The sounder is what for the device? Principle of operation and scope

Both novice and avid fishermen have already heard about a wonderful technique that can help to find a large fish in any pond. Here are just a few who love active recreation believes in modern technology, preferring to catch the old method, focusing only on luck.

In the focus of this article, a unique device that can really help fishermen, the name is the echo sounder. This device is guaranteed to help fishermen make their pastime on any water body productive. The reader is given the opportunity to learn about this device detailed information: the principle of operation, the scope of application, as well as to get acquainted with interesting models presented in the domestic market.

Miracle device in the service of fishermen

To begin better with the tactical and technical properties of the device itself. The sounder is a device for measuring. What? Speech in this case is the distance from the surface of the reservoir to its bottom. This is a normal sonar that can "see" underwater and show the user the result.

What will this give the fisherman? First of all, the user receives the relief of the bottom of the reservoir. Moreover, the echo sounder is able not only to visually show all depressions and irregularities, but also to specify the type of soil (stone, sand, silt, clay). Secondly, the device is able to determine objects directly in the water. It does not matter whether they move or not. It is this property of the device that allows the fisher to determine if there is a fish nearby and what are its approximate sizes.

Types of echo sounders

It is logical to assume that such an interesting device can be used only when directly on the water surface of the reservoir. However, this is an erroneous opinion, and it all depends on what kind of modification the user has with the echo sounder. What kind of device is this, figured out, it's time to learn more interesting details.

The most popular in the world are stationary echo sounders. They are installed on the dashboards of boats, fishing schooners, and also used on other water transport not associated with fishing. A special sensor (transducer) from the device is displayed on the bottom of the boat, it is his task to scan the bottom.

Portable wire echo sounders are a smaller version of stationary instruments and are widely used by ordinary fishermen from boats and boats. In such devices there are fewer sensors, and the mechanism itself is a bit simpler.

Also on the market the buyer can meet portable wireless echo sounders. With such devices, the bottom can be scanned from the shore, casting the transducer at a distance of 50-100 meters by conventional spinning.

Where does quality begin?

Since the echo sounder is a device for measuring, and not for demonstrating the image, first of all all potential buyers need to know that they are getting a scanner, and not a liquid crystal television. Accordingly, and the quality requirements should be appropriate.

The most important criteria in the device are the number of rays and their scanning angle. The more this indicator, the more efficient and faster the information is received by the device. For example, 6-beam echosounders allow you to scan the bottom, passing a boat on the water surface on a glider (60 km an hour or more). One-and two-beam devices are popular.

The second criterion is security. The sounder will be used near the water and at different times of the year, so its performance depends on the protection of the housing (water, shock, cold, heat). Naturally, this parameter also affects the cost of the device and can not be neglected in any case.

When it comes to convenience

But the size of the screen and its type can be paid attention only after the buyer has determined the basic characteristics. As practice shows, users prefer the size of the display, rather than its color. After all, in fact, the beauty of the fish or the bottom of the reservoir and does not require a fisherman - he needs a relief and the presence of living creatures. In addition, the device with a color display consumes more electricity.

True, so many potential buyers reason, while fate does not present them with the Lowrance Elite-3x. The device costing 10 000 rubles on the domestic market quickly causes many fishermen to make a decision to buy. The fact is that this budget representative is not only equipped with a color liquid crystal display and has excellent protection from bumps and splashes, and is able to quickly scan the bottom of the reservoir. After all, its transducer has two sensors, which operate in different frequency bands (83 and 200 kHz).

Higher, faster, stronger

Yes, any owner wants his sonar could in addition work with navigation maps and have a GPS system. All this is quite realistic, except that the cost of such devices will be appropriate (prices start from 30 thousand rubles). Choosing your first echo sounder, the main thing is to stop in time and make a decision about what is the priority in reality.

Often, many inveterate fishermen agree that any equipment directly depends on the area of application. For example, the Lowrance Elite-3x (83-200 2 beam) sounder has positive feedback only from owners of motor boats and boats with electronic ignition. Yes, the device though portable, but it has problems with power supply (on one charge the device will not work more than 24 hours). But what about the rest - carry a bag of batteries with a stock for a week?

Simple and practical solution

Since an echo sounder is a device for scanning the bottom, it is better for a potential buyer to begin acquaintance with simple models, which are oriented to this task. Domestic device "Practitioner ER-6 Pro" is in this segment the golden mean. After all, it is able to satisfy the buyer and affordable price (5000 rubles) and excellent functionality.

Inexpensive echo sounder can scan the bottom and provide the user with detailed information on the screen. Also, the device is able to find fish in the water and notify the user about it. As for the protection of the case, here, judging by the responses of the owners, there can not be a single question at all. The sounder works perfectly in all weather conditions (from 50-degree heat, to 20-degree frost).

Catching from the shore

Wireless echo sounders are quite popular among fishermen who do not have surface transport and prefer to drop fishing rods from the shore. In truth, this category of people tries not to trust electronic devices and relies on their own experience or the recommendations of other fishermen. As practice shows, a break in gear and bad fishing without an electronic device are estimated as a usual failure. But everything can be quite different.

Unlike a wired device, in wireless echo sounder the transducer communicates with the head unit via a radio channel remotely resembling a Wi-Fi signal. Therefore, the main criterion for choosing a decent device on the market here is the power of the wireless transmitter and receiver, which is equipped with an echo sounder. This is not the only important criterion. As in other devices, the device requires a high-quality scanner that can work at a large angle.

Interesting offers for real fishermen

The wireless sounder is easy to see on the shop window. It is possible to distinguish it from analogs in the configuration. Next to the measuring device, the buyer can see an uncomplicated plastic toy, remotely resembling a duck. This is a wireless scanner, which must be thrown to a long distance. As for the head unit, there is nothing to surprise the customer - the usual depth sounder. This (the photo can be seen below) indicates that the technology of scanning itself does not change, the difference is only in the method of data transmission.

The Lucky products have proven themselves in the market. These devices are easy to use and have an affordable price (up to 10 000 rubles). True, the transmitter is weak - the signal is stable only at a distance of 50-60 meters. But the products under the Fishhunter brand are sold without a head unit, offering all the functionality to implement to the user on smartphones running the Android system.

Chart plotter with echosounder

Always the attention of potential buyers attracted expensive devices, which are present in the windows of any specialized store. True, not everyone understands the price (50-100 thousand rubles). In this price range, you can only find the chartplotter-depth finder. What it is? If to speak in an accessible language is a navigator with a built-in sonar. Yes, it is an echo sounder with GPS and cards stored in the device memory. And these are not ordinary maps, but pilotage ones. The advantage of them is that they allow you to fix the bottom relief and record the depths.

The areas of application of such a device are quite obvious. The device is convenient only if the potential buyer produces fish only from the boat and often moves through various reservoirs. Only with such an instrument you can certainly know all the fish places, and not rely on luck.

What to choose in an expensive segment?

The huge functionality of the device will certainly please the future owner with high-quality GPS work or colorful maps of all existing reservoirs on the territory of the post-Soviet countries, but first of all, it is necessary to pay attention to the scanning element. We must not forget that the basic characteristic for all echo sounders remains a scanner. Or rather, the number of scanning elements and their scattering angle.

Well proven in the market are only three brands that have been for several decades specializing in the production of such devices: Garmin, Lowrance and Humminbird. Each manufacturer, trying to remove a competitor from the market, tries to please a potential buyer and offers a huge range of functions. By the way, the Lowrance Elite 3x, presented in the budget class, is also positioned as a chartplotter. The fact is that the device is equipped with built-in non-volatile memory, which allows the user to download special pilot cards. True, the owner will have to become a navigator himself, since there is no GPS in the device.

Expert advice and feedback

Having understood what an echo sounder is, what it measures and what its basic purpose is, it remains only to find out the advantages and disadvantages of this device. Here you can not do without real feedback from the owners, which can be found in the media.

Strangely enough, all users recommend newcomers when choosing a worthy device to pay attention to the protection of the echo sounder from moisture. And the protection should not be from splashes, but full-fledged - from water ingress, inside the shell. The fact is that almost all owners had the carelessness of drowning the device on fishing, dropping it inadvertently into the water.

The second criterion, which consumers pay attention to, is power consumption. For some reason, many sellers are silent that the echo sounder is a powerful energy consumer, which quickly discharges both the battery and the batteries (the problem is relevant only for the device with a color display). The conclusion here is one - to buy an external portable battery and always carry it with you for many days of fishing.

Finally

As it turned out, productive fishing from the boat is simply impossible, no matter what the inveterate fishermen and lovers of extreme fishing said. The sounder is a tool that any amateur and professional should attend. However, this very tool, in comparison with other accessories of the fisherman, is the most expensive. But, as practice shows, fishing without a measuring device has long been uninteresting. After all, fish from year to year is getting smaller, and the search for habitats of living creatures has to spend too much precious time, which can save only one device. The name is the sonar.