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Post by SeaRat on Nov 1, 2016 21:27:31 GMT -8
Take a look at this CMAS web page, and the top photo. This photo shows the same device DRW posted above, being used in underwater orienteering competition. history.cmas.org/orienteeringThis photo probably dates back to the 1960s, as that was before the monofin revolution in unde water swimming competitions. Note also that the device includes a small current meter. John
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Nov 1, 2016 23:42:31 GMT -8
Thank you for the further messages and added information! I fully agree that the device has a military look, and it is indeed likely to be "home-made" because the book says the "aquaplane" instrument panel is not commercially produced. I now have several Soviet-era diving books and they are all illustrated with diagrams rather than photographs. I visited East Germany during the 1970s to do research for a Master's thesis in education and I remember reading before my arrival that sales of breathing apparatus in East Berlin were monitored by the military because such gear was mainly manufactured for the armed services and because the régime feared that it would be used by citizens to flee to the West by swimming underwater across a river or lake. The DOSAAF, which organised much sporting activity, including scuba training, in the USSR, was a paramilitary organisation. Here in the West, we may regard such control in a negative light, but the upside for the reader is that Russian diving books are full of basic gear comparison tables, measurements and scientific explanations compared with much of the recreational diving literature written here in the West. There is much more awareness of Western diving equipment developments than I thought there would be and some Soviet equipment is reviewed negatively by the authors, which I wouldn't have expected either. It's timely to take an interest in Soviet diving gear at the moment because many items, including diving suits, are appearing on eBay and on its Russian equivalent, Avito. Russian companies are also still producing vintage-style fins, masks and snorkels and many diehard Russian underwater hunters are still diving with such equipment. One of these days I'll post a thread about Soviet fins, masks and snorkels, based on my USSR diving books and correlated with the offerings on the Avito auction site. David PS. Here's another diagram from the book that I find has some unintended humour: The image shows underwater vehicles called "underwater bicycles" (aquapeds), "underwater automobiles" (aquacabs) and "underwater scooters". The diver astride the aquaped at the right looks as though he has been impaled on the device and he is wondering what further torment awaits him when the propeller at the rear begins to turn... As for the man with the underwater torpedo at the top of the illustration towing the female diver, what's that all about?
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Post by nikeajax on Nov 2, 2016 9:38:20 GMT -8
DRW, thank you for taking the time to show us things out of the ordinary. As with many things in the "Eastern block countries", they are shrouded in mystery, and may stay that way perhaps for ever because, well because they want it that way!
For instance: my wife and I are watching a BBC program called "Space Race", most of which I know, but every once in a while they put something in that has lurched out of the "information gulag": a place where they hoped it would die and be lost for all time. What I like about it is they put a human face on people we were taught to hate, and conversely, they were taught to hate us: you want Sergei Korolev to get his rocket working, and then you remember... "Oh wait, he was the enemy..."
With things like dive gear, it's wonderful to see how someone else attacks the problem, which is why I like Healthways and Dacor. They are very different than the way the all-mighty Aqualung has deemed the only way of doing things.
JB
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Post by nikeajax on Nov 30, 2016 9:37:48 GMT -8
I just picked up the depth gauge-compass combo for next to nothing on eBait: been wanting one for a while to go with my early HW gear. I still need to fill the big gauge with silicone oil, but... JB
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Post by nikeajax on Jan 6, 2017 14:51:13 GMT -8
I found this really swell Farallon compass while waiting for Jim to get off of the phone: gotta get some silicone oil for it, as well as my HW depth-gauge... JB
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Post by SeaRat on Jan 6, 2017 23:11:01 GMT -8
I showed my gauges earlier, but here's the Scubapro catalog information on my gauges. John
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Post by nikeajax on Jan 18, 2017 12:34:18 GMT -8
More of the reg later, but rill qute, huh? JB
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Post by tomcatpc on Jan 19, 2017 19:35:32 GMT -8
Circa late 70's/early 80's era Dacor SPG (with a boot from a professional grade tire gauge). I hope to find a AMF/Swimaster SPG (like the one that Charlie shared on the last post of the first page of this topic) in the future for this regulator. Mark Save
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Post by tomcatpc on Jan 25, 2017 21:44:29 GMT -8
Very hazy Mid-1970's Healthways SPG/Depth Gauge Combo. SPG Side. Guessing this leaks do to the hazing inside, but it does work. Depth Gauge Side. With new tubing to replace the original that was almost black. "Brand-X" Compass, judging by what I have seen in catalogs, guessing this in 1970's? Mark
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Post by nikeajax on Jan 26, 2017 9:00:52 GMT -8
Mark, those are all very dangerous: send them to me for proper disposal I hope eventually I'll find one of those HW's... If you can get that boot pulled back, you can polish those lenses with toothpaste. Sometimes you have to take them out completely and do both sides. I love those colors on that compass: very arresting to the eye! JB
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Post by tomcatpc on Jan 26, 2017 9:06:04 GMT -8
I love the compass!!! Reminds me of a Swatch from my youth in the 1980's! It seems to be working alright too, it holds North the same as a new compass I have. I would not have a problem using this for fun in a local quarry. It cleaned up good as well.
The rubber boot on the combo gauge is in decent shape and I think I can get it off with no damage. The hazing is on the inside. I think I can polish it if I can get the lens off? I will report more later. Mark
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Post by nikeajax on Jan 26, 2017 9:57:52 GMT -8
Mark, my method for really bad etching is find a really flat surface you can get wet; I like to use the top of my washing machine. I'll get an old tee shirt, and dump some water on that so that it sticks to the surface, then I use scrubbing powder... toothpaste... and finally with a portion of the shirt dry I rub the lens into that pressing really hard: JB
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Post by diverdon on Jan 27, 2017 19:15:04 GMT -8
Another example. It didn't take long to clear up this gauge, which is good because I could always use more DD Before After
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Post by tomcatpc on Jan 27, 2017 20:40:45 GMT -8
Slight improvement... It was salt inside...wiped off with some cleaner and cloth. The gauge still works, the O-Ring is still in place and intact... Not sure why it leaked? Think I'm going to replace the O-Ring with a slightly thicker one, see if that helps seal it up better? The boot came off with no trouble. I have it covered in silicone grease for overnight and will put it back on once I get a new O-ring. Mark Update on this one. Took it in the pool and it functioned just fine, no leaks found. Save
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Post by SeaRat on Feb 4, 2017 13:44:37 GMT -8
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