Submarine missing near Titanic used a $30 Logitech gamepad for steering

Re:Submarine missing near Titanic used a $30 Logitech gamepa... by ethbr0 on Wednesday June 21, 2023 @04:25AM (#36415896)

Sonar beacon. Radio is useless underwater.

It reportedly has radar reflectors and radio, for when it's on the surface.

At 3800 m+ underwater, it'd need to be a powerful beacon. Even most military sonar maxes out around half that.

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Re:Submarine missing near Titanic used a $30 Logitech gamepa... by ptx on Wednesday June 21, 2023 @07:29AM (#36417130)

Couldn't you have a beacon that detaches from the vehicle, floats up to the surface and transmits the signal from there?

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Re:Submarine missing near Titanic used a $30 Logitech gamepa... by adql on Wednesday June 21, 2023 @10:19AM (#36418780)

You'd need to carry 4km of cable with you

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Re:Submarine missing near Titanic used a $30 Logitech gamepa... by HeyLaughingBoy on Wednesday June 21, 2023 @02:21PM (#36422251)

AKA an EPIRB: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_position-indicating_...

You can buy one for a few hundred bucks, but based on everything I've read about this outfit so far, I'd be surprised if they even had that.

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Re:Submarine missing near Titanic used a $30 Logitech gamepa... by Turskarama on Wednesday June 21, 2023 @11:43PM (#36427784)

It's possible that it's floating just under the surface, in which case the radar reflectors won't help. Radar also isn't necessarily _great_ at finding anything bobbing in waves, as water will itself reflect radar.

Additionally, if the problem was a power outage then the radio also might not work unless it had a separate power supply.

Emergency beacons cost a few hundred dollars and are designed for this purpose, not having one is pure negligence.

If they're on the bottom of the ocean then even if they're found a rescue is unlikely to happen in time.

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