Lowrance HDS-5x User manual

Fish Finding Sonar
Operation manual
HDS-5x

Copyright © 2011 Navico
All Rights Reserved
Lowrance® and Navico® are registered trademarks of Navico.
Navionics® is a registered trademark of Navionics, Inc.
NMEA 2000® is a registered trademark of the National Marine Electronics
Association.
Navico may nd it necessary to change or end our policies, regulations
and special offers at any time. We reserve the right to do so without
notice. All features and specications subject to change without notice.

1
Contents
Table of contents
Introduction ....................................................................................... 3
Getting Started................................................................................. 5
Turning on the Unit..................................................................................... 5
Setup wizard .............................................................................................. 5
Keypad ....................................................................................................... 5
Backlight .................................................................................................... 5
Cursor ........................................................................................................ 5
Language ................................................................................................... 6
Menus ........................................................................................................ 6
Selecting a Fishing Mode .......................................................................... 7
Entering Letters in Text Boxes................................................................... 7
Restore Defaults ........................................................................................ 8
Pages................................................................................................. 9
Pages Screen ............................................................................................ 9
Data Overlay ............................................................................................ 10
Conguration menu ................................................................................. 13
Sonar Page .............................................................................................. 14
Radar Page (optional).............................................................................. 15
Info Page.................................................................................................. 15
Utilities ..................................................................................................... 20
Displaying Combo Pages ........................................................................ 21
Sonar Operation ............................................................................ 24
Viewing Sonar History ............................................................................. 24
Sonar Menu ............................................................................................. 25
Sonar Options.......................................................................................... 28
Palette...................................................................................................... 29
Measure Distance.................................................................................... 31

2
Contents
Radar Operation (optional) ........................................................... 33
Radar menu ............................................................................................. 34
Adjust menu .............................................................................................34
Guard Zones............................................................................................ 39
Settings Menu ................................................................................. 41
Sonar Settings ......................................................................................... 45
Manual Mode ........................................................................................... 46
Fishing Modes ......................................................................................... 47
Installation Menu...................................................................................... 48
Keel Offset ............................................................................................... 48
Radar Settings Menu (optional) ............................................................... 52
Fuel .......................................................................................................... 63
Alarms...................................................................................................... 67
Units......................................................................................................... 68
Network.................................................................................................... 69
Vessels (only available if connected to AIS receiver).............................. 75
Simulator.................................................................................................. 76
Specications: HDS-5x .................................................................. 77
Unit Care .......................................................................................... 78
Troubleshooting.............................................................................. 79
Index ................................................................................................. 85

3
Introduction
About this manual
Thank you for purchasing from Lowrance, the industry leader in marine technology.
This manual documents how to adjust features and options in your display unit. The
information in each section follows the same sequence as your display unit’s menus.
If you would like information on how to get the most out of your unit, visit our web
site, www.lowrance.com; click on the Support tab and select Tips and Tutorials.
Manual Conventions
When you are instructed to press a button in this manual, the button will be shown
in all caps and bold text like — MENU, EXIT, ENTER, etc. If you are instructed
to select an item from a menu, the item to be selected will be listed in bold like —
Brightness, Key beeps, etc.
For example: Press MENU, select Language and press ENTER.
Lowrance Customer Service
[phone]
Canada [phone] or [phone]
Introduction

4
Introduction
Lowrance HDS-5x Sonar
ZOUT: Zooms out the screen so you can see more of the water column
ZIN: Zooms in the screen, allowing you to get a closer look at desired returns
LIGHT/POWER:
controls backlight
level & turns the
unit on/off
FREQ: changes transducer
frequency
EXIT: cancels
entries, closes
menus & windows;
KEYPAD: used to move
the cursor, scroll through
menus, adjust features
and view sonar history
MENU: opens
context &
settings menus
PAGES: opens Pages
menu; hold down the
Pages key to switch
active panels when
viewing combo pages
ENTER: conrms
menu selections

5
Getting Started
Getting Started
Turning on the Unit
Press the POWER/LIGHT key to turn on the unit. To turn off the
unit, press the POWER/LIGHT key, select Power Off and press
ENTER.
Setup wizard
The Setup wizard will appear when unit is turned on
for the rst time. To choose your own settings, do not
run the setup wizard. To restart the Setup wizard, re-
store defaults.
Keypad
This unit’s keypad can be used in two ways. Pressing the arrow
symbols on the keypad will move the cursor in the corresponding
direction on the screen and allow you to scroll through menus.
Backlight
Tap the LIGHT/POWER key to make adjustments to the backlight
level and open the Backlight Menu. To turn on Night Mode from
the menu, highlight Night Mode and press ENTER. Night mode
optimizes the display for low light conditions.
Cursor
Use the unit’s keypad to move the cursor around the display, select onscreen objects,
highlight data items and view sonar history. Press EXIT to remove the cursor from
the screen.
Keypad

6
Getting Started
Language
Selects language used for menus, text boxes and messages.
To select a language:
1. Press MENU twice.
2. Select System and press ENTER
3. Highlight Language and press ENTER.
4. Use the keypad to select a language and
press ENTER.
Menus
This unit has a Settings menu, a Pages screen and several context menus. The
Settings menu provides access to the settings menus for the main
operation modes: Sonar and Radar. The Settings menu is accessed by
pressing MENU twice.
The Pages screen allows you to select a page to be shown on the
display. Utilities are also accessed from the Pages screen. Press the
PAGES key to select a page.
Each page has its own context menu which allows you to access
functions for that page. Context menus are accessible only when its
corresponding page is displayed. The Sonar Menu, for example, will
only be available when the Sonar Page is on the display. To access a
context menu, select the desired page and press the MENU key.
Closing Menus
Press the EXIT key to close a menu. Repeatedly pressing EXIT will close all menus,
taking you back to the main screen.
Radar menu
Sonar menu
Pages screen
Settings
menu

7
Getting Started
Selecting a Fishing Mode
Fishing modes enhance the performance of your unit by providing preset packages
of sonar settings geared to specic shing conditions.
To select a shing mode:
1. Press MENU twice.
2. Select Sonar and press ENTER.
3. Highlight Fishing Mode and press ENTER.
4. Select the desired shing mode and press
ENTER.
Fishing
Mode Depth Settings Palette
General Use ≤1,000 ft 50% Ping speed Bottom brown/ blue background
Shallow Water ≤ 60 ft 75% Ping speed bottom brown/white background
Fresh Water ≤ 400 ft 50% Ping speed bottom brown/white background
Deep Water ≥ 1,000 ft 50% Ping speed Deep Blue
Slow Trolling ≤ 400 ft 50% Ping speed Bottom brown/white background
Fast Trolling ≤ 400 ft Lower chart speed Bottom brown/white background
Clear Water ≤ 400 ft 50% Ping speed Bottom brown/white background
Ice Fishing ≤ 400 ft Settings optimized to reduce interference from
other sonar units
Entering Letters in Text Boxes
This unit has some features and functions that may
require you to enter data in a text box.
To enter data in a text box:
1. Highlight the text box and press ENTER.
A keyboard will appear on the screen.
2. Use the keypad to highlight the rst
character and press ENTER. Repeat
this step until all characters have been
entered.
3. Highlight OK and press ENTER. Keyboard window
Keypad button controls
uppercase & lowercase

8
Getting Started
Restore Defaults
The Restore Defaults command switches the unit back to the settings it had when
you purchased it (default).
To Restore Defaults:
1. Press MENU twice.
2. Select System and press ENTER.
3. Highlight Restore Defaults and press ENTER.
4. Select each item you want to restore or
delete and press ENTER.
5. Select OK and press ENTER.

9
Pages
Pages
Pages Screen
Consists of page icons that scroll horizontally around the Pages menu. To view the
pages screen, press the PAGES key.
Selecting Pages
Pressing the keypad left or right will move the page icons around the menu. To
select a page, move the desired page icon to the center of the screen.
When selected, the page name will be highlighted in blue at the top of a list of
combo display options. Its icon, will be framed by a blue border below the list. To
display the page, press ENTER.
NOTE: Hold down the PAGES key to switch active panels
when viewing combo pages.
With Sonar selected, unit will
display a full sonar screen
Combo
display
options
allows you
to display a
split screen Sonar icon rotated to center of
page; has blue border indicating
it is the selected page option
Page Icons
Page icons
rotate around
the circular
Pages
menu

10
Pages
Data Overlay
Data overlay is information you can display on top
of the page screen, allowing you to customize each
page with desired data.
Data Overlay menu
Every page option has its own Data Overlay menu. The menu allows you to edit,
add or remove overlay data from the display. To access Data Overlay menu, select
a page option and press MENU.
Edit Overlay menu
Accesses data overlay options for all the unit’s page screens.
To access Edit Overlay menu:
1. Select Edit data overlay from the Data overlay
menu and press ENTER.
2. Press MENU. The Edit overlay menu will
appear.
Edit Mode
When a gauge is added to the display it will be shown in edit mode. Analog and
bar gauges are shaded in blue when they are in Edit Mode. Digital Gauges will be
shown with a blue border.
Analog gauge in edit
mode
Digital gauge in edit mode

11
Pages
Move or Placing a Gauge
The Move gauge command allows you to move data overlay to any position on the
screen. When you use the Place gauge command, the gauge will be locked in its
current position.
To move/place a gauge:
1. Press the ENTER key when the gauge is in edit
mode. Four directional arrows will appear.
2. Use the keypad to move the gauge into the desired
location.
3. Press ENTER to place the gauge.
Select Data
Used to select data that will be shown on the data overlay display. When selecting
data you rst will open a main data category and then choose data to be displayed
from the a data subcategory.
Type
Switches data overlay display between analog, digital and bar gauge formats,
provided the format is appropriate for the selected data type.
To change the gauge type:
1. With the gauge in edit mode, press MENU.
2. Select Congure and press ENTER.
3. Select Type and press ENTER.
Select data menu Time subcategory

12
Pages
Size
Selects the size of the data overlay display. Data overlay can be displayed in four
sizes.
With the gauge in edit mode (shaded in blue) press the ZOOM OUT key to increase
overlay size; press the ZOOM IN key to decrease overlay size.
Limits
Controls the number scale used on data overlay gauges and
selects warning thresholds.
Changing the limits on an analog or bar gauge removes
unnecessary numbers from the gauge, making them easier
to read. Warnings help you stay within selected warning
thresholds.
Limits are congured by inputting analog or bar gauge limits
in the Limits text boxes — minimum and maximum. Warnings
thresholds are entered in the Low and High text boxes.
Conguration
Limits menu
Large analog gauge
Small digital gauge
Analog format
Digital format

13
Pages
Conguration menu
Allows you to Add/Remove sources and adjust Bezel, Caption
and Invert Text Settings. Other conguration menu options are
covered previously in the section.
To access the Conguration menu, highlight Conguration on
the Edit Overlay menu and press ENTER.
Conguration Settings
Bezel Adds a bezel to the data overlay gauge, making it easier to
see against certain backgrounds
Caption Allows you to add/remove data label from gauge
Invert Text Changes appearance of data overlay text
Add Source
Displays the same type of data from different sources on the same analog gauge.
If, for example, you have multiple engines, you could select port engine RPM as your
data type and then display starboard engine RPM using the Add source command.
Both data sources could be displayed simultaneously on an analog gauge with two
needles; one dedicated to each source.
To add a source:
1. Select Add source from the Edit Overlay menu
and press ENTER.
2. Highlight a category and press ENTER. A list of
subcategories will appear.
3. Select the desired subcategory and press
ENTER.
To remove add source data:
1. Highlight Remove source on the Edit overlay
menu and press ENTER.
2. Select the source you want to remove and press
ENTER.
Add Source menu
Showing RPM from
two engines.

14
Pages
Sonar Page
Displays the water column moving from right to left on your unit’s screen. On the
right side of the screen, the Amplitude Scope bar previews echoes about to appear
on the display.
The sonar page supports multiple splitscreen views and 14 color palette settings.
Sonar display options are covered in more detail in the Sonar Operation section.
On the Sonar Page you can:
• Move the cursor to any location on the screen to get a depth reading
• Show sh echoes as sh symbols with sh depths
• Adjust Range to view only desired portion of the water column
To access the Sonar Page, use the keypad to highlight Sonar on the Pages menu and
press ENTER.

15
Pages
Radar Page (optional)
Displays the PPI (Position Plan Indicator)
screen, Range Rings and the cursor.
The PPI can be shifted to show more of a
desired portion of the screen (Look Ahead,
Center & Offset) and the color palette
can be changed to show returns in white,
yellow, black or green. The radar page
is covered in more detail in the Radar
Operation section.
On the Radar Page you can:
• Overlay compass data, range rings and EBL/VRMs on display
• Choose screen orientation from Head Up, Course Up & North Up
• Make radar targets more visible via Target Expansion
Use the keypad to highlight Radar on the page screen and press ENTER to access
the Radar Page.
Info Page
Consists of multiple gauges — Analog, Digital
and Bar — that can be customized to display
selected data. Customizing the info page allows
you to monitor several types of desired data at
the same time.
On the Info Page you can:
• Select data to be displayed in analog gauge or digital formats
• Change the page layout using one of three templates
• Select the range (scale) of analog gauges
To access the Info Page, use the keypad to select Info on the pages screen and press
ENTER.
NOTE: You will only be able to see the Radar page if your unit
is connected to a radar.

16
Pages
Info menu
Controls Info page data, page layout and data display format
selection. To access the Data menu, press MENU while on the
Info page.
Dashboards
Layout templates that are customized with selected data and saved for on-the-water
viewing. You can customize a different layout template for each dashboard or add
custom data to the same layout template and save it as a different dashboard each
time.
Edit
Used to select information displayed on the Info page. To switch the screen to Edit
Mode, select Edit from the Info menu and press ENTER. The active gauge will be
shaded in blue (analog) or surrounded by a blue border (digital and bar).
Vessel layout Navigation Layout Angler Layout
NOTE: You can toggle through the dashboard templates on the
screen by pressing the keypad left/right.

17
Pages
To edit gauge display:
1. Use the keypad to select the gauge you want to edit and press
ENTER. The Select Info menu will appear.
2. Use the keypad to select a data category and press ENTER. A list of
subcategories will appear.
3. Select the desired subcategory and press ENTER.
4. Press MENU. The Edit Info menu will appear.
5. Select Save and press ENTER.
Edit Info menu
Changes Info Page gauge data, allowing you to display desired
data on analog, digital and bar gauges. It also controls gauge
limits.
To access the Edit Info menu, switch the screen to Edit mode
and press MENU.
To select info:
1. Highlight Select Info from the Edit Info menu and press ENTER. The
Select Info menu will appear.
2. Use the keypad to select the desired category and press ENTER. A
list of subcategories will appear.
3. Select the desired subcategory and press ENTER.
Editing data on an analog
gauge
Editing data on a digital gauge

18
Pages
To add source:
1. Select Add Source from the Edit Info menu
and press ENTER.
2. Use the keypad to select the desired category
and press ENTER. A list of subcategories will
appear.
3. Select the desired subcategory and press
ENTER.
To remove a source:
1. Highlight Remove Source from the Edit Info menu and press ENTER.
The Remove data-source window will appear.
2. Select the source you want to remove and press ENTER.
To Congure Limits:
1. Highlight Congure Limits on the Edit Info menu
and press ENTER. The Congure Limits menu
will appear.
2. Select the desired text box and press ENTER.
3. Use the keypad to enter the desired limit or
warning threshold.
4. Select OK and press ENTER.
NOTE: The Limits portion of the Congure Limits menu will
only be shown when conguring analog gauge limits.