tommy

Bob is Jack's uncle. He was one of my AFF instructors 11+yrs ago @ Hartwood. I believe he still lives off the end of the runway at Hartwood.

Lucky b@stard! :) Glad you had a good time. Defenders are kickass trucks. Unfortunately, there are so few in the US. A used '97 D90 or D110 with 80k+ miles can set you back $35k+ here. It's obscene! In 2007 (I think), LRNA is supposed to have some new Defenders available in the US. I've got a 2001 Discovery II and an 88 Range Rover for now.... But I dream of one day owning a Defender. ha!! -Tommy

I definately wouldn't throw out the Vinyl!!!!! Go to your local book store (Waldenbooks, Barnes and Noble,etc) and look for a weekly published magazine called Goldmine, by Krause Publications. It looks like a big newspaper. It's geared toward the music collector. You'll find tons of folks in there, both dealers & private collectors, who'll buy your stuff. You can also browse the mag and see what some of your albums might be worth. -Tommy

I'd also say to get a good alarm with a microwave sensor. About 11 yrs ago, I owned a '91 sunbird convertible, which I parked outside my parents house when visiting them for Xmas. They live in a really nice neighborhood, btw. Someone cut my top open with a knife on Xmas eve, and the microwave sensor triggered the alarm, and the idiots bolted. (And I had to duct tape the top to keep the snow out until an upholstry shop could put a new top on!) My current convertible, which I've had since '95 is a 1993 Nissan 240sx. I've got the same type of alarm with microwave sensor installed. One 'plus' about 'sports cars' and other ones which are low to the ground, at least as far as alarms go, is that someone can't just crawl underneath to clip cables. My brother had a Jeep Wrangler, with several grand worth of stereo stuff in it, and he had a full blown alarm. The thiefs just crawled underneath, and snipped every wire they could snip, disabling the alarm and the Jeep. Although alarms won't keep someone out who really wants to break into your car, that flashing light and warning chirps might make someone think twice... and it just might save you your insurance deductible. Cya! -Tommy

TSO is awesome!! I work in the music business, and am very good friends with the guys in TSO & Savatage. (You can even see my name in the thank you's in many of their CD's.) Those guys are such awesome musicians. I can't wait - I'm going to be catching the show in 2 weeks!! TSO was born from the Savatage "Dead Winter Dead" song "Sarajevo 12/24". Paul O'Neill , Bob Kinkel and Jon Oliva saw the huge response & AOR radio play, and ran with it. Bob even tours with the East Coast TSO band. I'm 31, and my PARENTS (late 50's) love the TSO shows. My dad thought Alex Skolnick (former Testament founder & Savatage member for Edge of Thorns) was incredible. My dad's already started asking me, 'how many TSO passes can you get me.' :) Cya... -Tommy

I shot video for a guy who made up a cardboard sign. It acted as a nice rudder... took a bit to get it perfectly straight so he'd fall straight, vs me chasing him all over the sky. :)

Hey there. I've still got my old PC1 batteries and chargers packed away. The PC1 & PC5 used the same S series chargers and batteries. I know I've got 2 PC1 chargers.. one with the LCD, and one the 'stock' one that comes with the cameras. My PC1 died a few yrs back and I replaced it with a PC9 (different chargers/batts). If you're interested, drop me a line and I'll dig up my old PC1 stuff and we can work out a deal. -Tommy

i work as an artist relations mgr in the music business.... meet,hang,chat with 'famous' folks all the time. you can see my name in the thank you's of lots of cool band's albums... just to name a few 'famous' bands i know - p.o.d., overkill, janes addiction, steeomud, bonjovi, flaw, korn, disturbed, fates warning,savatage,richie sambora, dokken, helloween,blindside, linkin park, kamelot,megadeth,pat benetar,staind,twisted sister/dee snider,methods of mayhem/tommy lee.. list goes on. (mostly hard rock/metal guys) the best part is that i haven't paid for a concert in well over 10yrs and i always get to watch from the stage vs the seats. i take my 4.5yr old son with me all the time... he loves it. my 3yr old daughter likes going every now and then too. lots of fun taking the kids with me. :) but honestly,the 'famous' folks are just like us... and the majority like to be treated as normal folks. now if i could just get them to make a jump.... :) blue skies... -tommy

one guy at my dz had this happen and he used a DRILL to try to extract it. as you can prob guess, he fucked the camera up and had to send it off to sony. (i don't know what the hell he was thinking...) my cam-eye plug broke and i replaced it with one i bought @ radio shack. this seems to be working fine after well over a year of use. -tommy

I've got one. Does a good job. I've used mine to shoot some scrambles meets, some friends tandems, and just general goofing off, all with good results. You don't have all of the 'options' as with a 35mm, but on sunny days with decent lighting, the photos come out good. The toughest thing for me is getting it aimed right. I jump a Sidewinder 02, with the elph mounted on the 'trap door'. Having to get a roll of film developed to see that you need to shim it up and to the left gets expensive. If you top mount your camera you won't run into this problem, since you can look through the viewfinder to aim it. For my purposes, just using it for 'fun', I think it's great. I don't use it on my paying tandem customers - I'll stick to strict video with them until *I* get more comfortable with the whole stills aspect. Blue Skies! -Tommy

Practicing martial artists?? I've got a 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, but it's been about 4yrs since I've taught or been to class. I'll take a # though. -Tommy

we let the student's pick. if they let me pick, i like million miles away from the offspring for the freefall part. 90% of the time the song fades out right when i'm landing (i leave camera on during my canopy ride down). the students think it's so cool how that's timed. :) -tommy

I've got a Sidewinder O2 (the flipup lens version of the Sidewinder) and I love it. I replaced my orig fixed lens Sidewinder with the O2 about 3 yrs ago. I primarily video students, and one thing I did to make shooting tandems and such easier was to make a 'shim' to angle my camera better so I don't kill my neck. We've had some very cold days lately, and some of the other camera guys bailed since their face was freezing (openface freefly type helmets), and I was able to get more vid's in because I was toasty & protected from the cold in my nice Sidewinder. :) -Tommy

for e-mail, try Pegasus mail. http://www.pmail.com it's 100% free. i've been using it since the DOS days with netware's MHS. now it's smtp/mapi/pop3. great program. try opera for your browser. http://www.opera.com . i've been using it for about 4 yrs now. you can use it free, but it pushes ad's onto a 'block' in the browser. registration is like $30 or so (worth it, imho.) it's got a quick 'refuse pop up's' option which comes in real handy. -tommy

DUH... forgot to post the link: http://www.ita.sel.sony.com/support/dvimag/minidv/MiniDV%20Query_1.html Exactly - switch it back (if the anti ground thing works) and offer him less. :) -Tommy

Here's a link to all of sony's minidv manuals in PDF format. re: the problem - sounds like the anti-ground switch like others have mentioned. download the pc100 manual, find the info on the switch and go to the pawn shop and try to change the setting and see how it goes. -tommy

"It's better to be pissed off than pissed on." I love that one. :) -Tommy

I've got one of the 'orig' cam-eye ii's before the software rev. I had a PC1 and the cam-eye worked great (on/off/rec/standby.) My PC1 broke and I got a PC9...and the old software didn't control the PC9, but it does work as rec indicator light, which is all that I really need. -Tommy

damn... i just sold my old (broken) pc1 on ebay. i got 217.50 for it. broken ones are out there! -tommy

I won't name the person or the dz.... but in a moment of drunken stupidity (i hope..) a neighboring dz's owner shot a bottle rocket OUT OF HIS ASS (stick in ass, then light.... ) needless to say, he had problems sitting for awhile (from what i hear.. i wasn't there). makes me cringe just thinking of it... -tommy

Mine are generally around 10 mins. I generally shoot: - ground footage - student getting dressed - interview (why did you want to skydive, who are you here with,etc) - the student getting on the plane - takeoff - some shots with the door open - in plane interview (scared? how're you feeling,etc) - freefall & opening - my canopy ride down (spiraling down goes over well with the students) - part of their canopy ride (once i land) - their landing - exit interview (did you enjoy, etc) I use some of the in-camera effects like overlap fades into the next scene. (Sony PC9 camera.) We let the student pick the music and dub the vid's on the spot with an editing board. Only in very rare circumstances do we mail vids. -Tommy

Hey Doug, Mark's in his 30's. :) See ya! -Tommy

Does the PDF come w/ Premier 6 ?? I own Premier 6 and I can't find it... -Tommy

Try Pro Tape: http://store.yahoo.com/protape/dv-mini-60-sony-pr.html $3.98/ea for 20 DVM60R -Tommy

yoshi, i've got a sidewinder o2 w/ a pc9 (used to jump a pc1.) i use a piece of electrical tape or gaffers tape on my visor as a 'sight'. works great. one of the guys @ my home dz used to jump a sidewinder w/ a pc7 and he drew a 'frame' on his visor to indicate the frame view on the camera. very cool, but too much of a pain in the ass for me to do. :) -tommy