Hi,
Im clearly new to this tech…
Is it possible to ad another fathom x or something to boost the signal inline?
Ive got a 300m tether and plan to be working in 150m+, idea is to have a tether down a shot line, a booster with the 300m connected off.
This would be easier to manage. The 300m would be a working set length fixed at the bottom and delt with when the shot weight is pulled up. ( I secure the tether to a shot weight so the current has minimal effect)
Appreciate the feedback
Hi @submerged -
Unfortunately, no, a Fathom-X does not act as a signal booster. For standard tether, 300m is the limit! If you’re diving to 150m, 300m should be more than adequate - you could simply attach a clump weight directly to the tether, some useful distance from the ROV. This 4-10lb weight will keep the ROV from having to overcome the current that may be pulling on the tether.
If you’re dead set on some sort of extender, you could run 300m via the Fathom-X, and have an enclosure output ethernet from the Fathom-X ~30m via standard ethernet signals on standard tether to the ROV… because the tether does not meet Cat-5 specifications (stranded vs. solid core), I would not expect much more distance than that to work. Having a second set of Fathom-X units may cause interference issues and no useful connection as a result…
Yeah the 300m will be adequate to look around the management of the tether was the main benefit i was after. I currently run the tether through a ring on the shot line but its a hassle. Be great to send the drop tether down then just toss the rov over but if theres no booster as such available ill refine the current setup
Hi @submerged -
It may work to have a single Fathom-X at the junction between the two lengths of tether, and the same twisted pair extend on to the ROV - but we’ve not tested if this has the benefit of extending the overall length! If you give it a try, please report back.
Sweet ive got a spare tether kicking around ill give it a crack and report back
Just a note if you’re trying this. We are successfully powering our fathom-x from the BlueROV through 150m of tether. We tapped 4 of the unused tether wires for power (two for pos, two for neg), and the Fathom X fired right up.
That might be useful for you if you’re trying to put a FathomX in the middle of a long tether.