Magellan Meridian Series User manual

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Quick Start Guide
Meridian Series GPS Receivers
This quick start Guide will provide you
with the information needed to get
started and basic functions of the
Magellan Meridian. Please refer to the
Adobe Acrobat file supplied on the CD-
ROM that came with your Meridian for
additional references information.

4
Introduction
Welcome and congratulations on your purchase of the Magellan Meridian
GPS receiver. The Meridian has all the features that a sailor, fisherman,
hiker, hunter, or any person involved with outdoor recreational activities has
come to expect from a Magellan GPS receiver. In addition to these features,
the Meridian offers the ability to display your local on detailed city maps
providing you with a complete navigation tool that will last you for years to
come.
Magellan has been a leader in the hand-held GPS maker since introducing
the world's first commercial, hand-held GPS receiver in 1989. Since that
time Magellan has continued to equip the outdoorsman and consumer
markets with navigational receivers, all the way from the first GPS receiver,
to automotive receivers with turn-by-turn routing capabilities.
Contents
Introduction ……………………………………………………..3
Setting Up the Meridian…………………………………………5
Installing the Batteries……………………………………5
Initialization for First Time Use………………………….6
Optional Setup Functions………………………….9
Basic Operation…………………………………………………10
Meridian GPS Receiver………………………………….10
Turning Power On/Off……………………………11
Turning the Backlight On/Off…………………….11
Adjusting the Contrast…………………………….12
Getting a Position Fix……………………………..12
Navigation Screens………………………………………12
Accessing the NAV Screens………………………15
Saving a Waypoint……………………………………….15
Using GOTO Routes……………………………………..18
Creating a GOTO Route…………………………..18
Navigating on a GOTO Route…………………….21
Setting Up the Meridian

Setting up the Meridian is a simple two-step process: installing the batteries
and initializing the Meridian.
Installing the Batteries
The Magellan Meridian users two AA batteries that are installed from the
back through the battery cover. You can expect to get up to 14 hours of
usage on two AA batteries with the backlight turned off. Using the
backlight will shorten the battery life significantly. With the backlight on
continuously, you can expect to get approximately 6 hours of usage from
two AA batteries.
Initialization for First Time Use
To remove the battery cover, push
the two buttons on the cover fully to
the left and lift the battery cover
away from the receiver. Insert the
new batteries as shown, making sure
that the batteries are installed with
the correctly polarity.
Replace the cover and push the two
buttons fully to the right. Verify that
the covers is locked in place.
How much time do I have to replace the batteries?
Any waypoints or routes you have created and stored in
perma
nent memory. Present position and time data is not
stored in permanent memory but will be held in memory
for at least 12 hours without batteries installed.
Always turn the Meridian off before removing the
batteries or turning off external power. Failure to do so
can cause loss or corruption of data.

6
The Meridian will walk you through the process of setting up the receiver
for first time use. This procedure is commonly referred to as "Initializing
the Receiver". The purpose of this initialization is to provide the Meridian
with a general knowledge of its approximate location.
This may seem a little confusing at first as why does a device that is used to
compute its position need to know where it's at? The Meridian uses
information from the GPS satellites that orbit the earth and if the Meridian
has an approximate idea as to its location, it will refer to the almanac it has
in memory to select what satellites are overhead. From this information, the
meridian can then select the satellites that will give it the best information
for computing its location. Under normal use, the Meridian will save the last
position it calculated and use that position the next time it is turned on.
However, when the Meridian is new ( or when memory has been completely
erased), the Meridian has no last position information. Thus, it can either
start polling the satellites to see which ones are overhead or you can provide
it with your approximate location allowing the Meridian to begin computing
the initial position, known as "first fix".
Note: You can skip the initialization process by pressing the key
anytime after selecting the language you want the Meridian to use the
agreeing to the Warning Page. If the Meridian is able to collect satellite data
( i.e., have a clear view of the sky) it will begin to self initialize. This could
take anywhere from 3 to 8 minutes to compute its initial position.
Follow these instructions to initialize the Meridian.
Step 1: Turn the Meridian On
Press
The Meridian turns on and displays the start-up
Screen, followed by the language selection screen.
Step 2: Select Language
Use the Up/Down arrows to move the highest to the
language that you want the screens to be displayed in.
With the desire language highlighted, press

Step 3: Accept Warning and Begin Initialization
Step 4: Select Your Region and Area
Step 5: Enter the Time and Date
The warning screen is displayed. This Screen will be
displayed for 10 seconds and if the key has not been
pressed, the Meridian will shut off.
If you understand and agree to the warning presented, press
.
The Meridian displays a message box indicating that the
receiver needs to be initialized.
Press
Use to highlight your general region
Press
Use to highlight your area.
Press

Entering Data. When entering data in the Meridian, you sometimes need to
use the arrow key to enter the values. The following diagrams explains how
the arrow keys are used.
Editing
Moves the cursor block left or right
Pressing right arrow results in:
Increment the value up or down.
Pressing up arrow result in :
Step 6: compute First Fix
Enter Local Time. The cursor appears in the time
field, waiting for you to input your local time. Set
your local time using the arrow keys. Be sure that you
set the AM/PM indicator.
When the time is correct , press
Enter Date. The last piece of information needed is
the date. Using the arrows keys, enter the present date.
Press .
All the information that the Meridian needs to speed
up the pr
ocess of computing its fix has been entered
and the Done button is highlighted.
The complete the initialization process, press

Optional Setup Functions :
There are two additional options that you may want to set up prior to using
your Meridian GPS receiver. Contrast and NAV Units.
Contrast. To set the contrast, press . Use the Up/Down arrows to
highlight "Contrast " and press .
NAV Units. You can select the units of measure that Meridian will use;
Miles/Yards/MPH, Miles/Feet/MPH (default), Nautical Miles/Feet/Knots or
Kilometers/Kilometers per hour.
Use the Up/Down arrows to highlight the unit of measure that you want and
press .
Press to return to the last screen viewed.
This completes the set up for your Meridian GPS receiver. The next chapter
will describe the basic operation and use of the Meridian as a navigation
tool.
Basic Operation
The Satellite Status screen is displayed and the Meridian
begins acquiring the data from the satellites. Once the first
position fix has been computed you can begin using all of
the functions found in your Meridian GPS receiver.
Use the Left/Right arrows to change the contrast to a level
that provides the best display of the four bars displayed
below the slide bar
. When you are satisfied with the
contrast , press .
To change the Nav Units of Measure press . Use the
Up/Down arrows to highlight "Setup" and press . Use
the Up/Down Arrows to highlight " NAV Units" and press
.

For many of you this will be your first introduction into using a GPS
receiver as a navigational tool. With all of the features and functions
provided with the Meridian, it may seem a bit intimidating at first. Don't
worry. There are only a few things you need to know to use the Meridian.
They will be discussed here in detail. Other features and functions can be
found in the References Section of the User Manual.
Turning Power On/Off

Turning the Meridian On
After accepting the warning information, the last navigation screen you were
viewing will be displayed. If the last navigation screen view was the Map
screen, the last zoom scale setting will be used.
Turning the Meridian Off
Turning the Backlight On/Off
The display backlight can be set one of three levels (low, high or off).
The backlight causes severe drain on the batteries in the Meridian. To
prevent accidentally turning the backlight on and leaving it on, the Meridian
will turn the backlight off when there have been no buttons pressed for 4
minutes. Pressing any button will turn the backlight back on in this instance.
You can change the time delay for the backlight in Setup.
Adjusting the Contrast

Getting a Position Fix
Navigational Screens
The Meridian has nine navigational screens: Map screens, Compass screen,
Large Data Screen, two Position screen, Road Screen, Data Screen and
Speedometer screen. There is also Sat Status screen which enables you to
view how well the Meridian is receiving satellite information. They will be
described briefly here. More detailed information on the different screens
can be found in the Reference chapter of the User Manual.
Because the Meridian attains information it needs from satellites orbiting the
earth, the antenna needs to have a relatively unobstructed view of the sky.
This allows the Meridian to choose from all satellites currently available.
If the view of the sky is poor due to large cliffs or buildings, heavy foliage or
other obstructions, the satellite signals can be blocked and the receiver may
take longer to compute a position fix.
You can observe the signal strength and the satellites being used on the
satellites status screen (described in the next section).
Holding the Meridian:
The receiver is designed to fit comfortably in your
hand. Hold the Meridian in the palm of your
hand with the antenna pointing towards the sky.

Map Screen
-
The Map Screen has two modes, position
or cursor. In the position mode, your present position is
indicated by the large arrow icon in the center of the
display. If you are moving , the arrow will point in the
direction that you are heading. At the bottom of the
screen is the scale for th
e map displayed and two data
fields that can be customized, or turned off, depending
upon your needs.
The present position icon will change to an hourglass
when the Meridian is unable to compute a position fix
due to poor signal reception.
In the Cursor Mode, you are provided with a cursor that
can be moved on the map. At the bottom of the display
is the information for the position of the cursor relative
to your present position. Also any points of interest that
the cursor is over will be shown.
To
access the Cursor Mode, press any arrow on the
keypad. A crosshair appears that can be moved with the
arrows keys.
To return to the position Mode, press
. The
cursor will disappear and the present position icon will
appear centered on the map.
Compass Screens-
This is a handy screen to have at
your finger tips while you are navigating. It is totally
customizable to display the information that is useful to
you. The lower portion of the Compass screen not only
displays your heading in a graphical manner, but also
displays the relationship of the sun, moon and your
destination (if navigating on a route) to your heading.
Large Data Screen-
The Large Data Screen is similar
to the Compass Screen but here the compass has been
removed to allow for large display of the navigation
data. Ideal for when you have your Meridian mounted
on the dashboard of the boat using the optional swivel
mounting bracket. Even from a distance the
customizable information can be read with ease.

Position Screens-The position screens 1 and 2 display your
present position using the coordinate systems that you have
selected in Setup. This screen shows all of the basic position,
time and satellite information. Additionally, current navigation
information is shown in the bottom half of the screen.
Road Screen-
The Road Screen presents your route as if you
were traveling on a road. When a need to make a turn, the road
will graphically display the turn and the direction. Waypoint
and destination icons will be displayed relative to your position
as they come into view. Above the road is a compass that
displays your heading and above that are four customizable data
fields.
Data Screen- When you need to see a lot of information in one
place then you 'll appreciate the Data Screen. The Data screen
provides you with six data fields and an active compass that is
the same as the one used on the road screen. You have the
option of customizing this screen by selecting what data is
displayed in the upper six fields.
Speedometer Screen-
The speedometer screen displays your
speed in a familiar graphical format. There are four additional
data fields at the top of the display that can be customized to
display the data that you need. The bottom of the screen
contains a trip odomet
er that will record the distance traveled
since the last time the odometer was reset.
Satellite Status Screen-
The Sat screen provides you with a
graphical display of the satellite in view and which ones are
being used to compute the navigation data. Th
e bar graph
shows you the relative signal strength being received for each
satellite. At the bottom of the display is an indication of the
battery life remaining. When you are using external power, it
will be indicated here as well.

Accessing the NAV Screens
The key and the key are used to step through the various
navigation screens. If you are viewing one of the NAV screens, pressing
will take you to the next NAV screen in the list and pressing
will take you to the previous NAV screen. If you are not viewing one of the
NAV screens, pressing will return you to the last NAV screen
viewed.
Note: If you are inputting data, pressing will return you to the last
navigation screen but you inputs will not be saved.
Saving a Waypoint
First, a few simple definitions. A waypoint is any position on the globe that
you have saved into memory. The act of saving the waypoint is commonly
called "marking". So when references are made to marking a waypoint, that
simply means to save a position on the globe into memory.
The Meridian has a number of ways to perform this, but the most common
are saving your present position, entering the coordinates of a position or
saving the position of the cursor while viewing the Map screen. These
waypoints can then later be used to create routes or as the destination of a
GOTO. ( A GOTO is a single leg route that is defined as a route from your
present position to any waypoint. I am here and I want to GOTO there).
Saving Your Present Position as a Waypoint
From any screen, press and hold for 2 seconds
and the Mark screen is displayed.
The "Save" button is highlighted and you can press
to save the waypoint using the default name
and icon.
This will save your present position using a default
name (WPT xxx) into memory.

Saving a Your Present Position as a Waypoint with a Custom Icon and
Name
The above method is fine if you want to just save your position quickly, but
it will be difficult to figure out later which way point this is from a list of
waypoint named WPT001, WPT002, etc. For that reason, you may want to
change the default name to one of your choosing. You can also select a
different icon that will help you find the waypoint when you are using the
map screen.
To do this, press and hold for 2 seconds just like you did before. Use
the UP/DOWN arrows and notice that the highlight moves from field to field
and then back to "Save".
Highlight the Icon field using the UP/DOWN arrows and press .
The Icon Select window is displayed. Use the arrow
keypad to move from one icon to another with the name
of the icon displayed at the top. As a reference tool, all
of the icons and their names are listed in the Reference
Chapter of the User Manual
. When you have
highlighted the icon you want to use, press .
The cursor is now highlighting the Waypoint Name field. With the Name filed
highlighted, press
. The input keyboard is displayed. The very top of
the keyboard window shows you what field you are changing, in this case the
name field.
You can now use the arrow keypad to select the character you wish to enter.
With the character highlighted, press and the character is appended to
the name you are entering and displayed in the field
above the keys. ( Note:
way point names can be up to 8 characters in length).

When you have the name the way you want it, highlight "OK" and press
. You are returned to the Mark screen with the new name displayed.
Adding a Message to a Waypoint
?
You can also add a message a waypoints you are creating. There
is a memory limit however. You can save up to 500 user-
entered
way points in your M
eridian but only 200 waypoint of those can
have a message.
Adding a message to a waypoint can assist you in identifying the
waypoint. If this was a waypoint for a friend's house or business,
you could add a phone number or any other information that you
find useful.
To add a message to a waypoint you are creating, highlight the
Message field using the Up/Down arrows and press . The
same keyboard that was used in entering a name is presented
allowing you to enter a message. Using the same technique, you
can enter a message up to 30 characters in length.
Is there a limit to the number of waypoints I can store in the
Meridian ?
Yes, the Meridian will store up to 500 users waypoints in
memory. If you should ever get that many and need to input
more, you will have to delete ones that you no longer need to
make room.
PRACTICE
Using the techniques described, go outside of your house and turn your
Meridian on. If the Meridian has been previously initialized, you will
soon be computing position fixes. Press until you are viewing the
Map screen. When the cursor icon changes from an hourglass to an
arrow, the Meridian is computing position fixes. When the Icon changes
to an arrow, press and hold the button until the Mark screen is
displayed. Change the
waypoint name to "Home" and save the
waypoint. We will use this waypoint in the next discussion on GOTO
routes.

Using GOTO Routes
A GOTO route is simply a route with a start point (your present position)
and a single destination point ( a waypoint you select). All that is required
to create a GOTO route is having the destination waypoint saved in memory
. This waypoint can be one that you have saved earlier (which is stored in
your User Waypoint List() or any of the landmarks that come with the
Meridian in its built-in database.
In the previous section, you created a waypoint named "Home". Now
suppose you had gone some place else and you wanted your Meridian to
guide you back. All you need do is to create a GOTO route and the
Meridian will do the rest.
The uses for a GOTO route are endless. You could mark the position of
your campsite and always find your way back. Or you could mark the
location of a hot fishing spot you found, and next season come back to the
exact same spot. Even mark the location of your car in a large parking lot
and never have to worry about roaming endlessly looking for your car.
Creating a GOTO Route
Step1: Accessing GOTO
Step 2: Select Category of Waypoints
Step 3: Select Find By
Press . The first thing that has to be done is to
select the destination waypoint. This is done by
accessing the waypoint database. The
first screen is
used to select the category of the database that the
waypoint is in and how it will be found, alphabetically
or nearest to your position, a city or other waypoints.
Use the Up/Down arrows to move the highlight through the list of waypoint
categories. The first categories in the list is "User Waypoint" and these are
all of the waypoints that you have entered into your Meridian receiver. The
remaining categories are ones that have waypoints which have been
preloaded into your Meridian and
are stored in permanent memory. If you
have the Meridian Marine, you will notice your list is considerably longer
then the one shown here as you have additional marine waypoints
preloaded into your Meridian. (For this example, select the "User
Waypoint" category).

There are two options of "Find By" : Alphabetical and Nearest To.
Selecting Alphabetical will display all the waypoints in the category you
select in alphabetic order. Nearest to will display a list of the 20 waypoint
nearest to your position or waypoint you select in order or their distance
away. This could be used to display the waypoints that are closest to your
present position or display the airports that are closest to any city you select.
For the purpose of this basic operation, only Alphabetical will be used. For
details on Nearest To, see the Reference chapter in the User Manual.
Use the Left/Right arrow until "Alphabetical" is displayed in the Find by
fields.
Step 4: Select GOTO Destination Waypoint from the User Category
Alternate Step4 : Select GOTO Destination Waypoint from other
Categories.
As mentioned earlier, a GOTO can be to any Waypoint in memory, either
ones you have created or ones that have been loaded into the Meridian.
When selecting waypoints other then "User", you are first presented with the
keyboard display. The reason for this is there can be thousands of waypoints
in the list and using the conventional "scrolling" could take quite a bit of
time. By using the keyboard, you will be able to shorten the time by going to
a specific point in the list.
With "User" highlighted and "Alphabetical" in the
Find by field , press . A list of all the waypoints
you have entered is displayed. Use the Up/Down
arrows to highlight the desired destination, in this case
"Home" , and press .
You
are returned to the last NAV screen viewed with
some noticeable changes. If you are viewing the Map
screen, you will now notice a thick line which is a
Graphical plot of the GOTO you just created. Other NAV screens, have
changed the header bar to indicate that you are navigating to a destination.
Press until you are viewing the Compass screen. The header
displayed is to provide you with the necessary details to get you to your
destination, in this case "Home".

(If you have been performing the key presses as you are reading this, then
you are probably viewing one of the NAV screens. In which case, you need
to press to continue following along with the next. The first thing you
will notice is an alert pop-up asking you if you want to clear the GOTO that
is active. With "Yes" highlighted , press to continue). With "Cities"
highlighted and "Alphabetical " in the find by field, press . This is a
slight variation of the keyboard you have already used. This time the "shift"
and "backspace" keys have been replaced with (move cursor left) and
(move cursor right). What you want to do here is to begin typing the
name of the city you are looking for.
Since we are looking for Los Angeles, we need to highlight the "O" next and
press . Then the "S" and press
To add a space, highlight the "Space bar" and press . (Also , you can
use the button to move the cursor to the right if you want to skip the
letter the cursor is indicating).
You don’t need to spell out the entire world. The attempt here is to get close
to the name so you won't need to scroll very far during the next step. As a
guide, entering the first five letters should be sufficient. When you are
satisfied with what you have entered, highlight "OK" and press
Tip: There is a hidden shortcut that replaces highlighting "OK" and pressing
. When you are satisfied that you have narrowed the search down
and want to proceed to the list, press the key .
The list of all the waypoints for the category you selected, in this case cities,
is displayed with the waypoint that was previously selected at the top of the
list. Now just use the Up/Down arrows to highlight the waypoint you are
looking for the press .
For example, suppose your destination was to be
Los Angeles. Use the keypad to highlight the letter
"L" and press
. Notice how the name is
changed to the first city stored in the Meridian's
memory that begins with the letter "L" and that the
cursor has moved to the next letter in the city name.
( you can move the cursor back if you made a
mistake by highlighting the button on the
keyboard and press ).