voodew1 0 #1 January 20, 2004 Just wanted to know what failure rate of the Neptunes are and if anyone is happy or unhappy with the product. I have had 2 of them arrive and not work out of the box. As of right now Alti-2 has been taking care of the problem and even threw in a new t-shirt but the sad part is that I have never even got to jump with one which is a bummer as it was a Christmas present! The pimp hand is powdered up ... say something stupid Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jumperconway 0 #2 January 20, 2004 Get a Pro-Track and a Digitude and tell my sweetheart to get you some decent shit! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
voodew1 0 #3 January 20, 2004 I have 2 protracks the jumptrack software and 1 digitude. I wanted the neptune because the protrack stops counting freefall at 119sec and I am getting more time than that with the wingsuit, plus I just like cool shit! The pimp hand is powdered up ... say something stupid Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
voodew1 0 #4 January 20, 2004 By the way your sweetheart and my wife said that your comment was not nice!! The pimp hand is powdered up ... say something stupid Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jumperconway 0 #5 January 20, 2004 That's funny because my protrack registered 138 seconds from 8500'. Tell your wife that I love her Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
voodew1 0 #6 January 20, 2004 It must be those old eyes a protrack will only read 119sec evryone knows that! one word BIFOCALS The pimp hand is powdered up ... say something stupid Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sash 0 #7 January 20, 2004 I don't have to many jumps but half of them i made with neptune. I realy like the product. And few other people that used they liked it too. The only problem with it was that when you front riser for a while that the freefall time was getting overwritten so you end up having 90s. delays from 9500. but if you have version 1.17 that that problem is fixed. And the other thing my display got a bit darker on top right corner i called alti-2 and they send me a new one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
voodew1 0 #8 January 20, 2004 Not sure what the first version was but the 2nd was version2.0.18 Heard from the Alti-2 people and they promised I would have another one by the weekend. Their customer service has been great now if I could just get a working neptune The pimp hand is powdered up ... say something stupid Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elfanie 0 #9 January 20, 2004 I just got a neptune this past weekend..so I've only done 10 jumps on it so far.. but I LOVE it...I think it's great. =) -------------------------------------------- Elfanie My Skydiving Page Fly Safe - Soft Landings Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sash 0 #10 January 20, 2004 if you go to this link http://www.alti-2.com/neptune_version_history.htm it will tell you what changes they made and in what version. If you want to know what version you have go on your neptune to system, then modes, then demo, and it will show you what release you have Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZoneRat 0 #11 January 20, 2004 I dunno. The idea that you can download updates on an alt/ logbook just seems counter-intuitive to me. It's a finite thing. Jump out. Fall/ fly a while. Deploy. One would think they'd get things perfectly right before initial product launch. What is it? Windows based? When it comes to skydiving new things, I personally prefer to let others test stuff out for a year or two before I jump in. Then again... if I could play Tetris on it on way to altitude... I'd get one tomorrow! (and then jump it on my wrist with my protrack in my ear).“There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.” Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #12 January 20, 2004 That's odd, since at Aggieland Todd has sold 8 of them and has only had one (his, strangely enough) have any problems. That was found when he tried to IR the update, found out that the IR port on the Neptune was bad. They sent him a new one and it is working.--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DShiznit 0 #13 January 20, 2004 Mine works just peachy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paige 0 #14 January 20, 2004 Love it, works great!Tunnel Pink Mafia Delegate www.TunnelPinkMafia.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GraficO 0 #15 January 20, 2004 hell I bought 2 at WFFC and they arrived without ANY software installed on them at all... had to be sent back and I got them 3 weeks after I got back home. Needless to say I got rid of them... I wasn't pleased at all... the really fun part is when I got a bill for shipping them to me at home. Reluctantly I paid it as it was in no way shape or form Aerostore's fault. Been thinking about sending Alti-2 the bill for the shipping... comments? GraficOGraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GravityGirl 0 #16 January 20, 2004 So far I'm batting 1000. I haven't had any returns yet. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dumpster 0 #17 January 20, 2004 I don't own a Neptune but I think I've heard many more problem stories than not. One of our gear dealers at the DZ has several on-hand, but I think I'd rather go with a Pro-Track and a Digi, at least until I hear many people extolling the virtures of the Neptune with complaints and concerns being few and far between. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EDYDO 0 #18 January 20, 2004 I just bought one and have zero jumps on it. I am planning to continue to use my pro-track as an audible and the neptune on my glove. I picked it up in person at Alti and the people were great. They scrounged around until they found one in black and then put the latest software on it while I waited. Ed Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ianmdrennan 2 #19 January 20, 2004 I've been extremely happy with mine (including the spectacular customer service). I've put a couple hundred jumps on them with only one backlight issue (which I now suspect was battery related). As for performance landings overwriting jumps, that has LONG since been fixed in the new software. To the best of my knowledge there are no/extremely few outstanding issues in the software. Blue skies IanPerformance Designs Factory Team Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luv2Fall 0 #20 January 20, 2004 I'm happy with mine also. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
voodew1 0 #21 January 20, 2004 After talking with a concerned group at Alti-2 they are shipping me a new one. The 2nd one I got was the same one that they coldn't find anything wrong with at the factory. They seem to have customer service in mind and have been very helpful with my problems. They also threw in a few goodies for my troubles. I am happy so far! The pimp hand is powdered up ... say something stupid Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tinfoil 0 #22 January 20, 2004 Put about 40 jumps on my Neptune at ZHills, and I love it! That being saif, about a week ago I sent it back to Alti-2 because the IR port seemed to have died. But I still think its a good product. “- - Sumo is the greatest of sports. It has power, grace, speed and cluture. And most importantly, two fat bastards smacking the shit out of each other. ” Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cornholio 0 #23 January 21, 2004 I put about 20 jumps on mine in Eloy and have had no major problems with it. I say no major problems, but there are a few things that bother me about it. For one, the temperature is way off base. For the most part, I think it reads about 10-15 degrees too high. It seems pretty consistent in the temperature readings, so I think it just needs to be calibrated. The second bothersome thing is the updating process. I had tried two different laptops before figuring out that turning off "Image transfer" in the IR properties would fix this problem. Again, not a big deal, but it should be documented better. I also had a weird experience in Eloy. I was on the skyvan and there was a minor problem with opening the door, so the pilot decided to land at 5000 feet. The Neptune recorded that as a jump from 5000 feet with like 90 seconds of freefall. Also when we landed the altitude said -80 feet. That's a little disturbing, but not something that would affect a normal skydive, or it hasn't yet. I've also noticed that on jump run the Neptune would switch back and forth betwen freefall mode and climbing mode, so I think the sensitivity is good, but it shouldn't show the user unless there is a dramatic decrease in altitude. Overall, I love it as a second altimiter that replaces my Galaxy hand mount. I think it's well worth the extra money over the digitude, but would have to say the Pro-Track is just more accurate at this point. I have both, and the speeds are about the same, but just little things are different. I think that all the life-threatening issues have been fixed and now it's just a matter of fine tuning the asthetics and minor issues. I really don't need a temperature meter, but it's one of those neato things that would be cool if it worked right. I sometimes want to know how cold it was at altitude. With the new 2.0.18 code, it seems to clean up the menu navigation a bit especially the logbook feature, and I hear it works with the JumpTrack software, which I have not used yet, nor jumped with the new software yet. I'd buy another one and would recommend them to others. And I got mine from Santa! Butthead: Whoa! Burritos for breakfast! Beavis: Yeah! Yeah! Cool! bellyflier on the dz.com hybrid record jump Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sash 0 #24 January 21, 2004 i think that the temperature option is useless. I'm pretty sure every dropzone has a thermometre. And if somebody is at the altitude not too many people will land with a plane just because their neptune shows temperature lower that they expected. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cajones 0 #25 January 21, 2004 I've been closely watching the Neptunes we have around Elsinore. I have talked to Alti-2 about some of the problems and they seem to really have most of the kinks worked out. The changing of modes is usually due to descending jump runs, even slightly during a hop-and-pop pass, for example, or a go-around. The alti thinks this is an exit. To make it sensitive enough for wingsuit jumps, aircraft descent can easily be interpreted as an exit. When it decides an exit has not taken place it switches back. Sometimes it doesn't make that decision, and that can account for some of the log entries being a bit confused. Some other symptoms you may see... If your altimeter appears to be climbing while sitting on the ground it's heating up the sensor inside the sealed unit. Usually caused by laying it in direct sunlight, this symptom quickly disappears when the internal/external temperature stabilize. If you are in the Elsinore area, bring your Neptune to me and I'll update your firmware. The updates definitely seem to be helping... - Cajones The laws of physics are strictly enforced. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites