Chapter 1: Quick Start; Welcome - NorthStar 961 Reference Manual

Chapter 1 - Quick Start

Welcome

Overview
Page 1-2
Congratulations on your purchase of the Northstar 961X/962X
or 961XD/962XD Color GPS/Raster Charting System. The
system is a high-performance, easy-to-use, full-featured GPS
chart navigator that meets your marine navigation needs in a
comprehensive and logical manner. Wherever you are, the
961/962 helps guide you effortlessly to your next location.
Your 961/962 also offers echo sounding capability, either
built-in or retrofitted, for locating fish and tracking the
contours of the seabed.
In this manual, the 961X/962X and 961XD/962XD are
collectively referred to as the 961/962 or the system.
The 961X/962X uses an internal, high-performance GPS
receiver as its primary source of position data. Your vessel's
position, course-over-ground (COG), and speed-over-ground
(SOG) are calculated directly from the received satellite data,
as well as the time, date, and an estimate of the system's
accuracy. For enhanced accuracy, the Northstar 961XD/962XD
combines GPS navigation with DGPS capability using an
internal, fully automatic differential receiver. The Northstar
961/962 also can be interfaced with other equipment; for
details about interfacing, see the Northstar 961/962 GPS Chart
Navigator Installation Manual.
Both the 961X/962X and the 962XD/962XD have an internal
hard drive inside their processors, and a CD-ROM drive for
installing software updates and charts from different chart CDs
onto this hard drive. The hard drive stores 1000 routes and
2000 waypoints, and enough chart data to cover an entire
coastline. Using BSB charts (Maptech or NDI's ChartKit charts),
Maptech's ChartPack charts, or the United Kingdom
Hydrographic Office's (UKHO) Admiralty Raster Chart Service
(commonly called ARCS) charts, the 961/962 can provide you
with truly worldwide chart coverage. With its large color
screen, the Northstar 961/962 offers a 10.4-inch diagonal chart
display, an intuitive graphical user interface, advanced
steering screens, graphical display of tides and currents, and
easy management of waypoints, routes, tracks, and avoidance
points. The system offers high-definition, high-speed CHART
961/962 Operations and Reference Manual, Rev. A