0
Westerly

Altimeter Options for Wingsuiting?

Recommended Posts

I recently got into wingsuiting and during my FFC I used the Bonehead mudflap altimeter mount with a Galaxy. It worked fine, but I dont like analog altimeters that much (unless it's a Stella or Alt Track)

Anyway, I have a Viso2 on a wrist mount. I am trying to figure out if there is way I could reuse that. The rig is not being used only for WS. I want to be able to do a WS jump, pull the WS off and then hop on a 4-way jump or something like that. As such, I dont know that the Viso pillow that L&B makes will work as it would be a PITA to switch the Viso between mounts all the time.

So is there a way I can reuse the wrist mount and mount that on a mudflap or chest mount somehow, or should I just buy a second Viso or Stella and use that for WS jumps?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I essentially moved to that visio pillow full time when I started. Sometimes I would pop it out into the elastic wrist mount if I was doing belly. I kinda liked the wingsuit setup for angle jumps though.

Some wingsuiters just take the elastic wrist mount and make their own pillow like thing with the wrist mount. Others use the analog on the mudflap and then have the vision on the wrist inside the wing. It's easier to see that way under canopy. There are many ways to do it.

I do tend to run two altimeters personally. One is the visio pillow. Once opened and my chest strap is loosened its harder to see. On my wrist I have a Dekunu so once the canopy is opened its easier to see. Plus you have your audibles. Find what works for you and just use that. If you look everyone is a little different in setup.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I find Viso mounted on mud flap sometimes difficult to read when flying towards the sun, due to it having a curved front glass which makes sun reflection block the readings at wide range of angles. So in addition to Viso, I also use a Moto 360 Sport smartwatch (running my app, Smart Altimeter) on a pillow on the chest strap. The visibility in direct sun light (or any light for that matter) is fantastic, and the measurements are very accurate.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=149891;

Moto 360 Sport is discontinued and was on sale for $50-60 at Walmart and Target about a year-two ago; you can find used ones on ebay or craigslist for about the same price. (It's not worth buying it for original $200 price.)
Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps:
L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP
iOS only: L/D Magic
Windows only: WS Studio

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Westerly

I recently got into wingsuiting and during my FFC I used the Bonehead mudflap altimeter mount with a Galaxy. It worked fine, but I dont like analog altimeters that much (unless it's a Stella or Alt Track)

Anyway, I have a Viso2 on a wrist mount. I am trying to figure out if there is way I could reuse that. The rig is not being used only for WS. I want to be able to do a WS jump, pull the WS off and then hop on a 4-way jump or something like that. As such, I dont know that the Viso pillow that L&B makes will work as it would be a PITA to switch the Viso between mounts all the time.

So is there a way I can reuse the wrist mount and mount that on a mudflap or chest mount somehow, or should I just buy a second Viso or Stella and use that for WS jumps?




You will want to have 2 altimeters. when you get linetwists you generally cant see your chest mount.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
mariobat

***Just put a altimeter in front of yours eyes. I used a Parasport ALOXS because it's lite and have a vertical presentation. But can be used any digital altimeter.



Great! How do you have fixed it on your helmet?
Thanks
Easy, a small aluminum plate and a screw, I used the Go-Pro screw. Many people use Go-Pro on the same site.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
carvai

******Just put a altimeter in front of yours eyes. I used a Parasport ALOXS because it's lite and have a vertical presentation. But can be used any digital altimeter.



Great! How do you have fixed it on your helmet?
Thanks
Easy, a small aluminum plate and a screw, I used the Go-Pro screw. Many people use Go-Pro on the same site.

Thanks! Is it easy ro read in that position?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
carvai

Just put a altimeter in front of yours eyes. I used a Parasport ALOXS because it's lite and have a vertical presentation. But can be used any digital altimeter.



Nice! One step away from a HUD.

Depends, how much do you trust your audible and your eyes?

I use a BH mudflap too with a Altitrack, but like was previously mentioned, I probably only look at it once or twice. I have an audible set at 8, 6, and 4k (also 3 but that is my hard deck). 8 is find the DZ and make sure you can get back, 6 is start getting lined up for where you want to pull ("turn on final" (or final-ish) if you will; and 4 is start deployment flare. Works pretty good for me, I also have a Viso wrist mount but can't see it in freefall (at least not without destroying my body position; in extenuating circumstances I could take a peek). I've loaned my chest mount out a number of times and flown audible only, not too weird, only pulled high once because I missed my 8k tone so assumed my audible quit on me (ended up pulling visually at like 6k, knew I was high but wasn't sure how much).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I am an absolute noob when it comes to wingsuiting (~45 Swift 3 jumps), so for what it's worth...

I have a Chutingstar mudflap mount, with digipouch. That houses my Alti2 Atlas. I have Viso 2 on my hand.

It works great for the most part. Alti2 tends to go into canopy mode when you are wingsuiting. I never look at my wrist alti while in flight. Biggest problem is somewhat of a glare from digipouch plastic cover. But I am yet to have any difficulty reading it.

My container is not the very best fit. So under canopy, I cannot see my mudflap alti. I rely solely on wrist-mounted Viso 2.

I also own Dekunu One, but it's somewhat useless until they finally release the WS mount.

Chutingstar mudflap mount may look confusing as hell in the beginning. However, after you mount it, it works well. Great for freefly as well. Definitely a good investment.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Obviously my project isn't a commercial one, but I am using augmented reality glasses and sensors and a Micro Controller Unit to display altitude information (among other data) visually in front of my eyes in a Heads Up Display (like fighter pilots use).

What I found really cool about using this system is that I have the altitudes color coded so that in addition to seeing the numeric readout, I have the numbers in Green, Yellow, Or Red depending on the altitude range.

One day, helmets will have visors that have this set up or something similar, to eliminate having to wear wrist mounts or chest mounts.

IMG_2812 (1).jpeg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Okanagan_Jumper

Obviously my project isn't a commercial one, but I am using augmented reality glasses and sensors and a Micro Controller Unit to display altitude information (among other data) visually in front of my eyes in a Heads Up Display (like fighter pilots use).

What I found really cool about using this system is that I have the altitudes color coded so that in addition to seeing the numeric readout, I have the numbers in Green, Yellow, Or Red depending on the altitude range.

One day, helmets will have visors that have this set up or something similar, to eliminate having to wear wrist mounts or chest mounts.



I'm trying to make a ~$50 HUD out of Moto 360 Sport smartwatch and simple PVC tubing, just need to find my Dremel somewhere:

[inline 20180908_162038.jpg]

[inline 20180908_163741.jpg]

[inline 20180908_164004.jpg]

I hope in the near future we'll see cheap Google Glass-like eye projectors that simply mirror the smartphone's screen into the eye, i.e. without its own CPU, like the expensive and bulky Microsoft Hololens or Epson Moverio - just receive video by adhoc WiFi (or even cable) and project it into the eye via a small display and an ocular. Then it's all about specialized software that we can write for wingsuiting or general skydiving.
Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps:
L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP
iOS only: L/D Magic
Windows only: WS Studio

20180908_162038.jpg

20180908_164004.jpg

20180908_163741.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I tried so many things. I now have a cupboard full of things I don't need.

But I agree, all we need is something that projects/replicates the screen of the phone.

I just received my second Moverio (minus the control module), in order to experiment with different set ups. One problem is getting the right combination of sunlight filter to correct for bright sunlight. Making it too dark, prevents one from easily seeing other skydiving traffic.

I also plan to try out a LoRa transceiver that will transmit altitude and coordinates of another skydiver, so that when I am within 1 km or so, my device will give me bearing, distance, and altitude of the other skydiver. A version of what is called ADS-B in civil aviation.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Found this on alibaba:

[inline SimpleAR.jpg]

Basically, just a smartphone holder with a couple of mirrors to obtain upright image and move the focal plane to comfortable distance. For a smartwatch, can be much more compact then this, and voila! - cheap HUD which achieves exactly what we want - just show the screen with a custom Android/Wear app.

Edit: LOL, in the picture she forgot to put the phone in the clip on the top left.

Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps:
L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP
iOS only: L/D Magic
Windows only: WS Studio

SimpleAR.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
just try and find yourself an N3a.
set it to countdown. you'll get audible alerts every 1000 feet.
it actually talks to you. ten thousand feet, nine thousand feet, etc
you can even record your own .wav sounds for it to play if you want.
there is no better option.
Flock University FWC / ZFlock
B.A.S.E. 1580
Aussie BASE 121

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

https://www.crystalfontz.com/product/cfal12856a00151b-128x56-transparent-oled-screen

https://circuitdigest.com/microcontroller-projects/build-an-arduino-smart-watch-by-interfacing-oled-display-with-android-phone

A smartwatch, an arduino unit, a bluetooth controller, and some custom software to interface to the tiny transparent OLED screen.......

I wonder if depending on bluetooth during a skydive would be feasible, especially if you could house all the actual hardware inside a small box mounted on the outside of your helmet, which routes to the OLED screen inside your visor.......

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 10/3/2018 at 7:45 PM, roostnureye said:

just try and find yourself an N3a.
set it to countdown. you'll get audible alerts every 1000 feet.
it actually talks to you. ten thousand feet, nine thousand feet, etc
you can even record your own .wav sounds for it to play if you want.
there is no better option.

Flock University FWC / ZFlock
B.A.S.E. 1580
Aussie BASE 121

oh, i don't know about that.  i just got an aon2 brilliant pebbles and it has 20 programmable alarms on it that you can set to count down every 1000 ft and it only cost $100.  You have to program it with a computer or smartphone app but hey, for that price, i can get 3 and have them all pre-programmed.  of course i would rather just use the phone, but then i am also into making my own altimeter/logbook that will record all sorts of data on each jump.  i one were to make a wrist mounted altimeter using a raspberry pi with a gps module, you could have it sending an output to google glass i think. 

while the n3a sounds really cool, having a personal hud system that not only is an altimeter and logbook is awesome. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 10/30/2019 at 6:18 PM, sfzombie said:

oh, i don't know about that.  i just got an aon2 brilliant pebbles and it has 20 programmable alarms on it that you can set to count down every 1000 ft and it only cost $100.  You have to program it with a computer or smartphone app but hey, for that price, i can get 3 and have them all pre-programmed.  of course i would rather just use the phone, but then i am also into making my own altimeter/logbook that will record all sorts of data on each jump.  i one were to make a wrist mounted altimeter using a raspberry pi with a gps module, you could have it sending an output to google glass i think. 

while the n3a sounds really cool, having a personal hud system that not only is an altimeter and logbook is awesome. 

let me know when you get this "personal hud system" to market. the AON pebble is far from that

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0