The echo sounder is a very simple instrument to use, press E to show the following screen:
This instrument shows you an image of the sea bottom below you, and also detects marine life or static objects that are below your boat, on the horizontal axis the graph shows the time, and on the vertical axis the graph shows the depth and type of object detected.
A typical bottom is painted with red and yellow colors, and other objects and animals are painted in black.
To stop the update and freeze the picture press "Lock", to change the maximal depth of detection slide the depth slider up or down, to reset the depth to the default value for this scenery press "Zoom".
You can use this instrument to conduct a virtual treasure hunt, each object or animal below your point of view will show upon the display, the instrument works the same way if you are above or below water.
Press G to show the GPS dialog, this dialog has several modes which are typical to a modern GPS with map, the layout used is similar to the one used in various Garmin hand held devices.
Switching between modes is done by pressing the "NAV" button.
The Time screen - this screen shows the time of day, time to go until the next waypoint is reached, estimated time at next, time elapsed since start of navigation, distance to go until next waypoint and total distance passed since start of navigation.
You can reset the trip and the elapsed time using the menu of the GPS.
The position screen - this screen shows your position, speed, elevation, time of day, date, heading, bearing to next waypoint, distance to next waypoint and total distance traveled.
The compass screen - this screen shows your bearing to next waypoint, your distance to next waypoint, your heading and your speed, the rosette shows the compass and the next waypoint relative to you, the needle shows the direction to the waypoint.
The map screen - this screen shows you the map, upon it your position is marked as a black triangle pointing to your heading, the waypoints and route are seen also as they are on the main map of the program.
You can pan in all directions and zoom in and out to see the area of interest on the map.
The goto screen - If you
wish to set your next waypoint press "GOTO" button.
If you wish to set man overboard waypoint, press "GOTO" and then "MOB".
The mark screen - You can mark your position as a new waypoint by pressing "MARK" and "ENTER".
The menu screen - You can also perform other functions using the "MENU" button.
To accept a menu command press "ENTER", to cancel press
"QUIT".
Press R to show the radar dialog, this dialog has several modes which are typical to a modern radar instruments.
Adjusting position - to move the map use the four arrows at the top, this also puts the radar in the off center position and you see the "OFF-C" appear on the bottom right of the screen.
The bottom side of the screen shows your position, speed and heading, when the map is in off center mode, the position is the position of the center of the map and not the position of your boat.
To return the map to the center, press the "CTR" button.
Adjusting range - to adjust the range of the radar press the "Z OUT", "Z IN" buttons, you will see the range appear on the top left side of the screen, and the spacing between each ring in nautical miles.
Adjusting zoom - after you press the arrows or the zoom buttons the knob goes into zoom mode, drag the mouse over the knob to control the zoom level, the zoom is shown on the lower right side of the screen.
Selecting modes - the radar map has four modes of display:
North up - the map is pointing north.
Head up - the map is pointing where your ship is heading.
Track up - the map is pointing to the next waypoint.
True motion - the map points up, and the land becomes static, your ship is moving just as it would move on a regular static map.
The selected mode is shown on the top left side of the screen, the white line going from the center of the map, is the heading line, it shows your heading.
Measuring azimuth and distance - the radar can measure azimuth and distance from the center of the map to any point on the map, to do so use the "EBL" and "VRM" buttons.
The "EBL" bottun shows the yellow EBL line on the map, and sets the knob to EBL mode, you can adjust this line using the knob and read the angle on the bottom part of the screen.
The "VRM" button shows the yellow VRM circle on the map, and sets the knob to VRM mode, you can adjust this circle using the knob and read the distance on the bottom part of the screen.
EBL and VRM can be used together to get the exact distance and azimuth to a target.
Acquiring targets - when the radar identifies a moving object as a target this target becomes acquired, you can acquire any boat including your own and see its information displayed on the upper right corner of the screen.
The information displayed is: the name of this boat, the range to this boat, the bearing to this boat, the course it is traveling, the speed it is traveling, the length of track shown, the closest point of approach, the time to closes point of the approach.
When you acquire a target the knob goes to track mode, you can adjust the length of visible track line by adjusting the knob, the track line is shown in green behind the targets, and its length is measured in minutes.
Measuring collisions - When two boats head towards each other and their courses are not parallel their courses will intersect, the boats will become closer and closer until they collide of pass by each other.
The closest distance between the boats is calculated by the radar and is shown on the upper left area as closest point of approach and time to reach this point.
When the closest point between the two boats ( TCPA ) is less than the radius of the two boats combined there will be a collision between these boats, the time to this collision is shown as time to closest point of approach ( TCPA ).
The image above shows such possible collision about to take place in 74 seconds.
Man overboard - when you press the "MOB" button, a yellow rectangle will appear on the map at the same position you are in, this will allow you to return to the same point, your path will also be shown in green.
