R/C underwater salvage.... : )

[wolf66]

.............so my speed boat sank 40 or so feet from shore in a NO SWIMING lake so, using a idea brought up in Patmat's sunken Texaco tanker thread i bought the $99 underwater camera from harbor freight, really nice!

"Includes waterproof camera with night vision; black and white monitor, monitor shade, 65 ft. steel mesh cable, charger, battery and nylon carrying case.
Runs up to 6 hours on a single charge
Maximum depth: 60 ft. "

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91309

Of course it took 2/3 weeks 'cause they were back ordered so by the time I got it out on the lake, hung a foot or two under my Atlantic tug with the cable going back to shore with floats, it seems the boat might have moved some..and the visablity at 5 feet is about 6-7 inches.....but I had fun looking!!
But no speedboat yet... :(

[Kmot]

I have been thinking of one of the systems from HF for over a year now! But 6-7 inches???? Bummer.......

[Ghost 2501]

hmmm :) intersting idea, we have a submarine and a sloopy fast electric at the bottom of westport

[wolf66]

Yeah we had some rain last week, i need a month or so of no rain so the lake clears up some...the camera does have a infrared spotlight built into it, plus night vision but murky water is murky water..... :(

[green-boat]

How far down do you think it is.

[wolf66]

How far down do you think it is.
5-6 ft, by the end I had the camera at about 4 ft under the tug, the speedboat ought to be bow up, she had floatation in the bow and went down bow up

[green-boat]

It may be a No Swimming lake but why not go out wading and kick your feet around. That would lessen the search area. Get a fish net with a long pole and drag the bottom.

[Ghost 2501]

It may be a No Swimming lake but why not go out wading and kick your feet around. That would lessen the search area.

When Celestia went down, she rotaded about 180 degrees, pointing towards the jetty though she was sailing away from the jetty when she went under.

when i tapped her with my foot, the bow moved, alerting me to something being there, result, one retrieved boat :)

[wolf66]

Yeah did that, the original post is here:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=610675
but basicly:
"She went down about 30 feet off shore in about chest deep murky water in a inner city lake/pond "NO SWIMING-NO BOATING" POSTED EVERYWHERE...
So I took my bothers little John boat and went alooking for about 45 mins with a long handeled net.....problem was the John boat was so light when i went to sweep the net under water the boat would move instead...anywho found nothing....I had the bow filled with styrafoam and she may be bumping along the bottom in a bow up position......sigh...jumped in a few times but nada...forgot to bring my mask though and didn't want to put my head below the pond scum.."

Lots of houses around the lake, might drop a dime on me...
plus those lakes with lots of runoff can be un-healthy like... :eek:

[wolf66]

Just bought another cool digital camcorder with R/C possibilites off ebay for $60,
a OREGON SCIENTIFIC ATC-1000 lipstick cam

"Wireless, compact design
Hands free audio/video capture
Three resolutions at 15 fps: 640x480 (default), 320x240 or 160x120
Standard memory is 32MB with an expandable SD card slot
Operates with 4 AAA batteries (not included)
Strap it to a helmet, handle-bar, arm or leg
Footage can be edited with many popular software tools
Cable for video playback on TV or PC
Easy! Connects directly to your TV
PC compatible Action Lab software. Edit still images or video
Hardware Specifications:

Internal Memory: 32MB
Sensor Resolution: 640x480 VGA-CMOS
Video Capture: 640x480 (default), 320x240, 160x120
Photo Capture: 640x480 (default), 320x240, 160x120 jpg format
Video Playback: Both NTSC and PAL video playback via RCA jack
Expandability: Memory and "record" time expanded via SD card flash memory
Can read up to 1GB memory (about 1 hour of footage)

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

Looks like fun.

You need to built the Glomar Explorer... ;)

[wolf66]

.....or jack cousteau's Calypso

[Ghost 2501]

maybe Nadir or Seaward Johnson,

what about he akademik mistislav keldish ?

[toesup]

Interesting idea for finding a sunken model Wolf... Also has aplications for other things.. ;) ..

Do you have any ideas for 'recovery' once you have located your 'sunken treasure'?

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

Interesting idea for finding a sunken model Wolf... Also has aplications for other things.. ;) ..

Do you have any ideas for 'recovery' once you have located your 'sunken treasure'?

Don't know what Wolf66 is thinking, but I still have, "the giant claw from the moon pool at the center of the ship", idea stuck in my head. :rolleyes:

[wolf66]

Interesting idea for finding a sunken model Wolf... Also has aplications for other things.. ;) ..

Do you have any ideas for 'recovery' once you have located your 'sunken treasure'?

Well if I can find out where it is then I can use a net or wade out and get it...

[Ghost 2501]

Don't know what Wolf66 is thinking, but I still have, "the giant claw from the moon pool at the center of the ship", idea stuck in my head. :rolleyes:

oh the ship that stole a sub from the russians off hawaii :D

[EMSPAUL]

there anrt any gaters in the swimmin hole !

[wolf66]

what about he akademik mistislav keldish ?

What about the WHAT? lol :D

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

what about he akademik mistislav keldish ?

What about the WHAT? lol :D


ooohh,... They have their own camera rig.
akademik mstislav keldysh (http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=akademik+mstislav+keldysh&spell=1)


oh the ship that stole a sub from the russians off hawaii
?


Yeah, the Glomar Explorer (http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=Glomar+Explorer) :D

[rlboats2003]

I no it is now swimming but since I have recovered three boats I have learned a couple of things.

1. It is only a no swimming lake if you get caught. And it is up to the law enforcement person to charge you if your looking for a $300 boat and your transmitter is on shore. Besides if he is going to fine you you might as well finish looking for the boat so tell him to but the citation under the transmitter or in your pants pocket where you wallet is so he can see who you are. You already are going to pay the fine.
2. The time for swimming was when the boat went down, but before you go in try to mark points on the shore either with friends, sticks or rocks. Keep a pair of pants on and Go out to the Location where you think the boat went down, then move 5 feet futher out and hopefull you can touch bottom with your feet, because they will find the boat and lift the boat for you. Don't thrash around tiptoe in a 2 ft square pattern.
3. If there is any type of under current after 1 hour your are in trouble.
4. If it has been down for a over a month the odds of finding it are not in your favor. I your running boat in a pond that does not have growth in it is usually because sunlight is filtered because of all the particles in the water. These same particles have a tendency to cover the boat
5. After six months its mud filled and after a year clams and other shell creatures are using it as a home.

I did a little experiment, sometimes I buy things cheap for parts like a scratch and dent alantic (had a crack in the hull) a lindberg fletcher and a hull and deck of Lindberg ptboat, (wanted ever thing else for a 1/32 77ft elco). Each was sunk with stone ballast in them in the following intervels fletcher 4 years ago, pt 2 years ago, alantic tug 1 year ago. I was looking for some one who recently lost a midwest tug boat (that I did not find lost, 2 months before) so I went to each locations The only one found was the fletcher and all I found was the hull and that ws close to 25 feet from where it went down. I couldn't even pick up the hull between the mud and clams it was very heavy.(width my feet)

By now I think you got what I am trying to say, sorry for your loss but there is a time factor and you don't have side band sonar it might be time to build a new speed boat.

Happy Modeling,
Rich

[smart_racer]

Interesting information...thanks

[matwiyj]

oh the ship that stole a sub from the russians off hawaii :D

That would be Howard Hughes' Glomar Explorer. It's an amazing story.

Jarod Matwy
Winnipeg, Canada

[Kmot]

1. It is only a no swimming lake if you get caught. And it is up to the law enforcement person to charge you if your looking for a $300 boat and your transmitter is on shore. Besides if he is going to fine you you might as well finish looking for the boat so tell him to but the citation under the transmitter or in your pants pocket where you wallet is so he can see who you are. You already are going to pay the fine.


I heard the same thing from Randy Naylor, owner of BBY Racing. He told me he would easily pay a $50 fine if necessary, to recover a $500 race boat. Today, those race boats are more like $1500.