Magellan eXplorist 600 Quick manual

Magellan eXplorist GPS Receiver
Basic User Manual
This manual provides
basic operation
instructions for
Magellan eXplorist 600
GPS Receiver.

WARNINGS
IN THE INTEREST OF SAFETY, DO NOT USE THIS NAVIGATION DEVICE
WHILE DRIVING A VEHICLE.
Please do not try and change any settings on the Magellan eXplorist while driving. Come
to a complete stop or have a passenger make any changes. Taking your eyes off the road is
dangerous and can result in an accident in which you or others could be injured.
USE GOOD JUDGEMENT
This product is an excellent navigation aid, but does not replace the need for careful
orienteering and good judgement. Never rely solely on one device for navigating.
USE CARE
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is operated by the U.S. Government, which is
solely responsible for the accuracy and maintenance of the GPS network.The accuracy of
position fixes can be affected by the periodic adjustments to GPS satellites made by the
U.S. government and is subject to change in accordance with the Department of Defense
civil GPS user policy and the Federal Radionavigation Plan. Accuracy can also be
affected by poor satellite geometry and obstructions, like buildings and large trees.
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.
LICENSE AGREEMENT
Thales Navigation grants you, the purchaser, the right to use the software supplied in and
with Thales Navigation GPS products (the “SOFTWARE”) in the normal operation of the
equipment.
The SOFTWARE is the property of Thales Navigation and/or its suppliers and is protected
by United States copyright laws and international treaty provisions; therefore, you must
treat this SOFTWARE like any other copyright material.
You may not use, copy, modify, reverse engineer or transfer this SOFTWARE except as
expressly provided in this license. All rights not expressly granted are reserved by Thales
Navigation and/or its suppliers.
* * *
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 this device.
* * *
No part of this guide may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, for any purpose other
than the purchaser’s personal use without the prior written permission of Thales
Navigation.
© 2005 by Thales. All rights reserved. The Magellan Logo, Magellan and eXplorist are
trademarks of Thales.
631245-18 A

1
This guide will provide you with the basics of using the
Magellan® eXplorist™ GPS receiver. If you require more
detailed descriptions of functions not described in this guide,
please visit the Magellan eXplorist Support page at the Magellan
web(www.magellangps.com).
Zoom Out
Zoom In
Allows you to zoom in or out on the Map screen.
Nav Used to select the navigational screen desired.
Menu Brings up a menu, allowing you to access other functions
and display customizing.
GOTO Used to create a route to a destination that is selected
from the list of points of interest (POIs).
Mark Adds your present position to the list of POIs.
Enter Accepts inputs and selections.
Escape Returns you to the last viewed screen. If inputting data,
cancels changes as well.
Power Turns the eXplorist receiver on or off.
Light Used to set the intensity of the display backlight.
Joystick Moves the cursor on the Map screen and used to highlight
selections from menus.
Power
Joystick
Zoom Out
Menu
GOTO
EscapeEscape
Light
Enter
Zoom In
Nav
Mark
eXplorist GPS Receiver

2
The eXplorist GPS receiver is a handheld personal navigation
device that uses information from a constellation of GPS satellites
to compute your present position. In its simplest form, you select
a destination from the list of POI’s (Points of Interest) and the
eXplorist receiver will provide you with the information to arrive
at your destination.
Make sure that the battery has been installed as per the instructions
in the Read Me First document.
1. Compute your position...
Turn the eXplorist on by pressing the
Power button, and then pressing Enter.
With a clear view of the sky, your eXplorist
receiver will begin tracking satellites and
computing your present position.
Press
Basic Operation
Your eXplorist begins
acquiring satellite
information and
computes your present
position.
When “Position Fix” is
displayed in the upper
left corner, you are
ready to select your
destination.
You can see the progress
of satellite data
collection by viewing
the Satellite Status
screen shown here.
Press Nav until this
screen is displayed.
Pressing Nav
button will allow you
to select the navigation
screen, (Map, Position
or Compass) that best
suits your needs.

3
2. Select a destination...
Press the GOTO button.
Next you need to select which major category
the POI you want to go to resides. My Pts of
Interest are POIs you’ve created, Geocache Pts
are POIs that have been uploaded using the
Magellan Geocaching software, and
Background Map contains POIs that were
preloaded into your eXplorist with the
background map..
Browse either the
eXplorist’s internal memory
(or SD card if installed) to
find the POI you want to go
to.
3. Go to your destination.
Press
Use the joystick
to highlight your
desired
destination and
press Enter.
As you travel you
will notice that your
eXplorist will
continually update
your position as
well as providing
you with the
necessary details to
arrive at your
destination.
Basic Operation

4
Turning the eXplorist Receiver On
Press Power. (Press
and hold for 2 - 3
seconds.)
After the eXplorist receiver successfully computes your present
position, the last viewed navigation screen is displayed.
Turning the eXplorist Receiver Off
Press Power.
Setting the Display Backlight
Press Light.
The display backlight is a large drain on the receiver’s
batteries.
Press
Enter.
A shutdown
sequence begins. To
cancel power off,
press Escape.
Each time you press the Light button, the
display backlight changes from low to
high and back to off.
Basic Functions

5
Your eXplorist receiver employs three different navigational
screens to assist you in arriving at your destination. Pressing the
Nav button allows you to cycle through the navigation screen.
The Map screen displays
your present position using a
map of the area as the
background. You can zoom
in or out using the zoom in/
out buttons to show just the
portion of the map you need.
The Map screen also displays an indication of where you have
been as a dashed line (track history), as well as a visual indicator
of a route you may be navigating on..
The Position screen displays
your present position using
the coordinate system
selected in Preferences.
Also displayed is your
elevation, accuracy, date and
time, trip odometer and
battery life.
The Compass screen uses a
graphical compass to provide
you with information used to
navigate to your destination.
An icon outside the compass
ring indicates your
The Map screen is
customizable. Press
Menu, highlight
Customize page and
press Enter.
You can reset the trip
odometer by pressing
Menu, highlight
Reset Trip and pressing
Enter.
The Compass screen is
also customizable.
Press Menu,
highlight Customize
page and press
Enter.
Navigational Functions

6
destination and the compass points in the direction you are
heading.
The eXplorist stores data (POIs, routes, track logs, etc.) as ASCII
text files to either an SD card or to its internal memory. Files
saved internally or to an SD card can be opened and viewed on a
personal computer providing you added flexibility in modifying
and storing data to be used in your eXplorist.
Whenever you save a POI, route or track log or if you are creating
a GOTO or a multileg route, you need to tell the eXplorist where
you want the file saved or retrieved from. This is done through the
internal browser in the eXplorist.
File Structure
The eXplorist uses (and creates
automatically on an SD card) a basic
file structure with default folders for
storing the data. You have the
opportunity of creating your own
folders and new ASCII data files.
Those items are covered in greater
depth in the Reference User Guide.
When you save or retrieve a file you will be taken to either the
default folder and data file for files of that type or the default
folder and data file that you assign in Preferences > Active Setup.
Points to Remember:
• •All data is saved in files
• •POI and route files can contain multiple items; track log files
contain only one item.
• •You can create new folders and new files to better organize
your data.
Background Maps
Detail Maps
My POIs
Routes
Track Logs
Geocaches
Internal Memory SD Card
Background Maps
Detail Maps
My POIs
Routes
Track Logs
Geocaches
File Structure

7File Structure
This is a sample of the My POIs folder.
The first item, Up One Level, is used to move around
the file hierarchy.
The second item, New Folder, provides you the tool
to add a new folder at this level.
New POI File is used to create a new ASCII text file
to save your POI’s too. In the sample shown here,
Yosemite is a new POI file that was created for this
sample to save POI’s created while hiking through Yosemite National
Park.
The last item, Default POI File, is the default ASCII text file where
POI’s you save are stored. This is the file that is provided as a default
to save POI’s in until you have created your own POI file.
This sample displays what is shown when you access
the default POI file. There is an Up One Level item
that is again used to move around the file hierarchy.
Below that is a listing of all the files that have been
stored in this POI ASCII file.
ASCII Text Data Files
An advanced feature of saving data in ASCII text files is that it
provides another means of utilizing and modifying data that you have
recorded. Using an external card reader or by connecting your
eXplorist to your personal computer, you can now access the files that
you have saved. All of the information is there to be used as you need
or modified with a simple text editor like Notepad. Keep in mind that
modifying some of the information may cause the POI to be unusable
or have unexpected results.

8
Your eXplorist receiver comes with preloaded POI’s for a variety
of areas. However, you will find that you will want to add your
own POI’s to the database. POI’s that you save are accessed from
the “My Pts of Interest” option of the databas
Saving Your Present Position
From any screen, press
Mark.
Highlight Save and press Enter when done. You then just
need to select or create the data file you want this saved
position saved to.
Some examples of POI’s you might want to save would be your
campsite, a special landmark that you want to visit again at a
future date, fishing hotspots, even your car to help you find it
when your day is done. Anytime you think you might want to
come back to your current location, you should save it to your POI
database and then it will be at your fingertips the next time you
want to return.
You can change the
information in any of
the fields by using
the joystick to
highlight the field
and press Enter.
You might be familiar with the more common navigation
term of “waypoint” for My Pts of Interest. Waypoints and
My Pts of Interest are exactly the same and the terminology
is interchangeable
Creating User POI’s

9
You can use your eXplorist receiver to go to (“GOTO”) any
destination in your POI database. This can be one of the POI’s
that was preloaded in your eXplorist receiver, a geocaching point
or a POI that you have saved. Once a GOTO route has been
defined, your eXplorist receiver will guide you in a straight line to
your destination. If you need to move away from the suggested
path, the eXplorist receiver will continuously update the route,
keeping you headed towards your destination.
Setting a GOTO Route
From any screen, press GOTO
Select the topic in your database where the POI
is located. Highlight the topic that contains the
POI you are looking for is in. Use the left or
right arrows on the joystick, select
Alphabetical or Nearest.
Choose the POI that you want to go to and
press Enter. The information at the bottom
of the screen is the bearing and distance to the
highlighted POI from your present position.
The last viewed Nav screen is displayed and
the eXplorist receiver begins computing the
navigational information required to get you to your
destination.
Some navigational information that is computed
requires that you be moving for it to be calculated.
When that information is not being calculated, the
navigational fields will be filled with dashes.
As you travel with your eXplorist receiver on, it
will continuously record your track. Track is then a history of
everywhere you have gone. At anytime you want to reverse your
direction and head back to where you started, you can create a
GOTO a Destination

10
Backtrack route. This route will automatically be computed using
the track history stored in your eXplorist receiver.
Creating a Backtrack Route
From any screen, press
Menu. Use the joystick to
highlight “Track Log” and
press Enter. Highlight
Active Track.
press Menu.
You can also save your track history using the Save command
from the “Track Log” option or convert the track to one of your
saved routes with the “Convert to Route” option. This will allow
your eXplorist receiver to guide you over the same path at a future
date.
Active Track is the
active track history
since the last time
track was cleared.
Other Track Logs in
the list are track logs
that you have saved for
future use.
Highlight “BackTrack”
and press Enter.
You will return to the
Nav screen and begin
seeing information to
guide you along your
track back to your point
of origin.
Your track history may go back further then your intended
destination. You may want to clear your track (from the
Track Log menu above, highlight “Clear Track” and press
Enter) before you begin your travels so when you do a
backtrack route, it is limited to just the track history desired.
Using Backtrack

11
As mentioned earlier, your eXplorist receiver records your track
and allows you to use this information to create a route, backtrack
or just to provide you with a visual indication of your journeys.
Accessing Track Logs
From any screen, press
Menu. Use the
joystick to highlight
“Track Log” and press
Enter.
Active Track
Active Track is the track that is presently being
created by your eXplorist receiver. Highlighting
“Active Track” and pressing Enter brings up a
menu offering a choice of activities to perform on
your active route.
Stop Logging: Turns the recording of your
track off.
Resume Logging: (Displayed if Track has been stopped).
Continues recording track from the point when it was stopped.
New Track: (Displayed if Track has been stopped). Erases old
track logging and begins recording a new track log.
Save: Allows the present track to be saved as a track log.
BackTrack: Creates a route that traces your track from your
present position back to where the track started.
Clear Track: Erases the active track from memory.
Convert to Route: Changes the track into a route that can be
accessed from the “Routes” menu option.
View on Map: Graphically displays the track on the Map
screen.
The Track
Log is
divided into
two areas:
Active
Track and
Track Logs.
Using Track Logs

12
Track Logs
When an active track is saved it becomes one of
your stored track logs. Highlight the desired
track log and press Enter for a list of track
log options.
Follow Track: Navigates from the start of
the track log to the end.
Reverse Track: Same as Follow track but
navigates from the end of the track log to the starting point.
Delete Track: Removes the selected track log from memory.
Copy Track: Copies the track log to a new file.
Move Track: Moves the selected track log to a new location,
either on the SD card or internally.
Convert to Route: Changes the track into a route that can be
accessed from the “Routes” menu option.
View on Map: Graphically displays the track on the Map
screen.
Using Track Logs

13
If you understand the concept of a GOTO route being a straight
route with a starting and ending point, then you can understand
multileg routes. A multileg route is many GOTO routes linked
together. So instead of having a route that only goes from A to B,
you can create routes that go from A to B to C to D and so on.
Accessing Routes
From any screen, press
Menu. Use the joystick to
highlight “Routes” and
press Enter.
New Route
When “<New>” is selected, the Create Route screen is displayed.
Press Enter with “<Add POI>” to go to the POI database to
select the next POI in the route list. If you highlight an existing
item in the route list and press Menu, you will be given the
choices of inserting a POI before the one highlighted, deleting the
highlighted POI from the route or just replacing it with a new POI.
When you have the route organized like you
want it, use the joystick to highlight Save Route
and press Enter. Use the keypad to enter a
name for the route, highlight the “OK” button
and press Enter.
Any routes
saved will be
displayed
along with an
option to
create a new
route.
Using Multileg Routes

14
Using a Saved Route
Highlighting a route you have saved and
pressing Menu brings up a list of options
you can perform on that route.
Activate/Deactivate Route: Assigns the
selected route as the route you are wanting
to follow or turns off the routing for that
route if it was already active.
Edit Route: Allows you to insert, delete or add POI’s to the
existing route.
Reverse Route: Stores the selected route in reverse order.
Delete Route: Removes the selected route from the eXplorist
memory.
Move Route: Moves the selected route from the SD card to
internal memory or from internal memory to the SD card,
depending upon its present location.
View on Map: Graphically displays the route on the Map
screen.
Using Multileg Routes

15
The POI database is the place where your saved positions (“My
Pts of Interest”) or any preloaded positions are stored for easy
access when creating a GOTO or multileg route.
Accessing the POI Database
From any screen, press Menu. Use the
joystick to highlight “Pts of Interest” and press
Enter.
A list of POI types are displayed for you to select
from.
If you select “My Pts of Interest,” a list of all the
POI’s you have saved are displayed in the order
you defined. If you highlight one of the
displayed POI’s and press Menu, you will have
the option of editing or deleting the POI.
(Shortcut: pressing Enter with the POI
highlighted goes into the edit mode.)
Geocache Pts provides a path to POI’s that you have added using
the Magellan geocaching software.
From “Background Map,” you will be given a list of topics, such
as cities, highways, airports, waterways and parks. After selecting
one of these topics, a keyboard is displayed if alphabetical listing
is chosen. As the list of POI’s in the database can be enormous,
you can use the keyboard to enter the first few characters in the
POI you are looking for when doing an alphabetical search. With
the first few characters entered, highlight “OK” and press
Enter. This will speed up the search for the POI you are seeking.
When you have the POI selected, pressing Enter brings up
information about that POI. You can also save it as one of your
user POI’s or view it on the Map screen.
The POI Database

16
Your eXplorist receiver has a built-in help function that can
provide you information to help you while using it. This is a
general help function that should answer most of your questions
about the eXplorist receiver and its use.
Accessing Screen Specific Help
From most screens, press Menu. Highlight
“Help” and press Enter to access the help
screens.
About Your eXplorist Receiver
Accessing the About...
screen will provide you
information about the
software version and
memory usage of your
eXplorist GPS receiver.
From any Nav screen,
press Menu.
Highlight “About...” and
press Enter to access
the About... screen.
The Property of: field will display the information you entered in
the Name field after you have personalized your eXplorist
receiver. (See the section on Preferences for information on
personalizing.)
The About...
screen
displays the
software
revision and
date, mapping
detail (if
applicable),
and number of
routes, POI’s, length of active
track and track logs.
Need Help?

17
Accessing Preferences
From any Nav screen,
press Menu. Use the
joystick to highlight
“Preferences” and press
Enter.
Restarting GPS (Initializing)
When To Restart GPS: Your eXplorist always starts looking for
satellites assuming it is in the same location as when it was turned
off. Traveling more than 500 miles with your eXplorist receiver
turned off may cause delays in position computation. Restarting
GPS is not mandatory but will decrease the time taken to compute
your position following such a move.
Changing the Active Setup
Whenever you save a POI, create a route, geocache points or the
maps you wish to access (basemap or detail map), your eXplorist
will automatically take you to the preassigned default folder.
This is fine for normal operation but if you want to access a
different folder multiple times you may find it easier to set a
personal default folder. For example, you may have created a file
named Yosemite for a camping trip you are on. For this trip every
POI you save or retrieve will come from the Yosemite file and it is
faster to set this file as your default.
Use the
joystick to
highlight the
desired
function and
press
Enter.
From the
Preferences
screen,
highlight
Active Setup
and press
Enter.
Highlight the type
of file desired and
press Enter.
Browse through
the folders to find
the file you want to
set as the default
and press Enter.
Setting User Preferences

18
Changing Map Units
Map Units has four selectable options: Nav Units,
North Reference, Coord. System and Map Datum.
Highlight the desired option and press Enter.
Nav Units: Allows you to select the units of
measure used for displaying navigation and
position measurements.
North Reference: Used to set the top of the map display to True
North or Magnetic North.
Coordinate System (Coord System): Used to select the
coordinate system used to display position information.
Map Datum: Allows you to select the map datum used for
mapping information. If you are using a paper map or chart in
conjunction with your eXplorist receiver, be sure that the map
datum selected matches the map datum for the map or chart you
are using.
Setting Power Management
Power Management options are used to help preserve battery life in
your eXplorist receiver. Under Power Management you have three
options, Power Off Timer, Light Timer and Beeper.
Power Off Timer: Set the time that your eXplorist receiver will
turn off automatically if no keys have been pressed and you are
not moving.
Light Timer: Set the time that the backlight for the display will
turn off automatically if no keys have been pressed .
Beeper: Set when the beeper will be audible. The beeper can be
set to Off, Keys Only, Alarms Only or Keys & Alarms.
Setting User Preferences