Re: Regulating air supply

[Rick Lucertini <empiricus@sprint.ca>]

> [snip]Using a regulator, even something lightweight like an octopus subtracts
> from the pleasure we should get from a semi-dry sub.  I wonder how the
> SportSub steady flow works?
>
> Ben

Hello - I took a Submersible Design course from the fellow who designed the buoyancy control unit for
the SportSub.

After I wrestled him to the floor, twisted his arm, poured hot oil down his back and . . . well,
suffice it to say he would NOT divulge his proprietary information.  The stinker.

However, he alluded to the possibility of electronic control.  But, you know what?  Why not make the
semi-dry into a full dry?  The principles are exactly the same and you feel more like a sub driver
than a wet fish half out of water.

Unless, of course, you would like to poke around on the bottom outside the sub.

Neutral buoyancy during a dive is a pain in the fazoulies.  And that's with scuba and a buoyancy
compensator (bladder).  Never mind a sub!  The constant cycling from going up and down the water
column consumes a lot of air, too.  A dry, ambient boat could use a hard tank, shifting fluids like
oil or mercury, etc.

--
Rick Lucertini
empiricus@sprint.ca
(Vancouver, Canada)

"I resent that - I don't deny it, I just resent it!"
  --- Groucho Marx ---