I plan to get my boat on the water and to build a drop cam this summer. I see that Bluerobotics offers a nice tether but some of you guys have used something different, like an alternative CAT 5 cable. Since I am in prototype stage I would like to save a few bucks so maybe someone can recommend an inexpensive cable for experimentation. The Bluerobotics tether has a Kevlar core and is neutral buoyant. Something like that is perfect. It should have a reinforcing fiber for strength and be waterproof of course. Probably good down to 200’ for now. Thanks!
BTY, Bluerobotics is a great company to work with. I am just on the cheap for now.
DJ’s and musicians use “armored” Cat5e cable which has additional shielding, a heavy cover and stranded wires. In a pinch, it might work for your needs.
Outdoor Cat5e cable can work but it’s usually still relatively expensive. If you want the reinforcing fiber and/or neutral buoyancy, then there aren’t any options that I know of besides ROV tethers!
As long as I am talking tethers, I would like to talk about tether winches too. I see that Nathan Perry built a davit and a purpose-built winch but don’t know how to PM him. It looks like he is interested in going really deep so his winch and drum are much larger than I plan on. Right now I am working on a winch/drum design based on a cheap Harbor Freight automotive winch. Will need to fabricate a larger drum with at least 8" drum spool diameter to avoid stressing the tether. A large diameter deploy sheave seems like a good idea too. Davit could be either stainless or aluminum since line pull will be modest. If any of you have gone through this process I would like to hear from you!