Last edit by: JDiver
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FlyerTalk members come from all walks of life and all parts of the world. We are as diverse in our makeup as we are alike in our passion for frequent flyer programs. Because we all bring a unique perspective to the forum, our collective experience is broadened, and we gain new insights.
Our diversity demands that we respect each other. Due to the inherent constraints of the Internet, humor, sarcasm, language and slang can be easily misinterpreted - especially when crossing cultural boundaries.
When posting a message, pay extra care to how it might be interpreted. And when you come across a post that offends you, read it with an eye toward giving the poster the benefit of the doubt.
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Your MH370 Moderation Team
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MH370 Discussion and Speculation Thread
#1621
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: san antonio, texas
Programs: 3.2MM AA, 1.4MM UA,StwdLftPlt
Posts: 1,586
In an interview with CNN the president? of Dukane Seacom clarified this, that those pingers are manufactured to last 35 days, they are just guaranteed to last 30 days.
***
I just came across this very interesting post at PPRuNe.
http://www.pprune.org/8425140-post9602.html
***
I just came across this very interesting post at PPRuNe.
http://www.pprune.org/8425140-post9602.html
#1622
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: SW London
Programs: BAEC Silver; Hilton Diamond;a miscellany of other hotel non-statuses
Posts: 3,607
I just came across this very interesting post at PPRuNe.
http://www.pprune.org/8425140-post9602.html
http://www.pprune.org/8425140-post9602.html
I don't understand the supposed significance of both the ping detection locations being on the -PER air route. If the respective ships had been 100km east or west then this 'coincidence' wouldn't have arisen, but the pings may still have been heard. Alternatively someone may have already figured out that the air route could be significant, which is why the ships were searching on it @:-).
It'd be interesting to have some insight on how the search locations are chosen from the vast range possible. The intersection of the Inmarsat arc and standard air route does sound interesting, as do some of the deeper topological features, etc depending on which theory you subscribe to. Has anyone seen a chart of with all the ideas and search areas overlaid?
Last edited by EsherFlyer; Apr 8, 2014 at 5:41 pm
#1623
Join Date: May 2004
Location: SYD
Programs: UA PG 1MM - AccorPlus Platinum
Posts: 321
#1624
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: YYZ/HKG
Programs: Whatever fleeces my wallet the least
Posts: 178
Surely everyone is hoping that these are indeed signals from the recorders of the MH370, but can someone explain how or why it makes sense for the distance between pinger detection location 1 and pinger detection location 4 to be almost 30km apart?
According to Wikipedia the range of the 37.5KHz transponder pinger is 6-7km in good conditions, so even if the plane was at the center of the 4 pings, that's still a good 14-15km away...
According to Wikipedia the range of the 37.5KHz transponder pinger is 6-7km in good conditions, so even if the plane was at the center of the 4 pings, that's still a good 14-15km away...
#1625
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: san antonio, texas
Programs: 3.2MM AA, 1.4MM UA,StwdLftPlt
Posts: 1,586
Surely everyone is hoping that these are indeed signals from the recorders of the MH370, but can someone explain how or why it makes sense for the distance between pinger detection location 1 and pinger detection location 4 to be almost 30km apart?
According to Wikipedia the range of the 37.5KHz transponder pinger is 6-7km in good conditions, so even if the plane was at the center of the 4 pings, that's still a good 14-15km away...
According to Wikipedia the range of the 37.5KHz transponder pinger is 6-7km in good conditions, so even if the plane was at the center of the 4 pings, that's still a good 14-15km away...
#1626
Join Date: May 2004
Location: SYD
Programs: UA PG 1MM - AccorPlus Platinum
Posts: 321
Anyway what I find almost too good to be true is that looking at http://www.jacc.gov.au/media/release...l/mr_014-2.jpg all 4 ping detections are almost right on the "satellite handshake calculation" which I presume refers to the last partial ping. Surely this is either extremely lucky (no way the arc calculated thanks to doppler analysis can be so precise) or if this is indeed the final resting place of MH370 the location must be based on a more accurate data source that they are not willing to disclose...
#1627
Join Date: Mar 2011
Programs: AAA
Posts: 39
Don't forget they are chasing two separate sources and the ping #2 is the one that detected 2 separate pings so it could make sense if one of the black boxes is located somewhere between ping #1 and ping #2 and the other one in the middle of pings #2, 3 and 4...
Anyway what I find almost too good to be true is that looking at http://www.jacc.gov.au/media/release...l/mr_014-2.jpg all 4 ping detections are almost right on the "satellite handshake calculation" which I presume refers to the last partial ping. Surely this is either extremely lucky (no way the arc calculated thanks to doppler analysis can be so precise) or if this is indeed the final resting place of MH370 the location must be based on a more accurate data source that they are not willing to disclose...
Anyway what I find almost too good to be true is that looking at http://www.jacc.gov.au/media/release...l/mr_014-2.jpg all 4 ping detections are almost right on the "satellite handshake calculation" which I presume refers to the last partial ping. Surely this is either extremely lucky (no way the arc calculated thanks to doppler analysis can be so precise) or if this is indeed the final resting place of MH370 the location must be based on a more accurate data source that they are not willing to disclose...
I just wonder what the Chinese heard?
#1628
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Sacramento, CA
Programs: UA 1K; Hilton: Diamond;Kimpton: ?? ; Omni: Black; Avis: First; Hertz: Five Star
Posts: 656
Surely everyone is hoping that these are indeed signals from the recorders of the MH370, but can someone explain how or why it makes sense for the distance between pinger detection location 1 and pinger detection location 4 to be almost 30km apart?
According to Wikipedia the range of the 37.5KHz transponder pinger is 6-7km in good conditions, so even if the plane was at the center of the 4 pings, that's still a good 14-15km away...
According to Wikipedia the range of the 37.5KHz transponder pinger is 6-7km in good conditions, so even if the plane was at the center of the 4 pings, that's still a good 14-15km away...
So we would sometimes get a signal coming from above us when the source of the noise was probably below us. Layers could be used to hide our own sounds as well. Our listening systems (passive sonar) were incredibly capable and we woudl sometimes get a sound source coming at us from two directions and you had to decide which one was the more liekly to be accurate bearing.
Anyways, you can hear a whisper a long way away is the space around you and the whisperer is quiet enough. So those pings radiate out, getting quieter and quieter, sometimes sending bounces and reflections in different directions and one moment might be "heard" at a real long distance and the next not.
#1629
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 80
I notice that HMS Echo is still searching in that southern area. Anyone know what that's all about?
Need to distinguish between the undersea search area and the surface search area. Ocean Shield is doing its TPL thing in one area, while there is a large surface search area almost due west of that where several ships seems to be engaged in a surface search. Presumably these two areas are related through estimates of drift of any surface debris.
Need to distinguish between the undersea search area and the surface search area. Ocean Shield is doing its TPL thing in one area, while there is a large surface search area almost due west of that where several ships seems to be engaged in a surface search. Presumably these two areas are related through estimates of drift of any surface debris.
Last edited by polarbreeze; Apr 9, 2014 at 11:01 am
#1630
Senior Moderator, Moderator: Community Buzz and Ambassador: Miles & More (Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, and other partners)
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: 150km from MAN
Programs: LH SEN** HH Diamond
Posts: 29,514
Question: Have you got any further information from the Chinese ship Haixun 01 and have you analysed the data acquired by that ship?
Angus Houston: I understand there has been no further detections in the area where the Chinese vessel Haixun 01 assisted by HMS Echo, which is an oceanographic vessel from the Royal Navy, I believe they haven't made any further detections. In terms of the analysis of the signals that it picked up, I'll come back to you on that. I'm not sure where we're at with that. I haven't had any advice that the analysis is completed at this stage.
Angus Houston: I understand there has been no further detections in the area where the Chinese vessel Haixun 01 assisted by HMS Echo, which is an oceanographic vessel from the Royal Navy, I believe they haven't made any further detections. In terms of the analysis of the signals that it picked up, I'll come back to you on that. I'm not sure where we're at with that. I haven't had any advice that the analysis is completed at this stage.
Angus Houston: Well, what we're doing, we are not putting all our eggs in one basket, okay? We're continuing with all the other activities. We're continuing to look where Haixun 01 is, but we're also doing a much more intense visual search, a visual search where the track spacing, if you understand that, what an aircraft does, it's assigned an area to search and then it will design a pattern with very small spacing and it will cover the area very extensively and very intensively.
#1631
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 80
I suggest you read the transcript of the JACC press conference posted in the news thread.
#1632
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: SW London
Programs: BAEC Silver; Hilton Diamond;a miscellany of other hotel non-statuses
Posts: 3,607
<redacted>
Assuming these images and my interpretation are correct, this 'overview' one shows the satellite-predicted 'somewhere along this line' arc in red and the 'out of fuel' range in white. Jumping to this one and assuming that the colours are the same a less complex theory is that it just ran out of fuel there.
Assuming these images and my interpretation are correct, this 'overview' one shows the satellite-predicted 'somewhere along this line' arc in red and the 'out of fuel' range in white. Jumping to this one and assuming that the colours are the same a less complex theory is that it just ran out of fuel there.
Last edited by JDiver; Apr 9, 2014 at 3:29 pm Reason: redacted deleted post content
#1633
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 80
How come the pingers have been found exactly on the red line?
I think someone else mentioned this but I didn't see any good answer to it yet:
It was my understanding that the Inmarsat data yielded an arc (mostly represented by a red line) whose accuracy was thought to be in the order of 100 miles or so. Now, jumping the gun a bit to assume the Ocean Shield really has found the pingers, we find that they're exactly smack dab on the red line. Did I miss a step where additional data scrubbing put the red line down with much better accuracy; or was Ocean Shield really, really lucky (in the north-south direction too BTW); or could there be other data that has directed the search more precisely?
Somebody suggested Australian radar could be at play here - anyone have any information about that?
It was my understanding that the Inmarsat data yielded an arc (mostly represented by a red line) whose accuracy was thought to be in the order of 100 miles or so. Now, jumping the gun a bit to assume the Ocean Shield really has found the pingers, we find that they're exactly smack dab on the red line. Did I miss a step where additional data scrubbing put the red line down with much better accuracy; or was Ocean Shield really, really lucky (in the north-south direction too BTW); or could there be other data that has directed the search more precisely?
Somebody suggested Australian radar could be at play here - anyone have any information about that?
#1634
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: SW London
Programs: BAEC Silver; Hilton Diamond;a miscellany of other hotel non-statuses
Posts: 3,607
Has anyone see a 'back plot' from Ocean Shield's search position across the satellite arcs at various speeds to see if it leads back to the right origin?
Alternatively, as I think we mentioned above, I wouldn't be surprised if a submarine from some nation or other had passed by the area in the last month and detected something to help direct the surface search.
#1635
Join Date: Mar 2011
Programs: AAA
Posts: 39
One (speculative) suggestion I'll offer is that although each arc may have an amount of error if you assume a constant speed then that will help 'respace' them. So if the hourly arcs were notionally 420, 460 and 450 nautical miles apart you could calculate an assumed average speed of ~435knts and replot the lines to fit that assumption.
Has anyone see a 'back plot' from Ocean Shield's search position across the satellite arcs at various speeds to see if it leads back to the right origin?
Alternatively, as I think we mentioned above, I wouldn't be surprised if a submarine from some nation or other had passed by the area in the last month and detected something to help direct the surface search.
Has anyone see a 'back plot' from Ocean Shield's search position across the satellite arcs at various speeds to see if it leads back to the right origin?
Alternatively, as I think we mentioned above, I wouldn't be surprised if a submarine from some nation or other had passed by the area in the last month and detected something to help direct the surface search.
About the location, Angus said they acted on the belief that the seventh 'half' ping was at the time and point of impact. That seems to be correct. With a time of impact they were able to calibrate a line back through the other ping arcs to get an approximate landing coordinate. That would be the 'back plot' you are asking about.
Angus also said that quiet operation was the key to hearing a weak signal and separating it from noise. Only Ocean Shield will be in the water at the search site. They will drop up to 85 microphones that will listen at a depth of 1000 m. The intent is to get a geographic picture of the sound sources.
I am hoping for the best, although I wonder if all those mics hanging 1000 m down won't interfere with the 4000+ meter cable towing the TPL.
Angus was asked about the discrepancy between the 37 KHz frequency of the FDR and the 33 kHz that was detected. He didn't provide an explanation but he said they were satisfied that they had probably detected the right signal.
The question that immediately popped into my mind was whether the sono-buoy mics were re-calibrated to the actual frequency that is being sent. The sensitivity is given as 37 +/- 1khz which seems like it would tune out the actual frequency of 33khz.
I have a lot of confidence they are doing this correctly. The Ocean Shield detected the signal very soon after they started searching. Inmarsat's ping arcs and the calculation of speed and fuel used from the earlier radar hits was spot on. This is absolutely amazing and shows how technology has moved ahead since the Air France crash.
Last edited by lewko; Apr 10, 2014 at 7:56 am Reason: Fix spelling and clarity