This one is a long one, but I think you will like it. I may not be able to post for a few days as I am off in the Hemisphere Dancer and may not have access to a phone. Be safe, Frank Note: Paul Heinerth is credited as the author of this section of the book. (Re.: Sleds mounted to Aquazepp scooters) "The second aluminum sled was also equiped with four composite tanks. Due to a lack of proper high pressure hoses it was hooked up as 2 independent air "banks" made up of 2 fiberglass tanks each, one behind the other. The primary regulators for each bank were attached to the dual DIN Y valves at the front end, identical to the first aluminum frame sled. However, since cave diving discipline demands redundancy, two more regulators were mounted on the outside of the two rear cylinders. Therefore, sled "B" required the use of 4 regulators, 2 of which had 7 foot long hoses. So imagine yourself the driver of sled "B". Yes, where do you put the 4 regulators from the sled? How about the two regulators coming from the double steel 104 cylinders on your back? And what about the two stage tanks under your arm and their two regulators? How does one handle, monitor and control 8 mouthpieces? This was just one of the the many little problems that came up day to day on the Wakulla Project, and was an example of why divers who could adapt rapidly to new learning situations were needed." "Driving such a rig required constant attention, despite ever present distractions. Imagine yourself driving the Klingon Cruiser, at 300 feet depth, 4000 feet in from the entrance, fighting to maintain control of its poor hydrodynamics, using a reel to pay out line to mark your way and help with the survey for a map and in the midst of all this you forget which bank you are drawing life giving gas from? In the spilt second confusion, you glance at your gauges (one for each bank) trying frantically to remember which one should be monitored." Stone, W. C., The Wakulla Springs Project, pg. 67, The U.S. Deep Caving Team, Gaithersburg, MD, 1989 -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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