Northstar/Navman Fishfinders

[OWorld]

Hi Guys,

I have just replaced a variety of units on my boat with a Navman 8120 or Northstar M121 and I must say that I am really happy with the unit and the support from Navico. When I got the unit it had an old firmware and in trying to update it myself I locked the unit. Sent it to Navico in Sydney and the swapped it for me with a new unit with the latest firmware. I have also installed a Smartcraft Dual Engine Gateway and got rid of all my 2 Optimax Gauges and I can now fully monitor both engines from this unit, including fuel flow with fuel curves and Engine Fault reporting, etc. The sounder seems very good though I will need to add some new Transducers in the near future as I am currently running the standard 50/200 one and mainly still running my very old and reliable X16. The unit has so many features that I have not yet used them all or set them all up to their full potential. Really happy with it!

Opti

[garman1]

I have the smaller version of yours, 8084, click on my avatar and then look in my "photo gallery", you will see the installed unit in my boat. Did Navico let you know when/if they will be forthcoming with a new card/update with green zones incorporated???

I have just got the fuel side of the navman sorted out....hopefulluy. If all keeps going it is an accurate peice of gear, when calibrated.

There are so many ways of splitting the screens up, you can watch the sounder, fuel guage, highway view, and watch a video all on the same screen at the same time............................if you wanted to..................

Coontakinta, I wonder if you could pass on some of the settings etc, they may give me a bit of a leg up on getting the most out of my unit. Lets face it there isn't many navman user sites to log into, to get the best out of your unit? Any tips on setup might be useful.....many thanks...in advance

[OWorld]

Hi Garry,

No, I have not analyzed or discussed this Green Zones isues with them. I would have thought though that this would be more a C-Map Update than a Navico one! Don't you reckon? I am sure this can be organized via C-Map at a small charge and the update will also include any chart updates that have been made available since your current version.

As soon as I get a chance I will make a Video of my unit working that displays most of the features and upload it onto Youtube.

One thing I am having problem with my unit is the fact that if I setup a value of Fuel in my Tanks the unit counts down perfectly and displays range etc. But if I switch the unit off and restart it the Tank values i reset to zero and I loose the Fuel remaning value in the tanks. The unit does not loose/reset the total fuel used. I do not have fuel senders on the tanks, this could be why this is happening, but I am also wondering if this could be due to the way I have rigged the power in it. This unit allows different ways to be rigged including an option to be connected to the Ignition. How is your rigged? and have you used the feature of filling the tanks and are ou experiencing a similiar problem? Also what engine do you have?

Opti

[garman1]

hi opti

You are right, the upgrade will be with c-map not navico.

Interesting problem with the fuel display..... I have a 40 hp 2 stroke Yamaha, with the optional fuel sender. I don't have the navman unit set up for automatic shutdown etc or thrue the ignition. Because the engine isn't a mercury I miss out on all the xtra info that you get, like rpm, temp, fuel usage graph etc.

when i am looking at the fuel guage and bring up options, I select fill and then clear fuel used. So I am set up for 23 litres of fuel (no underfloor tank) / none used and 5 litre alarm setup.

Calibrating the flow sensor has taken a while to work out, but I think I have it sussed and the last time I went out everything worked a treat....so far.

[jkhbay]

I've got an Explorer 457 and an Explorer 538 (Old Navman 5380) and a Navman fuel probe.

The Explorer 457 has had fogging issues. It was returned and replaced by a second unit which also had fogging. This unit has now gone belly up and is now back at Navman for a warranty repair. Can't fault the good customer service/assistance from the Navman phone support. Maybe I've just had a bad run with the 457.

The 538 GPS has been reliable and I've had no issues with the fuel probe setup or calibration and its fairly accurate as to fuel usage. Only issue I've had was the 457 interfering with the GPS and moving the antenna (help from an Ausfish forum) fixed this issue. The GPS occassionaly locked up but cleaning the map card (tip from Navman support) fixed this issue.

Just purchased a Lowrance HDS5 and believe that the viewability (daylight) is far superior to the 457 and 538 as the 538 is to hard for me to read in "non-smooth" conditions or in bright/glare conditions. The HDS5 was good value.

[Coontakinta]

Garmin I will try to remember, the next time I'm out, to get some settings for you.

Opti, I dont think the problem you are having with the fuel data is related to you not having senders in the tank. I too am running the gauge without a fuel gauge / sender in the tank and am not experiencing the same problem.

[OWorld]

Coonta,

I have just discovered that I might be able to fix the issue by changing the way I have connected the Power to the Unit to Auto Power and connecting to the engines Ignition. I will test this sometime this week and keep you all posted.

Thanks again,
Opti

[garman1]

It's nice to see some info posted about navman gear........I don't think there are many navman units used in the ausfish family. Especially in the larger sizes of navman units.

[Coontakinta]

It's nice to see some info posted about navman gear........I don't think there are many navman units used in the ausfish family. Especially in the larger sizes of navman units.

I think there is plenty out there Gary, judging by the number of knockers. I was one of them believe me . Initially I rued the day I set eyes on the stuff and whished I'd gone with my prefered Lowrance gear as that was what I was using up to that point. But I have to confess since being "educated" in a few things I'm starting to find that the units are worth the money I spent on them and in my case at least its more a case of poor after sales service / back up than a fault with the units themselves. I will say also however, that in the past, it seems that it was a bit of a gamble with some of their stuff as to how well it would work outta the box. Whether this was a quality issue with stuff that wa coming out of Thailand, which is where my gear was made, or something else I dont know, but I'm quite happy with the gear now.

Now on a brighter note Gary you asked me about settings in an earlier post. I was fortunate to have been out last night, all be it for nil result and remembered to have a look at somethings for you. I'm not sure what settings you are seeking,but I can tell you that I run the gain @ around 6-8. The unit ALWAYS runs in manual and @200hz. Our gulf is relatively shallow and 50hz is not required here. Anything else you want just ask and I'll endevour to get it for you. Hope to be out there again this weekend

[OWorld]

Hi Coonta, I think Saturday should be ok if you are happy to stick on the Adelaide side of the Gulf, it should be a 15 knts NE which on the Adelaide side should keep things fairly calm. Probably not good enough for me to head down to KI, I might do some maintenance this week end and maybe do some more fine tuning of the 8120 and take some pictures/video.

Have fun on the week end, Opti.

[garman1]

I am glad I bought my gear after the bad stuff went thrue then.....lol

I would have loved to buy a side scan in hindsight but I guess that applies in a lot of situations.

I will have a look at my settings and see about the ones that I am iffy on.