Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] tank periscope optics

[AndrePevestorf@aol.com]

Hi Dan,
right you are... Itīs sounds really exotic to use only cams or tank prism for a sub ... and my daily work as an engineer shows me that it is hard enough to fulfil the different customer specs although it is nearly all the time the same product...

But for a very first design study Iīd like to go wide circles like the cat around the hot mash ....
So Iīm sure if later on ( when I deside to build it boring conservative .. :-)) ) no one can say: "He man, how about this new stuff ???.." I call it "setting the borders" ... Itīs more freestyle...

Later on if the purpose and basic design parameters are fixed it could be deadly for a project to sweep the borders...(I guess you know best what I try to say..)

And at the end of the day when the folk is asking me: "Do you really an skilled mech. engineer ??? you sub looks so easy and without any new or exotic stuff..??!!" thatīs the moment I will say:  Remember K. I. S. S. !!!!!! 

But never the less Thanks for your advise Dan. Sometimes when "traveling around the world" itīs good to hear "from Mum" call your home .... :-))

honestly speaking Iīd like the old fashion "looking holes" and sub "faces" like spiders .... but the problem is to arrange the small windows for good comfort ... even if you couldnīt use a half sphere...

A acrylic dome with a mx. diameter lets say 50 cm could be an alternative  --- whats the app. cost ???

Sitting in front of a 150cm dome will scary me (Iīm a little be old fashioned and trust steel more then invisible windows) never the less the price ( 80 thousend USD )will scary most of the folk here.... 

A.




In einer eMail vom 09.04.2002 14:27:55 (MEZ) - Mitteleurop. Sommerze schreibt machine@epix.net:


> Why would you want to use periscope optics in a sub?  I don't understand the advantage in using prisms to look around corners with when all you need is a piece of acrylic to keep the water out.  Even using cameras seems like over kill.  If the view ports are kept to a small diameter there not expensive.  Say, keep them to the size of plasma TV monitor and forget the electronics! 
> One thing about acrylic, as long as you use the proper thickness for the depth your diving to, it always works.  No matter if you have a power failure, an equipment failure or an operator failure.  It's almost fool proof!  Isn't that one of the most important criteria in designing anything like a sub.  When life and limb could be hanging in the balance, simplicity and safety are usually the number issues in a good design.  Cameras and optics are fine as extras, but a hole in the hull filled with an acrylic disk as the main way to see out makes good sense to me. I spent many years designing mechanical systems. Several rules of thumb that kept me out of trouble (most of the time) were: 
> Be efficient. Do many functions with one part rather than one function with many parts. 
> Keep it simple.  
> Where safety is a consideration, cover all the bases and take no chances.  Design in redundancies, if allowable. 
> And lastly, design in some "wiggle room" to accommodate revisions and up dates. Remember K. I. S. S. !!!!!! Dan H. AndrePevestorf@aol.com wrote: 
> > Hi, I yust remember the special periscope optic in a tank (BMP-1 or T-55) 
> > my recollection says that this prism are very heavy but also easy to change... so I wondering if it could be possible to use some of that for a sub... but the first question is: are there any legal ways to get such army stuff second hand ? 
> > ( I know in former times it was possible to get a russian gun for a bottle of wisky but thats not the kind of deals Iīm looking for..) A.