Random questions from reading the forums...

[ntrprnr 0]

OK... Was bored this morning, so was reading a bunch of the forum posts from 2002 onward. My God, what a time-sucker...

Anyhow... Some questions that came to mind....

1) Someone mentioned doing a high-altitude hop-and-pop and taking a camcorder up to videotape the views. Doable? If so, how would one store it? Jumpsuit? I suppose I could wear my cargo pants, and I have a Sony PC-1000, small enough to put in the leg pockets... I think this would also be awesome to do on a cross country... I'd think, if I put it away long before I was getting ready to do my landing checks, and such, that it wouldn't be dangerous. Would it? Obviously, at 111 jumps, I'm not sitting there wearing a camera-helmet and the like, but I'd think under canopy, it would be safe... At least for a few thousand feet...

2) Someone posted that they pulled low once and "could feel the cypres arming." Is that accurate? Could one feel the cypres arming? Say, during a snivel, right before opening? I can't imagine you'd feel it at terminal, would you?

3) Doing a cross country with a GPS - Could you simply, say, on a Garmin handheld, mark the DZ as a waypoint, get under canopy, turn it on, and follow it home? It seems so simple that I'd most likely fuck it up.

4) Was reading where someone was under canopy on a CC and pulled out his cell phone to call a friend just so he could say "Yeah, not much, just hanging around." My take, based on how much I fly commercially, is that at 10k feet, you'd be lucky to get one cell phone signal for a few seconds, let alone signals that would actually work for a while. Any smarter people than me to give this a thought? (It's also one of the bigger 9/11 conspiracy theories, that mobiles wouldn't work that high up, but I'm SO not getting into that.)

5) Rounds... They seem pretty exciting - as a still-relative newbie, how does one get their hands on jumping a round? I'd love to try it just for the sake of saying I did it. And for the photos.

I'm sure I have a million more from reading, but those were the first ones to enter my mind.

Thanks, y'all...


-Peter

_______________
"Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?"
"Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."

[Scoop 0]

Erm, I don't believe a Cypres has to arm. If it meets the parameters it fires and cuts the loop. Simple as that, its not clockwork or anything

[sd-slider 0]

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Someone mentioned doing a high-altitude hop-and-pop and taking a camcorder up to videotape the views.

Borrow/buy a helmet for the PC1000 and jump that.

From a hop-n-pop perspective, the majority of the issues related to flying camera are non-existent since you are taking your time and will most likely have a slower, less jerky opening at that point(barring riser slap/entanglement). Set it, and forget it! (crawling under desk to avoid onslaught from %random_dzcom_skygod%)

That's what I would do. Of course, I grew up in the back woods of Ohio and think that possum tastes good!
.
.

Anvil Brother #69

Sidelined with a 5mm C5-C6 herniated disk...
Back2Back slammers and 40yr old fat guys don't mix!

[NickDG 23]

1. X-country with Video – Go for it. Put the camera inside your jumpsuit for the Hop & Pop the pull it out after deploying. If you use a camera strap put it on your weak hand. If you don't use a strap borrow a camera. Steer the canopy with your legs ala weight shift. Take long and steady shots figuring you are going to edit it later. Point the camera at yourself as the ground is going to be a long way away and not very interesting at first. Hold the camera up over your head and shoot down, put your feet out in front of you with the ground in the background and shoot them (works best if you wrote something witty on your new white sneakers). If there are other aircraft going up stay off the wind line or whatever jump run they are using, but stay way upwind. While videoing resist the urge to narrate. You can add that and music later, but nothing ruins a good shot like, "Oh wow, this is so f-ing cool!"

2. Talking Cypres - A Cypres does pop when it fires its cutter. People can hear that pop if they are under mains after snivelers or low pulls. I doubt you'd hear it in freefall. If you meant hearing something prior to that - there is nothing.

3. GPS – The military does it. I knew a fellow who built the boards they wore to mount the devices. Sometimes called HAHO (High Alt Hi Open) putting a team out above twenty thousand (sometimes way-above that) they can penetrate another countries airspace without the aircraft having to do so. Oh, and they do it at night.

4. Can you Hear me Now – Cell phone, I know they work in Cessna's at low cruising altitudes.

5. Round is Sound – The simplest and most elegant way is a static line gut gear T-10 jump. It's the way we taught thousands and thousands of first jump students. I know a guy here in Southern California who has a loft full of airworthy round stuff. PM if you want his number.

Hey I just thought of something- why not combine all the above into one jump. The rounds have Sentinel AADs and they use 22-caliber blank rounds to blow the reserve ripcord out. You'll hear that one. The GPS won't help but at least you'll know where you landed, and you can video it. And this is where the cell phone comes in . . .

NickD BASE 194

[packerboy 3]

Static line a T-10 at 20K feet with a cell phone in one hand a camcorder in the other. plus a GPS in your pocket (not much point looking at it when you can't really steer). hmm... I'd take a beer in camcorder hand and try to find someone with a shoe-vu mount...

--------------------------------------------------
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

[tombuch 0]

Most large drop zones have a few old timers who still have rounds. Your profile says you are jumping at The Ranch...go by the school and ask for Gino, or stop in the ProShop and ask Sonic who has rounds available to play with. It will take a bit of training, but they are fun, and are worth trying.
.

Tom Buchanan
Instructor Emeritus
Comm Pilot MSEL,G
Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

[mjosparky 3]

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Erm, I don't believe a Cypres has to arm. If it meets the parameters it fires and cuts the loop. Simple as that, its not clockwork or anything

RTFM

7.1 Important notes for jump pilots

• A Student or Expert CYPRES will not work if the aircraft is exited before it reaches
1500 feet (450m) above the height at which the jumper intends to land. In case of a
Tandem CYPRES 3000 feet (900m) has to be reached. Once the aircraft has climbed
through that altitude and CYPRES has become fully operational it will work for any
exit height.

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[sunshine 2]

I had a boyfriend (he's an ex now) that called me from under canopy just to say hi. It was cool as hell.

___________________________________________
meow

I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug!

[MB38 0]

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I had a boyfriend (he's an ex now) that called me from under canopy just to say hi. It was cool as hell.

I had the opposite happen today: I got a call while under canopy. I've found I don't get reception above about 7,000 feet, though.

I really don't know what I'm talking about.

[billvon 2,476]

>1) Someone mentioned doing a high-altitude hop-and-pop and taking a
>camcorder up to videotape the views. Doable?

Yes. Do a few H+P's first to get used to them, then stick a camcorder in a fanny pack. Do NOT tie it to your hand; too many things to snag on and then you'd have to land one handed. If you must tie it to something tie it to the fanny pack.

>2) Someone posted that they pulled low once and "could feel the cypres
>arming." Is that accurate? Could one feel the cypres arming?

You cannot feel it arm. You can feel it fire sometimes, even if the PC does not launch.

>3) Doing a cross country with a GPS - Could you simply, say, on a
>Garmin handheld, mark the DZ as a waypoint, get under canopy, turn it
>on, and follow it home?

Yes. However:

1) If you can't see the DZ or the surrounding area before you exit on a cross country - DON'T GET OUT! Parachuting is not an IFR activity.

2) Even a warm start will take ~30sec to acquire, unless you stick it out the door for a while before exit (or have it near a window or something.)

3) Navigating via GPS is not as simple as it sounds. You have the heading vs course difference, the issue with how the GPS determines your course (it doesn't use a compass.)

But it will give you a general direction.

>4) Was reading where someone was under canopy on a CC and pulled
>out his cell phone to call a friend just so he could say "Yeah, not much,
>just hanging around."

Depends on altitude, distance to cellsite, type of phone etc. During our testing, phones spontaneously picked up base stations very often at 5000 feet (even from inside aircraft) and occasionally at 10,000 feet.

>5) Rounds... They seem pretty exciting - as a still-relative newbie, how
> does one get their hands on jumping a round?

Ask around. Many jumpers have old rounds that they are willing to loan you (probably will even help you pack it!)

[popsjumper 2]

Quote

...
5) Rounds... They seem pretty exciting - as a still-relative newbie, how does one get their hands on jumping a round? I'd love to try it just for the sake of saying I did it. And for the photos.

If you're going to go with a T10, practice your PLF skill and get it down pat...you're going to need it.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[hongkongluna 0]

Do they do x-country jumps at the Ranch ??

-Rainier

Sparks Brother #1 // "I vaguely heard someone yell "wait!" but by that point i was out the door." Quote from dz.com somewhere

[Scoop 0]

Yeah sorry, I know it has to turn itself on but it doesn't have to warm up or anything before it fires. Thats the point I was trying to make. Cheers for making it crystal clear

[kelpdiver 2]

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4) Was reading where someone was under canopy on a CC and pulled out his cell phone to call a friend just so he could say "Yeah, not much, just hanging around." My take, based on how much I fly commercially, is that at 10k feet, you'd be lucky to get one cell phone signal for a few seconds, let alone signals that would actually work for a while.

Cell phones work perfectly well 10,000ft up the face of Shasta. Or 15,000 feet up the face of Denali, which is a good distance from civilization.

[ntrprnr 0]

Guys - as always, thanks so much for all the informative answers! Psyched to try them all out!!

_______________
"Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?"
"Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."

[Mr17Hz 1]

About Cellphones:

A single cellphone tower has the capability of a 15 mile range, sometimes longer. However towers are rarely set to transmit this powerfully, it has to do with how populated of an area you're in. If you're in a more populated area you're more likely to have a bunch of towers in the area covering around a 2.5 mile range, sometimes even less.

Under canopy you have an advantage in that you probably have a PERFECT line of sight path to the transmitter, no buildings or trees or other objects in the way.

Inside a plane would be a little more difficult because of it's shape, as well as verious electronic noise directly around you - you would need a stronger signal to keep a carrier.

That being said, many cellphone towers use directional antennas that cover about a 20 degree cone... pointed parallel to the ground. Towers that expect a higher call volume or are on very flat land are more likely to use 5 of these 20% antennas..

Based on all these things, but not having tried it, I would say that at most dropzones you've got a pretty good chance of being able to make a call: however it would be less likely if the dropzone was in a populated area or if it was on very flat land.

Matt Christenson

[email protected]
http://www.RealDropzone.com - A new breed of dropzone manifest software.

[GrumpySmurf 0]

One ride at altitude, I managed to get coverage from a US cell site, while still on the Canadian side. Once down on the ground, my phone had a text message from Cingular saying, 'Welcome to the network' - cost me one of my alloted TM's for the month

[Eule 0]

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3) Doing a cross country with a GPS - Could you simply, say, on a Garmin handheld, mark the DZ as a waypoint, get under canopy, turn it on, and follow it home?

If you have something like a big state park near you, you might be able to try this out on the ground. Mark the parking lot as the waypoint, then stick the GPS in your pocket and don't look at it. Hike a mile or two away, then pull out the GPS and try to navigate back to the "home" waypoint. Of course this is easier because you have a defined path to follow, but it might help show you what the display on the screen looks like relative to which direction you are walking.

Like Billvon said, the GPS may or may not get a good signal on the ride up in the airplane. Having it somewhere where it can see lots of the sky is good. Note that plastic airplane windows should also be transparent to the GPS, but aluminum is most definitely not. If you can't arrange for a good sky view from the passenger space, you might talk to the pilot and see if he will put it on top of the glare shield for you (or similar) on the ride up, then hand it back when you're ready to exit.

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4) Was reading where someone was under canopy on a CC and pulled out his cell phone to call a friend just so he could say "Yeah, not much, just hanging around."

From listening to general aviation pilots, the consensus seems to be that below around 4000-5000' AGL or so, you have a decent shot at getting a signal. Above that it gets spotty. These particular pilots are mostly flying airplanes quite a bit like the canonical 182 jump plane. Some of them have said that when AMPS (analog cellular) first became popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it seemed to be easier to get a signal while airborne, but as AMPS evolved and the various digital services came along, it got harder. Some of them cited the same directional antennae at the cell sites that Mr17Hz mentioned. I can guarantee, though, that Billvon knows more about this than anyone else in this thread.

I have a ham radio license and someday I want to try a similar stunt. Version 0 is to take a hand-held radio with me and see how far I can talk; version 1 is to take a small repeater up with me and see how far two other people on the ground can talk if they each bounce their signal off of me.

Eule

PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.