Lowrance electronic X50 DS manual

Pub. 988-0151-431 www.lowrance.com Fish-Finding Sonar Installation and Operation Instructions[...]

Copyright © 2006 Lowrance El ectronics, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be copied, reprod uced, republished, transmitted or distributed for any purpose, with out prior written consent of Lowrance Electronics. Any unauthorized commercial distribution of this manual is strictly prohibited . Lowrance ® is a registered trademark [...]

i Table of Contents Introduction ....................................................................................... 1 Capabilities and Specif ications: X50 DS ............................................ 1 How Sonar Works ................................................................................. 2 Preparat ions .........................[...]

ii Deep Ala rm ......................................................................................... 40 Battery Alarm..................................................................................... 40 Noise Rejection and ASP  ................................................................ 41 Depth Disp lay .............................[...]

1 Introduction Thank you for buying an Lowrance  sonar! Your unit is a high-quality sonar designed for both professi onal and novice fishermen. All Lowrance sonars have an automatic mode that finds and displays the bottom, fish, underwater structure and more – right out of the box. All you have to do is press the on ( PWR ) key. To get started[...]

2 Transmitter: .................... 1,500 watts pe ak-to-peak power (typical); 188 watts RMS power (typical). Sonar sounding depth capability: ............ 1, 000 feet (305 meters). Act ual capability de- pends on transducer configuration and in- stallation, bottom composition and water con- ditions. All sonar units typically read deeper in fresh w[...]

3 The receiver amplifies this return si gnal, or echo, and sends it to the display, where an image of the object appears on the scrolling sonar chart. The sonar's microprocessor calculates the time lapse between the transmitted signal and echo return to determine the distance to the object. The whole process repeats it self several times each [...]

4 3. Determine the location of your battery or other power connection, along with the power cable route. 4. Install the transducer and route the transducer cable to the sonar unit. 5. Route the power cable from the unit's location to an appropriate power source and connect it there. 6. Connect the transducer/power cable to the unit and mount t[...]

5 Single-frequency tra nsom installations Tools include: two adjustable wrench es, drill, #29 (0.136") drill bit, flat- head screwdriver (for mounting screws and their pilot holes). Supplies: none. Single-frequency trolling motor ins tallations Tools: two adjustable wrenches, flat-head screwdriver. Supplies: plastic cable ties. Shoot-through h[...]

6 5. If possible, route the transducer cable away from other wiring on the boat. Electrical noise from engine wi ring, bilge pumps and aerators can be displayed on the sonar's screen. Use caution when routing the transducer cable around these wires. Good and poor transducer locations. How low should you go? For most situations, you should in s[...]

7 If you cruise or fish around lots of structure and cover, your transducer may be frequently kicking up from ob ject strikes. If you wish, you may move the transducer a little higher for more protection. There are two extremes you should avoid. Never let the edge of the mounting bracket extend below the bottom of the hull. Never let the bottom –[...]

8 Place each ratchet into the bracket with the letter "A" aligned with the dot stamped into the metal bracket. This position sets the transducer's coarse angle adjustment for a 14 ° transom. Most outboard and stern-drive transoms have a 14 ° angle. Align plastic ratchets in bracket. 2. Aligning the transducer on the transom. Slide [...]

9 3. Assembling the transducer. Once you determine the correct posi- tion for the ratchets, assemble the transducer as shown in the following figure. Don't tighten the lock nut at this time. Assemble transducer and bracket. 4. Drilling mounting holes. Hold the transducer and bracket assem- bly against the transom. The transducer should be roug[...]

10 Position transducer mount on transom and mark mounting holes. Side view shown at left and seen from above at right. 5. Attaching transducer to transom. Remove the transducer from the bracket and re-assemble it with the cable passing through the bracket over the bolt as shown in the following figures. Route cable over bolt and through bracket. Si[...]

11 Align transducer centerline with hull bottom and attach to transom. 6. Route the transducer cable through or over the transom to the sonar unit. Make sure you leave some slack in the cable at the transducer. If possible, route the transducer cable away from other wiring. Electrical noise from the engine's wiring, bilge pumps, VHF radio wire[...]

12 Trolling Motor Bracket Installation 1. Attach the optional TMB-S bracket to the transducer as shown in the following figure, using the hardware supplied with the transducer. (Note: The internal tooth washer is supplied with the TMB-S.) Attach motor mounting bracket to transducer. 2. Slide the adjustable strap supplied with the TMB-S through the [...]

13 Transducer Orientation and Fish Arches If you do not get good fish arches on your display, it could be because the transducer is not parallel with the ground when the boat is at rest in the water or at slow trolling speeds. Transducer angles and their effects on fish arches. If the arch slopes up – but not back down – then the front of the t[...]

14 ers. The sonar signal must pass th rough solid fiberglass. A successful transducer installation can be made on hulls with flotation materials (such as plywood, balsa wood or foam) between layers of fiberglass if the material is removed from the chosen area. See the figure below. WARNING: Do not remove any material from your inner hull unless you[...]

15 Testing Determines Best Location Ideally, the shoot-thru transducer shou ld be installed as close to the transom as possible, close to the ce nterline. This will give you the best performance during high speed maneuvers. 1. Anchor the boat in about 30 feet of water. Add a little water to the sump of the boat. Plug the transducer into the sonar u[...]

16 hull. This is especially true if you have to turn sensitivity all the way up to get a decent bottom signal. 4. Most people can get good results by following steps 1 through 3, so this step is optional . If you want to make an extr a effort to be absolutely sure that your selected location will work under all conditions, make a test run with the [...]

17 2. The epoxy consists of the epoxy itself and a hardener. Remove the two compounds from the package and place them on the paper plate. Thoroughly stir the two compounds together until the mixture has a uniform color and consistency. Do not mix too fast or bubbles will form in the epoxy. After mixing, you ha ve 20 minutes to complete the in- stal[...]

18 power cable when the unit is not in use. When you are not using the unit, you should always shut off power to the power cable, es- pecially when the power cable is disconnected from the unit. Power connections for the X50 DS sonar unit (direct battery connection shown). If possible, keep the power cable away from other boat wiring, espe- cially [...]

19 Bracket Installation Recommended tools for this job include: drill, 1" (25.4 mm) drill bit, screwdriver. Required supplies for this job include: high quality, ma- rine grade above- or below-waterline caulking compound, three #10 stainless steel screws. Screw length and type should be suitable for the material on which you inte nd to mount t[...]

20 After drilling the hole, pass the connectors up through the hole from und er t he d ash . If you wish, you can fill in the hole around the cable with a good marine caulking compound. (Some marine dealers stock cable hole covers to conceal the opening.) Using the Quick Release Mounting Bracket These units use a quick release mo unting bracket. Wh[...]

21 Mount the sonar: slide the unit onto the bracket from above. Adjust viewing angle: use one hand to press and release the spring- loaded ratchets while you move the unit with the other hand. Portable Sonar Installation Like many Lowrance products, the X 50 DS sonar is capable of portable operation. It uses the optional PPP-12 portable po wer pack[...]

22 To use a portable power pack, you install the batteries and then attach the sonar unit to the power pack's bracket. Plug in the power/transducer cable and you're ready to fish. The PPP-12 has a quick-release mounting bracket built into the case. Installing the Batteries Open the case and lay it flat. (The latch is located below the han[...]

23 To mount the sonar, slide the unit on to the bracket from above (left). To adjust the view, press and release spring-loaded ratchets while tilt- ing the unit (right). To adjust the viewing angle, pinch the quick-release mount's ratchets with one hand, then tilt the unit with your other hand. Release the ratchets and the unit locks into th e[...]

24 Make sure there is one washer on each side of the transducer, inside the bracket. Slide the other washer over th e end of the bolt and screw on the nut. Screw the suction cup onto the bracket using the supplied screw and flat washer. Tie the nylon cord through the hole in the top of the bracket. When using the transducer, tie the other end of th[...]

25 Portable transducer installed on boat transom. Portable Transducer Storage There is room inside the power pa ck for the portable transducer. When you're finished fishing, tilt the so nar down to the storage position. Open the case and lay it flat. Unplug the power connector from the battery compartment socket. Wrap the transducer cable arou[...]

26 Notes[...]

27 Operation Keyboard Basics The unit sounds a tone when you pre ss any key. This tells you the unit has accepted a command. Numbers in the figure correspond to key ex- planations below: Lowrance X50 DS. 1. PWR/CLEAR In this manual, the Power/Clear key is referred to as PWR . Press this key to turn the unit on and off. It also clears menus and menu[...]

28 cases, the text uses the word MENU . Usually, when the instructions say MENU , you can press the MENU UP key for consistency. The MENU UP key cycles forward through the menus. The MENU DOWN key moves backward through the menus. To check out the menus, re- peatedly press a MENU key to scroll through them. 3. UP & DOWN ARROWS ( ↑ ↓ ) These[...]

29 Display The lights will flash for about 10 seconds when the unit is turned on. The backlight menu will appear on the screen. Use the A RROW keys to turn the backlight on or off. Press PWR to clear the menu from the screen. The unit will show the Full Chart Page or mode. The Fish I.D.  fish symbol feature is on by default. The depth range is d[...]

30 Full Chart page, showing digital depth (above) and temp (below). The Fish I.D. feature is turned off. Depth Range When turned on, the unit automatically adjusts the depth range ac- cording to water conditions. When in auto range mode, it always keeps the bottom displayed in the lower portion of the screen. You can over- ride the automatic depth [...]

31 Zoom The zoom feature enlarges all images on the screen by doubling the size of the echoes (a 2X zoom). For example, if the current auto depth range is 0 to 60 feet, Zoom will show an enlarged view of the water column from 30 feet to 60 feet, always keeping the bottom in view. To zoom in the display, repeatedly press MENU until the Z OOM menu ap[...]

32 Zoom Range menu with the 40-80 foot zoom selected. You can select from these zoom size ranges: 0-10, 5-15, 10-20, 15-30, 20- 40, 30-60, 40-80, 50-100, 75-150, 100-200, 150-300, 200-400, 300-600, 400-800, 500-1000, 750-1500 and 1000-2000. Sensitivity Sensitivity adjusts the way echoes will be displayed on the screen. If you want to see more detai[...]

33 To adjust sensitivity in Auto Mode: Repeatedly press MENU until the S ENSITIVITY menu appears. Make sure sen- sitivity is set to Auto, then press MENU UP to access the sensitivity scroll bar. P r e s s ↑ to increase the sensitivity, ↓ to decrease it. When it is set at the desired level, press PWR to clear the menu. If you reach the maxi- mum[...]

34 Grayline ® Grayline  lets you distinguish between strong and weak echoes. It al- lows you to tell the difference between a hard and soft bottom. For ex- ample, a soft, muddy or weedy bottom returns a weaker signal which is shown with a narrow line or no gray line at all. A hard bottom returns a strong signal, which will be displayed as a wid[...]

35 A small amount of Grayline indicates a soft bottom (left), probably sand or mud. More Grayline indicates a harder, rocky bottom (right). Press ↑ to increase Grayline, ↓ to decrease it. Echoes scrolling on the screen will show the effects of the Grayline adjustment. If you reach the maximum or mini mum level, a tone sounds alerting you to the[...]

36 sonar signal cone, the image appears on the screen as a long line in- stead of a fish arch. Reducing the chart speed may result in a shorter line that more closely resemb les a regular fish return. To adjust Chart Speed, repeatedly press MENU until the C HART S PEED scroll bar appears. Press ↑ to increase the speed of the chart. Press ↓ to d[...]

37 The Fish I.D. feature displays symbol s on the screen in place of the ac- tual fish echoes. There are three symbol sizes: small, medium and large. These show the relative size between targets. In other words, it displays a small fish symbol when it thinks a target is a small fish, a medium fish symbol on a larger target and so forth. Fish I.D. i[...]

38 Fish I.D. can also be useful when you want to screen out som e of the so- nar detail gathered by your unit. For example, it can help cut through the clutter of suspended bubbles caused by wave action or boat wakes. T o t u r n F i s h I . D . o f f , r e p e a t e d l y p r e s s MENU until the F ISH ID menu ap- pears. Press ↓ to select O FF ,[...]

39 Fish Alarm menu. Depth Alarms The depth alarms are triggered only by the bottom signal. No other echoes will activate these alarms. The depth alarms consist of a shal- low and a deep alarm. The shallow alarm sounds an alarm tone when the bottom goes shallower than the alarm's setting. The deep alarm sounds a tone when the bottom goes deeper[...]

40 any of the previously entered numbers, press MENU UP . Press PWR to return to the Shallow Alarm menu. Use ↑ to select O N , which will turn on the alarm, then press PWR to clear the menu. When the bottom depth becomes more shallow than the alarm’s setting, an alarm will sound and a message will appear on the screen. Press PWR to silence the [...]

41 Battery Alarm menu (left). Low Battery Alarm Value (right). Press the ↓ to S ET V AL UE . The Low Battery Alarm Value dialog box will appear. Input a voltage value between 7 and 18 volts. Use the ↑ ↓ keys to enter the first number in the dialog box, then press MENU DOWN to move to the next digit. Repeat those steps until the desired value [...]

42 Noise Rejection menu. The ASP noise rejection feature is especially useful because, typically, it lets you operate the boat at all speeds without adjusting the sensi- tivity or other controls. The ASP feature has three settings — Off, Low and High. When first turned on, noise rejection is set on low. If you have high noise levels, try using th[...]

43 Depth Display Depth may be displayed on the screen in a small, medium or large size or can be turned off completely. To display Depth: Repeatedly press MENU until the D EPTH menu appears. Use ↑ ↓ to select the size of the depth display. Press PWR to clear the menu. Temperature Display Temperature may be displayed on the screen in a small or [...]

44 Voltage The Voltage menu allows you to display battery voltage on the screen in a small or medium size or can be turned off completely. To display battery voltage: Repeatedly press MENU until the V OLTAGE menu appears. Use ↑ ↓ to se- lect the size of the voltage display. Press PWR to clear the menu. Backlight turned on (left). Contrast scrol[...]

45 Simulator menu (left). Languages menu (right). To use the simulator, repeatedly press MENU until the S IMULATOR menu appears. Press ↑ to turn it on and press PWR to clear the menu. Repeat the steps above to turn it off. The simulator autom atically will be turned off when you power off the unit. Set Language This unit's menus are availabl[...]

46 Troubleshooting If your unit is not working, or if yo u need technical help, please use the following troubleshooting section be fore contacting the factory cus- tomer service department. It may save you the trouble of returning your unit for repair. For contact information, refer to the last page, just inside the back cover of this manual. Unit[...]

47 3. The water may be deeper than the sonar's ability to find the bottom. If the sonar can't find the bottom signal while it's in the automatic mode, the digital sonar display will flash continuously. It may change the range to limits far greater than the water you are in. If this happens, place the unit in the manual m ode, then ch[...]

48 vere cases, it can completely cover the screen with black dots, or cause the unit operate erratically, or not at all. To eliminate or minimize the effects of electrical noise, first try to de- termine the cause. With the boat at rest in the water, the first thing you should do is turn all electrical equipm ent on the boat off. Make sure the engi[...]

49 LOWRANCE ELECTRONICS FULL ONE-YEAR WARRANTY "We," "our," or "us" refers to LOWRANCE ELECTRONICS, a division of LEI, the manu- facturer of this prod uct. "You" or "your" refers to the first p erson who purchases this product as a consumer item f or personal, family, or household use. We warrant th[...]

50 How to Obtain Service… …in the USA: We back your investment in quality pr oducts with quick, expert service and genuine Lowrance replacement parts. If you're in the United States and you have technical, return or repair questions, please con- tact the Factory Customer Service Department. Before any product can be returned, you must call[...]

Accessory Ordering Information for all countries To order Lowrance GPS accessories such as computer cables or MMC cards, please contact: 1) Your local marine de aler or consumer electron ics store. Most quality dealers that han dle marine electronic equipment or other consumer electronics should be a ble to assist you with thes e items. To locate a[...]

Visit our web site: Lowrance Pub. 988-0151-431 © Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved Printed in USA 032106 Lowrance Electronics, Inc.[...]