US-12616183-B2 - Video fishing system with electrically-conductive fishing line

Abstract

An electrical transmission line cable suited for a variety of applications, including as a fishing line in a video fishing system. The electrical transmission line cable has a first conductor and a second conductor forming an electrical transmission line; a jacket containing the first conductor and the second conductor; and a transmission line primary dielectric element separating the first conductor and the second conductor, wherein the primary dielectric element is at least one of textile yarns, fiber yarns, or monofilaments. The electrical transmission line may be in a balanced configuration or an unbalanced configuration.

Inventors

• Dustin Alinger

Assignees

• REELVIEW FISHING, INC.

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20240519

Claims (20)

1. 1 . An electrically-conductive fishing line comprising: a first conductor; a second conductor; a transmission line primary dielectric element separating the first conductor and the second conductor; and a waterproof jacket containing the first conductor, the second conductor, and the primary dielectric element, wherein the primary dielectric element is at least one of textile yarns, fiber yarns, or monofilaments and wherein the first conductor, the second conductor, and the primary dielectric element form an electrical transmission line configured to transmit data using at least one of 10Base-T1L, 100Base-T1L, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing, or powerline modem signaling.
2. 2 . The fishing line of claim 1 in which the electrical transmission line is of a balanced configuration.
3. 3 . The fishing line of claim 1 in which the electrical transmission line is of an unbalanced configuration.
4. 4 . The fishing line of claim 1 wherein the first conductor and the second conductor are twisted about the primary dielectric element.
5. 5 . The fishing line of claim 1 wherein the first conductor and the second conductor are not twisted about the primary dielectric element.
6. 6 . The fishing line of claim 1 wherein power is transmitted over the fishing line using a combination of high voltage and low current.
7. 7 . The fishing line of claim 1 further comprising at least one secondary dielectric element.
8. 8 . The fishing line of claim 7 wherein the at least one secondary dielectric element is twisted about the primary dielectric element.
9. 9 . The fishing line of claim 7 wherein the at least one secondary dielectric element is not twisted about the primary dielectric element.
10. 10 . The fishing line of claim 1 having a specific gravity between approximately 0.97 and approximately 2.0.
11. 11 . The fishing line of claim 1 , the fishing line having a proximal end and a distal end, and comprising a connector at at least one of the proximal end or the distal end.
12. 12 . The fishing line of claim 1 wherein the primary dielectric element is a yarn having a strength roughly 1.1 GPa or greater and a modulus 52 GPa or greater.
13. 13 . The fishing line of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first or second conductors is uninsulated.
14. 14 . The fishing line of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first or second conductors is magnet wire.
15. 15 . The fishing line of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first or second conductors is enamel coated.
16. 16 . The fishing line of claim 1 wherein the primary dielectric element is also a cable strength member.
17. 17 . A video fishing system comprising: a waterproof camera module; a base station module; and the electrically-conductive fishing line of claim 1 connecting the waterproof camera module and the base station module.
18. 18 . The video fishing system of claim 17 wherein the waterproof camera module is configured to be a fishing lure.
19. 19 . The video fishing system of claim 17 wherein the base station module is integrated into a fishing rod or reel.
20. 20 . The video fishing system of claim 17 wherein the camera module has multiple image sensors for creating a panoramic-view image.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/227,938, which itself was a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/090,189, filed on Dec. 28, 2022, which itself was a continuation-in-part of PCT application no. PCT/US2022/034883, filed on Jun. 24, 2022, which claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. provisional application No. 63/214,692, filed on Jun. 24, 2021. The entire disclosure of each of these applications is hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth in their entirety herein. TECHNICAL FIELD Embodiments described herein relate to a multi-purpose electrical transmission line cable and, more particularly but not exclusively, to an electrical transmission line cable suitable for use in a video fishing system and other data and power transmission applications. BACKGROUND It is well understood that wireless electromagnetic communication systems (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth) suffer from dramatically reduced range in an underwater environment. Due to the significant signal attenuation these systems are subject to in water, range is limited to inches or a few feet at best. Acoustic communication methods can achieve significant range underwater (up to many kilometers), but their channel capacity (50 kbps or less) is orders of magnitude lower than that required for real time transmission of encoded video. Additionally, underwater acoustic communications require significant power that makes them unsuitable for their use in recreational applications such as fishing. Wireless optical underwater communications can achieve the data rates required for real time transmission of encoded video (1-5 Mbps) and can achieve ranges of 1-15 meters depending on water conditions, but their cost, size, power consumption, and directionality requirements make them wholly unsuitable for use in recreational applications such as fishing. Given the drawbacks of these wireless technologies, a wired approach, either electrical or optical, is often necessary for underwater environments. An optical fiber, either silica core or polymer based, can achieve the necessary data rate for encoded video transfer over the distances used in typical fishing setups, and may even achieve a data rate high enough such that video compression is unnecessary. Power can also be sent over the optical fiber, but the transfer efficiency of such technologies is so poor that to be able to deliver the necessary amount of power to a camera module would necessitate an extremely high input power being launched into the fiber. Such a large input power sent into the fiber presents severe safety risks and such a system would also be prohibitively expensive. Additionally, the low transfer efficiency would severely limit battery life of the system and/or require unreasonably large batteries in a base station. Realistically, a battery would be required inside the camera module which has severe impacts on its size and buoyancy. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, optical fibers are far too fragile to withstand the rigors of recreational applications such as fishing. A need therefore exists for improved apparatus and methods for the delivery of data and power in underwater environments. SUMMARY This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description section. This summary is not intended to identify or exclude key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. According to one aspect, embodiments herein relate to an electrically-conductive fishing line having a first conductor, a second conductor, a transmission line primary dielectric element separating the first conductor and the second conductor, and a waterproof jacket containing the first conductor, the second conductor, and the primary dielectric element, wherein the primary dielectric element includes at least one of textile yarns, fiber yarns, or monofilaments and wherein the first conductor, the second conductor, and the primary dielectric element form an electrical transmission line. In some embodiments, the electrical transmission line is of a balanced configuration. In some embodiments, the electrical transmission line is of an unbalanced configuration. In some embodiments, the first conductor and the second conductor are twisted about the primary dielectric element. In some embodiments, the first conductor and the second conductor are not twisted about the primary dielectric element. In some embodiments, power is transmitted over the fishing line using a combination of high voltage and low current. In some embodiments the fishing line includes at least one secondary dielectric element. In some embodiments, the at least one secondary dielectric element may be twisted about the primary dielectric element. In some embodi