Search on after Malaysia Airlines flight vanishes

[cronus]

Pings all over now. They've woken Cthulhu?

[macdoc]

I don't know what their signal is, but it's starting to look like it's just a ping of a simple frequency.
If that's true it's also amazing, as it can obviously be imitated by anything that happens to make a noise on that frequency, like a whale, or something.

he signal "is the standard beacon frequency" for the plane's cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder, said Anish Patel, president of pinger manufacturer Dukane Seacom.
"They're identical."

The frequency was chosen for use in the recorders "to give that standout quality that does not get interfered with by the background noise that readily occurs in the ocean."

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/05/world ... nes-plane/

It could be some idjit dropped an ePirb by accident - but more likely wavering thermoclines account for the signal appearing and disappearing.

[Dries van Tonder]

http://metro.co.uk/2014/04/06/third-imp ... 0-4690144/

[Warren Dew]

The articles I've read say that the frequency of the third ping is currently unknown, or at least unreported by authorities.

[mistermack]

I suppose that one problem is that the sound will echo around, like thunder.

When you're right near it, thunder is a single bang, but from further away, it rumbles for ages.
That would make it hard to pick out any extra signal you put in it, like a Morse Code ping.

I think if they know the exact time interval between two pings, they could make sure that way.

[macdoc]

SOund travels great distances underwater especially when trapped between two thermal layers.
It also is frequency dependent.

In case of the flight the pinger is on the ocean floor but affected by the same conditions and they are listening for the ping with very sensitive equipment - that's how they track submarines that are trying to run "quiet"



The more vertical they can get over the source the less attenuated and more accurate they can triangulate.

[Faithfree]

Finally looking positive at the eleventh hour: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-07/o ... al/5372616
That frequency/time/intensity plot looks particularly convincing, though I cant read the actual numbers.

I note with interest that this new location is right on a direct line between the Cocoas Islands and Perth. I think this is a regular international flight route between navigational beacons. Whatever that may mean.

[pErvinalia]

How deep is it there? What's the chances of getting the black box if this is it?

[Faithfree]

How deep is it there? What's the chances of getting the black box if this is it?

About 4500 m I believe, which is about the depth limit of the unmanned submersible they are presumably about to deploy.

[macdoc]

This looks like the real thing - the more sophisticated listening device picked up two separate signals which would synch with the two differennt beacons.
Gonna be tough to recover tho

[pErvinalia]

It would be fantastic if they could recover it and it could be determined what the hell happened.

[mistermack]

It would be fantastic if they could recover it and it could be determined what the hell happened.

I've heard a rumour that Deep Sea Isopod knows exactly where it is, but isn't telling.

His family are having a feast down there.

[macdoc]

I think at this depth they will be satsified with the black boxes.
In Nova Scotia they reassembling nearly the whole plane and it made a for a very rapid change in plane wiring.

Not sure how much of the French plane they recovered as that was deep as well.....but the black box tale led to changes in training and hardware.

[rainbow]

I still can't understand why they don't make black boxes that float.

Anyone?

[pErvinalia]

MM should design one.