From: Brian V. Ryder <brian@subatlantic.com>
Ben I don't believe its stronger than a dome and I am by far not an expert,
Greg, Vance, Phil they could maybe fill in the blanks for you, the tube we
have is very thick, and when it was ordered I believe Mike C had plans to
increase the depth rating to 1500 or 2000 feet and I think that's why he
went so thick its nice knowing its rated to 7000 feet and only working to
1000 feet, but I am guessing that the dome is both stronger mill for mill
and easier, it would be kind of neat to take a tube and glue a dome to it
and mount it on the bottom like a turret I wonder how that would work
Brian V. Ryder
brian@subatlantic.com
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-----Original Message-----
From: owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org
[mailto:owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org] On Behalf Of Fritz, Benjamin
T AT1 CNATTU, JACKSONVILLE
Sent: Monday, July 12, 2010 1:52 PM
To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Subject: RE: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Acrylic cylindrical conning tower
Structurally speaking, is the acrylic cylinder stronger and/or simpler to
implement than an acrylic dome?
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org
[mailto:owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org] On Behalf Of Alan James
Sent: Sunday, July 11, 2010 6:12 PM
To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Acrylic cylindrical conning tower
Thanks Brian,
Look forward to the videos & pictures.
Alan
----- Original Message -----
From: Brian V. Ryder <mailto:brian@subatlantic.com>
To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Sent: Monday, July 12, 2010 1:33 AM
Subject: RE: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Acrylic cylindrical conning tower
Alan, Jon
I think that if I was going to do this from scratch I would probably
go with a conventional tower there were a few unknowns doing this but it
came out nice, I seem to remember Mike saying this was optical grade
acrylic, as for distortion I have not noticed any yet I have been standing
looking out at my safety divers at varying distances and have seen none but
I was not really looking, the main thing I like is its big, being a large
frame man( nice for overweight ) it's very easy for me to get in and out, as
things progress I will shoot some video from the tower and post it so you
all can see, one thing I will say Mike C did not cut any corners having the
tower made it's a very nice piece of acrylic I wish I would have been able
to build the flanges as he had drawn then up out of titanium it was just too
much money maybe after this wreck I can spend another 250k and make the
changes I want, I would like to add that without PSUB and all its members I
would not have been able!
to get to this point, the knowledge here is so vast that we could do
anything, it's so nice if you have a question go send an email and get
answers covering every aspect of your question, thanks everyone
Brian V. Ryder
brian@subatlantic.com
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attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may
contain confidential and privileged information or otherwise be protected by
law. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited.
If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply
e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.
From: owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org
[mailto:owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org] On Behalf Of Alan James
Sent: Sunday, July 11, 2010 3:23 AM
To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Acrylic cylindrical conning tower
Hi Jon,
point taken re material specs.
I had your same reservations re vision out of a tube.
I guess in Brian's case it's not his primary viewing port & it will
be interesting to
here his experience if he has extended viewing through it.
I spent a bit of time at a local aquarium trying to get a handle on
viewing through acrylic.
They had a number of large tanks of differing thickness & shapes.One
an acrylic tunnel
100 meters long. I was looking through at various angles to see the
distortion.
I came out feeling slightly nauseous. I was thinking it was because
my vision was
being screwed around a lot by the varying distortions. My fear is
that you might get that
looking up & down through a cylinder. If you rotated your head from
side to side the distortion
shouldn't vary.
Point taken Jens, I've made that comment before re subject headings,
will be more attentive in future.
Regards Alan
----- Original Message -----
From: Jon Wallace <mailto:jonw@psubs.org>
To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Sent: Sunday, July 11, 2010 6:24 PM
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] pressure gauge
Standard warning here...check the specifications of the
acrylic used. If they do not meet or exceed ASME standards then the
material is not acceptable. I've observed on more than a couple occasions
that fabricators who supply acrylic for terrestrial use often use material
that does not meet ASME standards (not necessary for furniture and
decorative items, etc) and don't even know what the strength specifications
of the material is.
I have considered an acrylic conning tower, however Stachiw
says that the cylinder provides the worst optical characteristics of any
viewport configuration. It acts as an asymmetric lens distorting the shape
of images perceived by the passenger. As the radius of the cylinder
increases, the distortion is less but that also depends upon the thickness.
Stachiw wasn't too specific and I wish he had provided more info about this
issue. I've hesitated designing around an acrylic conning tower because I
don't want to spend the money on such an expensive item only to find out the
visibility sucks. I suspect the visual distortion is more noticeable when
looking upward or downward since you are peering at an oblique angle to the
material and through more of it. Viewing perpendicular to curvature should
have the same viewing qualities as a dome. Once Bryan gets situated with
his vessel I hope he can describe any visual deficiencies, if they exist.
Jon
On 7/10/2010 11:47 PM, Alan James wrote:
Hi Jon & Brian,
There are some pretty big cast tubes that are done as a
standard line
that I've seen advertised by Chinese manufacturers. Might be
an inexpensive way of doing
the conning tower in the future
I came across this supplier that advertises 500mm diameter &
up to 40mm thick
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:JxFcoR3u8pcJ:www.alibab
a.com/product-gs/257765498/Large_cast_acrylic_tube.html+large+cast+acrylic+t
ube&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=nz
However the advert is a bit confusing.
4" is a huge thickness. I could imagine forming it would be
fun- days in the oven. They'd have to cut the
angles of the mating surfaces first wouldn't they, then
clamp & glue it round a form wich they could remove
some how.
Brian you might be able to control your boat from up in the
conning tower. Pay a student to interface a
remote play station controller with your motor controls.
There is heaps on the net showing how it's done &
ready made circuit boards to help with this.
Alan
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