Sunday, February 27, 2011

New survey rig!

So, it's been a bit since I've been out on a survey proper (not sure if that's good or bad) and a while back I got some new components in for my rig. I was debating on retrofitting my trusty black Pelican 1510 case with new foam or getting a new one. Never one to spend needlessly, I trickle-down upgraded someone else with my old case and opted for a shiny new tan colored case - As far as I know, I'll be the only one on our survey teams for the foreseeable future with a tan case so it should make it easier to tell mine apart. :) So, a new Pelican case, a new battery for my Terrawave survey pack, a shiny new Cisco 1142, and some various other bits an pieces all get massaged into the pick-and-pluck foam of the kit. Revisiting the way I hang my AP during the survey was something I've been meaning to address for quite a while. I opted for the 2x 90 degree painter pole arms and a drywall finishing brush (sans bristles) and some good old fashioned drilling to assemble a pretty graceful looking mount:

The intermediary piece attached to the factory mount bracket is the brush head that I picked up from The Home Depot in their drywall finishing section:

Home Depot - Drywall Stippling Brush

After ripping out the bristles, a choice few holes later and my mount was ready! Next to place the battery and AP + mount in the bottom of the Pelican case and outline the pick-and-pluck:
Here is what the bottom of the Pelican looks like with the components nestled in - I coiled my CAT5 network cable around the mount and laid in the two 90 degree arms:
Add a top layer with some space for my spare laptop batteries, the AC adapter and some survey cards and call it just about done:

Now I'm off for a week of surveying!

1 comment:

  1. One thing to keep in mind with pick and pluck foam is that you can't put a square back after it has been plucked, so always pick out a shape that is slightly smaller than the item the foam will hold. Foam can compress easily, so making the hole slightly smaller will help the foam hold the item snugly and keep it from moving around.

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