----Original Message Follows----
From: "Ty Alley"
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Maybe Someday?
Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 18:28:02 -0500
Shin,
I don't really want to live in the deep dark depths either. What I had in mind was a bit shallower, say in the neighborhood of about 50 to 60 feet. Deep enough but not too deep if a diver wanted to lock out and go cruise around on the reef. .....What I had envisioned would be a habitat that had a solid tube leading to the surface, sort of like one of those onion shaped municipal water towers turned upside down. ....at the end of the tube, on the surface, there would be a surface support platform. Surface shuttles(boats) could be moored in lifts with maybe even a helipad on top for evacuation purposes
Ty
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I like the tube idea, maybe not 60 foot of tube but...
If one wanted to go diving from this 1-ATM habitat, why not just dive from the surface platform? It would save the trouble and maintenance associated with an airlock, and it might be safer using your depth to adjust your decompression rate rather than relying on a pump to do so(I have no idea exactly what ill effects would be gathered from multiple, shallow, no-decompression dives). Or, if only one person were in the habitat, the whole thing could be set to ambient pressure(putting a hatch between the tube and the habitat) and you could be in a comfortable work environment while you depressurized after a dive.
If you don't mind the shallow diving, then why not keep the habitat at ambient pressure? Cut the bulky tube out of the picture by building a dry ambient sub large enough to carry equipment to the habitat dry. Habitat escape could be had through the standard hole-in-the-floor, with a buoy at the surface to tie off boats and with communications relays. Using a pump to supply fresh surface air to the ambient habitat, and not needing reinforced walls would keep costs to almost nothing, allowing the habitat to be mounted permanently(the pumps and batteries could be removable if ever one decided to move shop). Hhhhmmmm... but running a pump 24-7 could get costly... perhaps use wave motion to pump the air through the pipes(this would only require solid tubing and 2 one-way valves).
Any comments? Personally I feel that a 1-ATM habitat large enough for living in would be cost prohibitive. And I'm a little leery of decompressing from an ambient habitat every time I want to go to McDonalds(gotta keep those last few brain cells alive!). Currently I'm thinking about a weekend-cabin-cruiser-sub that you can go out on to enjoy old friends, grill out, and dive to eat your meal next to a reef.
Shin
P.S. anyone see the 'hidden' link in my previous post on this subject? heh, still figuring out Hotmail.