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is buying a protrack a good idea?

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500 feet lower, and you are 3 seconds closer to death.



3 seconds closer to the ground maybe...death, hopefully training has been sufficient. but i agree setting the "last" audible 500' low is not good, but a personal choice in any event.
--Richard--
"We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

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One more thing...

I bet conversations just like this happened with Visual Alti's years ago.

Now you would be....and I have been, yelled at for not wearing a visual Alti.

Now I have an Alti III I think the best on the market.
I really never look at it, unless I am working with students or tandems.

I know when to break off...I feel it, and can see it.

I know when to deploy....when I am away from everyone.

I know when to chop....When I look up and say
"OH, Shit, I bet I can't land this!"

After my canopy is open I don't look at it....I don't just wait for my Pro Track to go off either.

Oh well.
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

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I know when to deploy....when I am away from everyone


What about if you're quite close to someone screaming though 2000 feet? Still close at 1500?
-----------------------------------
It's like something out of that twilighty show about that zone

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What about if you're quite close to someone screaming though 2000 feet? Still close at 1500?



we'd have to "wake up Leroy" cause he ain't never seen a wreck like we fixing to have! :)
--Richard--
"We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

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Iam I higher or lower?

2000 feet.
Higher I clear above and pull.
Lower I track slightly away for the other person, and go till I can pull and not kill either of us.

1500 feet.
Higher...see above
Lower...see above, I just don't wait as long...

I have pulled at 1200 on some big ways with people all around me. At some point you just have to pull.

I try to turn my canopy away from the other jumper as it is opening.

This is one reason I don't do Big ways anymore.
I have a few 100 plus ways under my belt, I just don't enjoy them. I see it as 99 other jumpers that are set on killing me. I don't think they are unsafe, but they are a higher risk. The risk/reward ratio is to small for me to do them.
Did them, have the T shirt.

I also don't BASE anymore....I did 2...I thought "Well, there has to be more than this" then I did one more and thought "Nope".

For what its worth, I don't do Aerobatics low anymore either. A loop at 1000 feet is as cool as 300 feet.

Maybe Im just OLD?

Ron
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

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Maybe Im just OLD?



being safe like you are will allow you to grow older. i'll be 44 next month, i've been skydiving now for 3 years, i've already seen 6 of the people i originally trained with die. sad, but true. and i myself almost made a fatal canopy selection about 6 months ago, if not for the intervention of a good friend/ ex-divemaster (throughout my training) i really respect, i wouldn't be here now. i concur with your frame of mind. take care.
--Richard--
"We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

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Looks like you've got good solid advice here, and the right frame of mind when it comes to altitude awareness. I love my pro-track. The freefall computer feature is a great bonus - good for when there's a question of fall rate, logging top speeds on fast dives, and/or if you neglect your logbook as I do. I've also found it to be more accurate than my wristmount Alti3.
Howdy Hoooo!

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really? ive found that my protrac reads consistantly high compared to my wrist alti, not that i think thats a bad thing, but ive compared it to others altis as well. "watch your alti and break off at 5" and my protrac always goes off first.
____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

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....why not just use the damn thing?



As is the case with most other things ... a matter of personal choice. In my case, I had a few instances of losing alti awareness, and using it as an alarm seemed to me a bad idea ... I wanted to feel comfortable with myself that I was making frequent checks of my altimeter. As stated by yourself and others ... it IS a backup .. and ONLY that. I have to admit tho, that I also see the NEED for a backup now ... a borrowed Altimaster showed me at 0 right after I opened (based on other's info, I think I was actually at about 3400) - it SAID I was at 4000' when I threw out ... but I have to wonder about that now ... LOL! It's moving to a helmet mount shortly. As for your "use your eyes" ... another thing that most of those with low numbers are likely not comfortable with ... tho I do feel like I'm getting much better at the visual judgement.
As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

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Talking about failures of mechanical altimeters … I accidentally dropped my Alti-II on concrete from 2ft last weekend. After that it still works but there is ~300-400 ft error. I also noticed that it doesn’t move smoothly in freefall. Is there a chance to fix this or re-calibrate?

Thanks in advance

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i'll totally second Bill's comment....DONT' GET TOO RELIANT ON YOUR AUDIBLE....compare it with your visual and pull at your preplanned altitude!!!!

sometimes, when i'm freeflying, I DON'T EVEN HEAR MINE as i am distracted and concentrating on my maneuvers.

blue ones!
"dude, where's my main?"

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After that it still works but there is ~300-400 ft error. I also noticed that it doesn’t move smoothly in freefall. Is there a chance to fix this or re-calibrate?



Absolutely. Send it to:

Alti-2 Incorporated
1400 Flightline Blvd, Suite E
Deland, Florida 32724

...Bigun

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really? ive found that my protrac reads consistantly high compared to my wrist alti, not that i think thats a bad thing, but ive compared it to others altis as well. "watch your alti and break off at 5" and my protrac always goes off first.



Yep....I've actually set my protrack 500' lower so that it beeps when I actually want it to. Set it for 3000' and it usually beeps at 3500'.

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