Lowrance LRA-1500 - Manuals

iii Warnings and Cautions Caution: Use this radar at your own risk. This radar was designed for use as a navigation aid. It should not be used for purposes that require precise measurements of direction, distance, topography or location. Always compare the navigation information receivedfrom your ra...

1 Section 1: Introduction Thank you for buying a Lowrance Radar with the RIM 100 radar inter- face module. Your radar consists of three main components: the radarscanner unit (antenna), your display unit (sold separately) and the RIM 100 radar interface module which connects the scanner and display ...

2 This manual covers the following radar units: LRA-1000, LRA-1500,LRA-2000 radomes; and LRA-4000, LRA-5000 open array radars. Update Display Unit Software Your display unit must have software version 1.3.0 or later to work with radar. Depending on when you bought your display, it may requirea softw...

4 Basic Radar Display Components Your unit has three electronic bearing lines and three variable range markers. An enlarged example of EBLs and VRMs is on the next page. PPI Positionstatus Displaymode Range Range RingInterval Echo Trailstatus Anti-RainClutter Anti-SeaClutter Radar EchoExpansionstatu...

5 Basic Radar Display Components VRMs and EBLs allow you to track the distance and bearing of multiple radar targets. NOTE: This manual is printed in black and white, but a free color version(in Acrobat  PDF format) is available for display or download from the Lowrance web site. The color manual i...

7 Section 2: Radar Setup This section will teach you how to prepare your radar for operation. Be- fore you begin radar setup, the radar scanning unit, RIM 100 moduleand display unit must all be installed and their cables connected. The display unit must be running software version 1.3.0 or later. WA...

9 Radar Setup The Radar Setup menu allows you to setup and adjust radar settings, like Transmit Off Zone and Antenna Park. Most of the settings in theRadar Setup menu will only have to be set once, but we recommend you check the settings periodically for general maintenance. NOTE: Before starting ra...

10 Anti-Rain Clutter 1. To set Anti-Rain Clutter to zero, press MENU , select A NTI -R AIN C LUTTER (FTC) and press ENT . 2. That will launch the Anti-Rain Clutter vertical scrollbar. Press ↓ un- til the Anti-Rain Clutter is set to zero percent. Press EXIT . (Notice the corresponding value in the up...

12 If you over apply the Trigger Delay, the black circle will disappear. De-crease the Trigger Delay level and it will reappear.3. Press EXIT to return to the main page display. Adjust Main Bang Suppression Main Bang Suppression is only for 4kW units — LRA 2000, LRA 4000 and LRA 5000. This feature f...

13 Main Bang Suppression begins with the same red ring we resized dur- ing Trigger Delay setup (left). Slowly increase Main Bang Suppression to make the ring as thin as possible (enlarged view, right). 5. Press EXIT to clear the scrollbar from the screen. Now reset Gain, Anti-Sea Clutter and Anti-Ra...

14 3. Use ← → to adjust the position of the green heading line, so its line to the reference point's radar image matches your bow's actual line to the reference point.4. Press EXIT to remove the heading line arrows from the display. Adjust Transmit Off Zone The Transmit Off Zone is a feature that al...

15 1. From the Radar Setup menu, press → | ↓ to select A DJUST T RANSMIT O FF Z ONE and press ENT . That will launch the Adjust Transmit Off Zone dialogs in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. 2, Use ↑ ↓ , ← → to set up the Transmit Off Zone in the desired area. The zone will be colored red o...

17 Section 3: Basic Operation Pages The Radar Page has four display options: Radar Only, Radar with Map,Radar with Sonar and Radar with Gauges. GPS only units do not sup- port the Radar with Sonar page, so they have three display options: Radar Only, Radar with Map and Radar with Gauges. Radar Page ...

18 Radar Only option (left) with Radar with Map display (right). Radar with Sonar The Radar with Sonar option allows you to monitor radar information, while viewing sonar returns. Not available on GPS only units. Radar with Gauges The Radar with Gauges display will split the screen between the radar...

19 Radar Menu When a radar page is the active page, you can access the radar menu by pressing MENU . To access the main menu, press MENU | MENU . Radar Menu. Gain This is used to adjust the sensitivity of the receiver. Setting Gain to a low level will clear up some of the clutter on the screen, but ...

20 Gain vertical scrollbar (left) with Anti-Sea Clutter scrollbar (right). Anti-Sea Clutter (STC): This lowers receiver sensitivity at shorter ranges to reduce or eliminate echoes that reflect back at the antenna due to wave action close to thevessel. Caution Increasing STC may reduce or eliminate w...

21 Anti-Rain Clutter vertical scrollbar (left) with Interference Rejection scrollbar (right). Interference Rejection This feature filters out signals from other radars close to your location. To adjust Interference Rejection: 1. Select I NTERFERENCE R EJECTION from the radar menu and press ENT . Tha...

23 Adjust Radar PPI Offset Adjusts vertical and horizontal offset of the PPI, allowing you to see more of what is in front, behind or on either side of you. To Adjust Radar PPI Offset: 1. Select A DJUST R ADAR PPI O FFSET from the radar menu and press ENT . 2. Four arrows will surround the PPI. Use ...

24 Log Radar Data If your unit has a hard drive (LCX-26cHD, LCX-111cHD, GlobalMap6600cHD & GlobalMap 7600cHD) the Log Radar Data feature allows you to save radar logs. Saving a radar log allows you to reuse the log in the unit's simulator, which can aid you in being more proficient at ra-dar int...

26 4. Next use ↑ ↓ to highlight the C OPY F ROM dialog box. Select your unit's hard drive as the Copy-From location and press ENT . 5. Highlight the C OPY button and press ENT . To delete a data file: 1. Highlight D ELETE from the File Information window and press ENT . 2. A confirmation message wil...

27 Transmit Off Zone and Tune, all of which are addressed in the sectionon Radar Setup. You can also modify Radar Orientation, Radar Color Scheme and Antenna Park from the Radar Setup menu. Radar Orientation Displays the orientation of your radar, which by default is set to Heading Up. Radar Color S...

28 Selecting Adjust Antenna Park will place a dialog box in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Use Arrow keys to adjust it. To adjust Antenna Park: 1. Make sure the vessel is not moving, then, from the Radar Setupmenu, press → | ↓ to A DJUST A NTENNA P ARK and press ENT . That will dis- play...

29 Radar Information screen (left). Radar Power confirmation message (right). Radar Power Turns the radar on and off. To turn radar on or off: 1. To turn the radar on or off, highlight R ADAR P OWER on the radar menu and press ENT . 2. A confirmation message will appear. Press ← to Y ES to continue....

30 Simulators highlighted on the System Setup menu (left). Radar Simu- lator On selected on Radar Simulator menu (right). Notice the simula- tor has not been turned on, since the checkbox is unchecked. 5. Press ↓ to R ADAR S IMULATOR O N and press ENT to turn on (check) the simulator checkbox. Repea...

31 Section 4: Advanced Operation Radar Only page display. Reading the Display The radar page displays digital information on the screen which covers,Range Rings, Gain, Anti-Sea Clutter (STC), Anti-Rain Clutter (FTC) and when active, Electronic Bearing Lines (EBL) and Variable Range Markers (VRM). Ga...

32 Anti-Sea Clutter (STC) The STC percentage displays the current Anti-Sea Clutter setting on your radar screen. Anti-Rain Clutter (FTC) The FTC percentage displays the current Anti-Rain Clutter setting on your radar screen. Electronic Bearing Line (EBL) A radial line that can be rotated 360 ° , the...

35 Radar screen with all three EBL-VRM options visible on the display. Notice the EBL and VRM readings in the bottom left and right-hand corners of the screen. To remove EBL-VRM from the display: 1. Press ↓ to call up the EBL-VRM menu. Select the EBL-VRM you want to remove and press ENT . 2. Press E...

37 Section 5: Radar Interpretation Interpreting images on your radar screen involves as much art as it does science. If you want to be confident with your radar at night, you need to practice in daylight. To be ready for fog or a blinding rain squall, you must practice in fair weather.Making you an ...

39 Anti-Rain Clutter (FTC) fig. 4. FTC set to 50%. Anti-Rain Clutter (FTC) fig. 5. FTC set to 62%. The rain has virtually disappeared from the screen.

40 Echo Trails This four-figure sequence shows how Echo Trails tracks target move- ment over time. The boat is stationary. Several boats will be trailed. Color mode is default. Echo Trail update interval set to 30 seconds. Echo Trails fig. 1. Elapsed time = zero. Echo Trails fig. 2. Elapsed time = 5...

42 Typical Small Boat Targets Small boat targets fig. 1. Bow is headed into the wind. Here, boats ap- pear as larger red targets. Birds are smaller green targets. Small boat targets fig. 2. Boat has turned, with the wind (and wave clutter) off port quarter. Boat Waveaction Boats Birds Waveaction Boa...

44 Shoreline Images This sequence illustrates a boat entering a channel. The green line is the track the vessel will take. The magenta line from the stern is a GPS trail. Study these radar returns with their corresponding maps and you'll get a feel for how radar displays a shoreline. This channel is...

46 Recommended Reading For additional instruction check out these two books and a U.S. gov- ernment manual: The Radar Book: Effective Navigation and Collision Avoidance , by Kevin Monahan. ISBN 1-932310-05-3, 235 pages, paperback. Publishedin 2003 by FineEdge.com LLC, 14004 Biz Point Lane, Anacortes...

49 Transmit Off Zone : an area set up in the radar transmission path where the radar will not transmit a microwave pulse. Tuning : intermediate frequency adjustment that enhances the per- formance of the radar. VRM (Variable Range Marker) : a range ring used to measure the precise distance to a targ...

50 FCC Compliance This device complies with Part 15 and Part 80 of the U.S. Fed-eral Communications Commission (FCC) Rules. Operation issubject to the following two conditions: (1) this device may notcause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept anyinterference received, including inte...

51 LOWRANCE ELECTRONICS FULL ONE-YEAR WARRANTY "We," "our," or "us" refers to LOWRANCE ELECTRONICS, INC., the manufacturer ofthis product. "You" or "your" refers to the first person who purchases this product as aconsumer item for personal, family or household...

52 How to Obtain Service… …in the USA: We back your investment in quality products with quick, expert service and genuine Lowrance parts. If you're in the United States and you have technical, return or repair questions, please contact the FactoryCustomer Service Department. Before any product can b...

Accessory Ordering Information for all countries To order Lowrance accessories for your unit, please contact: 1) Your local marine dealer or consumer electronics store. Most quality dealers that handle marine electronic equipment or other consumer electronics should be able to assist you with these ...