UV Exploration - Salmon Eyesight Part 1

Since fishing season is getting underway again the number of podcasts will start to drop off, but never fear! We've got dozens of projects we are working on to post about. We aren't going to put the time into audio editing, etc for the Podcasts, so we will tease you with data and adventure as we pursue it. We are collecting the audio and video, though, so look for the podcasts to show up... as soon as the fishing slows down!

One project we've been working for a few years now is measuring the amount of light the salmon and sturgeon are exposed to. There have been more and more biological studies highlighting the ability of Salmonoids to see and respond to ultraviolet - UV light. In the Ocean, salmon hunt and live deeper than most visible light can penetrate. UV, however, dives deep, and science has shown that the UV recepters in salmon eyeballs dramatically increases the first year the smolt hit saltwater. So, lets use it!

More and more products in the market are targetting UV light - you've probably noticed it. I bought a black-light to look at some of our lures and it is very interesting how DIFFERENTLY the lures look in blacklight/UV spectrum. Here is the normal image of some common salmon lures.

Here is an attempt to photograph the same lures with UV/blacklight illumination. Something to consider...

A few years back, I rigged up this light-level meter that we drop into the water to measure both visible light levels as well as Infrared (IR) light. We have a video camera we use in the water, and wanted to see if the IR was visible to salmon or not. I don't think Sturgeon can see much of anything - more on that in another post ;-)

The circuit uses older TI Sensors - TSL230 and TSL245 - these chips take light and turn it into a frequency out to my microcontroller to measure how much light is available. The PIC16F688 records the Max/Min/Average values into an EEPROM memory chip, and displays the values on the LCD. I've since put it on a PCB board and powered it using AA batteries.

The kids and I have collected several seasons worth of data. Not much IR or visible light down below 30 feet... and we fall-fish as deep as 55feet! UV light is down there, though, so that is why I carry the blacklight in G.I.Joes.

I'll publish the circuit and some of our data in a future posting. We are also putting video cameras down deep and recording what the lures are doing - most underwater cameras have IR to help see in the dark... but I've started tearing mine down to use UV LEDs instead! Shh - its a secret.

Making Spinners - Salmon Fishing!

Just a short post today - been making some spinners - Salmon are running, and we've got some designs we want to try from last year.

Notice I left the hooks off these babies - they were so appealing the kids couldn't keep their hands off and kept putting them in their mouths!

Last fall the spinners really did well - trolling paid off much more than in the past. My friend really dialed it in - 3 of these fish were caught in ~20 minutes on the same spinner! He was really putting on a show.

Travel to Tillamook - Spring Break!

For Spring Break we wanted to get out and do something. The weather is always bad, so we don't make plans, then it gets nice and we regret not hitting the road. So...

I've wanted to explore the Tillamook Oregon area more - I've steelheaded there several times and camped on the Bayocean spit. They have lots of beaches and outdoors stuff to do - just the ticket for the NWpodcast crew.

Our first stop on getting there was to bike ride out the Bayocean access road. It was about a 5-6 mile ride out there - nice and level and easy riding for the kids. I had 2 of them in tow and Abi constantly saying "go faster, Dad". Someday she is going to have to pull ME around.

We got out to the spit and beachcombed - found alot of good floats! The weather was cool and a nice breeze... just perfect.

There were alot of folks out fishing the rocks along the spit - we'll have to take fishing poles next time! I've fished the rocks when camping and did really well.

After loading up our catch and the sandy kids, we headed back to Agate beach to use the outgoing tide and the kids found some nice agates.

They teased me that if I went off the road I was in no danger of drownding with all the floats on the bike...

The next day was nice, but started to drizzle - its Oregon, so you can't expect TWO nice days in a row... right? Still good enough to get out and we built a nice fire to dry off the kids who mis-calculated the waves rushing in to the beach! Forgot the cocoa, though!

Everyone agreed the tide-pools at 3 Grace Rocks were one of the fun things. Most of the beaches at Rockaway, where we rented a home are sandy, but at the tidepools near Garibaldi, lots of fish, eels, crabs, hermit crabs, etc kept us involved so we didn't notice the cold or wet.

The cheese factory was fun, too. Alot of bike riding and exploring. Less of the touristy stuff than Seaside or Cannon Beach. A great 3 days!

First Salmon of 2009 - The Springers are coming!

There's been a few salmon here and there in the Columbia River - not nearly enough to go out in the stormy, rainy weather yet and fight the crowds. Everyone seems to have cabin-fever BAD and is out chasing the salmon. But... a friend came out and the word this weekend was that more fish were hooking up so I got the itch. Besides, friends don't let friends fish alone... right?

We had 3 take-downs - the first fish came off. Then we got this one - a beauty! It turned out to be a pretty good day on the river - didn't rain all that much. Still was windy and cold, though. Great to be out.

Then the other friend joined us, and he got this one. Another chromer. 3 tries and 2 fish in the boat - thats a great day any time of the year! The only down-side is that all the fish were on the other guy's rods - I got skunked!

Oh well, it was lots of fun to be out on the river again. Here is Bert showing off his latest invention - the "No Tangle Fishing Bucket"... I think he STILL is sorting things out again ;-)

Can you pick out which one in the pile is the "lucky lure"??? Thats right - the one he doesn't pick to put in the water...

Software - Multiple Mice Support for VC++ 6.0

So, I've been working to add multiple mouse support to my Wii games - it is easiest to first support multiple mice, then trivial to point the mouse functions to Wiimote functions. That way i can debug and develop without waving a Wiimote at my PC. Wiimotes are fun to play with , but not fun to write code with ;-)

MSoft has a new SDK for Multi-Mouse support here - http://blogs.msdn.com/multipoint/default.aspx , but guess what - it doesn't support C++! I know, managed code is "the way of the future", but I have alot of old C++ applications, and I'm slow to transition to C#. Besides, if I can do it in C++, I can more easily do it in C#, right? So, I found this ManyMouse class: http://icculus.org/manymouse/ and finally got it to work with VC++ 6.0, which was no small feat!

Here is my test app - it lets me manually handle and draw separate cursors and handle separate mouse-clicks. I've begun porting it into my "quick-draw" application, and I'll release it soon.

To use the manymouse class, simply follow the directions Ryan Gordon includes with the files. C++ 6.0 compiler had some errors to overcome:

error LNK2005: "void __cdecl operator delete(void *)"(??3@YAXPAX@Z)... is caused by the compiler itself, and can be avoided by forcing the build despite the linker error. Go to Proj Settings->Build menu ->Settings ->Link->Customize and select "force file output".

fatal error LNK1103: debugging information corrupt;... is another compiler bug (so much for using VC++ 6.0, right?) and can be fixed simply by building the release version instead of the debug version.

there were also pre-compiler header errors when compiling the .c and .h files - in Project Settings you can specify NOT to use P-C headers for each of these files.

The demo app works pretty good - it tracks separate mouse movements and button clicks on the screen. Basically, I override the WM_LMOUSEBUTTON and WM_MOUSEMOVE events, and use them to manually track which mouse moved or clicked, and record the position of the cursor manually. in the OnPaint() override function, I then manually track and paint each cursor independant. If you are interested, I'll send you the sourcecode... I'm also planning to post it on CodeProject.com. Multiple mice is a great option for games and data collection.

I've just posted an article on how I did this using VC++ 6.0 on CodeProject: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/docview/ManyMouse.aspx

The demo application is about 220kb and can be downloaded HERE: http://nwpodcast.comuf.com/ManyMouseDlg.exe

Wii Game Hardware - IR LED Lightbar

I haven't gotten much sleep this weekend... so on to another project! I've written some PC software - to use the Wiimote controller in 2 PC games. The Wiimote library I'm using is very well done and useful... written by Brian Peek and found here: http://www.codeplex.com/WiimoteLib

To use the software and Wiimote, you really only need a Wii Sensor Bar and/or a separate IR LED for a point source. Johnny Chung Lee and many others have some really COOL stuff out there - I suggest checking out Johnny's website and things he has done to get you thinking... http://johnnylee.net/projects/wii/








So, I built a quick Sensor Bar to attach to my laptop and powered off of a USB port. Just 4 IR LEDs, 4 resistors (4.7K Ohms), an old cable, and a plastic 'bar'. Total cost was ~$0.60 and it took about 0.5 hours. (You can tell by the 'gorilla' soldering that it ain't pretty, but it works).

Here is the final IR LED Sensor Bar, with each pair of IR LEDs spaced out 7.5 inches apart. Here is a better example to use as a reference: http://johnnylee.net/projects/wii/





Results were poor. The IR LEDs output is fairly low compared with alot of the background light from the display, etc. So... i moved on with a different approach.

I have a bunch of coin (quarter) size 3.0V batteries and holders I got years ago for a different LED project (NWPodcast #76 - Salmon Fishing LEDs) and decided to rig up 2 of them with IR LEDs that I could then stick on the top of my PC (using Silly Putty!) to make it more mobile and easy to position.

Here are the coin batteries with IR LEDs soldered directly to their leads. Very easy to use and fast - just pop in the battery and you are good to go.

The final result resting on my laptop keyboard (the kids were gone and someone took Dad's Silly Putty and didn't put it BACK!) Works better than the Sensor Bar design, and easier to use. Now to finish the games and use the hardware...

Auto Repair Adventure #18 - Wheel Bearing Replacement

For a few weeks now, the front wheel bearing on my 2002 Pontiac Bonneville has been howling at me... and getting more and more impatient ;-) It was loud enough, and I had some time in the evening, so I jumped in and replaced it. The cool thing is that this bearing is a complete, sealed unit, and so replacement was fairly straightforward.

The steps were easy: remove wheel, stick screwdriver between caliper to remove the 1 3/8 nut, remove caliper bracker and rotor, remove 3 bolts from the rear of the sealed bearing unit, then putting the rotor back on the hub and beating it out with a rubber sledge to avoid damage to the CV joint. Finally, the sealed unit was installed in the reverse process and the ABS unit plugged in.

Took about 1.5 hours because I am slow, and I also replaced all the brakepads. Best part is, no broken off bolts, no skinned and bleeding knuckles, and it worked! The Bonnie is purring along just like new. How often does that going to happen on the first try ;-)

Free Software - Create Playlists for your MP3 files

Here's another application I wrote years ago, to let me create a 'playlist' of MP3 files on my computer. It is as simple as possible - simply open the directory your MP3 files are in, select each file in order, and push the button. The app creates an "asx" file that Windows MediaPlayer recognizes, and will play those files in-order.

There is also an option to create the playlist to work with ezSlideShow application that displays your digital photos (previous posting). Every year I make CDs for the family that simply put all the pictures and MP3 files from the previous year, and use ezSlideShow to "auto-play" the pictures on the CD when they put the CD into their computer. I have to keep it simple, and it is ;-) Hope you like it. As always, send me an email with what you like, what to fix, etc. I like the input!

PlaylistClient.exe is about 250kb in size for all versions of Windows.

http://nwpodcast.comuf.com/PlaylistClient.exe

CCA Meeting

I attended the monthly CCA meeting last night. First time in a a while... usually have church meetings that preclude me from attending. Gary Loomis presented at the meeting - another rally cry to get membership and push the political agenda.

I don't care for any lobby groups because of the radical-ism our country is plagued by, but I am a member of CCA. There has to be something done to save the Salmon/Fish resources of the Northwest, and its obvious that the State of Oregon is NOT interested in looking at the data or a viable (sustainable) solution. Of all the lobby groups - Federal or State - CCA makes the most sense, and is truly committed to saving the fish.

The 4 issues for the fish are Harvest, Hatcheries, Habitat, and Hydro (Dams). Over-harvesting by non-selective equipment (Gill nets) is BY FAR the biggest problem. Lets give the netter's better options and ensure the wild fish get into the streams.

NWPodcast #106 - Ultrasonic Elk

We've been completing quite a few NWPodcasts lately - its been a cold Feb and March so far, and the fish really haven't started biting so we are making hay while we can ;-) This podcast is some of our exploration of ultrasonic sound. You've probably heard of bat detectors - these simple circuits take untrasound that we humans can't hear, and shift them down into frequencies we can hear. It is fun listening to bats, insects, scratched glass, and even running water... but what really gets us excited is listening to elk, deer, rabbits, and coyotes!

For years I've been convinced that elk and coyotes can hear frequencies well above what we hear. Most of coyote prey makes these sounds, and dogs can here them, so it only makes sense! My favorite part of hunting is vocalization - calling to elk or coyotes. What if our calls make sounds that we can't here, that distinguish us from a "real" animal?

Recently scientists have been listening to trees, to see if their ultrasonic noises are attracting pine beetles and other parasites. Very cool!

In this podcast, we'll demonstrate some of the sounds in the ultrasonic frequency range (20kHz to 100kHz), and even demonstrate a coyote and elk call with the ultrasonic noise they make. We've started "upgrading" our equipment too, so that later this summer we can measure and record animals in the wild to profile their frequency ranges. This is a fun one with the kids, and interesting for you hunters out there, too.

A very good, basic detector with schematic and even build instructions can be found here: http://home.earthlink.net/~bat-detector/BatDetector.html This is something the kids will really enjoy when they explore new sounds. When the kids start bugging eachother - I assign them to go and find 5 new 'sounds' we've never heard before, and it is great what new things they discover! More on that in a future podcast as well ;-)

Here's the podcast - it is ~8MB in size, and about 10 minutes long:http://nwpodcast.comuf.com/nw106_ultrasonic_elk.mp3

Book Recommendation - Exploration and Adventure

We read alot in the winter... and I've found over the years my interests tend to mountaineering and exploration more and more. This year i found a few really good ones. Its tough finding good winter fare and so I rely more and more on recommendations from others. This is one worth checking out.

As Told At The Explorers Club has about 50 short stories, most of them from the early 1900's of exploration and odd stories. Great book for the boat. I found it wandering at Powell's here in Portland, and it was even bargain-priced! They have a few more - http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9781592286584-3