Welcome - NorthStar 961X Operation And Reference Manual

Chapter 1 - Quick Start

Welcome

Overview
Page 1-2
Congratulations on your purchase of the Northstar 961X or
961XD Color GPS/Raster Charting System. The 961 is a
high-performance, easy-to-use, full-featured GPS chart naviga-
tor that meets your marine navigation needs in a comprehen-
sive and logical manner. Wherever you are, the 961 helps
guide you effortlessly to your next location. The 961X 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 961's accuracy. For enhanced accuracy, the
Northstar 961XD combines GPS navigation with DGPS capabil-
ity using an internal, fully automatic differential receiver. The
Northstar 961X also can be interfaced with other equipment;
for details about interfacing the 961, see the Northstar 961
GPS Chart Navigator Installation Manual.
Both the 961X and the 961XD have an internal hard drive
inside their processors, and a CD-ROM drive for installing soft-
ware updates and charts from different chart CDs onto this
hard drive. The hard drive stores 1000 routes and 2000 way-
points, and enough chart data to cover an entire coastline.
Using either BSB charts (Maptech or NDI's ChartKit/ChartPack
charts) or the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office's (UKHO)
Admiralty Raster Chart Service (ARCS) charts, the 961 can pro-
vide you with truly worldwide chart coverage. With its large
color screen, the Northstar 961 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 961 offers high-definition, high-speed CHART
screens; loran compatibility; tide data up to the year 2099; a
currents overlay, and many other navigation functions. For a
list of the 961's major features, see "System overview" starting
on page 2-2. For a list of 961 specifications, see "961 Features
and Specifications" starting on page A-1.
The 961 anticipates your most common requests: Accessing
most functions requires pushing only one or two buttons. By
reducing the time and attention required to navigate, you can
961 Operations and Reference Manual Rev. D