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!