Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] New to the list and to Personal subs!

["D. Blake" <dblake@bright.net>]

Hello Pedro:
My name is Dave.  People call me Big D. , Big Dave, you know, cause I have a
son with the same name, but mostly cause I'am BIG.  Glad to make your
aquaintance.
Look below in between your message to see my comments, OK?
-----Original Message-----
From: pedro bedard <pedro@pangea.ca>
To: Psubs <personal_submersibles@psubs.org>; Psubs
<personal_submersibles@psubs.org>
Date: Friday, March 24, 2000 8:33 PM
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] New to the list and to Personal subs!


>Ray and all,
>Ok propane tanks not a great idea.
>You spoke of custom hulls. Where would
>someone get such a beast and what would they cost?

Pedro, within this discussion group are at least two schools of thought.
Those who want to submerge relativally shallow, and maybe go fast and be
acrobatic,  and those who want to go deep and manuever slowly to explore.
If your desire is to submerge shallow (ie. 75ft. or less) then a propane
tank strengthened with a few reinforcement rings would probably be
sufficient.  I say probably because you don't know what that tank is made
of, or where it's been in terms of getting dinged and bruised.  The force at
depth is exponential and the chain is only as strong as it's weakest link.
In the end though, you make your choice depending on the chance you are
willing to take.  Personally, I wouldn't mind using a propane tank if it was
at least .250" thick and strengthened around the con tower and ports.  And
as long as I was satisfied on 75ft. or less.
On the other hand,  going deep demands proven materials and one hell of a
lot of homework.  There simply is no room for shortcuts here.  This is where
you have to shop around for a supplier/fabricator that has the raw materials
available and the equipment necessary to fill your order.

>My idea was to have something shaped like a torpedo with me laying on my
>stomach facing the ports.

Take a look at Carsten's cool sub in the psub gallery.  The side view may
fool you into believing it looks like a torpedo.  Look at the view from
above to get a real appreciation for his design.  Yeah, it has saddle type
ballast tanks, and looks like a million bucks.  It looks like you could
probably manuever a little by simply shifting your weight.

>The power would be operated by hand and the
>diveplane and rudder operated by foot.

Okay.

>By the way, I understand that a car starter motor is good but are they
>actually designed for sustained use? Wouldn't you just burn it out after
>an hour or so?

Best to use trolling motors like Minn Kota.

>The reason I wanted to use a propane tank was it's cheapnes. (I can get
>one for about $40.00 and that's Canadian dollars!)

Hey, it's your life.

>Any alternatives?

Yeah, talk to Vance about a set of plans for a Kettridge sub.

>Pedro
>