531184-1_WEB Thank you for choosing Humminbird®, America's #1 name in fishfinders. Humminbird has built its reputation by designing and manufacturing top-quality, thoroughly reliable marine equipment. Your Humminbird is designed for trouble-free use in even the harshest marine environment. In the unlikely event that your Humminbird does require repairs, we offer an exclusive Service Policy - free of charge during the first year after purchase, and available at a reasonable rate after the one-year period. For complete details, see the separate warranty card included with your unit. We encourage you to read this operation manual carefully in order to get full benefit from all the features and applications of your Humminbird product. Contact our Customer Resource Center at either 1-334-687-0503 or www.humminbird.com. WARNING! This device should not be used as a navigational aid to prevent collision, grounding, boat damage, or personal injury. When the boat is moving, water depth may change too quickly to allow time for you to react. Always operate the boat at very slow speeds if you suspect shallow water or submerged objects. MatrixTM, Humminbird®, WeatherSenseTM, Selective Fish ID+TM, WhiteLine®, RTS®, X-PressTM Menu, Selective Fish ID+TM, Fish ID+TM, Structure ID®, TrueArchTM, UltraBlackTM, Angler Profile PresetsTM are trademarked by or registered trademarks of Techsonic Industries, Inc. © 2002. All rights reserved. How Sonar Works Sonar technology is based on sound waves. The MatrixTM Fishing System uses sonar to locate and define structure, bottom contour and composition, as well as calibrate digital depth directly below the transducer. Your Matrix unit sends a sound wave signal and determines distance by measuring the time between the transmission of the sound wave and when the sound wave is reflected off of an object; it then uses the reflected signal to interpret location, size, and composition of an object. Sonar is very fast. A sound wave can travel from the surface to a depth of 240 ft (70 m) and back again in less than ¼ of a second. It is unlikely that your boat can "outrun" this sonar signal. DualBeamPLUSTM Sonar Your Matrix 15 uses a dual frequency 200/83 kHz DualBeamPLUS sonar system with a wide (60°) area of coverage. DualBeamPLUS is optimized to show the greatest bottom definition with a narrow (20°) beam, and the fish and structure location with a wide (60°) beam. DualBeamPLUS is ideal for a wide range of conditions - from shallow to very deep water in both fresh and salt water. Depth capability is affected by such factors as boat speed, wave action, bottom hardness, water conditions and transducer installation. All sonar units typically read to deeper depths in fresh water than in salt water. Your Matrix transducer also comes with a temperature sensor included! Powering Up the Unit Turn on the Matrix unit by momentarily pressing the POWER key. A startup screen is then displayed until the Matrix unit begins sonar operation. While the startup screen is displayed, you may press the MENU key for the other options listed below. If no key is pressed, the Matrix will begin Normal or Simulator operation, depending on the presence or absence of a transducer. The following operating states are available: · · · · Normal ­ Use for on the water operation with transducer connected. Simulator ­ Use to learn the features and functions of the Matrix unit. Simulates on the water operation. System Status ­ Use to view system connections and conduct a unit self-test. PC Connect ­ Use when upgrading Matrix internal software with a PC and PC Connect cable. The Matrix unit uses advanced transducer detection methods to determine if a transducer is connected. If the transducer is not connected or is damaged, the unit will select the Simulator state automatically at startup. If a functioning transducer is connected, the unit will select the Normal operating state automatically and the unit can be used on the water. NOTE: When operating in Simulator state with a transducer connected, Menu setting changes are saved to memory. If a transducer is not connected, changes will not be saved and Menu settings will revert to factory defaults every few minutes. Sonar Views Sonar View presents a historical log of the stored sonar returns. The most recent sonar returns are charted on the right side of the window; as new information is received, the older information is moved across the display. A Digital Depth Readout is displayed in the upper left corner. A scale with Upper and Lower Depth Range readouts appears along the right edge of the Sonar View. The scale indicates the distance from the surface of the water to a depth range sufficient to show the bottom. Depth Range is automatically selected to keep the bottom visible on screen, although it can be manually-adjusted by the user as well (see Sonar Settings - X-PressTM Menu). Up to five additional Digital Readouts display information from optional-purchase accessories such as Water Temperature, Trolling Speed, WeatherSenseTM Barometric Pressure and more. These information boxes can be customized to show only the information desired (see Advanced User Mode - Select Readouts). Barometer and Temp/Speed accessories are optional. Additional purchase required. A Real Time Sonar (RTS®) window appears on the right side of the display. The RTS Window always updates at the fastest rate possible for depth conditions and shows only the returns from the bottom, structure and fish that are within the transducer beam. In the RTS Window, sonar returns are shown in shades of gray. The most intense returns are shown as a solid black band that indicates the bottom. The thickness of the bottom band indicates bottom type. Hard bottoms appear thinner and mostly black; softer bottoms are thicker and may appear with many gray tones. Above the bottom band, less intense sonar returns shown as varying shades of gray indicate the sonar returns from fish or structure. The RTS Window can be turned on or off (see Sonar Settings - Main Menu System). Temp/Speed Accessory is optional. As the boat moves, the Matrix unit charts the changes in depth on the display to create a profile of the Bottom Contour. The default presentation highlights the bottom profile with a WhiteLine® feature and gray tones. From the appearance of the gray tones in the bottom contour, the type of bottom can be determined. A Hard Bottom such as compacted sediment or flat rock appears as a thinner dark line across the display. A Soft Bottom such as mud or sand appears as a thicker line that contains a transition from darker to lighter grays. Rocky Bottoms have a broken, random appearance. In shallower water, a Second Sonar Return may appear as a bottom contour below the main bottom at twice the depth. The second return occurs when the sonar signal bounces between the bottom and the surface of the water and back again. Experienced anglers use the appearance of the second return to determine bottom hardness. Hard bottoms will show a strong second return, while soft bottoms will show a very weak one or none at all. The Matrix unit is capable of revealing layers of water with different temperatures called thermoclines. Thermoclines appear at different depths and different times of the year. A thermocline typically appears as a continuous band of many gray levels moving across the display at the same depth. Due to the transducer beam angle, the distance to a fish decreases as the fish moves into the beam, and then increases as it moves out again, creating a Fish Arch when this distance change is graphed on the display. Boat speed, chart speed, and the position of the fish within the sonar beam greatly affect the shape of the arch. For optimum fish arching, it is important to mount the transducer so that it is pointing straight down. The Matrix unit has an advanced Selective Fish ID+TM option that Temp/Speed Accessory is optional. analyzes the sonar return to determine if the sonar return may contain a fish (see Sonar Settings - Main Menu System). When a target is detected, a Fish ID+TM symbol appears on the display with the depth. The size of the symbol indicates the intensity of the sonar return. Targets detected in the narrow beam directly under the boat appear as Solid Fish Symbols. Targets detected in the wide beam around the boat appear as Hollow Fish Symbols. The Matrix unit will clearly show schools of Bait Fish as "clouds" of different shapes and sizes, depending on the number of fish and boat speed. Sonar Zoom View increases the display resolution to separate sonar returns that are very close together, such as those caused by fish suspended close to the bottom or within structure. In Zoom View, the display is split to show a full range view on the right and the zoomed view on the left. As the depth changes, the zoomed view updates automatically to display a magnified image of the bottom. The Zoom Sonar Zoom View shown Preview Box shows where the zoomed view is in relation to the full range view. The Zoom Level, or with Structure ID® on magnification, is displayed in the lower left corner and can be changed to suit conditions (see Sonar Settings - X-Press Menu). Upper and Lower Zoom Depth Range numbers indicate the depth of the water which is being viewed. Big Digits View provides digital data in a large, easy-to-see format. Depth and battery voltage are always displayed. Readouts for temperature, speed and Triplog information are displayed if the appropriate accessory is connected to the system. The Triplog shows distance traveled, average speed, and time elapsed since the Triplog was last reset (see System Settings - Main Menu Setup Tab). Big Digits View shown with Bottom View set to Bottom Black Sonar Settings - X-PressTM Menu The X-Press menu represents the settings most frequently-used to optimize the sonar performance of the Matrix unit. Press the MENU key once while in a Sonar View to access the following X-Press menu settings quickly: Sensitivity provides advanced control over the sonar receiver. The Matrix unit optimizes Sensitivity based on depth and water conditions automatically; however, you also may change it manually to match your preferences or water conditions. Increasing the sensitivity shows more sonar returns from small bait fish and suspended debris in the water; however, the display may become too cluttered in some water conditions. When operating in very clear water or greater depths, increased sensitivity shows smaller returns that may be of interest. Decreasing the sensitivity eliminates the clutter from the display that is sometimes present in murky or muddy water. If Sensitivity is adjusted too low, the display may not show many sonar returns that could be fish. Upper Depth Range adjusts the Sonar View upper range to a specific depth. Zero (0) is the default setting. Lower Depth Range adjusts the Sonar View lower range to a specific depth. Automatic is the default setting. Selecting a specific setting locks the depth range into manual mode. Advanced anglers use both Upper and Lower Depth Range together to view a specific depth range manually when looking for fish or bottom structure. Chart Speed determines the speed at which the bottom information moves across the display, and consequently the amount of detail shown. A faster speed shows more information in the Sonar View and is preferred by most anglers; however, the bottom moves across the display quickly. The highest setting is an ultrafast mode that provides the highest chart speed possible by slowing down other system functions. A slower speed keeps the information on the display longer, but the bottom and fish detail becomes compressed and may be difficult to interpret. Regardless of the Chart Speed setting, the RTS® Window will update at the maximum rate possible for the depth conditions. Adjust Chart Speed to your personal preference. Zoom Level sets the magnification level on the Sonar Zoom View. Sonar Settings ­ Main Menu System Less frequently-adjusted menus are grouped into the Main Menu System. Press the MENU key twice to access the Main Menu System. Fish ID+TM uses advanced signal processing to interpret sonar returns and display a Fish Symbol when very selective requirements are met. A number above the fish icon indicates the depth of the fish. Three different fish size icons show the intensity of the sonar return, and provide an indicator of relative fish size. When Fish ID+ is turned off, the Matrix shows only the unprocessed sonar returns on the display. These returns will often result in "arches" forming on the display, indicating potential targets. Fish Sensitivity adjusts the thresholds of the fish detection algorithms, thus enhancing your unit's ability to identify sonar returns as fish icons. Selecting a higher setting allows smaller returns to be displayed as fish icons and will increase the number of fish icons that appear on the display. Th ...