Stories – Page 3 – Velox Seeker

Chasing Perfection…

So many rods and reels…so little money. Being a curious person by nature isn’t helpful at times. With the multitude of technological advancements happening in the fishing industry, it is difficult to choose that ONE rod that does it all. It doesn’t exist and never will. I know this and yet I keep fighting it and keep searching for the perfect setup.

Honestly, I could spend weeks just doing research and refining my needs and wants…but that doesn’t catch fish. But with all of the “Graphite Wizardry” coming out of Japan, It’s hard to settle on one rod anyway. In a land of specialization and variety, the choices are endless. And that doesn’t help my cause. The concept of “perfection” is very subjective anyway.

And as I learn more about JDM fishing rods, the wider and deeper the “rabbit hole” gets. Area Trout, Native Trout, Ajing, Mebaru, Rockfish, Light Game etc etc equals more options, more decisions. Factor in lanquage translation and videos, for an outsider, it appears to be an obsession.

I plan on doing a group photo of all all the JDM rods we have, which might be a bit disconcerting once we actually have them layed out. The plus side is that we do use every single one of them. And we haven’t bought a bad rod yet, which is nice. How’s that for rationalization?

And I will state emphatically that this gear has definitely made our fishing better both in catch-rate and fun. And I haven’t even started looking at Japanese made fly rods! Hmm…Beware the Rabbit Hole!

What We Use for Navigation…

Orienteering/Land Navigation is a valuable skill for us. Being able to determine exactly where we are on a map is critical. Also, it is a perishable skill and requires practice and repeated use to maintain proficiency.

For trip planning, we rely on topographical maps, Google Earth satellite images, county maps and even real estate maps sometimes. When traveling in our vehicle we rely on GaiaGPS because of its offline capabilities. We have the paid upgraded subscription for the added benefits we need. It takes some time to learn any new navigation system and this was no different. I use a Lenovo M10 FHD Plus since it has built-in GPS. That’s the main point when using a tablet for navigation: BUILT-IN GPS. My new Chuwi Hi 10X doesn’t have it.

My current land navigation system of choice is a map, a compass and a GPS utilizing the UTM format and a slot tool. UTM stands for Universal Transverse Mercator which basically means the Earth has been sectioned into grids of roughly 1000 meters square.

Using the tick lines along the edge of the map, I used a ruler and drew the gridlines onto this McKenzie map of the Boundary Waters.

The GPS gives me coordinates in a UTM format. I take those coordinates and apply them to the map with a UTM Slot Tool. It sounds complicated but it is not. Once you understand the concept of using UTM it becomes really fast and accurate.

One form of slot tool that is available.

There is a company that I purchase my slot tools from called MapTools and their website is http://www.maptools.com

There are several options when it comes to slot tools and they also depend on your brand of map and map-scale. The prices are reasonable and I usually buy several.

I do not 100% rely on a GPS since batteries can fail or electronics can fizzle out, so having basic Orienteering skills is a must. Rather, I try to use all of the tools available at my disposal to get the job done.

This method comes in handy when locating backcountry camp sites, marking fishing hotspots, points of interest and even general location as well as time management. We always carry Gazeteers or topographical maps of the areas we are camping/fishing in.

Smallest, functional GPS I could find at the time: Garmin Foretrex 401.

My compass of choice for taking a bearing is the USGI Cammenga. Pricey, but rugged and the easiest I have found to shoot an azimuth. Baseplate compasses such as Suunto or Silva are great too for using in conjunction with a map. I carry a Suunto as a backup.

MapTools has a kit for beginners who want to use the UTM system and a slot tool. It is very thorough and helpful in explaining and putting to use the concept of UTM.

This might sound like overkill for fishing but something to consider is that backcountry forest roads are notorious for always changing or not showing up on maps. Logging roads are even worse. When getting turned around or temporarily confused, it’s a simple matter of reading the GPS coordinates, pulling out a map and a slot tool, and fixing your current position. You can make informed decisions from there and decide what to do next.

There are many benefits to the UTM system and it might be worth exploring. Thanks for reading and I hope this post was useful.

NOTE: UTM or Universal Transverse Mercator is made up of 3 components.

-A Zone Identifier

-East/West location

-North/South location

JDM Fishing Gear One Year Later…

I did a blog post about using JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) fishing tackle about a year ago and I thought I’d do a follow up post.

I find the Japanese fishing industry very interesting. The gear, the specialization and the sheer mass of tackle at their disposal is fascinating. The cutting edge equipment and ever-evolving techniques is something to keep an eye on.

So when the wife and I made the plunge into JDM gear, we were clueless and taking big risks. Sure we had done some preliminary research, but there wasn’t a whole lot out there on our specific fishing style. Not saying that we are unique in any way, but that there appeared to be a gap between Trout fishing and Bass fishing, our style tended to blur the lines between the two.

The emphasis out there seemed to be on SUL, XUL and UL rods and then over to M,MH and H rods. We were looking at L (light) to ML (medium light) rods. Our plans were to fish rivers and streams with current yet the fish would generally be 3 pounds or less. We would just have to buy and try and hope for the best.

If you’ve read my blog then you have seen all of the rods and reels we have purchased so I won’t go into depth in regards to those.

What I will tell you is that these rods and reels took our fishing to the next level. Sensitivity was better, construction quality was better, they were lighter and smoother as well. The main thing was that they increased our enjoyment of fishing and it is hard to put a price on that.

I am NOT badmouthing any of the rods and reels you can purchase locally. I’ve fished with them for years and years. I just wanted something a bit more…a bit better.

And we found them! The Major Craft brand has been excellent in price vs performance. The TenRyu rods are true Japanese made rods and are outstanding, yet pricey. Tailwalk rods have great aesthetics and functionality. None of our rods are classified as high-end JDM rods by a long shot.

The pure joy of using these rods has made fishing truly fun again for us. Even the wife noticed and commented that she hadn’t seen me smile that much in a long time. Keep in mind that we are not wealthy by any means. I was forced to work overtime for months and we opted to use some of that income to purchase the items you see on the blog. But in hindsight, I would have no qualms about buying any of the rods we have with whatever money we had available. To me, they were worth the expenditure.

It was never about “snobbery” or being trendy. It was about finding joy and filling a niche in our style of fishing. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

Legg Calve Perthes Disease…

In 1977 when I was around 7 and half years old, I began to have severe pain in my right hip. It got to the point where I didn’t even want to walk. My parents scheduled a doctors appointment and after careful inspection and several x-rays…it was determined that I had Legg Calve Perthes Disease in my right hip.

Basically, LCPD stems from blood supply to the femoral head of the femur/hip joint being cutoff resulting in the bone dying.

The femoral head becomes misshapen causing pain and makes walking difficult. I remember over-hearing my parents discussing treatment options with the doctors. My choices as I understood them were: amputation, hip replacement surgery once or twice and eventual amputation or an experimental orthotic brace.

I know my parents still wonder if they made the right choice…but I’m going to wholeheartedly say that they did. I’m still not sure what caused the condition. Maybe it was genetic…who knows.

We were sent to a Shriners Hospital in Alexandria Virginia if I can remember right. There, I was fitted with a prototype leg brace. I remember how heavy they were (approximately 30 pounds) and they were made of leather and steel. They had a metal bar between my knees to force my hips apart. This was supposed to reduce pressure on the joint and hopefully allow it to heal and regenerate.

I was told I would need to wear these at all times, even when sleeping. I remember my father coming into my room on the second night and carefully removing the braces to allow me to sleep better. That was awesome.

Over the course of 2 years (1978-1980) the braces went through 3 prototypes with each subsequent model getting better and more user friendly. I did things just like any other kid despite these leg braces being so damn heavy. But when I needed a rest, I had to use a wheelchair, especially when out doing things in public.

Now you know where Chuck-E-Cheese came from!

Besides the pain and the weight, what I remember most was how people treated me. It seemed as if there were 4 categories…A) I was a freak, B) they had sympathy, C) they understood and treated me as normal or D) they avoided me. Believe me…you learn to get used to people staring at you.

In school, the teachers strictly forbid me from doing anything at recess and went so far as to assign someone to stay inside with me and play board games or something. I have always been an outdoors orientated person so this was torture to me lol.

Fortunately, they don’t use this form of treatment anymore and just reduce activity and let it heal on its own.

I was born with a strong will. And I credit that and my family for carrying me through situations such as LCPD. I refused to be seen as handicapped and instead figured out ways to work around it. I didn’t let this condition define me. Thankfully most children are resilient and with support can go through stuff like this without too many lasting scars.

So if anyone noticed me standing kind of funny in any of the pictures on this blog…now you know why. One leg is shorter than the other and still causes some pain. I’m sure I could use a hip replacement but I’m not ready for that yet.

I guess for me, the key take-aways are that just because a persons body isn’t 100% doesn’t mean their mind is handicapped too. Staring and pointing makes YOU Captain Obvious! Duh, we know we’re different lol. Save your pity…we’ll figure it out and cope with it in our own way.

And a big THANK YOU to my Dad. He was my rock and was always there for me. He let me help out with splitting and stacking firewood and all of the other chores and projects. He treated me like a normal kid and introduced me to fishing as well. Sometimes just being present is enough to encourage people to keep moving forward.

Life is good so keep going.

Chuwi Hi10X Windows Tablet Powered by a Baseus Battery Pack…

This post isn’t exactly fishing related, but I am toying with the idea of moving my fishing journals and notes over to a digital format and this tablet would work.

I needed a Windows tablet for my Amateur Radio hobby and also because I was looking for something portable for field use. Possibly to do blog posts or edit photos as well. Unfortunately, so many SDR (software defined radio) apps are Windows based and several of my Amateur Radio programs are Windows only. I’m not a programmer so I have to play the game.

This little tablet is surprisingly well built with an aluminum shell and it came with a nice keyboard and stylus. The specs weren’t too bad either…6GB of RAM and a 128GB eMMC drive. Not a Ferarri…but a family sedan has its uses too.

I have a laptop that I use a lot but it is large and also a power hog and I was hoping for something more efficient. Tablets are always a compromise solution since the processors aren’t that great. And true to form, this Chinese tablet threw me a curveball with the included power cable. It’s an AC wall wart that terminates in a USB-C cable outputting 12VDC @ 2Amps. I had never seen a USB-C pushing 12 volts.

Great for home use but useless when out in the field. I don’t like using inverters because it seems ridiculous to go from DC to AC and back to DC voltages. NOT efficient.

So after doing some research I found a thread where people were experimenting with various componentry to get it to charge from a battery pack. They recommended the Baseus 65W 30,000mAH battery and a Voltage Trigger assembly of some sort. It seemed simple enough so I searched on Amazon and ordered one as it was relatively cheap and I can always use another battery pack.

the USB-C port can output 5V, 9V, 12V, 15V and 20V, Nice!

Next up was locating a Voltage Trigger that tells the battery pack to go from the standard 5 volts to whatever voltage is selected via the push button on the board…in my case 12 volts. I always head over to eBay for stuff like this and for good reason. There is an abundance of choices.

Think I paid $6.85 plus shipping for this particular Voltage Trigger. I opted for the USB-A to USB-C version.

And as they say…”the proof is in the pudding”

I connected a UGreen USB-C to USB-C cable from the Baseus battery pack to the Voltage Trigger board. And from the other end I connected a USB-A to USB-C cable to the Chuwi tablet.

A note of caution here! The Voltage Trigger has multiple voltage outputs so you need to select the appropriate one for your device. Otherwise BAD THINGS COULD HAPPEN. The LED is right next to the push button switch and is color coded to correspond with the voltage settings. In my case: Green = 12VDC. And voila! The tablet started to charge.

The best feature of the Baseus battery pack is that the display will show ouputs of 5 volts, 9 volts, 12 volts, 15 volts or 20 volts when you push the button. I cycled through the Voltage Trigger settings (LED colors) BEFORE connecting to my tablet just to make sure I had the correct voltage output.

It works! A bit convoluted but it’s functional. A protective housing for the Voltage Trigger would have been nice and I will probably try to sort that out. But now I am not tethered to the grid and can take it with me everywhere.

Project complete! A relatively cheap and cost-effective way to lighten my load and still have some functionality. It works and does what I needed it to do.

Why I Don’t Do Rod and Reel Reviews…

I used to do reviews when I had my YouTube fishing channel. And invariably the “experts” would appear in the comment section to hold court with their superiority. It became tedious and annoying. Constructive criticism is fine, but everyone hates Trolls. Perhaps I just sucked at it?

I have a full-time job with accompanying commute, a family, commitments and everything else that goes with being an adult. And honestly, I don’t think I could do justice to the subject with the skills I have.

I am not the CEO or CTO of a Hollywood production company with the best and brightest graphic designers, visual artists and photographers on staff.

Have you ever tried to photograph a fishing rod??? It’s not easy!

Besides, there are plenty of YouTube channels who specialize in that sort of thing already. And fishing tackle is subjective to begin with. People may not like the same things that I do…the horror! All joking aside, we are all different and have varying needs and tastes. That’s OK.

Factor in budget restraints and the target audience shrinks drastically. Rods and reels marketed towards the Japanese fishermen/women are different. The Japanese admire quality over quantity. They have no qualms about buying a top tier rod or reel to enrich their fishing experience. They completely ignore cheaply made gear. They don’t mind fishing all day to catch one good fish as opposed to lots of little fish one after another. It’s about the entire experience…not just the catch.

Quality gear costs money. Sometimes a lot of money! If it’s within your budget then get it. If not, don’t. FACT: I fished the Cossatot River with a $15 rod. Sensitivity was almost non-existent and build quality left a lot to be desired. But I caught fish.

Fishing tackle built to a price point doesn’t do much for me anymore. I’m not looking down my nose at anyone…rather, I prefer quality gear. I’ve experienced “the Dark Side”…and I LIKE IT!

Also, with a little bit of effort and “Google-fu”, you can find out all of the information about a particular rod or reel. I don’t mind providing links and pointing the way.

Most importantly…I don’t want to be obligated to a production schedule or script. Or trying to stay trendy by buying every new fishing item that hits the market. Relevance only matters when on the water. Sure I could have done an “unboxing video” with my 2021 Daiwa Presso LT standing mid-stream. YAWN! But I’d rather put that time to use by actually fishing.

I don’t have a clue as to how many fishermen/women actually like JDM fishing tackle. I just enjoy fishing and using decent gear while being non-judgmental about it all. I just share what I’ve learned and if any of my images trip your trigger and starts you on the path…Great! If it doesn’t…that’s fine too. Believe me, I’ve read blog posts where guys are fishing with a $2000+ setup and I click out because I probably will never be able to afford something like that. Obviously I’m not in that target audience LOL.

Now…on a serious note…I know it is sometimes hard to find pictures of JDM fishing rods. You occasionally have to open multiple pages on your browser as well as language translation apps. But the best site I have found to view pictures of any rod that you might be interested in is:

https://fishing.asian-portal.shop/category/select/cid/39

I am amazed by two things on that site, the sheer quantity and the complete lack of inventory. In some respects, both could be construed as good things. With COVID, everything changed and perhaps more fishermen/women are on the water or getting into the sport. Maybe not, but I try to stay positive.

With all that being said…my blog is an enjoyable hobby for me. What you see and read is 100% ME. No script, no timetable, no commitments to sponsors or affiliates, everything purchased by me and for me. If one other person gets some enjoyment out of the content…THAT’S AWESOME!

P.S> You probably can’t tell…but I started writing on the Blog this morning at 0318. In regards to Zip(our puppy), I’m not sure about who is training who anymore.

The Puzzle…

I’ve stated before that fishing is a puzzle that I like to put together.

Unfortunately, this jigsaw puzzle doesn’t come with a picture on a box, or even a box. We have a vague idea of what it could look like but we don’t even know how many pieces we are dealing with.

For me, the puzzle pieces begin with an idea and a plan. Those are the “edge pieces.” The more planning I do, the more the edge pieces appear and begin to form a frame or border. Maps and fishing reports gleaned from as many sources as I am able to locate help make additional pieces of the puzzle begin to appear. Colors begin to show and a pattern starts to develop.

Likewise, further research and planned expenses as well as reconnaisance trips add yet more pieces. Drive times and mileage. Stream gauges. Weather reports and forecasts. All pieces to the puzzle.

Out of nothing, a shape begins to form upon a blank canvas. Gathering momentum and rapidly taking shape.

But we are not even close to completing the puzzle!

Even when I pull up in the car along the stream…I am still missing an incredible number of pieces.

Gear selection, time of day, water temperature, water clarity, flow rate, stream condition, timing of hatches, season, month, day, hour, seconds…yet more pieces for the puzzle. It’s ephemeral, conditions sometimes lasting minutes to hours at best. But the challenge beckons and so we go forth.

With each cast our confidence builds and the understanding that we are filling in the blanks by slotting puzzle pieces into position encourages us.

What depth, what speed, what color? Testing our theory and trying to find more pieces with each step forward. Always probing for clues and asking questions we deem important to our goal of completing this puzzle.

We catch a fish…another piece falls into place. We are almost finished. We continue forward and try to develop a pattern. More fish come to hand and we know that the puzzle is almost entirely filled in.

We dig deeper still and strive to understand the “why” of it all. Why this color? Why this exact time? Questions, questions…ad infinitum.

Do we ever actually complete the entire puzzle? I don’t. Even after a successful outing, I am left with many unanswered questions. And I love that! It tells me I need to work harder and find the last few remaining pieces. But I rarely do that. Sometimes my puzzle is “good enough” and the last few pieces are left to fate and adventure. Sometimes I leave out clues in my fishing journals so if anyone else reads them long after I’m gone, they will have to work hard to solve the puzzle. In other words, they will have to earn it just like I did and hopefully experience it on the same plane as me.

I enjoy reading stories about fishermen/women who have a similar thought process. As well as interacting with like-minded individuals while out on the water. It is easy to cast lures while hoping for a fish. Yet this form of fishing is complex and requires effort and thought. Refinement through experience and wisdom.

The puzzle might have 10 pieces or 10,000. It is entirely up to us to decide. Personally, I like the challenging ones. It’s about “the Puzzle” and any fish caught are always a bonus!

Thanks for reading…

Current Plans for Fishing in 2022…

We’ve been kicking around the idea of fishing in the Southwestern Missouri, Northwestern Arkansas and Northeastern Oklahoma region this year. There are a few rivers that we have been really curious about. Researching the area, it appears that a canoe will be necessary for some of them but that’s fine with me.

Our friends keep telling us to go fish at Noel Missouri for trout but I’m not interested in fishing shoulder to shoulder with a bunch of people. We prefer some solitude when we fish. And at this juncture in our lives…we’re after native smallmouth bass anyway!

Of course, so much will depend on the weather, especially how much rainfall we get this coming Spring. And lets not forget COVID! Heaven help those who try to ignore it and get on with living.

I’ve managed to track down a few fishing reports and poured over several maps so far. It definitely looks promising. Part of our desire to fish new areas stems from the sense of adventure that we like to incorporate into our trips.

We seem to have our fishing gear “dialed in” and are not planning any significant changes this year so it will allow us to focus entirely on destinations. Non-resident annual fishing permits are reasonable for both states at $49.00 each. So approximately $200 and we can fish Missouri and Arkansas for the year. There will definitely be canoe rentals, shuttles, camping fees, fuel, food etc to contend with…but things are already falling into place and we’re excited.

We can’t fast-forward through Winter so we will do the best we can. Hopefully we will be able to squeeze in a couple of recon trips between now and Spring to get a feel for what we will be dealing with.

There’s always a lot of work to do before we ever step into a river!

10,000-8000 year old Atlatl Point…

A while back I did a blog post entitled “An Oasis” where I briefly mentioned finding an atlatl point while roaming around a particular area that we like to visit.

I am well versed in “outdoors skills” or as they call it these days…bushcrafting. I tend to notice things that are out of place within an environment and this was a classic example. But what started it all off was the topography as well as the flora and fauna in the surrounding area. Once you start putting the pieces together, a bigger picture begins to emerge.

This area is now part of a lake that finally filled up in 1989. I was roaming this area before that time. I can remember the two natural springs as well as the cliff overhangs and natural shelters that offered protection from the elements. Also, I noticed some of the flora that seemed to me to be a bit out of place. Upon further research it was discovered that some Archaic groups were thought to have cultivated some of these plants.

I am not an archaeologist or paleo-botanist but interestingly enough, I tend to forage on these same plants when outdoors. Why pack a lunch and carry extra weight when I can feed off the land. But back to the topic at hand…I had always thought that this area would make a good seasonal camp for our ancestors. There are two high points nearby that allow hunters to see quite a distance out over the prairie/savannah. An asset that our ancestors would not have overlooked. Coupled with natural shelter and water sources close at hand, it seems like a no-brainer to me. Yet one atlatl point does not confirm this idea but it doesn’t detract from the idea either.

These two were found in close proximity to each other. But I seriously doubt the bone would have survived for as long as the point has been around.

Obviously broken yet interestingly, it appears to have been resharpened.

So, what does any curious outdoorsman do? They seek out the experts for more information.

I spoke to a friend of mine who has a sister that is an archaeologist, or more correctly, a lawyer who helps First Nations tribes repatriate artifacts back into their tribes. Once the picture was sent and information given, I got an email from her stating all of the legal ramifications of picking up said atlatl point. Great! Not what I wanted to hear. However, she was gracious enough to forward my information along to some colleagues in the field who ended up getting me into contact with our State Archaeologists.

I offered to take the archaeologists to the area and briefly explain my thoughts and then see what happens. They were excited, yet due to budget constraints were unable to put anything together. I’m sure they see a lot of atlatl points anyway…so I wasn’t surprised.

But it was interesting to get a report from 4 Professors about this atlatl point. Consensus was that it was from the late Paleo-Indian to early Archaic Indian Period (10-8k rcybp) and was classified as a Dalton point. I was pretty excited, but I’m a nerd! I was curious about their position that “it probably washed down the river so it will be virtually impossible to locate its source.” However, a simple glance at a topographical map will show that this is a very small spring-fed tributary that doesn’t extend too far from where the point was found.

I offered to send it to the University but never received a reply back. I think it belongs in a museum but again, they probably have quite a few already.

In my mind…it confirms my theory that this area has been in use for millenia, and for good reason.

Oklahoma Weather…

Funny how it was almost 65F yesterday but only reached 27F today (at 5am). With the wind it felt a constant 14F all day long. We didn’t get much snow thankfully.

The birds kept me hopping though. When I went out back to bust ice in the horse trough, the birds swarmed in for a drink of water. So I went out front and put a bowl of water out by the birdfeeders for them. Needless to say, it kept freezing up so I repeatedly had to refill it. Since I couldn’t go fishing today…what better way to pass the time than to be at the beck and call of a bunch of birds. It was literally a “for the birds” kind of day.

I have no idea how it happens, but when I put out Cardinal seed, they show up. I never see them until then. The suet was a big hit as well and I’ll need to buy some more soon.

It was kind of nice to watch the snow falling and witnessing Zip’s first ever snow. He loved it and like a little kid, constantly wanted to go out in it and play only to come in when he needed to dry off and warm up. Rinse and repeat ALL day.

For not having any plans today…we sure were busy. Stay warm and we’ll catch you on the next one

Links That Keep Me Going…

I thought I would share a few links from businesses and YouTube channels that specialize in JDM fishing gear, or fishing in general. During the “winter doldrums” these links keep me fired up.

http://www.digitaka.com

http://www.jdmtackleheaven.com

http://www.finesse-fishing.com

http://www.plat.co.jp

http://www.jpfishingtacklenews.com

http://www.japantackle.com

http://www.ichibantackle.com

http://www.jdmfishingtackle.com

http://www.baitfinesseempire.com

http://www.suburbantrout.com

As much as I detest YouTube…I will add some channels that I enjoy in spite of the “experts” in the comment sections!

-TroutMagnetMan https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwWCjOaWgSZm8ogjti50JFg/featured

-Enjoy Fishing Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrQAtakEbQa-YZ6zmESV92w

-i_fish https://www.youtube.com/c/ifishcatfish

-TSURINAN https://www.youtube.com/c/%E9%87%A3%E3%82%8A%E3%81%AA%E3%82%93%E3%81%A7%E3%81%99ch

-27 mojo https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvGkG9JtqfRZFY-yIGQJcag

-Threadline Angler https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTrXgmWY9fLzd9BqfOnZwpg

-Hobie-Wan Kenobi https://www.youtube.com/c/HobieWanKenobi

-Brooksy https://www.youtube.com/c/JonnyBrooksFishing

-RoKKiT Kit https://www.youtube.com/c/rokkitkit

-Henry Gilbey https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGM2KWkhqA8L18HT7oFsfrQ

-Gido’s Fishing Adventures https://www.youtube.com/c/GidosLandBasedFishingAdventures

-Lanix Fishing Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/LanixFishingChannel

These are just a few that I regularly watch. I enjoy several different forms of fishing and I like to see “how it’s done” in various parts of the world. And now for the Ubiquitous Disclaimer: I do not sell anything, make commissions from, or have sponsorships from any of the above. They are merely links for the sake of information.

Doing Projects to Pass the Time…

Since I have 2 weeks before I see the surgeon for a post-op appointment, I have decided to test some “proof of concept” ideas that I have been kicking around.

This build was based on the Quick Pi Kit from http://www.back7.co

I have wanted a rugged and portable computer setup for taking out to the field. I figured a Raspberry Pi 4 would be ideal because it is cheap and relatively functional for my needs. So basically, this is a Raspberry Pi 4 in a waterproof Pelican Case utilizing 3D printed parts from back7.co. It is a friction fit so no holes are drilled in the Pelican 1150 case to preserve its waterproof-ness.

Keyboard, Battery, RSP1 and Quick Pi Kit.

I downloaded a free Pi image containing CubicSDR from the SDRPlay website and flashed it onto a MicroSD card. The SDR (software defined radio) that I used was the SDRPlay RSP1.

As I’ve stated before, I enjoy listening to various radio programs spanning Mediumwave (AM), Shortwave (HF), NOAA weather, Airband and VHF/UHF frequencies. The CubicSDR software is pretty basic without a lot of features, but it is simple to run and doesn’t require a high end processor to function. I can connect to my Apple Airpods via Bluetooth or you can plug in a speaker or even opt for headphones.

Full setup running. I’m using a Baseus 65watt 30,000mAH battery and I am not getting voltage error messages from the Pi.

It was fun to test out and it works well. My compliments to Jay over at back7.co for the very well made 3D printed panels to go inside the Pelican 1150 case.

This is a fully functioning Raspberry Pi so I can pull up files from a thumbdrive or connect to wifi if needed. The only limiting factor for a build like this is your own imagination. It’s not quite a “cyberdeck” nor is it an SHTF backup computer, but it has lots of possibilities.

7 inch Pi touchscreen, Raspberry Pi 4 and cable extensions. I added a small fan to help control the temperature of the Pi.

Wired up and ready to fit inside the Pelican 1150 case.

I know it’s not fishing related…but it’s wintertime and I do have other interests. Thanks for reading…