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(cont) On the second session of in-water testing, we made the following adjustments: We discarded the 5 watt amplifier used to transmit on the first testing session and instead made use of the interior supplied electronic amplification card found within a 50 watt bullhorn. We again made use of the 5 watt amplifier along with the standard HBH-2 hydrophone used in the initial testing. (If it works, don't mess with it!) With the aid of a supplied boat, we performed similar in-water testing with the following results: The greatest effective range was found to be just over 500 feet! (again, the use of the Navy alphabet would have aided us instead we used "Marry had a little lamb" and such and yelled back what was said.) It did work up to 713 feet marginally. Again, wind was problematic. Boat traffic was heavier on this testing day as well, and at one point a boat running slow on a gas motor passed between the test points and the communications were still heard! From this point... collision avoidance sonar, underwater communications, and passive sonar are branching apart and evolving in differing ways. Kyle's collision avoidance sonar is indeed actually omni directional but works great due to the air contained within his conning tower. This air within his tower reflected noise from behind his submarine and did seem to pick up on boat traffic straight in front of his boat. It is for this reason that collision avoidance listen electronics and underwater communications listen electronics will remain within the same enclosure. Both work well detecting in all directions. Although I attempted to keep both the transmit and receive electronics to be interchangeable, one would have to be almost dead not to hear 50 watts of power amplifying one of the passive hydrophones! Passive sonar will thus develop into a directional science or another area of study apart from communications. With these farther desired ranges, Kyle having expressed a desire to have his collision avoidance sonar modified into full communications capability, will be the first communications console to receive these higher wattage output modifications. Although the ranges to existing equipments (some have 7 watt outputs, others have 18 watts) a rough idea can hopefully be derived from this supplied data. To modify an existing console, should the range be deemed too short to be practical, the individual need only obtain a 50 watt bullhorn, and shift out the existing channel "b" or transmit channel electronics with this higher wattage card found within this bullhorn. Both electronics make use of 12 volts dc and use the consoles cb handset. Additional features such as the selectable siren need only be omitted if not desired. ( I can also perform this surgury if need be for the cost of this bullhorn and shipping) Did I leave any important details out? Ask quick as I'm getting older by the day and could forget some details. I hope this helped. David Bartsch Windows 7: It helps you do more. Explore Windows 7. |