Cypres display after activation

[miconar 0]

Hi everyone!

Found myself lower than planned (and lower than my comfort level) after being an idiot. Most definetly dumb, plan was to film friend deploy at 5.5 pull 3.5, One long idiot moment after saw 2.3k on digital alti under open main with toggles in hand. I know its within BSRs and some old timers might consider that reasonable exit altitude, point is I was at least .5k below plan on what was already planned to be as low as im comfortable to pull at, hence idiot. lesson was dont plan without comfort margin, and seriously consider the point of filming deployments on none tandem videos to begin with. friend pulled a hair lower then planned and I took another hair or two and that was that. stupid.

to my question. while 2.3 is far from AAD land, I got to wander today what would my cypress2 display folowing an activation. if for whatever reason it fired and the reserve pc didnt launch, would the cypress read out still indicate ready to go, or would it shut down/say anything else? am i correct in asuming it would not turn back on with a fired cutter? would the reserve pin look any different, assuming a fired cutter partially cut the loop?

Thank you!

[chuckakers 370]

This won't answer your question, but it's worth mentioning and should be the real lesson here.

It never fails that your friends will suck you down when you are filming them deploy. Vidiots have experienced this over and over throughout the years.

When jumpers know they are being filmed they often take longer than normal to pitch out. Not sure if it's because they are "posing", making sure they are in the right spot for the shot, or just don't have as much focus on the task at hand, but the story you told has been repeated hundreds of times since the inception of freefall photography.

When planning to film an opening, plan for a higher than normal deployment and be extra vigilant about altitude.

Chuck Akers
D-10855
Houston, TX

[VideoFly 0]

After being sucked down low filming a low opening during my early video experience, I learned to have no problem deploying when planned and telling others that their error in judgment cost them the shot they had hoped for. If they want the right shot, they have to play their part as planned. Their bad; not yours. Just make sure you don’t deploy a sniveler directly above a faster opening canopy.

[f94sbu 0]

IIRC. the Cypres display will go blank 60 seconds after the activation, so chances are high that after an activation, you will not see the '0' on the display any longer.

[irishrigger 31]

And if you switch the cypres on again after that. The error code 1111
should be displayed on the control unit. Thats if it is a cypres2 unit.
I think a cypres1 will say 8998. Would have to double check that.
Also i am not sure if the unit switches itself of after a fire. I think it will still display 0 on the screen. I tbink thats what it did the ladt time we had a cypred fire.
If you have a manual if should clarify thst for you.
Also i trust my cypres cutter 100% to do its job correctly if needed!

[miconar 0]

Thank you everyone for the info and advice!

@irishrigger

are you saying there has never been a failed >cutter< in a cypress activation? ill look at mfg website for manual download. lets say i had a recently mostly banned aad in a container that banned it and it partially cut the loop, would that be visible with out opening the packjob?

thanks again!

[sundevil777 93]

I believe that part of the start up self test for all AAD models is a continuity test of the cutter. After a cutter is fired, it will not pass this part of the test, so the start up test should fail.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[skinnay 0]

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IIRC. the Cypres display will go blank 60 seconds after the activation, so chances are high that after an activation, you will not see the '0' on the display any longer.

The 0 is the only way to verify the cypres is activated, no? I'm pretty sure the 0 is always there while the cypres is on.

[Deyan 31]

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I'm pretty sure the 0 is always there while the cypres is on.

Not really. If you make any altitude corrections, the altitude for those corrections will stay on the display until you make that jump ( or 14h )

Check pages 19 and 20 of the Cypres manual for more details on that one.

Blue skies

"My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

[LouDiamond 1]

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Check pages 19 and 20 of the Cypres manual for more details on that one.

Blue skies

Not directed to anyone specifically but to everyone. RTFM!! You trust that your AAD (any brand) will potentially save your life yet most people have no fucking clue how it works or how to operate it beyond turning it on. Whats even more glaring is that most would rather take the time to post questions online instead of downloading and reading the manufacturer manual. If you don't know, open the manual, if you can't bother to then perhaps you should take up bowling because there really is no viable excuse you can present for not knowing other than laziness and complacency.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[irishrigger 31]

are you saying there has never been a failed >cutter< in a cypress activation? ill look at mfg website for manual download. lets say i had a recently mostly banned aad in a container that banned it and it partially cut the loop, would that be visible with out opening the packjob?

as far as i am aware,a cypres cutter never failed to cut the loop when the unit fired!
however there was a couple container locks that did happend, there was a service bulltin out on mirage containers and the location of the cutter had to be changed. there is also a video floating around of the same thing happening on a vector. i do belief those happend that the reserve loop was to long and got traped in the grommets of the reserve flaps.

as for seeing if the cutter had fired on a unit that will depend on the container. most cutters are inside where they are not visible and the only way to check would be to open the container. however there is some containers where the cutter is otherwise located and can be visualy inspected. they be so called poptops like a Racer, teardrop or reflex. basicly any container where the reserve pin is located on your packpad.
also ask your rigger about your cypres. maybe he has a rig that needs repacking and is open . switch on the cypres watch it go down to 0 and then disconnect the cutter from it. the unit will still display 0. then switch it on with the cutter disconnected, on a cypres2 the dispaly will show 1111 for 3 seconds and the unit will then switch itself off.

[miconar 0]

Quote

Not directed to anyone specifically but to everyone. RTFM!! You trust that your AAD (any brand) will potentially save your life yet most people have no fucking clue how it works or how to operate it beyond turning it on. Whats even more glaring is that most would rather take the time to post questions online instead of downloading and reading the manufacturer manual. If you don't know, open the manual, if you can't bother to then perhaps you should take up bowling because there really is no viable excuse you can present for not knowing other than laziness and complacency.

While I agree RTFM is important, the info I asked for would not be covered in the AAD manual. I wanted to know if its possible for the unit to fire and the reserve to lock, and all this with out my knowledge. I did read the manual when I got my unit and I don't think its mentioned.

I did download the manual from Airtec website and will re-read later tonight to see what it has to say on the subject, however I would be surprised if my questions regarding recognizing that the unit has fired and the reserve is locked are answered there.

If anyone is interested, cypres manuals can be found here:
http://www.cypres.cc/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=89&func=select&id=3&lang=en

@irishrigger:

Thanks again for the info, I guess it comes down to generally trusting your rigger/mfgs, and pulling high enough specifically in this case. Both seem reasonable enough.

Thank you everyone!

[LouDiamond 1]

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I wanted to know if its possible for the unit to fire and the reserve to lock, and all this with out my knowledge.

Technically, yes it could happen, just like technically a person swinging a metal rod around in a storm might get hit by lightening. However, a few things in your favor are that if you take the time to look at your Cypres LCD screen before your next jump and you also inspect your pins, you are likely to see indicators that would alert you to this condition. These indicators for the Cypres would be that the LCD screen is not active ( no zero down) indicating that it is on. If you then attempted to turn it on you would receive an error code (see below chapter page reference from owners manual).

Chapter 5, page 25 Cypres 2 owners manual

(if this occurred on a Cypres 1 model the error code would be 8997)


What is not in the manual but is relevant to this topic is that the CYPRES will record data on the jump to activation and then to 130 ft AGL. It then turns off.
So after a jump in which it fires the screen would be blank. (source SSK - Cliff Schumcker)


So if you did some how have this occur during a jump and you took the time to look at the LCD screen prior to gearing up you would note that the Cypres wasn't on and common sense dictates that you would attempt to turn it on whereupon it would display one of the error codes described in the manual.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[miconar 0]

thanks for the reply Lou, I like your lightning storm analogy, I understand it would have to be a series of freak occurrences following a very low pull, and that puts my mind at ease.

[BrianM 1]

I have seen a CYPRES with a fired cutter pass the self test. According to Airtec this can sometimes happen for a short time after the cutter is fired. Sure enough, after letting it sit for a bit, it no longer passed the self test. So, in the scenario of a fired cutter with an uncut loop or locked container, it would be possible to see the blank display, think you'd forgotten to turn it on or that it had powered off after 14 hours, turn it on, and be unaware that anything had happened, if it was soon enough after the firing.

Here's the response from Airtec about why this can happen - I figured it was better than trying to paraphrase and getting something wrong:

Quote

Thanks for your e-mail concerning the Cypres 1 showing none error code.

Basically the cutter connection and operative status is checked by metering the internal conductivity resistance (Ohm). This means we electrically check the Firing pellet .
Upon ignition from an electric pulse, the firing pellet initiates the combustion of the propellant. This is a chemical process, but not entirely complete directly after activation. The debris (burn-off) is still conductive for a short period of time. This time can vary due to ambient temperature and age of the charge/ cutter.

What you have experienced is the result of the resistance check during the chemical decay. This rarely causes CYPRES temporarily to sense a measurable resistance and prompting no error code. After the chemical decomposition of the burn-off is completed the electrical conductivity is lost, now the resistance check detects the faulty cutter during the self test and prompts the error code correctly.

We know about the rare appearance of this temporary phenomenon, there is nothing wrong with the computing circuit. The Cypres can be taken to service without any sepsis, the functionality of the CYPRES is not affected.
We know this is a little less than perfect, but not to avoid.

I hope this clearly explained your case, if you have any further questions do not hesitate to contact me anytime.

"It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg