Coastal Navigator CStar

[Paul Brinkley]

Coastal Navigator CStar
I bought a used boat and it contained the depth sounder noted above. Does anyone know who made this, or where I might look to find a manual? There was no paperwork with it, and all of the Google searches only locate one for sale on Ebay. Any info would be appreciated.

[Craig LaForce]

Maybe this link?

thats the only promising google hit I found.
Not a depth finder though, looks like a transmissivity meter to measure water clarity or lack thereof.

http://www.wetlabs.com/products/cstar/cstar.htm

[Bob McLellan]

Contact the person selling the one on ebay. If they have a manual, they may even get it copied for you.

[Moe]

Something like this?

http://seattle.craigslist.org/kit/boa/534923400.html

Best I can find is this company listing:

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/product ... -page.html

Coastal Navigator Corp.
Private Company, Headquarters Location
18644 142nd Ave. NE, Woodinville, WA, United States
(206)481-5383, fax,
Primary SIC: Search Navigation & Aeronautical Sys, Primary NAICS: Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing
Description: Manufacturing: Search Navigation & Aeronautical Sys

[Paul Brinkley]

got a web address on Coastal Navigator Corp...and the site came up in Japanese! I'll just have to try some trial and error in operating this apparently outdated set.

[kmclemore]

Coastal Navigator seems to have died on the web around 2001. The Wayback machine does, however, have their website (the site was later taken over by a Japanese owner according to 'WhoIs'):

http://web.archive.org/web/200009020036 ... index.html

Not sure if this is your product, but this is the product they were flogging back then...

What is the Sonalarm anyway?
The Sonalarm is the first scanning sonar designed specifically for the pleasure boater. It uses two miniature motors and a gimbal mechanism to aim a transducer in any direction. It's called a searchlight scanning sonar because it works just like the big searchlights they use to announce a grand opening. The military and large fishing boats have used this type of sonar for many years. They were large and expensive. Some were large enough to sink a small boat. Even now, they range from $6,000 to over $50,000. Miniaturization and modern electronics have allowed Coastal Navigator to create the Sonalarm and sell it for under $2,000.

Why would I want one?
Have you ever sat off the entrance to an unfamiliar harbor or passage and wondered exactly how to approach it? Now you can make a quick survey with Sonalarm and stop wondering. How about finding fish without having to go in circles until you happen to drive over them. Let Sonalarm make the circles while you sit in one place.

How is the Sonalarm different from the other scanning sonars?
Traditional fish finders and depth finders don't sweep their beam at all. It just points straight down. You can only see directly under the boat. It gives you a one dimensional view of the bottom.

The low cost scanning sonars sweep their sound beam in one direction. They either sweep from ahead to straight down or they sweep from side to side. While this is an improvement over the depth finder, it still limits where you can look. To view an obstacle, you have to point your boat directly at it (a chilling thought!)

Sonalarm sweeps in two directions. It sweep horizontally and vertically (or even both simutaneously). By combining a 360 degree horizontal sweep with a 90 degree vertical sweep, Sonalarm provides full underwater coverage. No other sonar under $5,000 can make that claim.

There's also a long list of dealers, who may still have manuals, here:
http://web.archive.org/web/200009020036 ... ealers.htm

Going by the email address of the webmaster on the old site, who appears to be a "khammerquist", a web search of common "K" first names reveals that it is likely to be "Ken" Hammerquist, who appears to now be the treasurer and webmaster for the Roche Harbor Yacht Club in Seattle, WA in 2002 (there's his phone number at the link), and his wife's name is/was Julie. He likely can shed some light on the demise of the company and any former owners or employees who may have manuals or information.

Several have been sold or are for sale on eBay:

Auction #1 (still for sale, with manual)
Auction #2 (sold, did not include manual)

There appear to be a couple of versions... the "C/Star" and the "C/Star-D", with what look like some minor changes to the controls:


Here's some other addresses I found... not sure if they are related to the original company....

Coastal Navigator Corp
North Reading, MA
Phone: 508 664-1038

Coastal Navigator, Inc
Five Lyberry Wy
Westford, MA
Phone: 508 692-3000

[Paul Brinkley]

Thanks again for your efforts, particularly to kmclemore. List of dealers did not include any currently valid email addresses. Have emailed the former webmaster, hope to hear from him. If not, I'll just play with the thing and see if I can make it work. I do appreciate the efforts you guys went to to try to help me. Hope I can return the favor some time. Fair winds... - Paul

[white74]

http://l-36.com/manuals.php
http://l-36.com/manuals/Coastal-Navigat ... lation.pdf
http://l-36.com/manuals/Coastal-Navigat ... Manual.pdf