dicapack waterproof enclosure

The enclosure is rated for a maximum depth of 5mt, however, when I tried it, I could bring it down to 12mt depth without leaks. For precaution I added some layers of paper near the seal, to absorb the occasional leak; however after every dive the paper came out perfectly dry, so the case is watertight even deeper than 5 meters.

The camera I put inside is an old point-and-shoot nikon coolpix 3100. (wouldn’t be a great loss if some water gets inside the case!) All the camera controls are accessible through the plastic membrane of the wrap, even if the power on wheel is a bit uncomfortable to operate inside the case.

This is what you get in the package and the camera mounted inside:

dicapack kit

My camera inside the enclosure

And now some underwater pictures from marsa alam sea in Egypt. Since the diving of the resort closed due to lack of licence (!!!) I did most of my shots during free diving. Well most of the things to see in Egypt were in between 0-20 mt so it didn’t go bad after all… in fact we spent most of the day in water.

Freedom

Fire coral and crystal clear water

Turtle and suckerfish @ 3 mt

Stingray @ 12mt

Surgeonfish ready to cut me to defend his nest

It is necessary during a night dive to have an always on flasher tied to the tank to be always visible by dive buddies. This circuit does just that: flash two high-brightness blue LEDs whenever it comes into contact with water.

The circuit is very simple: a first section detects water contact and gives current to the second section, a basic ne555 astable oscillator. No more than that, but it works great. The water detection part is accomplished by just a single transistor and two contacts. The circuit itself is throw-away, since when the battery will be dead, the water tight enclosure will not allow its replacement. However the cost of the circuit is in the 5$ range, and it will last several dives! Here’s the schematic. The battery used is a small 6V battery for cameras. It should last long! The resistors and the capacitor set the 555 to a 20% duty cycle, in favor of battery life.

I did everything on a piece of perfboard. Here’s another picture.

Ok, I think this is all for now. Go ahead and build yourself this flasher, next I will detail the enclosure and the results from the dive :)

Remember to dive safely and responsively. And have Fun!