Lowrance electronic X-40 User's Manual
Contents
1. rte LOWER LIMIT To change the lower limit first make certain the word AUTO is off at thetop of thescreen Thisindicates that the automatic mode is off Note This also disables the automatic sensitivity function If the automatic mode is on press the AUTO key once to disable it Next press the lower limit desired from 10 to 9999 feet and press the LOWER LIMIT key The display will immediately Change to the new depth range and display thenewlowerlimit at thebottom of the screen For example to set the range from 0 to 80 feet press 8 0 LOWER LIMIT NOTE The maximum lower limit the X 40 can display is 9999 feet However the actual depth that it can reach Is dependent on water and bottom conditions plus the quality of the transducer installation When the X 40 changes ranges while in the automatic mode the lower limit selected will always be a multiple of ten In other words the lower limit will be a number that ends in zero such as ten twenty forty one hundred etc UPPER LIMIT Often it s desirable to expand or ZOOM a section of the display to show more detail You can do this on the X 40 by using the Upper Limit feature To change the display s upper limit first make certain that AUTO is off Then simply press the desired depth any number between 0 and 9989 feet Next press the UPPER LIMIT key The only restriction on the upper limitis that it must not be closer tothe lower limi2. CLEAR The CLEAR key erases the last entry can also erase other features as you will see later SENSITIVITY GRAYLINE SET CHART STOP LOM DIGITAL SONAH SHALLOW peep ALARM ALARM ZONE ALARM aire ser ON OFF These keys turn the X 40 and off Toturniton simply press the ON key To turn it off press the OFF key Pressing any key generates a tone or This is the X 40 s way of telling you that it has accepted a com SPARE PARTS The following is a list of the most commonly needed parts To order simply write the list of parts required on a slip of paper and mall it to the above address Note Price subject to change without notice Part Number 151 0071 00 003 2249 00 003 2045 00 003 2181 00 988 0105 09 SPECIFICATIONS Dimensions Weight Transmitter Frequency Output Power Mem Operating Voltage Number of pixels Depth Capability Description Power Cable Gimbal Knobs w washers 2 ea Gimbal Bracket Fuse Holder w 3 amp fuse Owner s Manual 5 3 4 H x 8 3 16 W x 2 5 8 D 13 4 pounds 192 kHz 600 watts peak to peak typical 75 watts RMS gt 85 db temperature stabilized 200 ma lights off 500 ma lights on 9 15 vdc 192 x 64 vertical x horizontal 12 288 Total 300 500 typical with 20 degree transducer 500 700 typical with 8 degree transducer 37 BAIT FISH The importance o
3. the fish to develop the arch Usually this means trolling at very slow speeds with the main engine in gear at a minimum throttle setting The depth of the water will affect the size and shape ofthe fisharch due to the cone angle diameter For example if the cone passes overafish in shallow water the signal displayed on the X 40 may not arch at all This is due to the narrow cone diameter and the resolution limitations of the display Compared to a paper graph a X 40 cannot showas fine of detail The reason for this is the pixels dots on the screen are much larger than a paper graph s markings Therefore the X 40 cannot show fish arches as well asa graph Plus it requiresa bit more work initiallyto read and interpret the screen than a paper graph Very small fish probably will not arch at all Medium sized fish will show a partial arch or a shape similar to an arch if they re in deep water Large fish will arch but turnthesensitivity upin deeperwater to seethearch Because of water conditions such as heavy surface clutter thermoclines etc the sensitivity sometimes cannot be increased enough to get fish arches One of the best ways to get fish arches is to expand or zoom a segment of the water For example 40 to 60 feet The smaller the segment the better the screen resolution will be Then turn up the sensitivity as high as possible without getting too much noise on the screen In medium to deep water this method should wor
4. AUTO key from AUTO to LIGHT CLEAR Ifyou makea mistake and press akey otherthan what youwanted wait six seconds The X 40 will automatically erase the entry OFF For example if you wish to turn on the lights the proper keys to press are 2nd AUTO However suppose you accidentally pressed the 0 key instead of the 2nd key Pressing the CLEAR key erases the 0 allowing you to start over The CLEAR key also erases or turns off other functions 4 of the X 40 including SCC Discrimination and Upper Limit When other functions are described in this manual the CLEAR key s Operation will be explained in detail AUTO Turning the X 40 onenables the automatic mode To switch tothe manual mode press the AUTO keylocated above the ON key Pressingthe AUTOkeyerases the word AUTOat the top of thedisplay This cancels auto sensitivity and ranging giving you complete manual control of the unit Return the X 40 to automatic at any time by pressing the AUTO key again SENSITIVITY Secs SENSITIVITY When first turned on the X 40 is inthe AUTO SEARCH mode The micro computer automatically adjusts the sensitivity and range to findand lock onto the bottom You can leave the sensitivity in the automatic mode or manually adjust it to suit conditions A horizontal bar at the top of the screen displays the sensitivity level When the sensitivity Is at its minimum level the bar is very short Increasing the sensitivity causes the bar to trav
5. Turning the X 40 automati cally sets SCC to level 1 To change to a different level simply enter a number from 0 to 10 then press 2nd SCC or simply press 2nd SCC The SCC menu appears with the level of SCC currently in use Use the arrow keys inthe keyboard s zone alarm section to increase or decrease the SCC level Press the CLEAR key to erase the menu or wait several seconds after 20 ZONE ALARM ZONEALARM setthe Zone Alarm press the SHALLOW SET key inthe ZONE ALARM section ofthe keyboard Theletters ZA display in the lower left corner of the screen A vertical bar also displays on the left side ofthe screen for six seconds This is the Zone Alarm s window Any echo that appears on the right side ofthe screen between the top and bottom of this bar will sound the alarm Adjust both the shallow and deep ends of this bar to make a smaller or larger alarm win dow To adjust the shallow top alarm press the SHALLOW SET key The letters ZA display on thescreen A vertical bar also displays on the far left side of the screen This is the zone alarm s window Any echo that appears between the top and bottom of this bar will sound the alarm To adjust the top of the bar press the up arrow key to move the top ofthe alarmwindow up orthe down arrow key to move the top of the bar deeper The longer you hold the arrow key the faster the end of the zone alarm bar will tra
6. When the X 40 is in the auto matic mode the word AUTO displays immediately below the sensitivity 2nd This allows keys to have more than one function Notice that some of the keys have a small word printed in white below its pri mary function label The white lettering designates a 2nd function Activate a 2nd function by first pressing the 2nd key Then press a key which has the second function printed in white For example the AUTOkey also has the word LIGHT printed on it LIGHT is the AUTO key s second function Press the 2nd key then the AUTO key to turn the tights on Note The X 40 has many more features than the ones just dis cussed Fora detailed look at the X 40 s features and opera tion Instructions read the Op eration section of this manual DISPLAY INTERPRETATION Now let s look at the display First we ll turn onthe X 40 by pressing the ON key The lights will flash for six seconds The chart scrolls the return echoes across the screen and the digital searches for the bottom depth It s flashes 0 until it finds the bottom Once it finds the bottom the depth is displayed Here the X 40 has found the bottom at 48 feet The range is zeroto 80 feet It automatically chooses a lower limit that places the bottom sig nal near the bottom of the display The bar at the top of the dis play is the sensitivity bar It sh
7. cone angle allows you to see more of the underwater world In 15 feet of water the 20 degree cone covers anarea about six feet across The 8 degree transducer covers only about a two foot circle 2 SCALE There are ten scale markers printed on both sides of the display This helps to determine the depth of atarget For example if the range is 0 to 60 feet then each mark is equal to six feet Ifa target such as a fish is next to the 5th line then itis 30 feet deep 5 lines times 6 feet 30 feet To make it easier to use the depth scale use ranges in multiples of ten Le 10 20 30 etc age MARKERS RANGE When the X 40 is in auto matic the ranges change to keep the bottom signal on the display as the bottom depth varies At times however it may be desirable to expand the range or zoom in on a target The upper limit adjusts from 0 to 9989 feet and the lower limit from 10 to9999 feet Any combina tion of the two limits Is allowed ex ceptthe lower limit cannot be closer than ten feet to the upper limit Entering a segment Jess than ten feet causes the X 40 to sound an alert The range will then remain at the previous setting NOTE The maximum depth capa bility of the X 40 depends on water and bottom conditions plus the quality of the transducer installation See the specifications for typical bottom depth capability LOWER LIMIT 11 LOWER SENSITIVITY E LIMIT
8. deepalarmsare turned off the letters DA will disappear from the display 18 A light is allows operation of the X 40 at night At first turning the unit on causes the lights to flash for sixseconds Press the 2nd LIGHT keys and the lights will stay on Toturn the lights off press the 2nd LIGHT keys again The lights will also go out when the X 40 is turned off DISCRIMINATION Unwanted noise on the display is a fairly common complaint Noise is any undesired signal It can be caused by either an electrical or acoustic source or a combination ofthe two In both cases the noise can produce unwanted marks on the display The X 40 has Discrimination which is effective in combating noise signals It processes all incoming echoes from the receiver determines which ones are noise and eliminates them displaying only the legitimate echoes Discrimination has ten fevels 0 through 10 0 is off 10 is the highest level Turning the X 40 on automatically sets Discrimination to level 1 If too much noise is present on the display press the level of DISCRIMINATION OFF SSeMsiTiViTy
9. hole 4 Power Connections The X 40 operatesfrom a 12 volt battery system Attachthe power cable to an accessory or power buss If you have problems with electrical interference then attach the cable directly to the battery Electrical interference shows as random dots on the display whenever the boat s engine or an accessory is on The power cable has two wires red is the positive lead and black is negative or ground Attach the in line fuse holder to the red wire on the power cable with the crimp connector The other end of the fuse holder attaches to the battery or accessory buss Ifthe cable is notlong enough splice ordinary 18 gauge wire onto it Be certain that the fuse holder is as close tothe power source battery or accessory buss as possible This protects the power cable and your X 40 inthe event ofa short Use a3 amp fuse The X 40 has reverse polarity protection No damage will occur if the wires are reversed However the unit will not work until the wires are attached correctly 3 AMP FUSE 12 VOLT BATTERY onthe screen Signals weaker than the GRAYLINE setting are displayed in black stronger targets are gray It also gives clues to the compostition of the bottom In other words you can tell if the bottom is soft or hard hard bottom returns a strong signal causing a wide gray line soft muddy or weedy bottom returns a weaker signal which is emphasized with a narrow gray line IN DASH sonar
10. invisible layer in the water but the sensitivity will probably have to be turned up to see it A knowledge of the water temperatures various fish prefer and in which they usually remain helps you get the most from your X 40 SURVEYING A LAKE The most successful anglers on any body of water are those who fish it day after day and year after year Eventually theylearn the hot spots that produce fish consistently They discover through experience where and at what depth they can expect to find the fish they want at any season And they realize that these productive areas change throughout the year depending on water level temperature food and other factors With the X 40 anyone can eliminate guesswork and concentrate onthe areas where fish are likely to be Even if it s the first time onthe lake The most efficient wayto become acquainted with a body of water is to survey it with your X 40 Start with a map of the lake if possible and indicate the promising spots in relation to landmarks on shore As you go about your survey your X 40 will tell you the depth and type of bottom It will also reveal suspended fish Multiple signals on the dial usually indicate a good school of fish and it s worth it to stop and fish for them You not get any further Keep a few Lowrance Fish N Floats in the boat ready to toss overboard When the X 40 indicates a school of fish throw the buoy out The string will unwind until the sinker
11. section to switch to meters or fathoms Press the CLEAR key to activate the selection or wait several seconds for the menutodisappear TheX 40 revertsto feet when it s turned off Discrimination desired 0 through 10 Then press the DISC key There should be an immediate change in the noise displayed on the screen Turn Discrimination off by pressing 0 DISC or CLEAR DISC To view the Discrimination setting without changing it press the DISC key SURFACE CLARITY CONTROL The markings the z m top of the display can at times extend E many feet below the surface This can TO CHANGE interfere with fish signals or other targets PRESS These markings are Surface Clutter and are caused by wave action boat wakes bait fish temperature inversions and other reasons ae a cise Use Surface Clarity Control SCC to reduce or eliminate surface clutter SCC varies the gain of the re ceiver between each transmit pulse while the receiver is listening for the return echoes The gain is the lowest for echoes near the surface It gradually increases as the depth increases The maximum depth that SCC will affect is one half ofthe selecteddepth range For example with maximum SCC on a 0 to 60 foot range SCC would have an effect 77 from the surface to 30 feet SCC has ten levels of adjustment
12. unit installed through hole in the boat s dash Usually the face of the sonar is flush or nearly so with the dash kHz Kilohertz A measurement of frequency Your Lowrance sonar operates at 192 Kilohertz 192 000 cycles per second LCD Liquid crystal display The screen or display ofa Liquid Crystal Graph sonar instrument LCG Liquid Crystal Graph NOISE Any undesired signal Electrical noise is caused by engine ignitions systems radios etc Acoustic noise is caused by the vibration of the engine or other mechanical sources It appears on the display as random dots or lines OPERATING FREQUENCY Frequency that the sonar unit s transmitter and receiver are tuned to OUTPUT POWER The amplitude of electrical energy transmitted fromthe sonar unit to the transducer Measured in watts the higher the output power the deepera sonar unit canread and more detail can be displayed PEAK TO PEAK A measurement of the transmitter s power output PIXEL The small dots or squares ona liquid crystal display or Crt PIXEL DENSITY The number of pixels per square inch ona liquid crystal display The best resolution is obtained when a high number of pixels are in the vertical PULSE LENGTH The amount of time that the sonar transmits This is measured in micro seconds The shorter the pulse length the better the resolution For example a 30 micro second pulse length is equal toa one inch resolution RANGE The section of wat
13. IT When changing the upper or lower limits remember the minimum distance between the twoisten feet For example the upper limit is 10 feet witha lower limit of 20 feet Changing thelower limit to11 feet will cause the X 40 to sound an alert Theupper and lower limits won t change BTM TRK AUTOMATIC BOTTOM TRACKING BE Thelower limit will change asthe bottomdepth changes When Automatic Bottom Trackingis activated auto sensi tivity and tracking are also turned on To zoom in on the bottom and track It as S ee depth changes follow the steps below To use this feature first choose a zoomwindow For example lets use 40 foot zoom window This means that the X 40 will keep the upper limit 40 feet above the lower limit Automatically placing the bottom signal in this window the X 40 tracks it as it moves shallower or deeper Now press 4 0 2nd BTM TRK The X 40 will choose an upper and lower limit that will place the bottom signal in the 40 foot window The bottom will always be inside this window If the segment size is 40 feet or greater the window limits will end in zero 10 20 30 etc Otherwise the limits in one foot increments If you simply press 2nd BTM TRK the X 40 displays ascreen describ 7 He p mez tne J 7 IA Ti 1 ma ing how to activate the Automatic Bottom Trad Bottom Tracking is on pr
14. LITHO IN U S A 988 0105 09 f X 40 LIQUID CRYSTAL GRAPH INSTALLATION AND OPERATION MANUAL pE ead ate ELECTRONICS INC 12000 E SKELLY DR TULSA OK 74128 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION INSTALLATION POWER CONNECTIONS NOISE TRANSDUCER KEYBOARD BASICS DISPLAY INTERPRETATION OPERATION ON OFF 2nd CLEAR AUTO SENSITIVITY AUTOMATIC SENSITIVITY CHART SPEED SCALE RANGE LOWER LIMIT UPPER LIMIT AUTO BOTTOM TRACKING GRAYLINE DIGITAL TENTHS ALARMS NOTE KEY ZONE ALARM DEPTH ALARM LIGHT DISCRIMINATION scc FEET FATHOMS METERS PULSE COMMAND MENU 1 SPEAKER VOLUME MENU 2 GRAYLINE CHECKS LINES MENU 3 SCALES MENU 4 DIGITAL AVERAGING TRANSDUCERS AND CONE ANGLES SIGNAL INTERPRETATION FISH SIGNALS WATER TEMP AND THERMOCLINES SURVEYING A LAKE BAIT FISH HOW TO OBTAIN SERVICE SCHEMATIC AND PARTS LIST SPARE PARTS SPECIFICATIONS GLOSSARY Copyright 1987 Lowrance Electronics inc All Rights Reserved A AON a TRANSDUCER The element ofasonarsystem that converts the electrical energy from the transmitter into ultrasonic sound waves When a return echo strikes the transducer it converts the sound waves into electrical energy which is received and displayed by the sonar unit TRANSOM MOUNT A method of mounting transducers or other sensors on the transom of the boat UPPER LOWER LIMIT These are the rangelimi
15. RMS The X 40 has two differentalarms a zone alarm and a digital depth alarm The Zone alarm consists of a bar that displays on the left side of the screen The alarm sounds an alert whenever the X 40 detects an echo inside the boundaries of the zone bar The depth alarm has user selectable upper and lower limits Unlike the zone alarm this alarm only sounds onthe bottom signal It alarms with a high pitched tone when the bottom echo is detected at or shallower than the alarm s upper limit It sounds with a low pitched tone when the bottom echo is detected at or deeper than the alarm s lower limit NOTE KEY The note key tums the audible tone off and on Turning the alarm on enables the audible tone The note display at the bottom of the screen is on also To turn the audible tone off press the note key onthe keyboard once The note display will turn off To tum it back on press the note key again This does not change any alarm settings it merely turns the sound off JR pressing a key and it will automatically erase To view the SCC level without changing it simply press 2nd SCC To turn SCC off press 0 2nd SCC or CLEAR 2nd SCC FI FA M FEET FATHOMS METERS a The 40 can display the depth Be either feet fathoms or meters Atfirst the display reads in feet To change it t fathoms or meters press 2nd FT FA M A menu appears with the current mod highlighted Use the arrow keys in the zone alarm
16. ansom mount transducer that is installed with the bottom of the transducer flush with the bottom of the hull GIMBAL BRACKET A bracket used to install a sonar unit permanently The sonar unit can rotate in the bracket for the best viewing angle GRAYLINE This function shows the relative strength of signals displayed 3 NOISE Minimize electrical noise by routing the power cable away from other possible sources of electrical interference One ofthe largest noise generators Is the engine s wiring harness that runs from the engine to the instrument panel This harness usually contains a wire for the tachometer which radiates RF radio frequency energy For best results keep the power and transducer cables away from the engine wiring Also bilge pump wiring can sometimes radiate noise so try to keep the X 40 s cables away from those wires VHF radio antennacables radiate RF energy at higher power levels than even the engine s wiring harness It is Important to keep the X 40 s power and transducer cables as far away as possible from VHF radio cables If interference begins at slow boat speeds worsening as the boat speed Increases then a probable cause is acoustic nolse or cavitation This noise is not electrical but rather mechanically induced noise from the transducer Stop the boat put the engine in neutral and increase the rpm If the noise does not increase on the display then it is cavitation Usually air bubbles
17. e is more desirable Since the sound energy is concentrated in a smaller area it can penetrate to much deeper depths Both 8 degree and 20 degree transducers give accurate bottom readings even though the bottom signal is much wider on the 20 degree model This is because you are seeing more of the bottom Remember the shallow edge of the signal shows you the true depth The rest of the signal tells you whether you are over rocks mud etc Paint transducers on salt water boats witha thin coat of anti foulant paint to prevent organisms from growing If unchecked barnacles and other marine growth will cause a decrease the transducer s sensitivity Do not use a metal based anti foulant paint as it will decrease the transducer s sensitivity There are special anti foulant paints specifically designed fortransducers They re readily available at most marine dealers SIGNAL INTERPRETATION Since your X 40 is both extremely sensitive and powerful it gives an accurate picture of the bottom that your boat is passing A bottom of firm sand gravel shell or hard clay returns a fairly wide signal If the automatic sensitivity is off and the signal narrows down then it means that you have moved over a mud bottom Mud absorbs the sound wave and returns a weak signal Turn up the sensitivity If you have the automatic sensitivity turned on watch the sensitivity bar As the boat passes over the mud bottom the X 40 will automatically increase the
18. econd bottom echo second echo may appear This is normal It s caused by the returning signal reflecting off the surface of the water Then it makes a second trip to the bottom and back again Toturn Auto Sensitivity back on press the AUTO key Remember pressing the AUTO key turns both automatic sensitivity and auto ranging functions on and off at the same time AUTO SENSITIVITY ADVANCED OPERATION When the X 40 is in the automatic mode the receiver s sensitivity automatically adjusts to the surrounding conditions The micro computer placesitata evel slightly above the minimum requiredto pick up the bottom signal Changing the sensitivity level while the X 40 is in the automatic mode Is possible This may be desirable if the sensitivity level is not enough to show fish or other small detail The X 40 will increase the sensitivity to pick upthe bottom signal then add in thelevel you programmed Ifdesired you can add sensitivity up to the maximum To adjust the sensitivity while the X 40 is in the automatic mode simply press the right arrow key to increase it Press the left arrow key to decrease the sensitivity As you press the arrow key the sensitivity bar will move right or left according to the sensttivity level chosen CHART stow Fast CHART SPEED At power on the chart speed scrolls at a pre determined speed Fora higher speed press and hold the FAST key in the CHART section of the keyboard When the sc
19. either the digital or automatic must be on Setting both the shallow and deep alarms at the same time allows a window to be positioned between the surface and the bottom If the boat goes into water that is shallower than the shallow alarm s setting the alarmwill sound A different tone will sound if the bottom goes deeper than the deep alarm setting This makes a useful anchor watch It is also convenient when navigating through a channel To use the shallow alarm enter the desired depth on the 10 key pad then press the SHALLOW ALARM key For example toset the shallow alarm to 15 feet press 1 5 SHALLOW ALARM The number 15 displays on the screen as it s entered then disappears The letters DA appear in the lower portion of the screen to indicate it is activated Now if the boat moves into water fifteen feet deep or less the alarm will sound and the words SHAL ALM will flash on the display The deep alarm is used in the same manner Enter the desired depth then press the DEEP ALARM key Forexample toset thedeepalarm to 50 feet press 5 0 DEEP ALARM If the boat moves into water 50 feet deep or deeper the alarm will sound The words DEEP ALM also flash on the display To view the settings of the shallow or deep alarms press the SHALLOW ALARM or DEEP ALARM keys To turn each alarm off press 0 SHALLOW ALARM or 0 DEEP ALARM The CLEAR key can be used in place ofthe 0 key if desired If both shallow and
20. el to the right increasing in length correspondingly Setting the sensitivity to maximum will cause the bar to extend across the top ofthedisplay There are 32 steps of sensitivity available To place the X 40 in manual mode press the AUTO keyonce This turns auto sensitivity off The word AUTO at the top of the display will disappear signifying that the X 40 is inthe manual mode To increase the sensitivity press and hold the right arrow key until the sensitivity is at the desired level The left arrow decreases sensitivity in the same manner Notice how the sensitivity bar moves as you change settings When you press the right arrow key the bar moves to the right indicating an increase insensitivity Pressingthe left arrow key movesthe bar to the left showing the sensitivity has decreased accordingly You ll also see the change on the display The photo onthe next page shows a graph with too little sensitivity On the right the graph has a proper sensitivity setting A fish along with higher surface clutter are now visible and the bottom signal has widened 8 If a partial arch occurs most of the time on your unit the mark curves up but not back down or vice versa it could be the transducer is not pointing straight down Adjust a transom mounted transducer until the fish show the distinctive arch This may take some trial and error until you achieve the correct mounting Remember there must be some movement between the boatand
21. elections use 1 2 The X 40 has menus of command theunit toyour needs Thereare8 pages of are accessed with the COMMAND Press menu appears As you can see onthe next p Volume The number 1 atthe bottom of the numberone Pressthe COMMAND key agair ALARM section of the keyboard Once yot er ac MENU 2 GRAYLINE CHECKS OR LINES Thismenuchanges the Grayline from a checkered pattern to lines To change press 2nd COMMAND COM MAND until menu 2 appears or press 2 2nd COMMAND Next press the up or downarrowin the ZONE ALARM section of the keyboard for checks orlines Then press CLEAR to activate the selection and return to the chart display Or wait several seconds and the display will automatically clear MENU 3 SCALES Turn the upper and lower limit display off or on with this menu Press 2nd COMMAND until this menu ap pears or press 3 2nd COMMAND Use the arrow keys in the ZONE ALARM section to switch the numbers off or on Press CLEAR to activate your selection or wait several seconds and it will auto matically activate 4 oo CHANGE FES 7 5 Pas SENSITRATY 2 ALARM t OF 4 bRAYLINE raro AUIS AL ARH Example Set the rangefrom 40 to 80 feet Press 4 0 UPPER LIMIT 8 0 LOWER LIM
22. er shown onthe sonar display For example GLOSSARY ANCHOR WATCH A setting ofthe sonar unit s alarm The alarm activates when the boat drifts into shallower or deeper water than the alarm set points BACK LIGHTED Adisplay or keyboard illuminated from behind light Back lighted displays and keyboards are essential when night fishing or navigating CAVITATION Air bubbles created by the high speed movement of a boat or transducer through water CHART SPEED 1 The speed of the chart paper on a paper graph recorder 2 The speed of an image across the screen of a liquid crystal graph Also called scroll speed CONE ANGLE Width of the transducer s cone of sound Lowrance has transducers with cone anglesfrom 8to 45 degrees to sult the varying needs of fishermen CRT Abbreviation for Cathode Ray Tube See Video Graph DEFINITION The ability of a sonar unit s display to show detail A high resolution display can show more detail than a low resolution one DISCRIMINATION A feature that allows the sonar to eliminate nolse and display only true target information Discrimination on Lowrance products cuts out false signals from other sonar noise thermoclines and more FISH ALARM An alarm that activates when a fish is detected FISH ARCH A sonar with good resolution displays fish signals with an upside down V orarch This distinguishes fish signals from other targets FLUSH MOUNT A tr
23. ess the up or down ZONE ALARM section to increment or decrent example if the window size is currently 20 feet press the up arrow in the ZONE ALARM section to 30 feet If the down arrow was pressed the to 10 feet If the X 40 s range is in fathoms tt window size In 2 fathom steps If it s in meters in 4 meter steps with each press of the arrow To exit from this function press 0 2nd Or press the AUTO key to turn off SENSITIVITY GRAYLINE Le oo The GRAYLINE functions tells the displayed on the screen It also gives clues bottom In other words you can tell if the bot bottom returns a strong signal causing a wide weedy bottom returns a weaker signal which is GRAYLINE OFF SENSITIVITY lt Let 14 Ce SENSITIVITY DIGITAL SONAR DIGITAL SHALLOW DEEP ALARM ALARM The digital sonar normally dis plays the bottom depth in whole num bers Display the bottomdepth intenths of a foot in water less than 100 feet by pressing 2nd 10th If the bottom depth goes deeper than 99 9 feet the digital sonar will automatically display in whole numbers again If the chart is in the freeze mode the digital display will continue to show the bottom depth as it changes It does not freeze when the chart does Thus you can distinguish shallowwater warnings from fishalarms 10th Press 2nd 10th to tum tenths off DIGITAL BOTTOM DEPTH ALA
24. f bait fish to successful fishing can t be over emphasized They are the principle food of all game fish in most waters Bait fish arethe plankton feeding forage fish such as minnows and shad Bait fish can also be the young of game fish such as crappies bluegill and bass Most bait fish concentrate within five feet of the surface where sunlight promotes the growth of the plankton on which they feed One method of fishing is to use the X 40 to find the baitfish first A school of bait fish will look like a cloud on the X 40 s display Usually game fish will be nearby often directly beneath the school of bait fish HOW TO OBTAIN SERVICE If you have a problem with your sonar unit please give us a chance to help before sending it in for repair Assistance can often be extended by telephone or letter Call the Authorized Customer Service Center nearest to you If there isn t a service center near you call the factory customer service department at 1 800 331 4105 toll free Oklahoma residents call 918 437 6881 collect Piease detail the problem you are experiencing The service department may be able to save you the inconvenience of returning your unit If the unit must be returned pack it carefully so it won t be damaged Itis advisableto insure the unit in case it s lost or damaged during transit SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM AND PARTS LIST Ifyou desirea schematic and parts list for your Lowrance sonar send 1 00 tothe addre
25. hits bottom Then because of the marker s flat shape it won t unwind any further With the school thus marked you can make your turn and come back to fish in exactly the right spot Thisis essential when you re far from shore on a big lake Unless you mark the schoo of fish when you re over it you may not be able to find it again 3 Most fish don t spawn unless the water temperature fs within rather narrow limits To find the different temperatures a surface temperature meter such as the LDT 3000 is a valuable aid to your boat This unit provides an extremely quick response to identifying the desired surface water spawning temperatures for various species Trout can t survive in streams that get too warm Bass and other fish eventually die out when stocked in lakes that remain too cold during the summer While some fish have a wider temperature tolerance than others each has a certain range within which it tries to stay Schooling fish suspended over deep water lie at the level that provides this temperature We assume they are the most comfortable here SURFACE LAYER ABSORBS HEAT FROM THE SUN EPILIMNION lt gt m amp m THERMOCLINE MOST PRODUCTIVE FT 5 YONE FOR FISHING ig VARIES IN DEPTH DUE TO WIND CURRENTS h SEASONS LOW OXYGEN CONTENT HYPOLIMINION OPERATION When the X 40 is first turned on it automatically finds and displays the bottom depth and adjusts the sensitivit
26. k to display fish arches WATER TEMPERATURE AND THERMOCLINES Water temperature has an important if not controlling influence upon the activities of all fish Fish are cold blooded and their bodies are alwaysthe temperature of the surroundingwater During the winter colder water slows down their metabolism At this time they need about a fourth as much food as they consume in the summer 9 Brush usually lies on the bottom and shows up as clumps rising above the bottom signal Brushsignals ook similar tolarge rocks however their signal is not as strong as rock FISH SIGNALS The signals displayed on the X 40 by fish are identified by varlous shaped markings in certain pattems as opposed to random marks created by noise Or the solid continuous markings made by the bottom Typically fish are identified by a characteristic arch that separates them from thelr stationary surroundings The reason for this is shown below The distance toa fish when it moves into the sonar s cone of sound isshownas A below Whenthefishhas moved intothe center of thecone the distance to It will be shorter B As it moves out of the cone the distance will increase again as shown in BOAT S DIRECTION OF TRAVEL 23 x SEMSITIVITY Soe STE When the horizontal bar reaches the far right hand side of the screen the sensitivity level is at maximum With high sensitivity settings a s
27. le press 2nd 0 for the pulse width menu However they were included in the Command section since they are available by pressing the COMMAND key Youcan also press the menu number then the 2nd key then the COMMAND key For example press5 2nd COMMAND for the Pulse Width menu Since these functions have been explained previously please refer to the page numbers listed above for Instructions 25 PULSE There is a relationship between resolution and transmitter pulse length Resolution in this case is the ability of a sonar to separate targets The shorter the pulse length the better the sonar s ability to separate targets However in deep water the shorter the pulse length the less likely a return echo will be re ceived In fact the X 40 automatically increases the pulse length as the range increases In shallow water a narrow pulse length is beneficial since the probability of echo detection is high For even better target separation the X 40 gives you the capability to narrow the pulse length further than normal Com bine thenarrow pulse length with a ten or twenty foot segment or zoom and the X 40 displays small detail far better than other liquid crystal graphs To change to a narrow pulse press 2nd 0 Use the arrow keys in the ZONE ALARM section to change to the short pulse or normal pulse Pres the CLEAR or wait several seconds for the display to cle your selection COMMAND To change menu s
28. ows the sensitivity in use The bar extends from left to right A very short bar indicates minimum sensitivity Setting the sensitivity to maximum causesthe bar to run completely across the top of the display The word STOP indicates the X 40 s chart is stopped The topline ofthe chart is always adashedline It movesfrom right to left showing the chart is moving As the chart speed increases or decreases the dashed line changes speed accordingly Stopping the chart causes the line to flash on and off The range is both an upper limit and a lower limit at the top and bottom of the display respectively Inthis example the range is 0 80 feet Scale markersprinted onboth sidesof the display helpdetermine the actual depth For best results read the Operation section of this manual It explains in detail all of the functions that are in this section plus other features not discussed here The temperature of water in the lake is seldom constant from top to bottom Layers of different temperatures form and the junction of a warm and cool layer of water is a thermocline The depth and thickness of the thermoctine can vary with the season ortime ofday Indeeplakesthere may be two or more at different depths Thermoclines are important to fishermen because they are areas where fish are active Many times bait fish will be above the thermocline while larger game fish will suspend in or just below it The X 40 can detect this
29. passing over the face ofthe transducer create acoustic noise The faster aboattravels the more air bubbles increase and generate noise on the display To eliminate this problem read the transducer owner s manual for proper mounting techniques TRANSDUCER Installation instructions for the transducer are with the transducer ina separate package Please read the Instructions carefully before you install the transducer KEYBOARD BASICS This section gives a brief explanation of the keyboard Read the Operation section for a detailed description of each key s operation GRAYLINE SET Press this key to adjust the grayline level DIGITAL SONAR The 40 is really two sonars in one housing The most obvious is the graph designed to show all retum echoes The other sonar is the digital designed for only one purpose to show the bottom depth These keys tum the digital display off or on and the the digital alarm functions ZONE ALARM KEYS Thisgroup of keys controls the X 40 s zonealarm 6 com monly used as a fish alarm A target such as a fish or school of fish will set off the alarm if it enters the alarm zone UPPER LIMIT LOWER LIMIT The Upper and Lower Limit keys allow you to select different depth ranges Enter the desired depth and then press the appropriate upper or lower limit key The Upper Limit key sets the depth for the top of the display The Lower Limit key determines the depth displayed at the bottom
30. rate fish from structure and each other Only Lowrance gives you the power to adjust a sonar unit to its maximum potential To get started with your X 40 first read the installation section This is where it all begins and improper installation can cause problems down theroad After you ve read these instructions and installed your X 40 read the rest of this manual in detail The more you know when you get to the water the more your X 40 will do for you Take this manual for reference when you head to the lake INSTALLATION Mounting Install the X 40 in any convenient location provided there is clearance when titted for the best viewing angle Holes inthe bracket base allow wood screw or through bolt mounting Attach the bracket to aluminum panels with sheet metal screws Place a piece of plywood onthe back of thin fiberglass panels to secure the mounting hardware Make certain there is enough room behind the unit to attach the power and transducer cables Youcan route the power and transducer cables through the 7 8 hole in the base of the gimbal bracket Then pass them through a hole in the mounting surface The smallest hole that will pass one connector through is 3 4 Passthe transducer connector and cable up throughthe hole and gimbal bracket Then push the power cable wire down through the bracket and dash After routing the cables fill the hole with silicone rubber adhesive RTV Offset the bracketto cover the majority ofthe
31. roll speed reaches the desired speed release the FAST key slowthe display press and hold the SLOW key Pressing either of these keys causes the sensitivity bar at the top of the display to change to a dashed line The letters CHT will appear near the top of the display This bar represents the chart speed If you press and hold the FAST key for example the bar will start moving to the right This signifys that the chart speed is increasing There are 10 steps of chart speed Holding either the FAST or SLOW keys the display can be speeded up or slowed down When the horizontal bar reaches the far right side of the screen the chart speedis at its maximumvalue The X 40 will sound a tone indicating maximum chart speed To view the chart speed without changing it press 2nd FAST or 2nd SLOW At times it is desirable to stop or freeze the display to examine an echo before it scrolls off the screen Pressing the STOP RESUME key once will freeze the display The word STOP appears near the top ofthe display Press STOP RESUME again to start the display movingat the last chart speedsetting Ifthedigital sonar is on the bottom depthis continually displayed The digital doesnot stop when the chartisinthe freeze mode 10 The 20 degree transducer is almost always the bestto use in fresh water the 8 degree mostly in salt water Ina deep water environment 300 feet fresh water 100 feet salt water the narrow cone angl
32. sensitivity to maintain a good bottom signal The sensitivity bar will help you in determining if the bottomis soft or hard If it increases while in the same depth of water then the boat has moved over a soft bottom If it decreases then it is overa hard bottom Of course as the water depth increases or decreases the sensitivity will also change Big rocks or stumps on a smooth bottom send back signals above the bottom level signal The height of the signal depends on the target s height As you pass over a post it will be clearly visible as a short line extending above the bottom signal steep slope returns a wide signal the steeper the wider Signals returned from a high underwater cliff are usually the widest of all R7 TRANSDUCERS AND CONE ANGLES The sound waves from the transducer spread out into the water in a cone shaped beam This looks much like the beam froma flashlight The angle between the outside edges of the cone is the cone angle Lowrance offers a choice of transducers with either an 8 or 20 degree cone angle These will interchange with any of the 192 kHz sonar products In other words use any Lowrance sonar instrument with any Lowrance transducer of the same frequency with no loss of performance However the use ofanyother manufacturers transducer will result ina loss of performance Typically wide cone angle transducers 20 degrees are ideal for operating in shallow to medium water depths The 20 degree
33. ss belowand the information will be mailed to you promptly Be sure to include the model and serial number of your Lowrance sonar unit Mail To Lowrance Customer Service 12000 E Skelly Dr Tulsa Oklahoma 74128 SENSITIVITY These keys control the KEYBOARD BASICS graph s sensitivity The digital automati cally adjusts its sensitivity The receiver sensitivity has 32 steps allowing adjustment over a wide range of conditions The left arrow key decreases the sensitivity the right arrow key increases it CHART The CHART group of keys con trols the chart speed The X 40 has 10 chart speeds ranging from very slow to FAST Pressing the FAST key speeds up the chart speed The SLOW key reduces it The STOP RESUME key stops and re starts the chart display SENSITIVITY NOTE KEY This key turns the audible alarm off or DISC Discrimination is an adjustable noise rejection system The levels of adjustment are through 10 0 9 These keys allow the entry of num bersOthrough 9 Someofthese keys have more than one function Use the 2nd function key to use the other functions Pressing a numeric key displays the number in awindow near the top center of the display AUTO The AUTO key switches the X 40 in or out of the automatic mode The X 40 automatically adjusts the sensitlvity and range selection at power on Pressing the AUTO key allows you to take control of the X 40 making manual adjustments as desired
34. t than 10 feet In other words setting the lower limit to 81 feet prevents the upper limit from being closer than 71 feet It requires a ten foot or larger segment Remember you cannot change the upper limit if the X 40 Is in automatic Set upper and lower limits in various combinations to show segments anywhere between the surface and the bottom This permits a scale expansion or zoom of a portion of the display 12 MENU 4 DIGITAL AVERAG ING The digital sonar used in the X 40 is a highly sensitive device that gives rapid updates of the water s depth Under most conditions the bottom contour changes so quick that the dis play appears to jitter In other words the display will change so quickly that it can be difficult to determine the actual bottom depth To minimize this condi tion the X 40 averages the bottom read ingsand displays the result When the X 40 is first turned on averaging is en abled To disable it press 2nd COMMAND until menu 4 appears orpress 4 2nd COMMAND Next press the up or down arrow in the ZONE ALARM section of the keyboard to turn it offoron Walt six seconds forthe display to clear or press the CLEAR key to res ume operation MENU 5 PULSE WIDTH page 22 MENU 6 SCC page 20 MENU 7 ZOOM SIZE AUTOMATIC BOTTOM TRACK ING page 13 MENU 8 FEET FATHOMS METERS page 21 These functions are printed in white on keys on the keyboard For examp
35. ts displayed on thesonar Screen or paper The upper limit is shown at the top of the display while the lower limit is at the bottom For example a 20 to 30 foot range has 20 feet as the upper limit and 30 feet as the lower limit VIDEO GRAPH A sonar unit that uses a CRT or television type display WINDOW A segment of the depth range For example an upper limit of 20 feet and a lower limit of 50 feet creates a 30 foot window ZOOM A feature that enlarges targets on the display a 60 foot range has Zero for the upper limit and 60 for the lower limit REMOTE An intelligent repeater unit that receives depth information from another sonar unit Aremote doesn t have a transmitter or receiver However it does have it s own features that are adjustable and operate separately from the master RESOLUTION The ability of a sonar unit to separate targets from each other or the bottom RMS A standard rating of transmitter power output SCALE The markings sonar unit s display To determine the depth of a target simply compare the target s location to the location of the scale markers on the display SECOND ECHO Another echo that registers at roughly twice the depth of a target echo This is caused by the sound waves reflecting off the bottom striking the surface of the water travelling tothe bottom again returing to the surface SECOND FUNCTION KEY A button that converts the functions of the primar
36. vel Release the key and in six seconds the zonealarm bar will disappear However the Zone alarm is still activated as you can see by the letters ZA in the lower portion of the screen The bottom of the zone alarm bar is adjusted in the same manner Just press the DEEP SET key first then the arrow keys to set the bottom of the bar to the desired depth If you wish to view the zone alarm bar continuously press 2nd DISPLAY To turn it off press 2nd DISPLAY again This won t affect the zone alarm settings It doesn t turn the alarm off just the alarm bar When the zone alarm is triggered by an echo the alarm will sound and the words ZONE ALM will appear on the display If the range is changed the zone alarm settings may need to be changed also since they don t track the range settings ay Totum the Zone Alarm off press CLEAR SHALLOW SET or DEEP SET All of the Zone Alarm settings will remain in memory until the 40 is turned off Pressing either shallow or deep set keys will turn the Zone Alarm back on with the previous settings DIGITAL SONAR DEPTH ALARM 252 The depth alarm is actually two alarms The shallow alarm gives awarning when you re inwater shallowerthanthe alarm set point Thedeep alarm gives a waming in water at or deeper than the alarm set point The bottom signal is the only echo that will trigger either the shallow or deep alarm NOTE order to use the depthalarms
37. y keys onthe keyboard Sonar units with a second function key have other keys with two functions You can switch functions with the second function key SENSITIVITY The ability of a sonar unit s receiver to display targets Increasingthe sensitivity allows weaker targets tobe displayed Also called gain SCROLL SPEED See CHART SPEED SHOOT THROUGH HULL A transducer installation which allows the sonar signals to pass through a fiberglass hull without cutting a hole inthe hull SUPPRESSION A method used in some sonar units to eliminate interfer ence or noise SURFACE CLARITY CONTROL Reduces or eliminates undesirable sig nals displayed near the water s surface Also called SCC THERMOCLINE A layer of water caused by the meeting of warm and cool layers of water The thermocline provides the temperature most fish prefer 36 INTRODUCTION Welcome to the world of sportfishing sonar Your Lowrance X 40 isa high quality sonar designed for both professional and novice users The X 40 automatically finds and displays the bottom depth fish and structure by just by turning it on As you become familiar with your X 40 try some of its remarkable features Fine tune the unit to the surrounding conditions to get the most from your sonar You can program the X 40 to sound alarms when the boat goes shallower or deeper than a preset depth An alarm will also sound when a fish enters an alarm zone Zoom and sepa
38. y tothe proper level Italso sets the scales to a range that will keep the bottom signal on the display plus much more Using the X 40 in this mode is simple and allows you to concentrate on fishing However virtually every function of the unit is manually adjustable so itcan be fine tuned tothe surrounding conditions Take this manual with you as a reference guide The ON key is located in the lower right corner of the keyboard It s easily found in this location even at night To turn the X 40 on press the ON key An audible beep reflects the key press The chart lights will begin flashing then stop after sixseconds The Lowrancelogo will flash for a few seconds as the chart scrolls across the display The digital bottom depth display will flash 0 until it finds the bottom Then it displays the digital depth To turn the X 40 off press the OFF key ond The X 40 has many different functions but only a limited space for keys Therefore some ofthe keys havemore than one function Each primary function is in one color while it s second function is white To access the second function ona key press the 2nd key first then press the appropriate key For example the AUTO key also has the label LIGHT Pressing the AUTO key by itself takes the X 40 out of the automatic mode However pressing the 2nd key then the AUTO key turns theX 40 s lights on The 2nd key just reassigned the meaning of the
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