HBDiveGirl
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The 2011 Tahoe Benchmark was successfully completed on Friday July 29th at 5pm, as test diver Vic Erikson stepped out of the lake after the last test run.
The three test divers (Alan Studley, Vic Erikson, and me (Claudette Dorsey)) safely completed:
* 68 dives in Lake Tahoe
* over 4 days,
* at over 6,000 feet elevation,
* running 13 different scooters, (some of them prototypes,)
* for over 60 miles underwater.
Thank you to the incredible volunteers who made this third Tahoe Benchmark event possible. The Northern Nevada Dive Club members did thousands of tasks, donating time, energy and money to support this research project.
[all photos courtesy Ben McGeever]
Full daily photo, video, and written reports were filed daily.
Links by the day:
Prep Day (Saturday)
Day 0 (Sunday: Getting it together))
Day 1 (Monday: Static Thrust Testing in the Pool)
Day 2 (Tuesday: In-water testing at Lake Tahoe begins)
Day 3 (Wednesday: In-water testing continues)
Day 4 (Thursday: In-water testing continues)
Day 5 (Friday: Final in-water testing finishes with High-load doubles & stage rigs.)
We used a standardized testing protocol and data recorders to test each scooter for maximum speed over a 1/2 mile, maximum range at top speed, and range at Cruise speed (150fpm).
Each scooter was tested in single cylinder configuration (drysuit, bp/w, steel 72cf cylinder).
Tests were repeated in double cylinder configuration (double cylinders backmount, fully rigged al80 stage bottle on left side) to determine high-load impact on speed and range.
The full testing protocol is described in detail in the Tahoe Benchmark 2009 published report to be found at the website: TBM Home Page
Representatives from 5 manufacturers actively participated at the in-water testing in Lake Tahoe:
Hollis (Nick Hollis)
Logic Dive (John Nellis)
Silent Submerge (Rodney Nairne and John)
Deep Sea Supply (Tobin George)
Dive Xtras (Ben McGeever)
The full list of scooters tested this year (more information at TBM 2011 ):
Silent Submerge Magnus
Silent Submerge Minnus
Silent Submerge Viper
Silent Submerge UV-26 Plus
Dive-X / Deep Sea Supply Mini-Cuda
Dive Xtras Cuda 400+
Dive Extras 650+
Logic Dive Gear Genesis 600
Logic Dive Gear 1240
Hollis H160
Hollis H320
Halcyon R14
Halcyon T16
James and Larry, at the data table:
Dr. James Flenner is the principal investigator, and estimates the full 2011 report will be ready for publication at the end of September:
From the Tahoe Benchmark Website:
Thank you again to the incredible community of volunteers who made this possible.
Thanks to Dr. Flenner for the creation, direction, and inspiration of the Tahoe Benchmark.
I know the information gleaned and shared openly with participating manufacturers and the worldwide diving community is invaluable.
I'm looking forward to this year's report!
~~~~~
Claudette
The three test divers (Alan Studley, Vic Erikson, and me (Claudette Dorsey)) safely completed:
* 68 dives in Lake Tahoe
* over 4 days,
* at over 6,000 feet elevation,
* running 13 different scooters, (some of them prototypes,)
* for over 60 miles underwater.
Thank you to the incredible volunteers who made this third Tahoe Benchmark event possible. The Northern Nevada Dive Club members did thousands of tasks, donating time, energy and money to support this research project.
[all photos courtesy Ben McGeever]
Full daily photo, video, and written reports were filed daily.
Links by the day:
Prep Day (Saturday)
Day 0 (Sunday: Getting it together))
Day 1 (Monday: Static Thrust Testing in the Pool)
Day 2 (Tuesday: In-water testing at Lake Tahoe begins)
Day 3 (Wednesday: In-water testing continues)
Day 4 (Thursday: In-water testing continues)
Day 5 (Friday: Final in-water testing finishes with High-load doubles & stage rigs.)
We used a standardized testing protocol and data recorders to test each scooter for maximum speed over a 1/2 mile, maximum range at top speed, and range at Cruise speed (150fpm).
Each scooter was tested in single cylinder configuration (drysuit, bp/w, steel 72cf cylinder).
Tests were repeated in double cylinder configuration (double cylinders backmount, fully rigged al80 stage bottle on left side) to determine high-load impact on speed and range.
The full testing protocol is described in detail in the Tahoe Benchmark 2009 published report to be found at the website: TBM Home Page
Representatives from 5 manufacturers actively participated at the in-water testing in Lake Tahoe:
Hollis (Nick Hollis)
Logic Dive (John Nellis)
Silent Submerge (Rodney Nairne and John)
Deep Sea Supply (Tobin George)
Dive Xtras (Ben McGeever)
The full list of scooters tested this year (more information at TBM 2011 ):
Silent Submerge Magnus
Silent Submerge Minnus
Silent Submerge Viper
Silent Submerge UV-26 Plus
Dive-X / Deep Sea Supply Mini-Cuda
Dive Xtras Cuda 400+
Dive Extras 650+
Logic Dive Gear Genesis 600
Logic Dive Gear 1240
Hollis H160
Hollis H320
Halcyon R14
Halcyon T16
James and Larry, at the data table:
Dr. James Flenner is the principal investigator, and estimates the full 2011 report will be ready for publication at the end of September:
From the Tahoe Benchmark Website:
Currently the data is in raw form from the data recorders. After extracting and normalizing the data, the paper will be authored and edited. After correction, it will be examined by the Oversight Committee, then, placed for peer review. After passing peer review, it is released to the participating manufacturers for 2 weeks prior to public release on this web site.
Estimated public release date is late September.
Thank you again to the incredible community of volunteers who made this possible.
Thanks to Dr. Flenner for the creation, direction, and inspiration of the Tahoe Benchmark.
I know the information gleaned and shared openly with participating manufacturers and the worldwide diving community is invaluable.
I'm looking forward to this year's report!
~~~~~
Claudette