Search on after Malaysia Airlines flight vanishes

[macdoc]

Yes, it would do all of those things.
And you've missed the point, by as many miles as Macdoc.

hehe I've been in the storage business for 35 years and in the computer business for 29.
My friend and associate is the owner of OWC who develops their own line of flash and SSD drives.

I dare say I'm a tad more familiar with the field than you.

Shock, operating, 1500 G/ 1.0 ms,

versus

They are required to survive an impact shock of 3,400 G-forces, and have standards for static crush and fluid immersion.

SDD - 32f to 158F heat tolerance.

what fire do you know that is limited to 158F

Recorders are required to survive short, hot blazes, such as a fuel fire, or longer but cooler blazes, such as a forest fire, were a plane to crash in the woods.

Plus fluid emersion in corrosive mediums.

The designers know what they are doing...you don't.

[JimC]

mistermac's point was simply that it should be possible to guild a black-box decoder with larger storage...

[cronus]

Data from the black box recorder should be streamed via a external aerial. Seems sensible to have the black box data module duplicated on the outside of the plane too in a sturdy detachable float ...so that it can float around amidst the debris maybe solar powered, giving a better signal and easier retrieval.

[mistermack]

mistermac's point was simply that it should be possible to guild a black-box decoder with larger storage...

Macdoc's being deliberately stupid.
Mac, you don't need to try. You're a natural anyway.

Like Jim said, my point was that more memory could easily be added. They obviously design for two hours recording, because the regulations say two hours minimum. Now that is looking stupid too.

But as it happens, an SSD drive could easily be used. You just have to house it properly.
Pack it in the right waterproof pressureproof box, in a shock-absorbing insulating packing material, and would do the job fine. You can increase the g and temp and pressure it can survive by a factor of thousands, just with the right container and packing. Which is what they surely do with the current design.
But your vast ''experience'' has obviously never included wrapping a parcel. Odd for someone who's been in the storage business 35 years.
You've surprised me. I thought you were about fourteen.

[pErvinalia]

I'm surprised you aren't working in the aerospace industry, mm.

[JimC]

mistermac's point was simply that it should be possible to guild a black-box decoder with larger storage...

Macdoc's being deliberately stupid.
Mac, you don't need to try. You're a natural anyway.

Like Jim said, my point was that more memory could easily be added. They obviously design for two hours recording, because the regulations say two hours minimum. Now that is looking stupid too.

But as it happens, an SSD drive could easily be used. You just have to house it properly.
Pack it in the right waterproof pressureproof box, in a shock-absorbing insulating packing material, and would do the job fine. You can increase the g and temp and pressure it can survive by a factor of thousands, just with the right container and packing. Which is what they surely do with the current design.
But your vast ''experience'' has obviously never included wrapping a parcel. Odd for someone who's been in the storage business 35 years.
You've surprised me. I thought you were about fourteen.

I think it might be a little harder than that, mm...

However, a greatly increased recording time would be a major improvement, should be do-able without a huge technological challenge, and probably should be one of the outcomes of whatever airline industry investigations happen in coming months. But a proper re-design, manufacture and roll-out will take time...

[mistermack]

Since they already have solid state memory, it's academic about the SSD drive anyway, which was always obvious.
If I wanted to use widely available products, I would probably use one of these :



Without any extra protection, they can operate at up to 85c and survive several blows with a hammer.
http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/v3-co-uk-labs ... ro-sd-card
A friend of mine lost his phone a few years ago, and I found it a year later, when a clump of stinging nettles died off. It had been out in the weather a whole year.
He dried it off, and it worked perfectly.

With the right casing, they would survive anything a plane could throw at them.

[macdoc]

New satellite imagery from the CHinese in the same area - 120 km from the other

A Chinese satellite has identified another object in the Indian Ocean that could be from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
The object is about 22.5 metres long and 13 metres wide.
The high-definition earth observation satellite Gaofen-1 spotted the object at around midnight on March 18, according to China’s State Administration of Science Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND).
New images: China official reporting they have satellite images that may be related to MH370.
New images: China officials reporting they have satellite images that may be related to MH370. Photo: @alert5
Chinese ships and planes were heading towards the area on Saturday night.
Advertisement
Chinese media was reporting the object was sighted 120 kilometres from where two objects were identified by Australia and where the search has been focused until now.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/missing-mal ... z2whhdeXKS

[Warren Dew]

It looks a lot like the other one. It could have moved 120 km in the mean time.

I'm not sure what part of an aircraft could be that shape. Maybe if all the life rafts were tied together. It's more likely an abandoned catamaran, though.

[mistermack]

If it's the same one, which seems likely, they should be able to calculate the drift direction and speed, so they should now know where to look with the planes.

It certainly doesn't look like a ship container in those pics. I think it's a bit too long anyway.

Since they don't know the exact time that the plane went down, I think finding the rest of the plane and the black boxes before the batteries go is a long shot. They can calculate a rough drift path, but it could be anywhere along that line. And the water is about 10,000 feet deep.

[rainbow]

If it's the same one, which seems likely, they should be able to calculate the drift direction and speed, so they should now know where to look with the planes.

It certainly doesn't look like a ship container in those pics. I think it's a bit too long anyway.

Since they don't know the exact time that the plane went down, I think finding the rest of the plane and the black boxes before the batteries go is a long shot. They can calculate a rough drift path, but it could be anywhere along that line. And the water is about 10,000 feet deep.

Wouldn't it be clever to design a "black box" that floats?

[PsychoSerenity]

If it's the same one, which seems likely, they should be able to calculate the drift direction and speed, so they should now know where to look with the planes.

It certainly doesn't look like a ship container in those pics. I think it's a bit too long anyway.

Since they don't know the exact time that the plane went down, I think finding the rest of the plane and the black boxes before the batteries go is a long shot. They can calculate a rough drift path, but it could be anywhere along that line. And the water is about 10,000 feet deep.

Wouldn't it be clever to design a "black box" that floats?

It would be incredibly clever. Any ideas how you'd do it?

[Hermit]

If it's the same one, which seems likely, they should be able to calculate the drift direction and speed, so they should now know where to look with the planes.

It certainly doesn't look like a ship container in those pics. I think it's a bit too long anyway.

Since they don't know the exact time that the plane went down, I think finding the rest of the plane and the black boxes before the batteries go is a long shot. They can calculate a rough drift path, but it could be anywhere along that line. And the water is about 10,000 feet deep.

Wouldn't it be clever to design a "black box" that floats?

You mean one that gets detached from the plane? That, I think, would be rather defeating its purpose.

[pErvinalia]

Just stick it in an esky, mate. She'll be right.

[Hermit]

What I'm getting at is that a black box that floats away from the plane...

Ah, never mind.