500-600 meters tether cable usage

[nihat_keyikci (Nihat)]

Hi everyone,

Has anyone used a tether cable over 500-600 meters in a real operation and have no problems communicating with the rov ? If anyone is having a any problem, can they share these problems with me ?

Thanks everyone.

[EliotBR (Eliot)]

Hi @nihat_keyikci, welcome to the forum

Potential problems depend on the type of tether. The following two topics are likely the most relevant:

Fathom X over long tether

We are currently working on a custom project, and are considering using the Fathom-X as an alternative to fibre optics. Does anyone have any experience using these boards on longer tethers? For our project, we need a custom tether 800 meters long, with both 400 VDC supply and communication (twisted pair if we go for the Fathom-X). I realize that the electrical characteristics of the tether itself will play a large role, but the information on the board mentioned a theoretical 2000 meter max teth…

Run BlueROV over Fiber Optic Tether?

@etienne @BayDynamics I’m looking to upgrade my BlueRov tether as I’m looking to add a few more sensors. I definitely think for my particular application fiber optic would be unnecessary. Can anyone here share their experience with upgrading the tether to be able to push more data up to the surface? Are there any products comparable to the tether sold by blue robotics that just allow for more data transfer (neutral buoyancy, load bearing, etc)?

Note that fiber optic is much better than copper tether for achieving high bandwidth over long distances, but it’s also less physically robust to tight bends so requires a decent amount of extra caution when operating with or handling it.