I’m really putting in an effort to pull back the curtain on the momentum behind the scenes. It’s 2am, so I’ll keep it short…
First a brief update on the TrailMark. It has been exceptionally awesome hearing back from those of you have not only read my e-mails, but are just as excited as I am to get the final version produced and released. I did have to do another slight revision of the circuitboard. There were some overlooked space tollerance issues that both myself and the PCB manufacture. we made some corrections and now it’s reasy to get hand assembled. Hand assembly of one of these boards usally takes me a full uninterrupted day, which I only do for protoypes. Becasue it’s so time consuming, I often set aside a saturday or a few late nights to knock it out, which I’ll do as soon as possible. I had originally planned on assembling this latest version last friday, but there has been a temporary change of plans.
I pulled in some help for a project involving King of the Hammers. Many of you are aware that KoH is right around the corner and therefore time is of the essence. I’m confident that this is the start of something that ties litterally everything I’ve been working on, together. This is something that we were going to aim for next year but due to lack of other options for this years race, we spung into action and have been working tirelessly. I’m confident we will make an impact at this years race and an explanation here won’t be neccessary come Feb 3rd.
Despite the new version of the TrailMark being on temporary hold, if you want to see how one of the prior prototypes work, please reach out. I would be more than happy to chat with you as long as everything is runnig smoothly with the KoH project.
Thanks for staying up to date with me and I hope we can chat on the lakebed.
-Steven

The feedback has been more than what I had imagined. The responses have been surprising regarding the 2-part educational radio series on how important coax cables and proper antenna setup really is. In case you missed it, you can check it out here: Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=598Z5J22pzo Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrEtCY16jJ4 Since these videos went live, I have gotten repeated positive feedback on how I was able to help demystify radio in a way that teaches things that weren’t previously understood. Mission Accomplished. However, I have been absolutely astonished at how many people have come forward with long standing radio issues. Luckily, if you’re going to be at the upcomming King of the Hammers races in Johson Valley, CA and want help on the lakebed… there is hope. The big radio dealers will be there and can offer assitance with tuning and radio programming etc. But if you want my recommendation when it comes to getting your antenna really dialed in, I highly recommend Warren from Red’s Radios.

Who is Warren? Warren and I met at a radio event with a group of ham radio enthusiasts (radio nerds) participating in an annual emergency preparedness radio exercise / contest. This really just means that we go camping, have a few cold ones, sling wire antennas in trees and talk to other radio enthusiasts all around the world… because we’re nerds. Warren and I see eye-to-eye when it comes to antennas as well as simply understanding the science. And as much as I would really like to help you all out myself, my KoH schedule simply isn’t allowing me the time to commit. I will be in and out of camp with a full schedule, but hopefully I can still atleast see some of you in person and chat for a bit. But in the mean time, for radio help, check out the previously mentioned videos and contact Warren for the in person radio help that you have looking for:
https://www.redsradios.com/
warren@redsradios.com
(760) 902-0866
I hope this helps and I also hope to see you on the lakebed.
-Steven

I sincerely hope that everyone had a great holiday season. I believe that we only live once and it’s important to exercise your hobbies and favorite pass times during rare opporitunities, and hopefully in good company weather it be friends or family. Over the Holidays I was able to get out into the dirt and spend some time in Johnon Valley as well as Lake Havasu, AZ. Although it was good to get away from the computer, It wasn’t all play. We did a little testing video recording some footage in Johnson Valley for the TrailMark official launch. The momentum of the last 6 months has been running strong with many way overdue projects (Thank you all for your patience). The momentum continues to burn red hot going into 2024 as I wrap up the TrailMark, and finally start checking out out the trails in AZ to bring you the best maps possible to your Lowrnace GPS.
The journey with the TrailMark has been a wild ride that spans about 9 years. But what is the TrailMark? The TrailMark is a special keypad interface for Lowrance GPS units that allows you to use a programmable keypad for quickly marking prerunning race notes with speed and at scale. This allows experienced navigators to save tons of time prerunning while either covering more race miles in a given timeframe or simply spending less time while marking all the notes you need. This method also minimizes and possibly eliminates the need for post pre-run note editing late into the night.  The notes are preprogrammed into a keypad to the navigators liking (Waypoint text and Icon) and are instantly marked on a Lowrance GPS at the push of a button. (Info on additional features to be announced at a later date)
After many years of feedback and throwing away various protoypes which took thousands of hours of work, is finally nearing a state that is ready for the public. A few functioning protoypes have been floating around the race scene this last year and the feedback has been phenominal. I was honestly getting worn down after so much effort going into this concept for so many years but it’s finally coming to life in a way that many racers find easy enough to configure yet flexible enough to fit the needs of various note taking styles. It’s also compatible with various sized keypads to suite the number of keys needed by the navigator.
It was tested at the Baja 500 in 2023 and further talked about at the Pomona Off Road Expo where I met lots of racers at my booth. My motivation had been restored. Since the Pomona off road expo, an all new circuit design has been implemented in order battle the ongoing chip shortage. The latest version now sits on my electronics bench 99% complete as we wait for the last piece to arrive from my supplier. We might even have a functioning production design in testing by King of the Hammers later this month.

With the recent trip to Lake Havasu, I’m finally understanding the way trails and land are managed in AZ as well as popular riding destiamteion that should be covered in a single mapping solution. I am excited to not only build the maps, but I also am looking forward to spending more time in the dirt this year. ( I cant sit at my desk forever) So, if you happen to see me at an event or in the dirt, flag me down and say hi and even ask me for help help on Lowrance or communications realted subjects. I really enjoy meeting people, especially when I can put a face with a name. I’ll be at King of the Hammers, as well as other events this year.

I haven’t forgetten about the larger maps I announced just a few short months ago and which are all in the rotation of projects that I rotate through as various projects have unexpected halts. I’m looking forward to some successive product releases this year as well as simply having more fun on the trail.
Cheers to 2024, and for all of our sake, lets make it a good one!

TrailMark:  https://ruggedroutes.com/trailmark-lowrance-off-road-gps-waypoint-keypad-integration.html