Last Loc fix as the "to" location instead of LOC. The selected "to" location must be more recent than the "from" loca- tion. Press ENTER. Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 31 TER. Use the UP/DOWN ARROW to select a Enter the landmark name (up to 5 characters) by pressing the UP/DOWN ARROW to se- lect letters or numbers, and the RIGHT/LEFT ARROW to move the cursor. When the name is complete, press ENTER. Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 32 ENTER. Next, edit the second line and press ENTER, then edit elevation and press EN- TER. You may enter a message (follow the prompts as before), or save the waypoint without a message by pressing ENTER. Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 33 Press the DOWN ARROW to display the Landmark Pointer. This screen is the same as the Last Location Pointer; the only difference is the display points you toward a saved land- mark. Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 34 CLEAR. The receiver gives you a chance to change your mind and keep this landmark. To continue erasing the landmark, highlight " YES" and press ENTER. The landmark is de- leted, and the next landmark is displayed. Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 35 MAP SCALE, also in Setup. Press the UP ARROW from the Location screen. The receiver automatically displays the current location (LOC). Use the RIGHT/LEFT ARROW to select a different "from" location. When the desired location is displayed, press ENTER. Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 36 When the desired location is displayed, press ENTER. Next, key in bearing from the selected loca- tion and press ENTER. Select the second location and press ENTER, then enter bearing from the second location, and press ENTER again. Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 37 The GOTO screens include all of the navigation displays and the route features. You can display some navigation information without having a route, but not all. Basically, only speed and heading can be computed if you haven't entered a route and turned it GOTO Flow Chart Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 38 (Each of the stops was the end of a leg.) The Trailblazer XL has several types of routes. You can create a multileg route, then reverse the order of the landmarks you used to create it. You can create a one-leg route from the present location to any landmark (we call that a GOTO route).
  • Page 39 Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 40 VMG/SPD bar, XTE, HDG, ETA, DMG, SOA, SPD, STE, TTG, or a blank line. (All of these abbreviations are defined in the glossary.) Press ENTER to move the highlight to the next line. When you have configured the display, press CLEAR again. Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 41 If you select "30M", track for the past 30 minutes will be displayed. (" M" represents minutes, and "H" is hours.) You may also select "OFF" to display no track. Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 42 Also, a multileg route can be set ahead of time, and turned on only when you need it. The Trailblazer XL allows you to create up to five multileg routes. Each multileg route may contain up to 24 legs.
  • Page 43 Now you will select the destination of the first leg using either the RIGHT/LEFT ARROW or Smart Scroll. Notice that as different land- marks are displayed, the screen shows the landmark's bearing and the distance from the FROM location. Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 44 ROW again to reach the Route Menu. Use the UP/DOWN ARROW to highlight the desired route and press ENTER. Notice that this menu has more options than the one we saw earlier. Once a route has been created, additional options become available. Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 45 Although you can "overwrite" an existing route, Clearing is a much safer way to remove an unneeded route from the receiver's memory. We recommend that you make a habit of using Route Clear, to help prevent accidentally replacing an impor- tant route. Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 46 ENTER, then highlight "EDIT" and press EN- TER. Use the UP/DOWN ARROWs to display the leg you want to remove. Press CLEAR. Press CLEAR again to delete the leg, or press any function key to exit without deleting. Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 47 A following the same path you just took. Press GOTO, LEFT ARROW (and another LEFT ARROW if necessary). High - light the route number you want to use and press ENTER. Highlight "BACK- TRACK" and press ENTER again. Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 48 The receiver will save the MOB location until the MOB feature is accessed again. At that time, the receiver will ask if you want to replace the existing MOB with a current one. The coordinates of the MOB location cannot be displayed from the Landmark Menu. Using Your Magellan Receiver...

  • Page 49: Quick Find

    ..................... ALARM ..................... The AUX Menu ....................SOFTLOCK ....................DGPS SIMULATOR ..................... BREADCRUMB ..................LAST LOCATION ..................SAMPLING ....................NMEA ......................VELOCITY AVERAGING ................CLEAR MEMORY ..................ERASE LMKS ................... ERASE LLOC ..................... ERASE TRACK ..................Using Your Magellan Receiver...
  • Page 50 Road Screen ...................... Multileg Routes ......................Activating and Deactivating a Route ..............The Active Leg Screen ..................... Clearing a Route ....................... Editing a Route ......................Clearing a Leg ......................Reversing a Route ...................... Backtrack ................................................... Using Your Magellan Receiver...

  • Page 51: Gps Navigation

    Now that you know what the receiver's features are, how do you make them work for you? Suppose you were on a fishing trip in the area shown below. You want to go from the camp site to the island in the middle of the bay. Before you start, turn the receiver on and let it get a location fix.

  • Page 52: Gps Navigation

    for your first With that in mind, we'll assume that you keyed in the name landmark. Next, you can add a message, which may include information about the landmark or the approach to the landmark. You might key in "WATCH FOR ROCKS", for example, or something else you might need to be reminded about as you approach the land- mark.

  • Page 53: Gps Navigation

    Destination Landmark Name Distance to Destination Bearing to Destination Speed Heading CDI Scale Centerline Icon XTE (cross track error) is the distance to the left or right of the planned path. Keeping the XTE to a minimum helps maintain the most direct (and fastest) path to your desti- nation.

  • Page 54: Gps Navigation

    Heading (HDG) is your direction of movement measured as bearing, which may not be the direction you're facing. Your direction of movement may be affected by other factors, such as strong winds and currents. If you are facing north, for example, and a strong current is passing from left to right, your heading could be anything be- tween 0°...

  • Page 55: Gps Navigation

    DMG is distance made good. The same example illustrates DMG. Even though the boat moved 17 NM, because of the cross track error only 15 NM can be applied to arriving at the buoy. The distance that is applied to the original course (A ) is referred to as DMG.
  • Page 56 Destination Landmark Name Bearing Indicator Heading Indicator Direction to Steer Destination Landmark Name Destination Heading Icon Indicator South West Marker Marker Time To Go Distance to Destination Bearing of Destination You are on course when the arrows on the Steering screen or the arrow and icon on the Pointer screen are aligned.

  • Page 57: Navigation Screens, 43; Coordinate Systems

    A fourth selection, User Grid, lets you enter the constants for a local grid, such as state plane coordinates. Your Trailblazer XL can use two coordinate systems at one time: one for Location 1 and the other Location screens, and one for Location 2. Which system you select for Location 1 will be determined by the maps and Charts you are using.
  • Page 58 Eastings and northings measure how far into a zone a position is in meters. Eastings are an east/west measurement, and correspond roughly to longitude. Northings are a north/south measurement, and correspond to latitude. This chart shows the location of Magellan Systems described in both Lat/Lon and UTM coordinates. LAT/LON...
  • Page 59 GBR36 datum, which also describes Great Britain. This coor- dinate system cannot be used in any other part of the world. The Trailblazer XL auto- matically selects the GBR36 datum when the OSGB coordinate system is selected in Setup.

  • Page 60: General Maintenance

    POWER SOURCES The Trailblazer XL is powered by three AA batteries. lt can also be powered from an external DC power source by using the optional Power/Data Cable. Batteries. We suggest using AA alkaline batteries to power the receiver. (Magellan Systems recommends Eveready Energizer batteries.) Alkaline batteries will power...

  • Page 61: The Antenna

    If the receiver is being operated in a covered location (such as a navigation station), you may want to use the optional External Antenna Kit. (Use only a Magellan antenna; the use of a non-Magellan antenna may greatly degrade the performance of the receiver.)

  • Page 62: Troubleshooting

    TROUBLESHOOTING receiver is not Make sure the antenna is in the upright position producing a fix and has a clear view of the sky. Try changing your location slightly to get a better Signal The receiver has not been initialized (the Initialize screen in Setup shows the null location) or it has been moved more than 300 miles from its last known location.
  • Page 63 Small changes in the location coordinates and location fix elevation are normal. They are caused by several variables, fluctuates including the geometric quality of the fix and the effects of SA. Geometric quality is a measurement of the probable accuracy of a fix based on the location of the satellites being used in relation to each other.
  • Page 64 Operating Characteristics Accuracy: Position 12 meters RMS in 3D operation without SA Velocity 0.5 meters/second RMS Speed limit up to 951 miles per hour (1,530 kilometers per hour) Elevation limit 57,414 feet (17,500 meters) Time to First Fix: Cold start* 2 minutes or less Warm start* 40 seconds or less...
  • Page 65 NMEA Message Definitions Cross track error, direction to steer, status of GPS, route status, destina- tion landmark name, and bearing from origin to destination (old format). Revised autopilot message contains all of the above plus: heading to steer toward destination, bearing from the present location to the destination (magnetic or true).
  • Page 66 Status: V = Loran-C Blink or SNR warning A = general warning flag for other navigation systems when a reliable fix is not available. Status: V = Loran-C cycle lock warning flag A = OK or not used Magnitude of XTE Direction to steer (L, R) XTE units, nautical miles Status: A = arrival circle entered...
  • Page 67 0 = fix not available or invalid 1 = GPS Fix 2 = Differential GPS Fix Number of satellites in use Horizontal dilution of precision Antenna altitude above/below mean sea level Units of antenna altitude Geoidal separation - difference between the WGS-84 earth ellipsoid and mean sea level (geoid), "-"...
  • Page 68 Range naut. miles, present fix to destination landmark Great Circle. [If range exceeds 999.9 nm, display 999.9.] Bearign, True, Great Circle, Present fix to dest. landmark Closign velocity to destination, knots Arrival (OR'ed arrival circle and crossing of line which is perpendicular to the course line and which Passes through the destination landmark.) CHECKSUM (Mandatory in this sentence.)

  • Page 69: Accessories

    GPS Trailblazer XL Reference guide Field guide Carrying Case If any of these items is missing, please contact your local Magellan dealer or distributor. OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES In addition to the items provided with the receiver, optional accessories are also available.

  • Page 70: How Does Gps Work

    WHAT IS GPS? GPS is a constellation of navigation satellites that orbit the earth. The precise time and position information transmitted by these satellites is used by a GPS receiver to trian- gulate a location fix. The system is now officially declared "initial operational", and provides continuous, 24-hour 3D (location plus elevation) coverage anywhere on the earth.

  • Page 71: More Information

    This technique requires that your GPS receiver be connected to a compatible differen- tial beacon receiver (such as the Magellan DBR , which is compatible with all differ- ential-ready Magellan receivers). You must also be within range of a differential radio beacon. MORE INFORMATION For information relating to the operation of your Magellan GPS receiver, call Magellan at (909) 394-5000 and ask for Customer Service.
  • Page 72 General information on the Global Positioning System and satellite status is available from the Civil GPS Information Center (GPSIC) in Virginia. lt is operated by the United States Coast Guard for the Department of Transportation, and was established to provide information and to serve as a point of contact. There are three ways to tele- phone the GPSIC: 24-hour recorded message at 703-313-5905 computer bulletin board at 703-313-5910...
  • Page 73 Azimuth The height above the horizon of a satellite or other object. Direction, as measured in degrees from north in a clockwise direc- Bearing tion. The receiver uses either true north or magnetic north, as selected from the Setup Menu. Course deviation indicator.
  • Page 74 The rate of motion over the surface of the earth (not through the Speed air or water). Sometimes called ground speed. Steering Setting and holding to a course. A steering correction is the change in heading that must be made to get back an course. The actual path travelled, which may differ from the planned course.
  • Page 75 139°45 E Tokyo 35°40 N Australia & 5W Pacific Tonhil 46°19 N 93°54 E Adelaide 34°55 S 138°35 E 1 06°52 E Ulaanbaatar 47°54 N Alice Springs 23°42 S 133°53 E 43°43 N 87°38 E Ürümqi Apia 13°48 S 171°45 W 117°55 E Wuhan 30°35 N...
  • Page 76 Bamako 12°39 N 8°00 W Nice 43°42 N 7°15 E Banghazi 32°07 N 20°04 E 53°00 W Nuugaatsiaq 71°30 N Bangui 4°22 N 18°35 E Oslo 59°55 N 10°45 E Beira 19°49 5 34°52 E Paris 48°52 N 2°20 E Cairo 30°03 N 31°15 E...
  • Page 77 Managua 12°06 N 86°18 W Säo Paulo 46°37 W 23°32 S Manaus 3°06 S 60°00 W Saskatoon 52°10 N 101°32 W Merida, Venezuala 8°24 N 71°08 W Seattle 47°36 N 122°19 W Miami 25°46 N 80°11 W Shreveport 32°30 N 93°46 W Milwaukee 43°02 N...
  • Page 78 Datums defined in the Trailblazer XL are accessed with the following abbreviations. WGS84 WGS84 Indian (India, Nepal) INDIA ............North American 1927 NAD27 Iran, European 1950 IRAN ......North American 1983 NAD83 Ireland 1965 IRELA ..........Adindan...
  • Page 79 This warranty applies only to the original purchaser of this product. In the event of a defect, Magellan Systems Corporation will, at its option, repair or replace the product with no charge to the purchaser for parts or labor. The repaired or replaced product will be warranted for ninety (90) days from the date of return shipment, or for the balance of the original warranty, whichever is longer.
  • Page 80 Center representative will void this warranty. EXCLUSION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES Magellan Systems Corporation shall not be liable to purchaser or any other person for any incidental, special, indirect, or consequential damages whatsoever, including but not limited to lost profits, damages resulting from delay or loss of use, loss of or damages arising out of the use or inability to use this product, or breach of this warranty even though caused by negligence or other fault.
  • Page 81 Magellan Systems Corporation. Copyright 1994 by Magellan Systems Corporation. All rights reserved. Magellan , Trailblazer XL GPS...
  • Page 82 960 Overland Court, San Dimas, CA 91773 (909) 394-5000 22-60026-000...

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