Lowrance ELITE-4X HDI User manual

Installation & Operation
manual
Elite-4x, Elite-5x, Elite-7x & Elite-9x
Operation manual

Copyright © 2014 Navico
All rights reserved.
Lowrance® and Navico® are registered trademarks of Navico.
Navico may nd it necessary to change or end our policies, regulations and special oers at any time.
We reserve the right to do so without notice. All features and specications subject to change without
notice.
Compliance Statements
Lowrance Elite-4x, Elite-5x, Elite-7x and Elite-9x
•meets the technical standards in accordance with Part 15.103 of the FCC rules
•complies with CE under RTTE directive 1999/5/EC
•complies with the requirements of level 2 devices of the Radiocommunications (Electromagnetic
Compatibility) standard 2008

Warning
The user is cautioned that any changes or modications not expressly approved by the party responsible
for compliance could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant
to Part 15 of the FCC rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful
interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency
energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference
to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that the interference will not occur in a particular
installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can
be determined by turning the equipment o and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interfer-
ence by one or more of the following measures:
•Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna
•Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver
•Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that of the receiver
•Consult the dealer or an experienced technician for help
NOTE: This manual covers Elite-4x, Elite-5x, Elite-7x and Elite-9x units. As a result, screenshots of
menus and dialogs may not match the look of your unit.

PB 1
Table of Contents | Elite X series Table of Contents | Elite X series
Introduction...................................... 3
Unit controls.............................................3
Basic Operation............................... 4
Setup wizard............................................4
Pages ......................................................4
Selecting Pages.......................................4
Page menus ............................................4
Accessing the settings menu...................5
Accessing menu items.............................5
Working with menus................................6
Dialogs.....................................................6
Entering text ............................................6
Fishing modes.........................................7
Cursor......................................................8
Advanced mode ......................................8
Restore defaults ......................................9
Pages.............................................. 10
Sonar page............................................10
Downscan page ....................................10
Combo pages........................................11
Overlay data..........................................12
Sonar Operation ............................ 14
Trackback..............................................14
CHIRP ...................................................14
Sonar menu...........................................15
Table of contents

2PB
Table of Contents | Elite X series Table of Contents | Elite X series
Sensitivity ..............................................16
Colorline ................................................16
Range....................................................16
Frequency .............................................17
Ping Speed............................................18
Fish ID ..................................................19
Downscan options.................................20
Sonar settings........................................21
Installation .............................................22
DownScan Operation.................... 24
Trackback .............................................24
DownScan menu...................................24
Ping speed.............................................26
DownScan options.................................26
Settings .......................................... 29
Settings menu........................................29
System...................................................29
Set Language........................................30
Audio .....................................................30
Alarms ..................................................30
Units ......................................................31
NMEA 0183 ...........................................31
NMEA 2000 (Elite-7 and Elite-9 only)....32
Specications ................................ 33

PB 3
Introduction | Elite X series Introduction | Elite X series
Getting Started
Turn unit
on/off
To turn on/off the unit, press and
hold the LIGHT/POWER key for
three seconds.
Adjusting
the
backlight
This unit has 10 backlight levels.
Press the LIGHT/POWER key to
switch backlight levels.
Muting
Audio Select Mute Audio from the System menu and press ENTER.
Unit Controls
LIGHT/POWER: controls backlight
level and turns unit on/off
KEYPAD: controls cursor & selects
items on menus
PAGES: allows you to select a page to
view
MENU: opens settings, context and
page menus
ENTER: nalizes menu selections
ZOOM Keys: used to zoom in/zoom
out

45
Basic Operation | Elite X series Basic Operation | Elite X series
Selecting Pages
To select a page, press the keypad in the direction
of the desired page and press ENTER.
Page menus
The DownScan and Sonar pages have menus
that can only be accessed when those pages are
displayed.
Setup wizard
The Setup wizard will appear when the unit is
turned on for the rst time. To choose your own
settings, do not run the setup wizard. To restart the
Setup wizard, restore defaults.
Pages dialog
Pages
Basic Operation
DownScan page DownScan menu
NOTE: Available pages vary depending
on the unit and the connected transducer.

45
Basic Operation | Elite X series Basic Operation | Elite X series
Combo pages
Press the PAGESkey twice to switch active panels.
The page menu for active page will be displayed
when the MENU key is pressed. The active panel is
denoted by an orange border.
Accessing the Settings menu
Accessing menu items
The keypad and ENTER key are used to select
menu items and open submenus. Use the keypad
to highlight the desired item and press ENTER.
Sonar page Sonar menu
Two-panel page Horizontal panel
NOTE: Only Elite-7 and Elite-9 units
support NMEA 2000.

67
Basic Operation | Elite X series Basic Operation | Elite X series
Dialogs
Dialogs are used for user input or
for presenting information to the
user. Depending on the type of
entry, dierent methods are used
to conrm, cancel or close the
dialog.
Entering text
Some functions, like naming a waypoint, route or
trail, will require you to input text.
Working with menus
There are several menu types used to make
adjustments to options and settings, including
scrollbars, on/o features and dropdown menus.
Scrollbars
Select the scrollbar and press the
keypad left (decrease) or right
(increase).
On/Off features
Select an on/o menu item and
press ENTER to turn it on/o.
Dropdown menus
Access the dropdown menu
and press use the keypad to
select the desired item and
press ENTER.
NOTE: Press the MENU key to Exit
menus.

67
Basic Operation | Elite X series Basic Operation | Elite X series
Fishing Modes
(Conventional sonar only)
Fishing modes enhance the performance of your
unit by providing preset packages of sonar settings
geared to specic shing conditions.
Switches keyboard
between Alpha and
QWERTY layout
Switches letters
to uppercase/
lowercase
To input text:
1. Use the keypad to select the desired
character and press ENTER.
2. Repeat Step 1 for each character.
3. When entry is completed, highlight OK
and press ENTER.

89
Basic Operation | Elite X series Basic Operation | Elite X series
Cursor
The keypad moves the cursor around the display,
allowing you to scroll the map, select map items
and review sonar history.
Press MENU and select Return to vessel or Exit cur-
sor mode to clear the cursor.
Advanced Mode
Enables advanced features and settings.
The following features are enabled when Advanced
mode is turned on:
• Units (Enables distance, speed, depth,
temperature, and bearings options)
• NMEA 0183 Output
• NMEA 2000 (Elite-7x and Elite-9x only)
Fishing Mode Options
General Use 1000ft or less Coastal
Shallow
Water 60ft or less Shallow weedy bottoms
Fresh Water 400ft or less Inland/Near coastal
Deep Water 1000ft or more Offshore
Slow
Trolling 400ft or less Inland/Coastal
Fast
Trolling 400ft or less Inland/Coastal
Clear Water 400ft or less Inland/Coastal
Brackish
Water 400ft or less Fresh-Saltwater mix
Ice 400ft or less Ice shing
NOTE: Use Fresh Water mode when shing
in less than 100 feet of water; otherwise
your unit may not track bottom properly.

89
Basic Operation | Elite X series Basic Operation | Elite X series
Standby mode
Lowers power consumption by turning o sonar
and the display.
Press the PWR/LIGHT key to
access the Backlight dialog.
Select Standby and press ENTER.
Press any key to resume normal
operation.
NOTE: Leaving your unit in Standby
mode when your boat is not is use will run
down your battery.
Restore defaults
Resets unit options and settings
to defaults.

10 11
Pages | Elite X series Pages | Elite X series
Sonar Page
Displays the water column moving from right to
left on your unit’s screen.
Fish arches
Surface Clutter
Range scale
Bottom
Pages
DownScan page
The Downscan page shows the water column
moving from right to left. You can overlay
downscan sonar on the conventional sonar page
by selecting DownScan Overlay on the Sonar
settings menu.
Structure
Fish Surface clutter
Range scale

10 11
Pages | Elite X series Pages | Elite X series
Combo pages
This unit has two pre-congured combo pages.
Sonar/DownScan Sonar/DownScan
horitzontal
NOTE: Press the PAGES key twice to
switch active panels.
Customizing combo pages
You can adjust the panel size of combo pages and
control how the pages will
be arranged on the screen:
vertically (side) or horizontally
(over).
To make adjustments to combo page panels, select
a combo page from the Pages carousel and press
MENU.
NOTE: To adjust panel size, access the
customize menu after selecting a combo
page for display.

12 13
Pages | Elite X series Pages | Elite X series
To add overlay data:
1. From the Sonar, Chart or DownScan
page, press MENU.
2. Select Overlay data and press ENTER.
3. Select Congure and press ENTER.
4. Press Menu and select Add. Press
ENTER.
5. Select a data category and press
ENTER.
6. Select the desired data and press
ENTER.
7. Press MENU and select Return to
Overlays. Press ENTER.
8. Press MENU, select Done Conguring
and press ENTER.
Overlay Data
Used to select data shown on the Sonar, Structure
and Chart pages.
Show
Enables/disables the display of overlay data,
allowing you to remove overlay data from the
screen without deleting the current overlay data
conguration.
Congure
Allows you to select/customize overlay data.
Overlay data

12 13
Pages | Elite X series Pages | Elite X series
Customizing Overlay Data
You can select a data source, add/remove data and
adjust the size and position of overlay data on the
screen.
Select the desired overlay
data from the Congure Item
Locations and Sizes dialog and
press MENU. The conguration
menu will appear.
Data sources
Used to select the network device that will supply
source data for a selected data type.
To select a data source:
1. Select Data sources and press ENTER.
2. Select the data type and press the
keypad to the right.
3. Highlight the desired data source and
press ENTER.

14 15
Sonar Operation | Elite X series Sonar Operation | Elite X series
CHIRP
A CHIRP (Compressed High Intensity Radar Pulse)
transducer transmits a modulated pulse of all
frequencies within the bandwidth of the selected
transducer type.
This results in better image quality, better target
separation and greater depth penetration.
This unit supports High CHIRP, Medium CHIRP and
Low CHIRP, depending on the transducer.
CHIRP can be used with Lowrance conventional
sonar transducers.
•50/200 kHz (Low/High CHIRP)
•83/200 kHz (Medium/High CHIRP)
To use CHIRP, select the desired CHIRP frequency
from the Frequency menu.
This unit supports two types of sonar: Conventional
and DownScan.
The features described in this section are for
conventional sonar. Refer to the DownScan
operation section for information on DownScan
features.
Sonar Operation

14 15
Sonar Operation | Elite X series Sonar Operation | Elite X series
Blue sonar history bar
Trackback
You can review your recent sonar history by mov-
ing the cursor to the left until the screen starts to
move in reverse.
Move the sonar history bar all the way to the right
to resume normal sonar scrolling, or press MENU
and select Exit cursor mode.
Sonar Menu
Press MENU from any sonar
page to access the Sonar
menu.
Adjust
Used to make adjustments to Sensitivity
and Colorline/Grayscale.
Sonar Menu
(Advanced Mode)
(Only active with
Downscan overlay
turned on)

16 17
Sonar Operation | Elite X series Sonar Operation | Elite X series
Sensitivity
Controls the level of detail shown on the display.
Too much detail will clutter the screen. If Sensitivity
is set too low, desired echoes may not be displayed.
Colorline
Helps distinguish sh or structure from the
bottom by showing hard returns as light colors
and soft returns as darker colors. A lower colorline
setting will display only the hardest returns,
shown in light colors.
Auto Sensitivity
Keeps sensitivity at a level that works well under
most conditions, reducing the needs for adjust-
ments. Auto Sensitivity is turned on by default.
NOTE: You can make minor (+/-40%)
changes to sensitivity with Auto Sensitivity
turned on. You will have to turn it o to
make signicant adjustments.
Range
Selects the deepest range shown on
the display. Range settings display the
section of the water column from the
water surface to the selected depth
range.
If you select too shallow a depth range, the unit will
not be able to lock onto the bottom.
Custom Range — Upper and Lower Limits
Used to select the upper limit and lower limit of
a section of the water column. That allows you to
view a section of the water column that does not
include the water surface or the bottom. Upper
and lower limits must be at least 6.5 ft (2m) apart.

16 17
Sonar Operation | Elite X series Sonar Operation | Elite X series
Frequency
Controls the transducer frequency used by the
unit. This unit supports conventional, CHIRP and
DownScan sonar frequencies.
Only frequencies supported by
your transducer will appear on the
Frequency menu.
Custom range menu
NOTE: When using a custom range,
you may not receive any digital depth
readings, or you may receive incorrect
depth information.
Sonar Frequencies
50 kHz Best depth penetration with
lower resolution
83 kHz Wider cone angle provides more
bottom coverage and easy lure
tracking
200 kHz Highest sensitivity and best tar-
get separation in shallow water
Low CHIRP Provides the best depth
penetration with lower
resolution
Medium
CHIRP
Better depth penetration than
High CHIRP with minimal loss of
target separation
High CHIRP Better resolution in shallow
water than Medium CHIRP
Custom high Selects a custom single fre-
quency from within High or
Low frequency ranges to help
reduce/eliminate interference
from other CHIRP transducers
Custom
medium