Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Some questions

[Warren Greenway <opensourcesub@yahoo.com>]

Best left to professionals? Hmmm. I think that the
only
reason anyone would ever think that is because they
don't know where the professionals! I haven't built my
sub yet, but I certainly have many other mechanical
hobbies, like building up cars and engines, that most
people insist should be left to the pros. Bull. The
pros started out in their garages on a amateur level
just like myself! (I know, I have talked to many of
them!) Also, I would like to mention that to me every
PSUB built is ambitious and impressive. Why? Because
everyone who builds a sub is pushing their limits, 
both in resources and talents, and expanding their
horizons. They are doing the most ambiotious thing
they feel they are capable of, and doing it darn well!
Anyhoo, just my thoughts. I guess I don't see why 
deepest diving is any more impressive then a sub that
dives 30 meters. Both builders were pushing
themselves,
and should be respected for their resourcefulness and
determination!

Warren.
Head of OSS (Open Source Sub Project)
--- Andrew Case <acase@glue.umd.edu> wrote:
> Hi,
> I'm not a psub builder (though I may be one day),
> but I'm trying to 
> understand a bit about how ambitious amateur
> tinkerers build things 
> that outsiders often consider too difficult or too
> dangerous for anyone 
> but highly trained professionals. I have some
> questions about psubs and 
> their construction that I hope people on the list
> can help me with. I'm 
> particularly interested in the high end of what
> people build - the 
> deepest diving, longest endurance, etc. I realize
> that psubs span a 
> huge range, so I'm focussing on the more expensive
> and time consuming 
> projects. That said, the questions:
> 
> Roughly how much time goes into a typical ambitious
> psub? Only psubs 
> that actually make it to the water count - I'm sure
> there are some with 
> thousands of man-hours on them that are abandoned
> half-finished :-(
> 
> Roughly how much money goes into a psub at the
> expensive end of the 
> homebuilt range? (for concreteness say 50+% of the
> work done by the 
> owner)
> 
> Which projects constitute the high end? - I'm aware
> of Carsten's 
> project (WOW!) but it seems like there's rather a
> big gap between that 
> and the next most ambitious project - am I
> overlooking something? I 
> realize that "ambitious" is a little ill-defined -
> there are multiple 
> figures of merit (depth, number of persons, time
> under water, etc.) - 
> I'm interested in your opinions about what the
> important figures of 
> merit are (realizing that it's subjective) - part of
> my interest is not 
> just the subs themselves, but the community of
> builders as well.
> 
> I realize there's likely to be some fuzziness in the
> answers, since 
> with things like this there is often some blurring
> of the lines between 
> amateur and professional (Lest I offend anyone: I
> use "amateur" in the 
> original sense of one motivated primarily by a
> passion for the work at 
> hand, not with the connotation of being unskilled or
> incompetent). I've 
> read the FAQ and the last six weeks of the archives
> to try to get a 
> feel for the community, and I must say that apart
> from the odd off 
> topic posting I'm impressed with the level of the
> discussion.
> 
> Thanks for your help,
> ......Andrew
> 
> --
> Dr. Andrew Case, PhD.
> Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied
> Physics,
> University of Maryland, College Park
> "If the United States tries nation building, it's
> got to [have] at the 
> very top of its agenda a separation of church and
> state" - Pat Robertson
> 


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