Jump to content

Dave_Hicks

Members
  • Posts

    438
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    22
  • Country

    United States

Everything posted by Dave_Hicks

  1. Apparently, Phil can tell a difference between the two. Perhaps in a swimming pool test? My experience using both type I and type II on 100's of dives is that I can't tell from the photos that I take which strobe was used. I never use the diffusers on the 330s. In any case, neither of these strobes is being made any more. If you want or need one, I suggest you take the bird in hand, be it type I or type II.
  2. Yeah. I posted at article with a design for TPU based plugs. Two designs. 90 degree elbow connector with TPU tip. 180 degree straight connector 100% TPU.
  3. No, I don't think so. The plastic connector will not stay in place without something like an o-ring or rubber bushing. The rubber parts you are reusing are proprietary to your specific brand of cables. What I see in your photo are in no way common or universal across cables or housings. Does your housing have a rubber bushing or connector built in? Also not common or universal.
  4. Where did the rubber parts in your picture come from? This seems incomplete or you left out some steps...
  5. No, i seriously doubt if you will be able to tell a difference.
  6. TL;DR - 1200 pixels longest side
  7. Back in March. Did a ten day Rodney Fox cruise in the area. It was great.
  8. Happy Happy! [Mosshead Warbonnet - Sunrise Reef, Gig Harbor WA]
  9. Here are a few of my favorites of the year: [Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker - Puget Sound] [Wolf eel - Puget Sound] [Scalyhead Sculpin - Puget Sound] [Strawberry Soft Coral / Sculpin / Lemon Nudibranch] [Leafy Sea Dragon - Adelaide, NSW]
  10. I just logged in and got a safety warning as the https certificate seems to be missing.
  11. I flew into Cabo a year or so ago with bags full of Rebreather and Camera gear. My strategy to avoid getting nabbed by the camera-tax vultures was simple but effective: I put the dive gear in a pair of big pelican cases I put the camera gear in a standard checked suitcase (well packed, Nauticam housing in its padded box) I walked the pelicans through customs myself, and the vultures pounced on me instantly, only to be disappointed that I only had diving equipment. My wife walked right behind me with the standard suitcases, and strolled right on past.
  12. I've used Novus #2 and a microfiber cloth to clean off water marks from a glass flat port. It's got some very fine grit that works just fine without marring the glass.
  13. I made a number of cables with that material as well, but they don't work well with Sea & Sea strobes. It was fine with Inon however. The 613 multicore fiber is a lot more resilient than they plastic fiber or TosLink, and is the material of choice if you can get it.
  14. Why do we need to reference WetPixel? I'd like to see this board steering traffic away from that site, not back to it.
  15. I also use a cheap sided cooler to carry my big D850/Nauticam rig. To deal with rips in a cheap bag, buy two! Mine have lasted over 5 years, so its working well.
  16. There is no need and no advantage in doing this. I have both types and don't notice the difference or have a preference. Enjoy them as is, these are great stobes.
  17. The Olympus TG-6 gets recommended and used all the time. I know plenty of people who have both ILC and a TG-6 as well. They are great cameras for some people all the time, and other people some of the time.
  18. Glad to see some more PNW folks! Welcome!!
  19. You can substitute a TosLINK cable. Try to find one with a 2mm (2.2OD) cable and it will work nearly as well. I think the multi-fiber is maybe more durable and bends better, but the light transmition seems to be similar enough to work on most strobes. There are a bunch on Amazon, so find one like this available in your region. Get long cables, and cut into 1meter or 1.5meter lengths. Amazon.com: DteeDck Digital Optical Audio Cable 6 feet, Fiber Optic Cable Ultra-Thin Cord, SPDIF Toslink Optical Cable Compatible with TV Sound Bar Home Theater PS4 Xbox Samsung Vizio : Electronics
  20. Scissors can mangle or distort the cable if they are not fine or sharp enough. I have had good luck using a utility knife razor, pressing it to the cable, and tapping it with a small hammer to make the cut super fast. Nice and clean!
  21. I just posted another article on making the 3d printed connectors. Article link: Here is a sample of what they look like:
  22. As a DIY Fiber Cable article was just posted, this seems like a good time to share this article on 3-D printing connectors for your DIY cables. The Connectors are really the heart of the cable, as the fiber is simply a manufactured item bought from a supplier. One of weak points of most of these DIY's is getting the right connectors. The solutions range from buying connectors (at about $10 a pop or $20 per cable), re-using connectors from old cables (which may require drilling them out and gluing fiber) to using random bits of off the shelf hardware which may have poor fit and finish. I've tried all of these solutions. Early in 2023, I bought my first 3D Printer and have been making a bunch of Scuba/Camera related parts. One of my early projects was a set of custom designed connectors for Optical fiber strobe cables. I think these are at least as good as the OEM cables I've seen from Nauticam, Inon, etc. And it had the added benefit of being really fun to design, print, test, and refine. I've been actively diving these connectors all year as have friends I gave cables to. Collectively we have done a couple of hundred dives with good results. If you have a 3D printer with some TPU and PETG or PLA material, you can print these out at a very low unit cost. You will need some M3x6mm nuts and bolts and 2mm thick fiber optic to complete. I suggest either 1-meter or 1.5-meter cables depending on your strobe arm configuration. I've just uploaded the design and STL print templates to the public sharing site Thingiverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6134211 Thingiverse Details: Inon Style Optical Fiber Cable Connectors https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6134211 Make your own optical fiber cables using these connectors paired with 2mm fiber. I used both 613 multi-core fiber cables and cheap TosLink cables. The design assumes 2.2mm OD for the cables. This design contains two styles of connectors: A 90deg elbow and 180deg straight connectors. The elbow part is printed with PETG. PLA will work but may not stand up as well to the elements. The actual connector parts are printed with TPU. These parts must be soft rubber, so no material substitutes are possible. The 90deg Elbow part snaps together and is secured with two M3x6mm nuts/bolts. These nuts & bolts can be purchased from many sources like Amazon and are very low cost. (A set of M3 bolts with ~40 sets in several lengths is $10) The TPU connector and strain relief parts fit in the groves of the elbow. Thread the optical fiber through the TPU parts and align them into the elbow before screwing them together. The TPU parts should be snug enough to hold the cable secure with no adhesive. If it is not secure, you can apply a small amount of silicone-based glue to the cable as you thread it into the TPU parts. Using glue may make it difficult to reuse the connectors should a cable get damaged. Use the connectors in combinations that work for your camera rig. I like a 90deg connector on the top of my Nauticam housing and a 180deg connector on an Inon or Backscatter strobe. With a Retra strobe a 90deg connector will work better. I have found these connectors to work well with a firm connection that is installed or removed with appropriate resistance.
  23. I think our measurements of visibility must be different! You can still see the reef in the background. 🙂 In the PNW 3-4 feet of vis mean you can't see your own fingers from 3 feet away and can't see your buddies dive light from 10 feet! Tons of fine or clumpy bits in the water column. Here are a few photos I took this summer in what I would call 5-10 foot visibility, which is pretty typical of that time of year. [Wolf eels on Sunrise Reef - D850, 60mm with Kraken wet-wide lens, Inon 330 of Backscatter MF-2] [Mosshead Warbonnet - D850 60mm w/Subsee +5, Backscatter MF-2 snoot and Inon 330 for fill]
  24. You can use the micro mesh paper quite a few times. I usually wrap each piece around a halved kitchen sponge dip it in a bowl of water, squeeze it out. Sand for 15 minutes, them move to the next finer sheet.
  25. I mostly use the Inon 330s as well. I have also used Retras on a few occasions. Honestly, I don't see much difference in output or useability. The newest Retra's support HSS, and they are better for snoot work with their LSD add-on than the 330. I use a Backscatter MF-2 for snooting, so not an issue for me. Battery life on the 330s is pretty great, so I don't know if Retra is better or worse. Probably similar. Size, form factor, and controls are very similar between the two designs. Unless you really need HSS, I don't see much need to upgrade from the 330s. They are not making 330's anymore, so if your current strobes die the Retra might be a good option.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use Privacy Policy Guidelines We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.