I've been playing around with my Lowrance some lately trying to really learn how to use the unit. I have an LCX-17M but a lot of this stuff is the same between the newer units. I made myself a cheat sheet and figured it might be useful to post it here. This is all taken from the manual.
I also have a question for any Lowrance experts out there... There are two ways to mark a spot on the GPS. One is using an icon (hit enter, then select the icon). The other way it using a waypoint (hit wpt and add it). I made the mistake of marking everything on my GPS so far as icons. I can get back to these places generally no problem. The tricky part comes when you mark several things in close proximity as icons, you can't name them. So when you go back later you can't tell which one is which. Waypoints can be named and navigated to using the navigation functions of the GPS.
So basically, I'd like to convert icons to waypoints. Anyone know if its possible?
Here's the cheat sheet. Additions or corrections are welcome :)
Copy Coordinates from internal memory to MMC card Menu -> System Setup -> Transfer my data It will then prompt 'transfer data which way' Answer Save to save to the MMC Card Rename the file if desired
Copy Coordinates from MMC card to internal memory Same as above except save to internal memory There may be multiple files on the MMC card so pick as needed
How to erase trails Menu -> My trails delete all
How to save a new trail, from the top To generate a new trail go to Menu -> My trails Select the current trail and hit enter hit right arrow and then deselect active that will deactivate the trail and cause it to start making a new trail When done creating the trail, deactivate it using same procedure as above
How to view trails Go to Menu -> My trails select the trail to view and right arrow then select visible same can be used in reverse to hide a trail
Navigating a trail Menu -> My trails Select trail to navigate and hit enter arrow over to navigate and hit enter or use reverse button to navigate trail in opposite direction as it was recorded
Create a waypoint from coordinates (enter a waypoint manually) Hit WPT to subcategory column then hit New Press Entered Position then Create Press Latitude then enter latitude Press Longitude and enter longitude
Navigate to a Waypoint Hit WPT -> Saved then enter to look for the nearest, press to nearest or look by name through the list or use find by name
How to edit a Waypoint's Properties Hit WPT -> ENT -> ENT -> ENT go down to the waypoints name and select it by hitting Enter Go down to edit waypoint and hit enter again You can rename the waypoint, edit the icon or view the coordinates for the waypoint
Navigate to an Icon Use arrow keys to place cursor over Icon Press Menu -> Enter to navigate to cursor
Man overboard Press zoom in and zoom out at the same time Go to chart or map view to navigate to man overboard point
Set an Alarm Clock Menu -> Timers -> Alarm Clock
Change Coordinate System (change from degrees to decimal) Menu -> GPS Setup -> Coordinate System
Map Detail Level Menu -> Map Data
Show Lat/Long grid lines (could be useful to compare to fish-n-maps with GPS waypoints marked) Menu -> Map data
Map Orientation Default is to always show map to true north which can be confusing To change hit Menu -> Map Orientation 'Track Up' rotates as you rotate - probably the most useful view Course up aligns to the the direction you are currently navigating to (assuming you are navigating somewhere)
Adjust Contrast of the Screen Menu -> Screen -> then adjust the slider bar for contrast
Turn off Annoying WAAS Alarm Every time you turn it on it gives you a WAAS aquired message To turn it off go to Menu -> GPS Setup -> Show WAAS alarm and disable it
#2988, "RE: Lowrance sonar cheat sheet" In response to Reply # 0
So how long did it take to figure all of that out? I spent hours learning my unit and now I love it!! Lowrance has WAY TOO many beeps and alarms for my taste. I spent an hour turning them all off
#2989, "RE: Lowrance sonar cheat sheet" In response to Reply # 1
I pretty much used the graph for about a year without seriously reading the manual, just skimming for what I needed to know. Then I decided to get more serious about it so I just read through the manual and made those notes.
The alarms on the lowrance are extremely annoying. The WAAS aquired thing is retarded if you are at the delta and it keeps losing signal it goes on and off constantly. I think the best thing I learned from reading the manual was the stop chart option to turn off the annoying clicking of the graph but still have the GPS functions.
I need to get lowrance map create and a navionics chip next... The lowrance chip is good but doesn't have don pedro which is annoying.
#2991, "RE: Lowrance sonar cheat sheet" In response to Reply # 0
I went 6 years with a Garmin. I learned 90% of it the first few trips out. I felt it was easy to use. I went with Lowrance on my new rig, 26HD and 110. The color picture is great (although I understand gray scale better). There is one thing that drives me nuts. If I had to push 3 buttons to accomplish a task on the Garmin I need to push 7 on the Lowrance to accomplish the same task. I’m not knocking the Lowrance it’s a great unit, just a lot of work.