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X-28 X-28
X-28 X-28 X-28
INSTALLATION AND OPERATION
INSTRUCTIONS
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TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 SPECIFICATIONS ........................................................................................................... 1 INSTALLATION ................................................................................... 2 INSTALLATION - Bracket .....................................
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INTRODUCTION Thank you for purchasing a Lowrance sonar. Your X-28 is a high quality sonar designed for both professional and novice fishermen. These units have an automatic feature that finds and displays the bottom, fish, structure, and more! All you have to do is press the on key. However, if you wish to fine tune the unit, simply press a menu key. The X-28 has powerful features available through easy-to-use menus. To get started with your Lowrance unit, first read the installation section. Th
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INSTALLATION - Bracket You can install the X-28 on the top of a dash or from an overhead with the supplied bracket. It can also be installed in the dash with an optional IDA- 3 or IDA-4 mounting kit. If you use the supplied bracket, you may be interested in the optional GBSA-1 swivel bracket kit. This converts the X- 28's gimbal bracket to a swivel mount which can be used on the dash or overhead mounting positions. Installation instructions for the in-dash and swivel mounting kits are supplied w
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POWER CONNECTIONS The X-28 works from a 12 volt DC system only. For the best results, run the power cable directly to the boat’s battery. Keep the power cable away from other boat wiring, especially the engine’s wires. This will give the best isolation from electrical noise. If the supplied cable is not long enough to reach the battery, splice #18 gauge insulated wire to it. If you do extend the power cable, make certain to attach the in-line fuse holder supplied with the X-28 to the battery or
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KEYBOARD BASICS The unit sounds a tone when you press any key. This tells you the unit has accepted a command. PWR/CLEAR Use this key to turn the unit on and off. It also clears menu selections and the menus from the screen. MENU FWD/MENU REV The X-28 has many features that are accessed with these keys. To scroll forward through the menus, press the MENU FWD key repeatedly. To move backwards through the menus, press the MENU REV key repeatedly. UP and DOWN ARROWS Use these keys to adjust virtual
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NOTE: Turning the X-28 off erases all user settings and it returns to the system defaults. For example, if you turn the lights on, then turn the unit off, the next time you turn the unit on, the lights will be off, since the default setting for the lights is off. MENUS The X-28 uses menus to guide you through the unit’s functions and features. The menu keys accesses these features, allowing you to customize the unit to your particular needs and water conditions. All you have to do to leave one m
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RANGE You can’t adjust the range when the X-28 is in the automatic mode. It is adjustable when the unit is in the manual mode, however. To do so, first put the unit in the manual mode. Now press a menu key until the “RANGE SEL” menu appears as shown at right. The current range shows at the bottom of the menu. In this case, the range is 60 feet. Now press the up arrow key to decrease the range, the down arrow key increases the range. After you select the desired range, press the PWR/ CLEAR key to
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21 FOOT UPPER LIMIT seconds and the menu will scroll off the screen’s left side. Pressing the PWR/CLEAR key also clears it. To change the lower limit, again make certain the unit is in the manual mode. Press a menu key until the "LOWER LIMIT" menu appears. Now press the down arrow key to increase the lower limit or the up arrow key to increase it. When you have the limit set, wait a few seconds and the menu will scroll off the screen’s left side. Pressing the PWR/CLEAR key also clears it. ZOOM T
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This is the zoom size menu. Zoom size is the distance between the upper limit and the lower limit. The upper limit shows at the top left corner of the screen. The lower limit is in the bottom left corner. For example, if the upper limit is 40 feet and the lower limit is 70 feet, the zoom window size is 30 feet. The word “TRACK” appears in this menu when you first activate the zoom as shown below. This means the X-28 is tracking the bottom in a zoom window, always keeping it on the display. Press
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press a menu key until the “MOVE ZOOM” menu appears as shown at right. This menu lets you move the zoom window up or down in one foot increments by pressing the arrow keys. Thus, you can move the zoom window up towards the surface, down to the bottom, or anywhere in between. The window stays where you put it. It doesn’t track the bottom signal. To turn the zoom feature off, press a menu key until the RANGE/ZOOM menu appears. Now press the up arrow key. This switches the unit into the range mode,
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PWR/CLEAR key to clear the display. If you wait a few seconds, it will automatically clear. ® GRAYLINE Grayline lets you distinguish between strong and weak echoes. It “paints” gray on targets that are stronger than a preset level. This shows the difference between a hard or soft bottom, large fish versus smaller ones, or rocks and brush on the bottom. For example, a soft, muddy, or weedy bottom returns a weaker signal which shows a narrow or no gray line. A hard bottom returns a strong signal
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The microcomputer is sophisticated, but it can be fooled. It can't distinguish between fish and other suspended objects such as turtles, submerged floats, air bubbles, etc. Individual tree limbs extending outwards from a group of limbs are the hardest objects for the Fish ID feature to distinguish from fish. You may see Fish ID symbols on the screen when, in fact, there are no fish. Practice with the unit when the Fish ID feature is on and off to become more familiar with Fish ID. To turn this f
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adjustable by pressing a menu key until the chart speed menu appears. Chart speed is set to maximum when the X-28 is first turned on. To decrease it, press the down arrow key. Press the up arrow key to increase the speed again. The percentage of chart speed also shows on this menu. Echoes scrolling onto the screen will also show the effects of the change. If you reach the maximum or mini- mum level, an warning tone sounds. To stop the chart, first clear any menu from the screen by pressing the P
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Digital This is the digital only screen. It shows the digital depth display at the top of the screen in very large numbers. The shallow and deep alarm settings are displayed beneath the digital depth. No chart shows on this screen. ALARMS FISH ALARM The Fish Alarm sounds a tone when a fish symbol appears on the screen. To use the fish alarm, press a menu key until the “FISH ALARM” menu appears on the screen. Now press the up arrow key to turn the alarm on. Repeat the above steps to turn the alar
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sounds. At the same time the alarm sounds, a message box appears on the screen as shown at right. Press the up arrow key to silence the alarm. This will turn the alarm sound off until the shallow alarm is triggered again. To turn the alarm off, press a menu key until the shallow alarm menu appears. Then press the up arrow key until the word “OFF” ap- pears. Deep Alarm The deep alarm adjusts the same as the shallow alarm. Use the “DEEP ALARM” menu to adjust the deep alarm. When the bottom signal
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switch to metric, the up arrow to switch to feet. Displays show in feet when the unit is first turned on. The menu will clear automatically after a few seconds or you can press the PWR/CLEAR key to clear the screen. DISPLAY CONTRAST The unit’s display contrast is adjustable to suit different lighting conditions. This will help you see the screen from different angles, or at various times of the day. To adjust the contrast, press a menu key until the DARK/LIGHT menu appears. To decrease it, press
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SIMULATOR The X-28 has a simulator built into it that can show a simulated bottom signal with fish. All features of the X-28 work normally when the simulator is in use. You can change the range, zoom, and use the alarms as desired. To use the simulator, press a menu key repeatedly until the SONAR SIM menu ap- pears. Now press the up arrow to turn it on. Repeat the above steps to turn it off, or turn the unit off and back on again. 16
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FISH ARCHES FISH ARCHES FISH ARCHES FISH ARCHES FISH ARCHES Fish arches are created when the cone of sound passes over a fish. The distance to a fish when the cone first strikes it is shown as "A" below. When the center of the cone strikes the fish, the distance is shorter as shown "B". As the cone leaves the fish, the distance increases again as shown in "C". When the Fish I.D. mode is off, the depth of the water will affect the size and shape of the fish arch due to the cone angle diameter. Fo
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fish will arch, but turn the sensitivity up in deeper water to see the arch. Because of water conditions, such as heavy surface clutter, ther- moclines, 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, from 45 to 60 feet. The smaller the segment, the better the screen resolution will be. The easiest way to do this on the X-28 is with the Zoom feature. This feature exp
