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Member
Posts: 885
| If you are looking for a great-lighted planner board... check out the design of my boards... I’ve used them for the last 4 years and they work great.
They are simple to design, last a long time and are almost indestructible.
Here's a simple list of steps.
Go to radio shack and get the 2 AAA battery holders and the Jumbo, Super bright red led part # 276-086.
To assembly, cut a small portion of the foam backing from the bottom front corner smaller than the foam. The foam will form around the battery holder. To attach the holder, drill a small hole in the board using the hole in the center of the battery holder. I used a small machine bolt with a small nut. Put the bolt head on the battery holder side so it does not disturb the placement of the batteries.
To attach the LED, drill a 1/4-inch hole in the top portion of your board so that the hole aligns with the inside of the board. (You want the wires to go directly into the back of the board and not around the front).
I solder the leads of the battery holder before I mount the battery holder so I have extra wire to work with. (REMEMBER!!!!! LED"S have a positive and a negative side, the long lead on the LED is the positive. I snip the leads on the LED about a 1/4 of an inch long. Use a shrink on each lead to protect the leads from touching each other.
To attach the LED, I use strong Super Glue and then run a bead of glue around the base of the LED. (I tried hot glue and other things... they just don’t seem to hold the LED's especially if your like me and your tossing boards all over the place when you get a fish on) Silicone glue works too, but I don't have the patience to wait for it to dry!!
After the LED has set, turn the board over and fill the back of the 1/4-inch hole with a waterproof silicone.
That's it....
Now for the questions....
Yes the batteries stay in without any additional help.
The batteries last at least 12 hours, heck I even think I've used mine for a whole week of night fishing.
The only thing I've broken on mine over the years is the LED leads have rusted and get fragile after 3 years, but heck ... the whole project costs less than 4 bucks apiece.
No... the weight of the batteries does not affect the balance or the way the board runs.... I shifted my weights back slightly.
No... you don't need a separate set of boards, I use and abuse mine all spring and summer and they still work in the fall.
You can see them from a long way away... even in big waves.
Let me know if you have any questions....
Purple Skeeter
Edited by Purple Skeeter 10/18/2005 8:42 PM
Attachments
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 led.jpg (26KB - 284 downloads)
board back 1.jpg (22KB - 248 downloads)
board front 1.jpg (24KB - 246 downloads)
board finished 2.jpg (32KB - 245 downloads)
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| awesome! Thanks for sharing this. I think I'll try and rig up a couple, do you find the lights strong enough to not break when throwing them around in the boat?
What other systems are out there? I like the glow sticks myself but they tend to get costly!
Good Luck
Tyee |
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Member
Posts: 885
| Tyee,
I use them year round in daylight and night fishing and they really take a lot of abuse.... 3 of my boards have seen 100's of hours of use without breaking... I try to take reasonable care of my equipment... and this setup seems to last forever. At night, they are excellent to use and have never failed me yet... plus when your done, you just pop 1 battery out of the holder and your done!!
The LED is completely waterproof, shockproof and I have never burned 1 out yet....
I'm headed up on Saturday for 10 days..... I wish I could leave today!!
Purple Skeeter |
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| Have you tried this method with Off SHore boards? |
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Member
Posts: 885
| Marc,
I have never used offshore boards so I'm not shure how they are constructed.... The orange Walleye boards have the foam insert in the back and the battery holder fits perfectly level with the inside edge of the board.
One of the reasons I like this setup is the batteries stay in the holder with no extra steps needed....
I have a friend that makes these up as a one piece deal that he justs attaches with a rubber band to his offshore boards. He mounts the LED's with a 4 inch wire that extends out from the holder, but..... the wires break off if you are not careful (another reason I like the design of my setup... they take a lot of abuse and I have never broke one yet.
Purple Skeeter |
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| Thanks for the reply, I got motivated tonight and did this for two of my church boards and two offshores. The offshores work pretty much the same way. The only thing I have left to do is glue the LED to one of the off shore boards. This was the last one I did and the glue did not hold. I have cleaned up the mess and need to buy more glue tomorow and finish this. WHere are you staying at LBDN? I am running up on the 30 and staying until the Nov 2 and will be at SalMar |
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Member
Posts: 885
| Marc,
I'm staying at Campers Paradise on Big Bay.... I fish big and Little bay....
Purple Skeeter |
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| Don't the batteries get wet? It looks like they're gonna run under water if you go slow. |
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Member
Posts: 885
| Guest,
All batteries are waterproof... the batteries and the holder are completly underwater while the board is in the water.... In 5 years of using these boards and over 500 hours of use, I have never had any probles with this design.
Purple Skeeter....... just a few more hours before I leave to 9 days of Bay de Noc |
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| Seems like a ton of work, why not just use the clip on stobes on off shore boards? This is what I've used and work great! |
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Member
Posts: 2393
Location: Waukesha Wisconsin | I don't know about others but having 6 stobe lights in the water gives me a headache. I can handle a couple but not 6.
Great idea Skeeter. thanks for sharing. |
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| Hey purple skeeter....do you have a job? Wish I had yours as it seems you are always on the water...MUST BE NICE!!! Good luck on the Big Bay!! |
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Member
Posts: 859
Location: Appleton wi | Skeeter once again thanks for the great post on another subject or hot bite. |
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Member
Posts: 885
| Dennis,
I fished with a guy a few years ago that had 6 strobes going all night..... it just about drove me nuts....it was part of my motivation to come up with a better system. The bright LED's on my boards are easy to see and easy on the eyes with a nice steady glow.
And to DH..... it takes about 15 minutes and 4 bucks to construct these boards and if you take care of them, they will last you 3 - 5 years....
Purple Skeeter |
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Member
Posts: 106
Location: Chilton, WI | Thanks for the how-to Skeeter. I was planning on making something similar after this weekend on LBDN. My buddy ran the Off-Shore lights which were $8 a piece. They lasted him 2 nights and the batteries were shot. Bought new batteries which were pricy (each light requires 2 watch batteries) and for some reason we can't get any of the lights working now. So we had to use glow sticks which worked well but cost $9 to light up 6 boards for the night. I'm definately going to make up a few lights like you have for the next trip. I going to see if there are any ways to make the batteries last even longer. Maybe wiring in a resistor or something will help. I'm going to check with my uncle who is an electronic engineer for Motorola and see what he thinks. I'll let everyone know if I find a way to extend the battery life. |
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Member
Posts: 885
| Scrap Iron,
The batteries in my boards last at least 24 hours of straight use..... and maybe even longer. I'm still using batteries from last year in a couple of my boards.... and it's pretty inexpensive to pickup a 40 pack at Radio Shack!
If anyone is going up the week of the 29th ... let me know, I'm headed up that week. 1 more trip unless the ice at the landings is too thick to cut out.
Has anyone ever used a chainsaw to cut ice less that is less than an inch thick???
I was thinking of bringing up my saw.
Purplr Skeeter |
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Member
Posts: 885
| E-mail me if you are headed up!
Purple Skeeter
Edited by Purple Skeeter 11/14/2005 9:53 AM
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Member
Posts: 21
Location: Freedom, WI | If the harbors are frozen go to the new launch on the river by Wells. There's enough current there to keep it open long after the others are frozen tight. I'll be up for the weekend after Thanksgiving and probably the weekend after that too if the weather holds. This past weekend wasn't real productive. We caught a few on Saturday on leadcore, Sunday was a bust due to the wind. I should have driven up Friday morning, I heard the bite was pretty good then. |
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Member
Posts: 106
Location: Chilton, WI | I may be headed up Thanksgiving weekend if I get my deer early. This past weekend really made me want to come back again. We got a late start on friday but did ok anyway. We ended up with 5 including my biggest fish yet, 31" 11 lbs. Sat. we only got 4 hours of fishing in before we got blown off the water but we ended up with 7 in that short time. We had the fish figured out, we were getting 2 fish on average per pass untill the wind and rain came. Sunday, well that was a bust like Fishoil said. We were getting them shallow near weed edges. |
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