Adjusting Equipment Buoyancy

Thanks Gudge! That's really helpful

Hi Tim

I have an Aquatica housing with aquatica flat port. I have the collar from stix. It works fine.  It allows enough space to manouver the manual focus knob. The picture from Gudge is pretty clear about that. The squares on the background shows more than 8 cm free space. You just need place it with the Velcro orientated with the knob. (See also the photo of Algwyn). Sorry I do not have a photo of my system with me.

The collar being in the port is really a help  exauste it avoids the housing to twist your wrists with the heavy front. (It is not only a matter of the housing being neutral, it is also important to have it with the weights and floats on the write place to avoid being pointing the surface or the seabed)

Recently I bought 2 carbon float arms much less expensive than the math you were doing with the arm and the jumbo stix. I had not yet an opportunity to experiment them, but they look very nice! (Around 22€ each)

eBay item number: 202812162353

A good thing to have with these float arms (or with the stix) is to have long clamps.

Another way I have seen to place the float device was on the point of the focus light. You can use a triple clamp topic there both the focus light and the floating arm. The arm does not need to be fixed on both sides.

Some brands also have a hotshoe connector on the flat port and that allow you to put there a ball with a triple clamp for the focus light and the float arm, witchmight help the overall balance of the system with the float being more on the front.

Or you can go DIY and fix a ball for that purpose on the front of the port.

i really miss diving!

BR

Pedro Alves

Thanks Pedro - some really useful ideas there. I hadn't thought of a triple clamp on the focus light with a float arm unattached at the other end. Good idea though.

And the float collar does indeed sound workable with a manual focus knob.

Much appreciated. And yea, I agree, I really miss diving! ARGHHHHHHH!!

I do not know if the triple clamp with the focus light and the float arm solution is suitable for a regular ULCS arm and stix jumbo, as one end is not blocked (the stick might get loose and be lost during the dive?). But for sure, a float arm is possible.

some years ago Aquatica had a float device that was to be used on the central ball, (the same as an floating arm, but more interesting as the fixation was on the middle instead of being in the extremes as the floating arm)

Wow, not seen one of those before. Great idea!

If one float arm is not enough, you can use 2, with 3 triple clamps as on the attached schem.

if you not have triple clamp but you have an extra regular clamp, you can place the float arm in between the central ball and the focus light

I haven't got enough hands to manipulate a triple clamp underwater....much less three of them!

30 minutes ago, tursiops said:

I haven't got enough hands to manipulate a triple clamp underwater....much less three of them!

LOL, cunning plan though, Pedro!

5 hours ago, tursiops said:

I haven't got enough hands to manipulate a triple clamp underwater....much less three of them!

Hi Tursiops 

I accept the critic. The thrush is I never used;/tested a triple clamp underwater. 

But considering the physics, this configuration should be easy to manouver underwater (or in land).  

When you open the triple clamp on one handle, only the strobe arm will move (the float one is secured by the other side), the behavior should be more or less like the regular clamp with the strobe arm (slightly less because the clamp won’t be able to move freely)

And the focus light does not need a lot of movement. 

I am not able to test it, as I only have 1 triple clamp (and never used as said before). 

some days ago I read here an interesting post about someone that is using a “triangle” arm structure as suggested on the scheme for using the strobe with a snoot (instead the focus light)

the drawback I see is that the rig gets too bulky, and with a tall structure over the housing, that might bring some difficulties on small spaces.

we can not have it all....