adible alitmeters

[paddyFrenchman 0]

Hi all,
I have been jumping an audible altimeter for about six months now. I don't trust them for the simple reason that I have problems hearing mine when it goes off...
Anybody else out there having the same problem and a solution ?
cheers,
Paddy.

[mountainman 0]

I remember reading about this several months ago on here. Here is what I remember:
It depends on your helmet type, but you may be able to tape up (or another method) some places that allow wind to get in and drownout your audible. I thought they were talking about tape.
Also, I think they said that they would make the area bigger for the sound to travel in the helmet. That would just be so the sound doesn't get blocked by the helmet itself.
That's all I remember.....--------------
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[skybytch 259]

What brand? Some are louder than others. The type of helmet, mounting location and location of your ears on your head (really!) may have something to do with it too - put your helmet on; is the audible directly over your ear?
I've not heard the first alert a couple times, once with a Skytronic Pro and once with a Pro Track. Both dives were larger RW and I was seriously overamping as they were some of the biggest jumps I'd done. I think in both cases the audible beeped at me, I was just so wrapped up in the skydive that I didn't hear it. Both times I heard the second alert (easy to tell with the ProTrack - it has different tones for each alert).
It's a good idea to not trust an audible or your visual alti (or a Cypres, for that matter). They are backups to your primary altitude awareness devices - your eyes and brain.
pull and flare,
lisa
----
I am a nobody.
Nobody's perfect.
Therefore, I am perfect!

[Zennie 0]

Quote

It depends on your helmet type, but you may be able to tape up (or another method) some places that allow wind to get in and drownout your audible. I thought they were talking about tape.

When I first started out I had mine mounted inside a ProTec and had problems hearing it, so I taped up all the holes with duct tape and it helped immensely.
Now it's mounted on a Z1 and I have no problems hearing it.
------------
Blue Skies!
Zennie

[NewGuy 0]

Glad you posted this one...
This weekend I borrowed a friend's brain bucket (a Gath) complete with audiable alti. He hears the alti on overy jump. I did 6 solo jumps - nothing fancy, just waiting between 5 and 4K, *watching* my dial with anticipation to hear the 4.5K alert. Couldn't hear a thing. Being a newbie, my friends thought it was an awareness thing. I'm very doubtful of that, but who knows, I am a new guy after all.
We taped some foam around the rim of the helmet to stop any air flow from comming in, around the 3rd try. Still nothing. I suspect it is the noise that drowns out the alti and maybe it's due to the fit of the helmet that lets air in even with modifications. As well, I have troubles distinguishing sounds when there is above average background noise.
It remains a mystery to me. I won't be pumping any $$ into an helmet or Audiable until I can find a good combination (or that awareness kicks in!)
Don't know if this helps, but I had to share it...
Cheers,
NewGuy

[paddyFrenchman 0]

thanks all,
that really helps. I just realise how important the combination Helemet - Audible is. Right now my Dytter is mounted in a pro-teck helmet and the wind can come in from everywhere. I'll try to tape it and see how it goes...
Cheers,
Paddy.

[RemiAndKaren 0]

Paddy,
is it a Dytter or a Pro-Dytter ?
The Dytter worked for ever on a set of batteries, but the volume of the beeps went downhill with older batteries....

[paddyFrenchman 0]

It's a Pro-Dytter. I also heard that there are different possible settings for the volume. (maybe that's only on the Pro-Track). Any idea How often you should change the batteries ? Final Question : Anybody out there jumping without visual Alti ?? Question directed to FreeFlyers, I found it quite tricky to look at my alti in sit or stand up so I want to be able to rely (to a ceratin extent) on my Audible. Should I get a second one ?
thanks,
Paddy.

[PhreeZone 15]

I've got a hand full of jumps with no visual altimeter. I have found that i thought I was lower then I actually was. I have used my audible for a backup for ~100 stratight jumps and it works nicely. When you say you cant see your Altimeter in a sit or stand then you should work on flying stable with your arms in front of you. One of the things I learned at SDC Freefly camp is that you should be able to take grips in front of you before you start flying with more then 3 people. If you cant move your arm 5-6 inches to get a clear look at your alti then do a few jumps where thats all you do. The best altimeter you have are the two things located on either side of your nose. I had my ProTrack batteries go dead on me in the middle of a jump last weekend. I was'nt bothered since i could see my alti and the ground. it was nice not to hear the stupid BEEP BEEP at 5000 feet. I am replacing the batteries since you never can have too many backup systems My $00.02
Do I HAVE to do another raft dive???

• Quote

[khtov 0]

As I know in Dytter family only Pro-Track has volume setting possibility.
I jump RW without visual altimeter. And Pro-Dytter sounds in my Oxygen helmet loud and clear.
I also have an N-vertigo helmet and I had to enlarge the sound passage area and used some tape to close the holes the wind blows in, because before that the sound was barely audible.
Safe swoops,
Andrew

[DanG 1]

Although I know people who jump without a visual altimeter, I'm not so sure it is always a good idea. My Skydive U Instructor told me a story about one of the European national eight-way teams which used a particular brand of audible (I don't know which one), and no visual altimeters. On a particular training jump they were forced to do a number of go-arounds due to traffic. Because they were at 13,000 ft. for a specified time (8-10 minutes), every single one of their audible altimeters reset itself to 13,000 ft. as ground level. The jump apparently resulted in several AAD fires.
The same coach (who does not use a visual altimeter, but always carries two or three different audibles of different brands) also admits that a visual altimeter is a nice thing to have in case of a malfunction, and a very nice thing to have in case of a collision/wrap.
Think about all the possible scenarios you might encounter when deciding to remove any piece of safety equipment from your gear.
- Dan G