New AAD made in USA

[lippy 765]

11 hours ago, df8m1 said:

Thanks for the great question! I don't want to put out technical specks at that level quite yet as there are "others reading this" lol... but I will say that the protocol is tried and true, and an industry standard.

Regarding the effect on battery life... I selected a Blue Tooth Low Energy IC that was designed to be used with battery powered mobile devices and uses very little power.

The US. Army required wireless access to the Enhanced Electronic Automatic Activation Device (EEAAD) and I too was concerned about battery life, but the technology has advanced so much that battery impact is really in significant, even when transferring a full jump data file (in the case of the Army AAD). The two real power hogs are the processor and memory.

The AAD would only turn on the BLE and transmit an alert when there was an issue detected on the jump that just took place, so ideally it would never turn on. The alert Data packet would be tiny regardless.

Also, the batteries are commercially available, are inexpensive and are field replaceable.

 

 

 

Thanks for the info 

[timski 80]

On 5/19/2023 at 8:16 AM, gowlerk said:

Sort of like making cops use body cams. Or trucks having dash cams and driver facing cams. Everyone hates accountability whenever it it applied to them. Me too. 

Except this time, it's a box of micro processers and other witchcraft and NOT a cam...

[sfzombie13 307]

you'll be really surprised when you find out what they use for the equivalent of a black box for cars.  they don't really need cameras to tell what you are doing while you drive these days.

[nwt 131]

On 5/19/2023 at 6:36 PM, lippy said:

I'm just curious about the geek shit side of things.  What protocol would you be considering using to send that data back home, and would the added benefit (the debate on the value of that benefit being alive and well above) be worth the penalty in battery life?

I have a cardiac monitor implanted under my skin, about the size of a AAA battery. It uses bluetooth and the battery is good for 5 years. It's a Linq2 from Medtronic if you want to read more.

[dudeman17 267]

On 5/19/2023 at 2:51 PM, df8m1 said:

"A tandem is not just another skydive"      ~ Bill Booth

 

On 5/19/2023 at 6:50 PM, dudeman17 said:

I believe that is not correct. As I remember it, Mr. Booth said, "It's just another skydive", as in it IS just another skydive. It was someone else who said "It's NOT just another skydive". So the trivia question is, who was it that made the other quote, and which one of them was right. (Hint - it's sort of a trick question.)

 

On 5/20/2023 at 7:15 AM, df8m1 said:

HHmmm.. that is interesting! Then it is I that may be suffering from a senior moment as I would swear I have actually heard Bill Booth say that quote before, but then again, that was a long time ago lol... 

Anyone care to break the stalemate? :)

 

I gave this a couple days to see if anyone else remembered this. I thought Rob might chime in, as he generally remembers the details of early developments like this.

And we all know what time and aging brains can do to memories, so as always, if I'm wrong somebody can correct me. But this is how I seem to remember it...

The quick answers are that Bill Booth said "It's just another skydive", and it was Don Balch who said 'It's NOT just another skydive". Who was right? Well that's the 'trick' part of the question. They both were. The difference was in the timing and context. To flesh that out...

As with many things in our sport, there were earlier precursors to tandems. I think some of those have been described in these forums, and wasn't there an article in Parachutist not long ago? One that I don't recall seeing mentioned was, sometime in the 70's Jim Handbury made a tandem rig. He wasn't trying to invent anything or revolutionize student training, he just had a young handicapped family member that he wanted to take up, so he built a rig and did that.

Anyway, when modern tandems were being developed, it was Ted Strong and Bill Booth who were designing, testing and refining, discovering the need for drogues, and what-not. They got it dialed in, and it was time to build rigs, issue TM ratings, and bring it on-line. Well, there was some hesitancy among jumpers. That's when Mr. Booth said, "It's just another skydive". He wasn't promoting complacency or downplaying the need for training and diligence, he was just saying that there was no reason that tandems should not become a common occurrence and mainstay of student training. And he was right. Well, build rigs and issue ratings they did. And tandems quickly became popular with the customers, and it took off. Well, jumpers started noticing that their TM buddies were making lots of student jumps and making decent money, not to mention 'the Lois Lane effect', and there came a surge of interest in the TM rating. That's when Don Balch said, "It's NOT just another skydive". He was not just reiterating the need for proper training and due diligence, but also noting that the proper motivation was required to make an appropriate TM. And he, too, was correct.

 

On 5/20/2023 at 7:15 AM, df8m1 said:

I would swear I have actually heard Bill Booth say that quote

It would not surprise me if Mr. Booth updated to the newer saying, because clearly it became the correct view.

[df8m1 19]

On 5/23/2023 at 9:05 PM, dudeman17 said:

 

 

 

I gave this a couple days to see if anyone else remembered this. I thought Rob might chime in, as he generally remembers the details of early developments like this.

And we all know what time and aging brains can do to memories, so as always, if I'm wrong somebody can correct me. But this is how I seem to remember it...

The quick answers are that Bill Booth said "It's just another skydive", and it was Don Balch who said 'It's NOT just another skydive". Who was right? Well that's the 'trick' part of the question. They both were. The difference was in the timing and context. To flesh that out...

As with many things in our sport, there were earlier precursors to tandems. I think some of those have been described in these forums, and wasn't there an article in Parachutist not long ago? One that I don't recall seeing mentioned was, sometime in the 70's Jim Handbury made a tandem rig. He wasn't trying to invent anything or revolutionize student training, he just had a young handicapped family member that he wanted to take up, so he built a rig and did that.

Anyway, when modern tandems were being developed, it was Ted Strong and Bill Booth who were designing, testing and refining, discovering the need for drogues, and what-not. They got it dialed in, and it was time to build rigs, issue TM ratings, and bring it on-line. Well, there was some hesitancy among jumpers. That's when Mr. Booth said, "It's just another skydive". He wasn't promoting complacency or downplaying the need for training and diligence, he was just saying that there was no reason that tandems should not become a common occurrence and mainstay of student training. And he was right. Well, build rigs and issue ratings they did. And tandems quickly became popular with the customers, and it took off. Well, jumpers started noticing that their TM buddies were making lots of student jumps and making decent money, not to mention 'the Lois Lane effect', and there came a surge of interest in the TM rating. That's when Don Balch said, "It's NOT just another skydive". He was not just reiterating the need for proper training and due diligence, but also noting that the proper motivation was required to make an appropriate TM. And he, too, was correct.

 

It would not surprise me if Mr. Booth updated to the newer saying, because clearly it became the correct view.

Thanks for that information! My association to "it's not just another skydive" and Bill Booth is I recall him saying that in regards to everyone who had a camera and wanted to make money filming tandems, or everyone who wanted to chase them. I was obviously mistaken lol.

I believe the reason why Mr. Booth set minimum experience and currency requirements to chase or film a tandem can be derived from that statement, even if he did not actually say that exactly.

Thanks for the history lesson! The kids these days seem to have no interest in how we got here, but that is important to me.

[dudeman17 267]

On 5/28/2023 at 6:57 PM, df8m1 said:

My association to "it's not just another skydive" and Bill Booth is I recall him saying that in regards to everyone who had a camera and wanted to make money filming tandems, or everyone who wanted to chase them. I was obviously mistaken lol.

I think it's possible/likely that you are not mistaken. When you included that quote in your post, it made me recall the early quotes, so I posted about it for general interest. The early Booth quote was particular to a certain time and context. When that moment had passed, and tandems did become commonplace, it was outdated. Part of my intent was to give Don Balch credit for his quote.

 

On 5/23/2023 at 6:05 PM, dudeman17 said:

It would not surprise me if Mr. Booth updated to the newer saying, because clearly it became the correct view.

Bill Booth is extremely safety/survival minded. His many contributions to the sport over the years show that. If you remember him saying that, I have no reason to disbelieve it.