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Explorer 710 VHF
VHF Marine Radio
Operation and Installation Manual
www.northstarnav.com
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IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION Please read carefully before installation and use. This is the safety alert symbol. It is used to alert you to potential personal injury hazards, Obey all safety messages that follow this symbol to avoid possible injury or death. WARNING indicates a potentially hazardous situation which, if not avoided, could result in death or serious injury CAUTION indicates a potentially hazardous situation which, if not avoided, could result in minor or moderate injury. CAUTI
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Contents Section 1 - General Information ............................................................................................................... 5 1-1 Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1-2 Customizing your Northstar VHF Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1-3 How to Display and Navigate Menus . . . . . . .
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Section 6 - Distress Calls .......................................................................................................................... 32 6-1 Sending a Distress Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 6-2 Receiving a Distress Call (DISTRESS!) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 6-3 Distress Acknowledgement (distress ack) or Relay . . . . .
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Section 1 - General Information 1-1 Features Congratulations on your purchase of a Northstar VHF 710US, or 710EU marine band VHF radio. All of these models provide the following useful features: • Prominent channel display • Adjustable contrast settings for the LCD • Adjustable keypad backlighting for easy night-time use • Waterproof and submersible to comply with JIS-7 • GPS latitude and longitude (LL) and time display (when connected to a GPS) • Choice of High or Low (25 W or 1 W) tra
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1-3 How to Display and Navigate Menus 1. Hold down MENU (or CALL/MENU). Note that only four menu items can be displayed at any one time on the screen. 2. Press + CH - to scroll up and down the menu until the cursor is positioned at the desired option. Press ENT to display that option. 3. Make any entries or changes as explained in the following section. 4. Press ENT to confirm changes. Otherwise, press ESC to keep the original entry. 5. Press ESC to backup one screen or exit. Any changes
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Symbol Meaning TX Transmitting. HI LO Transmission power. High (HI) 25 W or Low (LO) 1 W. WX Weather channel. WX ALT Weather Alert. Alarm beeps will sound. VHF 710US only. BUSY Receiver busy with an incoming signal. PRI Priority channel is selected. D Duplex operation. Otherwise, blank for Simplex operation. LOCAL Local calling is selected. Otherwise, blank for distance calling. DSC DSC capability is available. VHF 710US and VHF 710EU only. Indicates an incoming DSC call, or blinks to notify
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1-6 Basic Operation and Key Functions All possible keys and their functions are listed. Note that some of the keys are not available depending on your Northstar VHF radio model. Key Function VOL/PWR Volume and Power. Turn clockwise to power on. Continue to turn until a comfortable volume is reached. VOL/PWR will also adjust the settings of an external speaker, if connected. SQL Squelch or Threshold Level. Sets the threshold level for the minimum receiver signal. Turn fully counterclockwise
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H/L Transmission Power. High (HI) 25 W or Low (LO) 1 W. Press to toggle between high or low transmission power for the entire channel bank. The HI or LO selection is shown on the LCD. Some channels allow only low power transmissions. Error beeps will sound if the power transmission setting is incorrect. Some channels allow only low power transmissions initially, but can be changed to high power by holding down H/L and PTT at the same time. See Appendix C for a complete listing of channel
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Press + or - to step through the available channels one at a time, or hold down to scroll rapidly through all the available channels. See Appendix C for a listing of channel charts. Alphanumeric Entry. This key can also be used for menu selection and for alpha- numeric entry. Press + or - to scroll the cursor up or down menu options when navigating menus. When editing an item containing only numbers, press - to count through the numbers or hold down to scroll rapidly. To enter a charac
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Section 2 - The Radio Menu (MENU) 2-1 Radio Menu Options (Menu) The following options are available through MENU (or CALL/MENU): Maintain your buddy list. Set radio sensitivity. BUDDY LIST See Section 2-2. See Section 2-3. LOCAL/DIST BACKLIGHT Set backlight level. Set contrast level. CONTRAST See Section 2-4. See Section 2-4. Set position & UTC manually. GPS/DATA See Section 2-5. MANUAL SETTING Set local time and time format. See Section 2-5. DSC SETUP USER MMSID DSC Setup Menu. GROUP S
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2-2 Maintain Your Buddy List (BUDDY LIST) VHF 710US and VHF 710EU only. MENU SELECT Use the Buddy List to store the names and associated MMSIDs of 20 favourite people. >BUDDY LIST Names are stored in the order of entry, with the most recent entry shown fi rst. LOCAL/DIST The following sections show to use BUDDY LIST to add, edit, and delete entries on BACKLIGHT your buddy list. Section 3 explains how to call a buddy. 2-2-1 Add an Entry BUDDY LIST ENTER NAME ENTER NAME BOB > MANUAL NEW
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2-2-3 Delete an Entry BUDDY LIST BUDDY LIST TOM DELETE BUDDY > MANUAL NEW MANUAL NEW EDIT TOM ALEX ALEX > DELETE > YES TOM > TOM NO 1. Select BUDDY LIST. Press ENT to display the list of entries. 2. Scroll down (if required) to the entry you want to delete and press ENT. 3. Select DELETE then select YES. 4. The entry is deleted immediately and the buddy list is displayed again. 2-3 Local or Distance Sensitivity (LOCAL/DIST) Use LOCAL/DIST to improve the sensitivity of the receiver e
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2-4-1 Set the Backlighting Level 1. Select BACKLIGHT. BACKLIGHT 2. Select a comfortable backlight level using + or - to change the setting. LO HI 3. Press ENT to enable the setting and return to the menu. Note that the DISTRESS key backlighting cannot be switched off . 2.4.2 Set the Contrast Level 1. Select CONTRAST. CONTRAST 2. Select a comfortable contrast level using + or - to change the setting. LO HI 3. Press ENT to enable the setting and return to the menu. 2-5 GPS Data and T
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WORLD MAP OF TIME ZONES International Date Line International Date Line 2-5-2 Local Time (TIME OFFSET) The local time can be set by entering the time off set between UTC and local time as follows. GPS/DATA GPS/DATA TIME OFFSET MANUAL > TIME OFFSET >+01:30 >SETTING TIME FORMAT TIME DISPLY 02:30PM LOC 1. Select GPS/DATA, then SETTING. 2. Select TIME OFFSET to enter the diff erence between UTC and local time. Half hour increments can be used with a maximum off set of ±13 hours. In this exam
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2-5-3 Time Format Options (TIME FORMAT) Time can be shown in 12 or 24 hour format. GPS/DATA SETTING TIME FORMAT MANUAL TIME OFFSET > 12 Hr > SETTING > TIME FORMAT 24 Hr TIME DISPLAY 07:15AM LOC 1. Select GPS/DATA, then SETTING. 2. Select TIME FORMAT. 3. Select 12 Hr or 24 Hr as desired. In this example, 12 hour format has been selected and so the LCD shows the AM or PM suffix. 2-5-4 Time Display Options (TIME DISPLAY) If you have entered the time manually as described in the previou
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2-5-7 GPS Alert Options (ALERT) The GPS alert is usually set to ON (on) so that if the GPS navigation receiver is disconnected, the alarm sounds. 1. Select GPS/DATA, then SETTING. GPS/DATA GPS ALERT 2. Select GPS ALERT. LL DISPLY > ON 3. Select ON (on) or OFF (off ) as desired. COG/SOG OFF > GPS ALERT 2-6 GPS Simulator (SIMULATOR) The GPS Simulator is set to OFF whenever the radio is turned ON or whenever real GPS data is available through the COM port. However, if you want to test i
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Section 3 - Radio Setup Menu (RADIO SETUP) 3-1 Radio Setup Menu (RADIO SETUP) Edit or delete channel names. CH NAME See Section 3-2. Set the volume level of the incoming call notifi cation beeps. RING VOLUME See section 3-3. Set the volume level of the beeps. BEEP VOLUME See section 3-3. Switch ON/OFF (on/off ) the radio’s internal speakers. INT SPEAKER See section 3-4. Selects the operation of Dual or Tri watch scanning. WATCH MODE See section 3-5. (Selects if the WX Alert scanning mode is
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3-3 RING & BEEP Volume (RING VOL) and (BEEP VOL) Set the volume level of the incoming signal beeps (RING VOLUME) and/or the error and warning beeps (BEEP VOLUME) to HIGH (high) or LOW (low) as follows: RADIO SETUP RING VOLUME BEEP VOLUME > CH NAME > HIGH > HIGH RING VOLUME LOW LOW BEEP VOLUME OFF 1. Select RADIO SETUP, then RING VOLUME or BEEP VOLUME as appropriate. 2. Select a HIGH or LOW volume. (It is possible to turn the beeps off completely by selecting BEEP VOLUME t
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3-6 Weather Alert (Wx ALERT) VHF 710US only. The NOAA provides several weather forecast channels on USA and Canadian channel banks. If severe weather such as storms or hurricanes are forecast, the NOAA broadcasts a weather alert on 1050 Hz. You can set up the radio to pick up weather alerts, as follows: 1. Select RADIO SETUP, then WX ALERT. RADIO SETUP WX ALERT 2. Select ON (on) or OFF (off ) then press ENT to INT SPEAKER ON enable the setting and return to the menu. WATCH MODE > OFF
