Underwater Signaling for Diver Recall

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kwinter

Contributor
Messages
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Location
South Jersey
# of dives
500 - 999
No, this isn't a rehashing of the sub-duck vs the mini-hammerhead. We need a diver recall device from the surface without spending a fortune. I'm a volunteer diver at our state aquarium. Right now, our recall device is that the standby diver above bangs on the metal ladder with a lead weight. It doesn't make a loud enough noise to distinguish itself from other noises sometimes heard in the tank.

I know there are diver recall systems that use either microphone or tones through underwater speakers, but they start at about $1,000. And putting a hammerhead on a reg with an extra tank to use at the surface just isn't practical in an emergency.

If anybody remembers the old TV show "Flipper", they had a hand-held horn that looked like a megaphone. As I recall, they put it in the water and squeezed the trigger and it made a kind of "aahoooga" sound that brought Flipper magically to the boat or dock. Now I know we don't have the same kind of hearing reception that a dolphin has, but isn't there something like that around that could be used to make a sound from the surface that would be audible throughout a 760,000 gallon tank (about 50 feet diameter and 25 feet deep)? I figure something like that would sell for about $100 or so.

Any ideas?
 
Have you tried dynamite? I have been told it makes a very loud noise...:D

Just kidding, sorry I couldn't help myself.

We've used underwater speakers connected to a p.a. system. Turn up the volume and just speak clearly into the microphone. It works well, and other than the speaker, all parts are off the shelf.
 
Wrong forum and thread. Pulling post.
 
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Yes, I know this is an old thread.....resurfacing for my own selfish reasons :D

Did you find a cheap alternative? We are looking for something for our dive boat. I am thinking of taking a speaker and putting it into a ziplock bag (not really but similar) or capped PVC tubing with wiring coming out and epoxied water tight again. Then hooking this up to the radio or a microphone system. Anyone tried this? Other ideas or alternatives?
 
Best we could do was a shaker on a long PVC pole. It works, but we are a confined space rather than open water.


iPhone. iTypo. iApologize.
 
What, banging on a tank with a hammer is just too "old school"???????
 
Fire bell, a big nine inch one from an old building. Mount it upside down with the bell epoxied to the hull. They are 12 volt DC and work well through the hull.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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