Setting up the Praktik 6 echo sounder and operating principle

Practitioner Er 6 Pro is extremely popular with many experienced fishermen and non-professionals in this matter all year round.

Thanks to such a device, anyone can assess the bottom of a reservoir, determine where schools of fish are, and also observe the thickness of the water. The main thing is to carefully study the instructions for this echo sounder and understand all its additional functions.

Echo sounder Praktik Er 6 Pro: description

The Praktik Er 6 Pro echo sounder is a fishing device that helps the angler find fish, and also allows you to evaluate and see the whole picture of the bottom of the reservoir.

It differs in appearance:

Specifications

According to its technical characteristics, the Praktik Er 6 Pro echo sounder has:

Special housing class IP 67.

Important: this case completely protects from water and shock.

Black and white screen with a resolution of 64*128 pixels.
Various modes, for example, depth gauge, demo and others.
It has one beam, thanks to which the water column and the bottom of the river (lake) are scanned.
The angle at which the device operates is 40 degrees.
It has a special sensor, thanks to which there is a notification about any changes in the bottom of the river (lake), for example, snags, as well as approaching schools of fish, including single individuals.
Total weight is about 170 – 180 grams.
The greatest depth at which the echo sounder operates is 25 meters.

Important: as the manufacturers indicate, Praktik Er 6 Pro cannot be used if the depth is less than 0.5 meters. Otherwise, the device will deteriorate.

Principle of operation

The echo sounder Praktik Er 6 Pro runs on rechargeable batteries or one battery.

After immersing a special sensor in water, the water column is scanned, as a result of which the angler can:

On the display you can see the total distance from the bottom of the river (lake) to the surface of the water.
Understand what the water temperature is.
Assess the bottom topography.
Find out that a school of fish is approaching, including an individual.

An important point: when a fish approaches, the echo sounder will beep. The technical capabilities of Practice Er 6 Pro make it possible to set the desired volume of the sound alert, for example, in calm and windless weather you can set the minimum volume, and in strong wind or rain, when audibility is poor, it is recommended to increase the volume.

Advantages and disadvantages

The echo sounder Praktik Er 6 Pro has many positive features.

The most important are:

Allows you not to miss the approach of fish.
It helps to understand what the bottom is, which in turn allows you to make a competent cast, taking into account the features of the terrain, and also select the necessary equipment.
It makes it possible to accurately determine the temperature in the water, which will help you decide on the choice of bait and change it to a new one in a timely manner.
Thanks to the demo mode, a person can more easily and quickly understand all the characteristics and evaluate all the additional functions.
It is possible to adjust the volume and also set specific modes.
The device works equally well in both warm and cold water.
There are simple and detailed instructions, which are written in accessible language without abstruse phrases.
The device has only two buttons, therefore, anyone can easily figure out how to turn the echo sounder on and off.

However, despite its many advantages, Practitioner Er 6 Pro has some negative aspects:

The need to use it exclusively at a specific depth.

Important: if you lower the sensor into a body of water where the depth is less than half a meter, then no information will be reflected on the display.

Relatively high cost.
The possibility of purchasing a fake echo sounder, especially if you order it through unverified sites.

Also, many fishermen cite errors among the disadvantages, especially those related to the assessment of the bottom topography.

Model overview

The echo sounder goes on sale in a small cardboard box, which contains the device itself, a sensor, a user manual, and a AA battery. On the back of the box are the technical characteristics of the device.

The device body is made of rubberized plastic with increased impact resistance. On the front panel of the Practitioner 6M there is a black and white screen and four control buttons. On the back side of the case are the model name and the factory serial number. At the top end there is a loop for attaching a shipping cord, at the bottom there is a connector for connecting a sensor. The side surfaces are covered with a layer of rough rubberized plastic with a non-slip coating. Echo sounder dimensions: height 107 mm, width 70 mm, thickness 28 mm, weight 228 grams. The device lies comfortably and does not slip in the hand.

The echo sounder body is made according to the IP67 dust and moisture protection standard, which guarantees the absence of dust and moisture in the device.

The device screen is monochrome with a resolution of 64 by 128 pixels. The internal backlight of the screen increases image contrast on a sunny day.

Below the screen there are control buttons “up”, “down”, “menu”, “power on”. The buttons are tight, this prevents them from being accidentally pressed when carrying the device in a pocket.

The sensor is connected to the device with a durable flexible cable 2 meters long. At the end of the sensor there is a compartment for the battery.

The device requires one AA battery to operate. The device is very economical; one alkaline battery is enough to operate the device for one hundred hours.

The echo sounder is designed for recreational fishing. It probes the bottom of the reservoir under itself with one beam with a deflection angle of 40°, determines the bottom topography at a distance from 50 cm to 25 meters, displays the depth of the reservoir, and shows fish with conventional symbols. The device is designed for operation at temperatures from plus 50 to minus 60 degrees Celsius. The echo sounder can be used in ice fishing, feeder fishing, and float fishing.

To make it easier to work with the device, Praktik NC LLC produces a soft case for carrying the echo sounder and mounting the sensor on the transom of the boat.

Practitioner Er 6 Pro: price

On average, Praktik Er 6 Pro costs 4900 – 5600 rubles.

This price difference depends on:

The region where the echo sounder is purchased.

Note: it is noted that the cost of the device in the capital is 15% - 20% lower than in small cities of the country.

The pricing policy of a particular store.
Purchase method.

Important: the lowest prices are on specialized sites, however, you should buy online very carefully so as not to fall for scammers or purchase counterfeit goods.

Instructions for use

Each Practitioner Er 6 Pro echo sounder has detailed instructions, which describe all the main points of operation, as well as various recommendations.

Before starting work, the fisherman is required to:

Remove the device from the box.

Tip: It is recommended to remove it from the box with clean and dry hands.

Unscrew the small cap and insert the battery (one AA AA).

Important: when unscrewing the lid, it is important not to accidentally drop it into the water, otherwise it will be impossible to use the device in the future.

Advice: to prevent accidental falls of the lid, it is better to insert the batteries at home.

Screw the lid on tightly.

When the battery is inserted, the echo sounder is ready for use.

The fisherman needs:

Lower the special sensor into the pond.
Press the “Power On” button.

After this, a welcome message will light up on the display and show:

what is the depth of a particular body of water;
bottom relief;
water temperature.

Select the mode of interest. To do this, a person needs to press the right button, a menu will appear on the display, then press the same button to select the desired function.

An important point: when the desired function is selected, you should use the left button to adjust additional settings, for example, increase the sound.

The Echo Sounder Praktik Er 6 Pro has only five modes:

search engine, thanks to which the search for schools of fish and individuals is carried out;
observational, allowing observation of a specific object;
professional, thanks to which the angler can assess the water thickness and relief in more detail;

Note: the professional mode is quite complex, it is recommended to enable it only for experienced fishermen, especially those who are accustomed to searching for fish with such devices.

deep, designed to estimate the depth of a reservoir;
demo.

Thanks to the demo mode, everyone can evaluate how the echo sounder works at home and learn all its functions.

It is recommended that everyone use the demo mode before going fishing.

At the end of fishing, the echo sounder should be turned off by pressing the right button, and then put into a box or bag.

Narrow and wide beams of the Practitioner 6 PLUS echo sounder

In order to compare the user characteristics of the wide and narrow beam of the Praktik 6+ echo sounders, we will take two identical devices and configure one for a narrow beam and the other for a wide beam.
Let's place them on clamps on both sides of the same boat and begin to synchronously go through various bottom irregularities and depth differences. Let's see how they are displayed. You can watch in this video

Below is brief information and conclusions from the video.

Reviews from fishermen

For several years now I have been going fishing only with the Praktik Er 6 Pro echo sounder. It allows you to assess the depth, avoid casting your gear in the wrong place, and most importantly, avoid missing a school of fish. Thanks to this device, in October I caught six bream in two hours. Grade:

Kirill, 31, Yaroslavl

Previously, I did not believe that the Practitioner Er 6 Pro could help in finding fish, but when I saw how a friend was using it to search for schools of fish without much effort, I also bought this model for myself. At first I had difficulties; I couldn’t figure out how to set up the modes and was constantly confused about what to choose. By about the 3rd or 4th fishing trip, I considered myself an echo sounder expert and could easily set up all the modes. Now I can see the bottom in a specific place and can immediately react when a fish appears on the horizon.

Grade:

Alexander, 56 years old, Vologda

Practitioner Er 6 About a reliable echo sounder that has been serving me for 3.5 years. However, I believe that it does not perform its functions well when fishing from the shore and is more suitable for fishing from boats. Grade:

Nikolay, 47 years old, Moscow

I can’t imagine how I can manage winter fishing without the Praktik Er 6 Pro echo sounder. I arrive at a pond, make a hole and immediately lower the sensor. The device reacts quickly and gives a signal about approaching fish. Grade:

Makar, 61, Murom

In my opinion, buying a Praktik Er 6 Pro echo sounder is only worth it for people who fish professionally or go fishing all the time. This device has a rather high price and for a person who prefers to sit with a fishing rod occasionally, purchasing such an echo sounder is a waste of money. However, it really works great and completely copes with its tasks. Grade:

Vasily, 57 years old, Nizhny Novgorod

The Praktik Er 6 Pro echo sounder is a reliable device that helps all fishermen in finding fish, assessing the depth and topography of the bottom.

The main thing is that before you start using it, read the instructions, understand all the technical capabilities and use the demo mode, which allows you to visually evaluate the operation of the device.

Blitz tips:

Before you go fishing, you should fully study the instructions, understand what all the buttons on the device do and how to use them correctly;
never buy Praktik Er 6 Pro from dubious persons and do not order it through unverified sites;
The main thing is that after immersing the sensor in water, do not forget to set the desired mode, and at the end of fishing, turn off and put away the device;
it is important not to forget to constantly monitor the display in order to notice any changes in time and definitely not miss schools of fish;
If during the fishing process it turns out that the echo sounder does not work or any defects are observed, then you need to immediately contact the buyer so that the money spent is returned or the device is sent for inspection.

Practitioner 7

This echo sounder is designed for fishing from the shore and is designed like the well-known Deeper echo sounder. The sensor has the ability to communicate with the echo sounder both wired and wirelessly. This allows you to use this echo sounder when studying the bottom with a feeder. This method is much faster and more accurate than studying using a marker weight, especially on an uneven bottom where there are snags on which the marker weight will tear.

With a conventional wired sensor, we will get an excellent echo sounder for studying the bottom of a reservoir, fishing from a boat, winter fishing and many other things. The cost of this echo sounder is cheaper than the same Deeper Pro and will be approximately $150. There are several modifications of this echo sounder; next we will consider the Praktik 7 model with the “Mayak” bag.

The echo sounder can operate in two modes - from a classic sensor with a classic screen and from a wireless sensor using a smartphone as a screen and information storage. In the first mode, working with it will not differ much from the Practice 6 described above, except that there will be a higher quality display. The included screen, by the way, is no different from the Practice 6 - the same 30x50 mm and the same 64x128 pixels.

The wired operating mode differs by sensor. The Practitioner 7 sensor is different, it is more sensitive, and has a smaller coverage angle of 35 degrees. Works with the same sensor polling characteristics, has the same modes and settings. The differences start when you plan to use a wireless sensor.

The echo sounder can work with a wireless sensor; the screen will be the owner’s smartphone, on which a free application from the manufacturer is installed. The built-in GPS module allows you not only to display the bottom topography and fish on the smartphone screen, but also to record it automatically in the form of a map. Thus, having traveled across a reservoir by boat several times, you can get a complete map of the bottom and depths.

The wireless module is a float with an electronic device inside. It can be attached to a rod and lowered into the water, like a classic echo sounder transducer. Or you can use it for fishing with a sensor attached to the fishing line of the rod. Usually this is a feeder or jig rod, but it can also be used with other gear.

This echo sounder allows you to identify fish and examine the bottom directly in the fishing zone. It weighs relatively little, all accessories fit into the “Mayak” bag that comes with this model.