northstar gps 60 navigator

[Richard Cozzolino]

Hi I'm a new Comanche owner so far so good it came with a north star gps-60 navigator they are not supported any more and the question is can I use it for VFR to airports already in its data base and if so how do I get it to acquire satellites its always searching. I don't have the directions for it and I cant figure out how to make it work. so before I buy a manual for it I thought I would see if any of my fellow Comanche owners have any thoughts. Thanks for any help. Rich

[N3322G]

Rich,

Not familiar with the GPS but have had success at googling companies and often they have the material in the tech section on thier website.

Don't know your background but do recommend getting specific Comanche education on systems. I still learn even after 47 years of having the Twin in the family. http://comanchetraining.webs.com/ There is one in April.

Hope this helps.

[LeWayne Garrison]

North Star made, probably, the premier Loran receivers back in the day. They were highly coveted and priced accordingly. When GPS came along they made the M3 (I think) that was pin-compatible and same logic system as the Loran units. It was a good set I believe, but NorthStar never really made a successful jump to the GPS market. Probably due to Garmin. I have what I think is a complete manual in PDF format. If you want it send me your e-mail address and i will forward it to you.

[comancheeflyer]

sorry,but that is caused by the gps receiver being bad or the antenna is not working. there is no repairs for the unit not working but if the antenna is bad, there are replacements.

[Richard Cozzolino]

Thank You for the replies, good news is it started working all by it self I just have to learn how to operate it with the data base it has. I will also look into the Comanche education in April.
RCozz

[comancheeflyer]

sorry, but there is now way to update the data base and make it work correctly. the best way is to replace the unit with a was gps and you will be better of with the new unit.

[Michael Bryant]

I am not familiar with the Northstar GPS, but I do know that my Garmin GNC300XL will work fine without a database update (I have forgotten to download update for a few mostly local VFR flights). However, there is no guarantee the position of waypoints in the database will match their current accepted position. We fly IFR so we generally keep the database up to date (see below).

According to the AIM there is no requirement that GPS databases be current for VFR flight. It is recommended that you verify waypoints you use for navigation. Though not explicitly spelled out, to me this means crosscheck the Lat/Long of every point you use for navigation; e.g. VORs, intersections, waypoints, etc. This could be quite the task for a long flight or in the event of a reroute. It also means that any stored data such as frequencies, runways, runway data such as length and width, airport elevation, etc. should be verified.

It is a requirement that the database be current for IFR operations. To me, this means only using the outdated GPS database for positional awareness and no navigation that cannot be backed up with other sources on board (VOR, NDB, ILS).

[Richard Cozzolino]

It would be great if you can email me the directions or any other information about it richcozz@comcast.net thanks