Plane found underwater by sonar

[MichaelB]

They had a cool sonar scan on the front page ofthe Mobile paper:

http://www.al.com/news/press-register/index.ssf?/base/news/1205313390147140.xml&coll=3

 

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[sthone]

According to this article they think it crash back in 1982.

http://www.wkrg.com/news/article/big_mystery_at_big_creek_lake_solved/11407/

-Steve

 

[Hangingfor8]

Isn't it cool how they can see that now. 10 years ago I don't think we had anything that was that good.

 

[Salvor6]

Hey Hangin, ya, we had that stuff TWENTY years ago but it was priced way out of reach of the common fisherman. Now, thanks to Humminbird you can buy a decent side-scan sonar for under $1,000. The other units like Klein and EG&G cost HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars even though there is only a couple hundred bucks worth of electronic components! Watch for the prices of these other units to come tumbling down.

 

[ScubaDude]

Hey Hangin, ya, we had that stuff TWENTY years ago but it was priced way out of reach of the common fisherman. Now, thanks to Humminbird you can buy a decent side-scan sonar for under $1,000. The other units like Klein and EG&G cost HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars even though there is only a couple hundred bucks worth of electronic components! Watch for the prices of these other units to come tumbling down.

Take your Hummingbird out in the open ocean in anything greater than two foot plus seas and get back to me. The units you mention aren't hundreds of thousands (maybe if you get about two to four miles of cable and a nice big hydraulic winch and an A-frame), in fact Klein and Marine Sonic are both coming out with new cheaper PC based systems in the future. Also, you couldn't do 20 years ago what is being done today with computers and software, for starters GPS didn't exist then. Your analogy is like comparing a pinto with a BMW, I'm not slamming the Humminbird I'm trying to point out you somewhat get what you pay for and they have some significant limitations (I wonder if that's what Odyessy used for the Black Swan?).

Just curious, how deep is the Humminbird system good for? How wide of a swath can it actually produce good images?

 

[Salvor6]

I don't know how deep the Humminbird will go but it has a 150' swath per side. I know Klein's best unit, the 5500 multi-beam goes 1,500 feet per side but with the optional winch, cable, extra sensors and spares kit (Humminbird does not even offer that) it costs about $250,000. Compare that to a less-than-$1,000 unit and what will the fisherman buy?

 

[ScubaDude]

I thought we we're talking about planes & treasure wrecks, not fishing - my bad.

We're also talking side scan not multi-beam. A good new Klein is about $50k I think, and supposedly coming down to $35ish with the new model.

I'm not knocking the Humminbird, I wish I had one. I've actually encouraged several Police, Sheriff, and water rescue teams to buy them. They are great for a lot of inshore situations that those groups run into - victim searches, vehicles, planes etc. They aren't the answer to Homeland Security issues. Having said all that when you take a boat mounted transducer and place it in any kind of sea condition other than calm the transducer is moving all over the place your not going to get good results. What part of this am I missing Ask RGecy or someone else to post some images shot during these conditions, Rob I know you've got em, I was there.

PS - Dragging fishing lures while surveying can cause expensive problems (depending on the target species), it's not a good practice.

 

[Salvor6]

We are talking about planes and treasure wrecks- and fishermen. This plane was found by a fisherman, Ted Shepherd. Read the article. Anyway, Jason found a solution to the rocking boat syndrome. He made a towfish to drag the transponder behind him. Look at this pictuer and see what you're missing.

 

[ScubaDude]

I do survey work among other things to pay my bills, showing up to a job with good tools/toys and producing good results in a lot of crappy sea conditions and at deep depths ensures I get paid. That and having customer support and a warranty with real people and support behind it is well worth what it costs.

I would think Jason needing to build his own fish somewhat proves my point.

 

[rgecy]

The point Brad is making is that the Humminbird is great tool for inshore and limited search areas, recreational shipwreck hunting, etc., but it is not a professional tool.

Now, Brad knows that I am an avid user of my Humminbird unit, and know when and how to get the best results from it, but I will concede that the Humminbird does not compare to a true commercial side scan unit. But for the price, it is a great tool to start with. The images, with the right conditions will rival some of the best SSS units on the market. As most know, I have also made it possible to view Humminbird recordings on the PC using free viewers that are available.

Pete, the new Humminbird units will actually look out to 360' on each side and 150' deep.

Brad I don't know where the pictures of the Sherman are right now, but will look later. The images from your unit are certainly much better from that day. Because the Humminbird transducer is hull mounted, there was distortion of the image from the rocking and twisting of the boat in the waves.

I have almost completed the new towfish and hope to have you some better images!

 

[dive4it]

I build some pretty descent tow fishes. Let me know if anyone would like the plans or I could always fab one up for you. They are aluminum and stainless and use either dive planes or weights. Here is a photo.

Jeff

 

[starboar]

I agree with Robert and Brad, the Humminbird is a neat little unit and great as a low cost unit for max 125ft depth. But even at the shallow depths it cannot replace the new conventional sidescan units (most of which are dual freqency). With sidescan it is important for data quality and represenation that the transducers (towfish) is 10-15% of the range being used. That is difficult to do with the Humminbird.

Robert, have you tried running the Humminbird on a longer cable? If so, what kind of cable? I cannot get clean data on the existing Humminbird signal cable if I use more than one 30ft extension. I just have the extension wet spliced onto the transducer cable. But soon as I add a second extension, the data gets very noisy. With just the one extension I get good quality data. I have an idea to mount the transducer onto a G882 mag towfish and utilize the mag tow cable (if their are any free wires in it) to act as a signal cable for the Humminbird as well. What do you think? This would kill two birds with one stone, give you mag data simultaneously as well as provide a longer signal tow cable for the Humminbird. All depends on the wires in the mag tow cable, length of cable, and whether the Humminbird can drive the signal down the cable. Does Humminbird offer a signal booster or anything like that? Sorry to inundate you with so many questions but you and Brad obviously know alot about survey, sidescan and the Humminbird unit and I'm eager to learn as much as I can from experienced and knowledgeable people like you guys.

Jeff, would be interested in having you make me up a towfish. I have made several very rough fish which have worked fine but I like the look of your fish. Could you send plans and cost?

Tom