NorthStar 6000i User manual

Addendum
to the
Northstar
6000i
Reference Manual
Revision B
This Addendum replaces Chapter 5
of the Reference Manual
and describes new radar functionality,
including the new Northstar 2kW radar
P/N GM6KUMA Rev B

.
– 25 –
Press Trigger Level repeatedly to
set the signal strength that causes
an alarm: low, medium, high, or off
(no alarm).
The alarm is temporarily turned off while you
are displaying the radar markers menu keys. It
automatically turns back on after a minute
passes with no further adjustments, or when you
press Done.

– 24 –
and two straight lines extending outward from
the vessel as shown in Figure 3.
You can turn each zone on or off, change its
boundaries, and set the echo strength that will
cause an alarm.
Press the following keys to adjust each guard
zone.
Press Guard Zone repeatedly to
select zone 1, 2, or 3 for
adjustment.
Press Visibility to show or hide the
zone selected above. When a zone
is hidden, it doesn’t alarm and its
Edit and Trigger Level keys aren’t
available.
You can set the boundary and size
of each guard zone by moving
Point A and Point B. Press Edit to
select Point A or Point B. Then
press the CURSOR PAD to move the selected
point and create an arc-shaped zone.
As you change Point A or B, the coordinates of
that point are updated in the upper right-hand
corner of the screen.
Point B
Point A
Guard Zone
Figure 3: Guard zone
Guard Zone
Zone 2
– 1 –
How radar works
The word “radar” is an acronym for “Radio
Detecting and Ranging.” A radio transmitter
sends out a very short microwave pulse, and
then a receiver listens for that signal’s echo
when it’s bounced back from a target in its path.
Targets, which may be other boats or ships, navi-
gational markers, flocks of birds, or land masses,
are displayed on the 6000i’s screen. By knowing
how long it takes for a signal to return, the
distance to a target can be determined. As the
radar antenna scans through a 360-degree rota-
tion, it shows the target’s location relative to
your position. By watching repeated scans of a
target, such as another vessel, you can see how
that target is moving.
Northstar radar models
There are two types of radar units from North-
star. The 4kW, 6kW, 12 kW and 25kW units all
are operated in the same way. The new 2kW
Northstar radar works slightly differently, and
these differences are clearly indicated in this
manual. The major differences are:
• in the 2kW radar, auto modes do not
continuously adjust themselves
• ranges of manual settings are different
between the two types of units
• the 2kW unit does not have a STC curve
adjustment

– 2 –
Turning the radar transmitter on and off
Each time you turn on the Northstar 6000i , the
radar transmitter must be turned on separately,
as a safety feature.
When you first press the RADAR key after
turning the system on, the unit displays:
The Radar TX is off.
Do you want to turn it on?
Press ENTER to turn it on, or CLEAR to access
the radar adjustment pages without turning the
transmitter on.
You can also turn the transmitter on or off using
the menu keys:
1. Press RADAR to display the radar screen.
2. Press Radar TX so it indicates On or Off , as
desired.
NOTE:
The radar remains in standby mode
for a minute and a half after power is
applied.
NOTE:
Even though the transmitter has
been turned off, the radar is still in
standby mode and draws power.
– 23 –
•VRM A — to control the size of the VRM circle
at the vessel
•VRM B — to control the size of the VRM circle
at point B
For the floating EBL, select:
•Point C— to move the point at one end of the
EBL
•Point D — to move the point at the other end
of the EBL
•VRM C — to control the size of the VRM circle
at point C
•VRM D — to control the size of the VRM circle
at point D
Shortcut for moving the fixed EBL
On page 1 of the radar screen, you can use the
cursor pad to change the position of the fixed
EBL and read the measurements displayed.
Guard zones
Press the Guard Zone menu key to control this
feature.
You can designate up to three
guard zones that the 6000i
monitors for radar echoes. Any
echoes inside a guard zone and as
strong as or stronger than the
designated trigger level are
displayed in red and cause an
alarm. Each zone is bounded by red lines — an
inner and an outer arc centered on the vessel,
EBL / VRM
Guard Zone
Zone 1

– 22 –
the screen. Again, there’s a variable range marker
at each end of the line.
The following information about the EBLs and
VRMs appears on your screen:
•In the upper right-hand corner, you’ll see:
>The coordinates of Point A, B, C or D (which-
ever point you selected)
>The ETE and ETA to the selected point
•In the bottom right-hand corner, you’ll see
the radius of the VRM(s). These numbers are
color coded blue for the fixed EBL and pink
for the floating EBL.
•In the bottom left-hand corner, you’ll see the
length of the electronic bearing line(s). These
numbers are also color coded blue for the
fixed EBL and pink for the floating EBL.
Press the following keys to adjust the electronic
bearing lines.
Press EBL to select either the fixed
or the floating EBL. The selected
EBL can be adjusted with the
following two controls:
Press Visibility to show or hide the
EBL selected above. When an EBL
is hidden, its Edit key is also
unavailable.
Press Edit repeatedly to select what
part of the EBL is controlled by the
cursor pad:
For the fixed EBL, select:
•Point B — to move the point at the far end of
the fixed EBL
– 3 –
Displaying radar
The radar image includes:
• A north indicator to show the direction of
true or magnetic north.
• The current radar scale, shown by the
numbers in the upper left corner of the radar
image. Rng is the distance from the center to
the largest range ring, and RR is the spacing
between the range rings.
• A dashed white heading line. This line
indicates your heading, not Course-Over-
Ground, and can be used to compare the
radar presentation with the view in front of
the vessel.
• A gray course predictor line.
For information about rotating and scaling the
radar, see Changing radar scale and rotation,
starting on page 8.
A special demo mode for simulating radar
echoes based on the chart information is avail-
able. Radar demo mode is activated whenever
the chart demo is turned on.
Note:
It’s important
that you do
not use Demo
Mode when a
radar is inter-
faced to the
Northstar
6000i.

– 4 –
Using the radar’s main menu keys
The radar’s main menu keys allow you to:
• overlay the radar image on the chart (if the
chart is also displayed)
• switch control between the radar and chart (if
the chart is also displayed)
• rotate the radar image
• access the radar markers
• access the radar adjustment pages
• show more navigation information on the
info bar at the bottom of the screen
Radar screen
– 21 –
The fixed EBL is a blue line from your present
position (Point “A”) to Point “B.” You can move
Point B to a point of interest using the cursor
pad. At the end of the line, a blue circle called a
variable range marker (VRM B) surrounds Point
B. Another VRM circle (called VRM A) surrounds
your vessel’s position.
You can change the size of each VRM to
measure distances from Point A or Point B to any
point of interest on the screen.
The floating EBL is a pink line connecting Point
C and Point D. It’s similar to the fixed EBL,
except that both points can be moved, to allow
measuring distances between any two points on
Point A
Point B
A
B
Variable
Range
Marker
B
Variable
Range
Marker
A
Electronic Bearing Line
Your Vessel
Figure 1: Fixed EBL
Figure 2: Floating EBL
Point C
Point D
C
D
Variable
Range
Marker
D
Variable
Range
Marker
C
Electronic Bearing Line
Your Vessel

– 20 –
mode: Auto 1
rain clutter, sea clutter and gain are set to useful
values for each range
interference rejection: Off
trails: Off
expansion: Off
range rings on/off: On
bearings: True/mag
echo colors: The first set (green)
sweep: Analog
fade: Off
STC curve: 4(not present on 2kW model)
tune mode: Auto
tune preset: 79 (not on 2kW model)
Using the Radar Markers keys
Press Radar Markers to display
controls for the 6000i’s electronic
bearing lines (EBLs), variable
range markers (VRMs), and guard
zones. The two upper menu keys
select whether you control the
EBL/VRMs or the Guard Zones for
adjustments. When finished, press Done to
return to the main radar menu keys. All settings
are retained while the system is turned off.
Electronic Bearing Lines (EBLs)
Electronic bearing lines (EBLs) are markers that
you can place on top of the radar image to aid in
navigation and to keep track of your surround-
ings. The 6000i uses two types of EBLs: fixed and
floating.
EBL / VRM
Guard Zone
Floating
– 5 –
Controlling radar
In order to control the radar, the
Control key (if present) must
indicate Radar .
If necessary, press the Control key repeatedly
until it indicates Radar .
Rotating the radar image
Press Rotate repeatedly to choose
the screen rotation. You can choose
north up, course-up, heading-up, or
leg-up. For more information, see Changing
radar scale and rotation, on page 8.
Radar screen (split)
Control
Radar

– 6 –
Adjusting the radar
Press the Page 2 key to display the
first of several pages of radar adjust-
ments. For more information about
using these keys, see Using the radar adjustment
keys, on page 14.
Using the radar markers
Press Radar Markers to display the
controls for the 6000i’s electronic
bearing lines (EBLs), variable range
markers (VRMs), and guard zones. For more
information about using these keys, see Using the
Radar Markers keys, starting on page 20.
Transmitter control
When the radar image is
displayed full-screen by pressing
the RADAR key, a menu key
allows you to turn the radar trans-
mitter on or off.
Viewing more info
Press More info to display an “info bar” at the
bottom of the screen. Each additional press of
More info shows the following information:
• your vessel’s present Speed-Over-Ground
( SOG ), Course-Over-Ground (COG), and
heading
• your vessel’s distance ( dist ) and bearing (brg)
to the current waypoint, if any, along with a
steering indicator
Page 2
(adjustments)
– 19 –
Restore...
Press to display the restore menu keys (see
Restore factory settings, on page 19).
Installation settings
These keys are described in the Northstar radar
installation manual, P/N GMKRadIM
(GMKRad2KIM for the 2kW unit), and settings
should not be changed unless their functions are
fully understood.
Tuning page
These keys are described in the Northstar radar
installation manual, P/N GMKRadIM
(GMKRad2KIM for the 2kW unit), and settings
should not be changed unless their functions are
fully understood.
Restore factory settings
The Restore functions can be used to set many
adjustments back to their factory-set values.
Press the Restore... key to access these keys.
Restore Auto, Restore Harbor, Restore Range
Rider and Restore Manual each set the Clutter
and Gain adjustments back to the factory
settings for the specified operating modes.
Restore Factory Settings sets the following
values:

– 18 –
minute, 3 minutes, 6 minutes, always (points are
recorded continuously), or off (points are not
recorded).
If trails are left on continuously, the recorded
points may eventually fill up a large part of the
screen. Zooming in or out will erase all recorded
trail points.
Expand
Press Expand to turn echo expan-
sion off or on. Select On to make
small echoes appear larger and
easier to see.
Radar adjustments on Page 4
Press Radar TX to turn the radar
transmitter On or Off. The radar
transmitter is automatically
turned off every time you shut
down the 6000i. Turning the transmitter off
when it is not in use saves electrical power and
allows you to work safely in the vicinity of the
rotating antenna.
Prefs...
Press to display the user preferences menu keys
(see Setting user preferences, on page 9).
Install...
Press to display the installation settings menu
keys. These keys are described in the Northstar
radar installation manual (P/N GMKRadIM) and
settings should not be changed unless their
functions are fully understood.
– 7 –
• your vessel’s position in lat/lon (or TDs, if
enabled)
• the water depth, water temperature, and
Speed Through Water ( STW ) reading from the
sounder (if interfaced)
Overlaying radar on the chart
To overlay radar onto the chart, press CHART to
switch to the chart screen, then press Overlay to
display Radar in the key’s blue box.
Radar can be displayed on the main radar screen,
or as an overlay on the chart screen, or as part of
a split screen. All radar functions are controlled
in the same way, regardless of how radar is
displayed. Just press the Control key so that it
displays Control Radar .
Setting radar transparency
When you overlay a radar image on a chart, you
can choose whether the radar should be opaque
(the chart doesn’t show through) or transparent
(the chart shows through faintly):
1. Press Page 2 , then Page 3 , Page 4 and
Prefs...
.
2. Press
Fade to select Off (no transparency),
Medium , or High (maximum transparency).
To remove the radar overlay, press the Overlay
key on the radar’s “Page 1” so that it displays Off .

– 8 –
Changing radar scale and rotation
Changing the scale
To change the radar’s scale, press the IN key to
zoom in (smaller area, more detail) or the OUT
key to zoom out (wider area, less detail).
Using zoom on a split screen
If there’s no radar overlay on the chart, the chart
and radar are scaled separately. Zooming in on
the chart, for example, has no effect on the
radar’s scale. If the Control key indicates Radar,
you’re zooming the radar; if it indicates Chart,
you’re zooming the chart.
However, if the radar overlay is turned on, the
chart and radar scales are locked together. When
you zoom in on the chart, radar scale changes to
match the chart.
Rotating the radar image
To rotate the radar image, press the ROTATE key
repeatedly until it indicates the rotation you
want; you have the same options as for a CHART
screen.
The rotation of the chart and the rotation of the
radar interact under certain circumstances, as
described in the table below. If the Control key
indicates Radar, you’re rotating the radar; if it
indicates Chart, you’re rotating the chart.
– 17 –
Sea State
The Sea State control is available only when the
Mode control is set to Range Rider.
Sea State adjusts sea clutter for all ranges up or
down slightly to correspond with the expected
echoes from whitecaps and breaking waves. The
normal or “0” setting applies no changes, and is
used when the sea state is the same as when the
gain and clutter settings were entered. Positive
numbers can be used when the sea is rougher,
and negative numbers when the sea state is
calmer.
To set the Sea State:
1. From the main radar screen, press Page 2 and
Page 3.
2. Press Sea State.
3. Use the cursor pad to enter a new number.
Press Done to go back to the main radar screen.
Interference rejection
Certain types of interference (for
example, from radars on other
vessels) can be lessened by using
the interference rejection filter.
Press Interference Rejection repeatedly to
select Off, 1(low), 2(medium), or 3(high).
Trails
Trails on the radar image help
you track the motion of moving
targets. Press Trails repeatedly to
select how often trail points are
recorded: every 15 seconds, 30 seconds, every

– 16 –
Sea Clutter controls the strength
of the clutter echoes returned
from the ocean surface. Higher
values suppress more clutter. Sea
Clutter can be set to automatic or manual mode.
Press the activated Sea clutter key to switch
modes. The sea clutter setting can be entered on
the keypad or by using the cursor pad. Manual
settings range from 0 to 214 (0 to 255 on the
2kW unit). Automatic settings range from 0 to 50
(0 to 255 on the 2kW unit) and are unrelated to
the manual setting numbers.
Gain controls the strength of all
echoes, and should be adjusted
for a pleasing and useful image.
Higher values display brighter
echoes. Gain can be set to automatic or manual
mode. Press the activated Gain key to switch
modes. The gain setting can be entered on the
keypad or by using the cursor pad. Manual
settings range from 0 to 299. Automatic settings
range from 0 to 50 and are unrelated to the
manual setting numbers. (Settings for the 2kW
unit range from 0 to 255). Manual gain adjust-
ments will be different for each range scale.
Longer ranges generally require more gain.
If speckling appears on the screen, you may wish
to decrease the gain a bit or increase the sea
clutter setting.
Radar adjustments on Page 3
Press the following keys to adjust the radar
transmitter, the transparency (fade) of the radar
overlay on a chart, the radar trails, and the visi-
bility of echoes.
– 9 –
Setting user preferences
Press Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, and the Prefs...
key from the main radar screen to display menu
keys for controlling:
•range rings
•bearings
•echo colors
•sweep type
•fade (transparency)
Range rings
Range rings are concentric circles around your
vessel that can be used to measure distance from
your vessel. The spacing of the range rings is
If the Chart
screen’s in...
And the radar image is...
Overlaid on the chart Not overlaid
Browse mode The chart can’t rotate in Browse
mode. If you change the Control
key to Radar, the chart’s mode
automatically switches to vessel
mode and rotated as described
below).
The chart can’t rotate, but
the radar can rotate. Chart
and radar can have differ-
ent rotations.
Vessel mode Chart and radar both rotate
together. If you change the rotation
of one, the other automatically
changes to match.
Chart and radar can both
rotate. Chart and radar can
have different rotations.

– 10 –
shown in the upper left-hand corner of the radar
image (identified by “RR.”
Press Range Rings to turn the
range rings on or off.
Bearings
Press Bearings to display the fixed
EBL’s bearing digits as relative to:
•the vessel heading, or
•north (either true or magnetic north as
selected in the Navigation Setup screen)
Echo colors
Press Echo Colors to choose the
color scheme that will be used to
display radar echoes.
Sweep type
Press Sweep type to choose
between digital quadrant update
(displays data as it is received from
the radar) and analog sweep
(displays data in a way that simulates the appear-
ance of a traditional radar sweep line).
Fade
When you overlay a radar image
on a chart, you can choose
whether the radar should be
opaque (the chart doesn’t show
through) or transparent (the chart shows
Echo colors
Sweep
Analog
– 15 –
To make an adjustment to the radar (such as rain
clutter, or gain, etc.), use the following
procedure:
1. Press the key (such as Gain) to activate it (the
key changes from blue to red).
2. If a numerical value appears, you can change it
by:
•pressing the cursor pad up and down
(changes affect the display immediately
after the cursor pad is released), or
•using the numeric keys on the keypad to
enter the value, or
•in some cases, pressing the menu key
again
Radar adjustments on Page 2
Press the keys to adjust the mode, rain clutter,
sea clutter, or gain.
Press the Mode key to select the
operating mode as described on
page 11.
Rain Clutter controls the strength
of the clutter echoes returned
from rainfall or snow. Higher
values suppress more clutter. Rain
Clutter can be set to automatic or manual mode.
Press the activated Rain clutter key to switch
modes. The rain clutter setting can be entered on
the keypad or by using the cursor pad. Manual
settings range from 0 to 99 (0 to 8 on the 2kW
unit). Higher settings suppress more rain echoes.
Mode
Auto 1

– 14 –
4. If necessary, continue adjusting the image until it
looks the way you want it.
The modes of rain clutter and sea clutter are
always locked together: if the user sets one to
manual, the other automatically switches to
manual, and vice-versa.
More information on using these settings is
given Radar adjustments on Page 2, starting on
page 15.
Using the radar adjustment keys
Press Page 2 to display the first of
several pages of radar adjustments.
Most of these adjustments corre-
spond to conventional radar adjustments and are
used in the same way. All settings are retained
while the system is turned off.
Using the keys
Settings that have only a very few values are
adjusted by repeatedly pressing the menu key to
cycle through the available choices.
Settings with a large adjustment range are
entered with the keypad or cursor pad. The
menu key for these adjustments must be acti-
vated by pressing once, changing the key from
blue to red. (Any key that is red is active and will
respond immediately. A blue key must first be
pressed to activate it.)
Page 2
(adjustments)
– 11 –
through faintly). Press Fade repeatedly to select
Off (opaque), Medium, or High (maximum
transparency).
Operating modes
The Northstar radar can be set to any of several
operating modes. These modes control the gain
and clutter settings. For most situations, one of
the automatic modes will provides a good
picture, and the radar will normally adjust itself
for an excellent image. Range Rider mode can be
used to further improve the picture, if necessary.
The available modes are listed below:
•Auto 1 and Auto 2 are for normal, open-water
use. The two automatic modes can be
optimized for two different conditions.
•Harbor automatically optimizes the radar
settings for use in a harbor.
•Range Rider is a Northstar exclusive feature
recommended when manual settings are
required. The user can freely make any
needed gain and clutter adjustments, and
these settings are “remembered” for each
range. When the range is selected again, the
last-used gain and clutter settings for that
range is reapplied.
•Manual is a fully manual function in which
the user usually needs to adjust the settings
each time the range is changed.
While in Range Rider mode, the Sea State control
can be used to adjust the sea clutter for all
ranges (see Sea State, starting on page 17).

– 12 –
Automatic modes
This section does not apply to the 2kW radar.
In automatic mode, the unit continuously evalu-
ates its settings and adjusts them as necessary to
obtain the best image. Gain and clutter are eval-
uated separately in various areas of the screen,
and the settings are optimized for each area.
Breaking waves often cause stronger clutter
echoes on one side of the vessel than on the
other, and automatic mode can optimize the
image for each area.
Use the automatic settings to adjust the desired
appearance of the radar image to your prefer-
ence. The will radar attempt to maintain this
appearance over a variety of conditions by moni-
toring the signals and making adjustments as
conditions change.
You can store two sets of image appearance
settings: one called Auto 1 and one called Auto 2.
Automatic settings are stored individually for
each range.
Fine tuning automatic settings
This section does not apply to the 2kW radar.
The appearance settings should have been
adjusted during installation, but you may wish to
fine tune them as follows:
To set the appearance of the sea clutter or gain
controls for Auto1, Auto2 and Harbor modes:
1. From the main radar page, press Page 2.
2. Press Mode if necessary until it reads Auto 1,
Auto 2, or Harbor.
– 13 –
3. Set the Sea clutter or Gain to automatic if nec-
essary by pressing the key so that it reads
“Auto.”
4. Use the keypad or cursor pad to enter a new
value to change the appearance.
5. If necessary, continue adjusting the image until it
looks the way you want it.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each range setting
Manual settings
Even if the mode is set to automatic, any gain or
clutter setting can be overridden and set to
manual. Each adjustment key is labeled Manual
or Auto. Simply press each key to change its
mode.
Manual settings directly control Rain Clutter, Sea
Clutter and Gain. They may be applied in either
of two ways, depending on the setting of the
Mode control on this screen.
•Mode = Manual: settings are applied directly
as entered
•Mode = Range Rider: settings are saved
separately for each range, and the last-used
settings for each range are reapplied when
that range is selected.
To set the appearance of the sea clutter or gain
controls in manual mode:
1. From the main radar page, press Page 2.
2. Press Mode if necessary until it reads Range
Rider or Manual.
3. Use the keypad or cursor pad to enter a new
value to change the appearance.