mxk

The grommets are in good condition. No damage or rough areas that I can see.

This is where the slider tends to stop initially. I always collapse it and it spends the reset of the flight just past the slinks (I have Type-8 risers). Regardless of how or why it happens, I haven't seen enough examples of lines that are nearing the end of their useful life to accurately judge the extent of wear, so I could use some help with this.

Looking for advice from more experienced riggers. I was inspecting my main today and was a bit concerned by the line wear I noticed on the center A-B lines a few inches up from the risers. The canopy (Spectre 230) and this line set (Dacron 525) have 218 jumps on them. The rest of the lines look much better, but this area probably sees extra wear from the slider grommets. This is approximately where the slider tends to stop before I pull it down further and collapse it. I noticed a similar pattern on the C-D lines, only not as bad. I'm inclined to call this medium wear, according to this PD blog post, but I would appreciate your opinions on the time frame for a reline. Photos are attached.

http://blog.performancedesigns.com/know-your-lines-part-3-when-do-you-need-a-reline/ This blog post has some useful information and photos. If your lines are approaching or are past the medium wear point, it's probably not a good idea to continue jumping that canopy.

Microsoft documentation says that the barometer sampling frequency is 1 Hz: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4762794#4762794 However, I took a quick look at his code and it seems that the Windows SDK, unlike Android, allows specifying a 128 ms sampling rate. Interesting... I just got a pair of Band 2s at work, so I might investigate this further.

I had my share of problems with the AltiTrack as well: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4753602#4753602 L&B ended up replacing that unit. Don't rely on it as your only source of altitude information. The logbook is probably its most useful feature. You do have to adjust the settings for it to log accurately, depending on what type of jump you're doing. For example, use the student mode to record hop-and-pops, use the slow mode for wingsuiting. Otherwise, the freefall time and deployment altitude may not be correct. The deployment altitude is going to be lower than actual anyway since it can't detect when you throw your pilot chute out. Download the user's guide if you want to learn more about its operation.

Naomi @ BH sent me a photo that shows the new mount on a Rev2: [inline rev2-camera.jpg] I've ordered one for myself since I haven't been able to find anything better. Will post a review once I've had a chance to make a few jumps with it.

Here's the service manual and some other useful links: http://parts.singerco.com/IPsvcManuals/306W25.pdf (page 125) http://www.tandtrepair.com/SlantOMatics.html http://shop.sew-classic.com/Singer-401-401A-403-403A-404_c22.htm If it hasn't been used in years, it might be a good idea to disassemble and clean most of it, including the motor. That's what I did with mine Some other tips: The electronic foot control from sew-classic is much better than the original controller. The manual says that the maximum needle size is 18, but I've had no problems using size 19 after re-centering the needle. For the gear lubricant, I tried the Singer version in the blue tube, but didn't really like it. It's not the same compound that was manufactured decades ago. I'm giving Nova's Motor Lubricant a try, but haven't used it enough to form an opinion yet: http://www.novamontgomery.com/shop/Singer-Featherweight-Parts/p/Novas-Motor-Lubricant-x4312153.htm If anyone has other suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

I didn't realize that there was a stigma associated with not pulling the reserve handle after an RSL deployment (i.e. the RSL beat you to it and you already have a good reserve over your head). Could someone explain the logic to me?

Please start a different thread if you'd like to discuss brands or techniques for reaching toggles. I'd like to get some answers to the questions in my original post.

I have just under 30 jumps on my Squirrel Funk after flying a rental P3. While I like the suit, I'm a bit worried about how the front zippers are rubbing against the webbing and the handles. I can already see some light fraying around the edges of the MLW and so I'm wondering if anyone here can share some advice on protecting the harness from zipper abrasion. Has this been an issue for anyone in the long term? Do you tie the bungees in front or behind the webbing? Has anyone tried sewing some fabric over each side of the zipper to create a smoother channel for the harness to pass through?

Looks like Bonehead Composites came up with their own snag-proof GoPro mount: http://www.boneheadcomposites.com/m8/500--Go%20Pro%20Swivel%20Mount.html Can't say how good the design is from the two photos up on their website, but I'm kind of tempted to get this for my Rev2.

Either way, a good argument for not pushing the pin in as far as it will go. I think this is what their second theory is getting at (or maybe the bridle catching the tip of the pin and actually pulling it vertically): [inline pin.jpg]

Link: http://blueskiesmag.com/2015/11/19/pin-through-the-loop-official-upt-response/

Also incorrect. So much incorrect from people with so many jumps :( This is a very interesting point. To which there is no quick answer. I believe you are incorrect lyosha, but for totally understandable reasons. You are totally right based on the Cypres manual alone, but there's more. It comes from a basic understanding of how these devices function. It's not the burble, it's the pressure inside it. As you fall the air, your body compresses the air under you, and expands the air above you. This creates a high pressure zone underneath you (where an altitude reading will appear lower than it actually is) and a low pressure zone above you (where an altitude reading will appear higher than it actually is). According to Vigil's tests the difference is ~260 ft between the two areas at ~120 mph. When falling head down, the peak high pressure area is under your head, and peak low pressure area at your feet. The AAD is halfway between, in a "neutral area". No one is disputing the pressure difference, but the AAD can make corrections. From the link above: In other words, CYPRES may be trying to figure out whether it is currently in the burble or not, and apply an altitude correction so that it fires closer to 750 ft in body orientations other than belly to earth. I tried to write a simple algorithm that does this by calculating acceleration from pressure reading and setting some thresholds to distinguish realistic acceleration from that caused by the AAD entering/leaving the burble. Such algorithms are going to be very error-prone without additional sensors. The AAD starts out knowing its altitude in the plane. The burble appears on exit or during climb-out, and increases in intensity on the hill. If the AAD knows the initial state (inside or outside of the burble), figuring out changes is a little bit easier. Figuring out the initial state is pretty difficult. Personally, I prefer the Vigil approach in this regard of having a much simpler algorithm that may fire anywhere within a 260 ft window.

LG's Nexus 5x is still 200 Hz for accelerometer, but 10 Hz for pressure and 25 Hz for temperature according to Sensor.getMinDelay(). Seems that they've gone backwards from my Nexus 4.

How long ago was that, and were those Type 17 or Type 8 risers? Some more info from Bill Booth: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1652688#1652688

Are you using on Xamarin or something similar to maintain a single codebase for all three platforms?

Funny, I was just thinking about developing my own altimeter and data acquisition platform, but for Microsoft Band 2, which was released this past Tuesday. I've been developing software for the original Band at work and got rather excited when I read that Band 2 now includes a barometer. Then I looked at the SDK documentation to find out its sampling frequency... 1 Hz I have a Nexus 4, which has a built-in barometer, so I'm now thinking about using the Band just for display and haptic feedback. Not sure if it's worth it, though. Google Nexus 4: A=200Hz, B=30Hz, G=1Hz Will post the info for a Nexus 5X in a few weeks.

Agree on the communication front. Two day minimum to get a response and it's 50/50 whether they answer more than one question from your original email. To be fair, they did replace my AltiTrack when it started misbehaving. On the other hand, I bought a Viso II+ from ParaGear while my AltiTrack was away. It came with a Velcro wrist mount instead of the hand mount that was supposed to be included. ParaGear didn't know what or why, so I emailed L&B. Turns out they ran out of hand mounts for this batch and so included wrist mounts instead. Offered to send me a hand mount for free and asked for my shipping address. Two weeks later, I still haven't received anything, so sent another email to see if the hand mount was shipped. No reply and it's been a month since my original email.

Not the full rig, but they have some more samples on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.188825226148.128358.64761516148&type=3

Vigil 2+ defaults to 1,100 (840 in the burble) and I increased that by an additional 150 ft, so I would expect mine to fire roughly in the 990 - 1,250 ft range, depending on body position. That's not the "best" altitude, but rather the altitude that I felt was best for me, my gear, and the types of jumps that I'm doing. Going up another 150 ft would probably be too high, given that the manual recommends being under an open main at least 1,000 ft above the firing altitude.

Allow me to express your predicament in comic form: [inline adds.png] More seriously though, the responses you're getting is not because of what you chose, but because of how you chose it. Price is a valid reason, but as others have mentioned, you can, and I would say should, change the firing altitude of both CYPRES and Vigil. No, this is not some advanced feature for expert use, and no, "optimal firing altitude" was not the selection criteria (think more along the lines of "how low can we go"). If someone gave me an M2 and told me to jump it, I would still want the firing altitude higher than 885 ft. You're right that there is a balance between firing too early and too late. However, a two-out situation is 1) most likely survivable, and 2) can be avoided through training, altitude awareness, and knowing when to go straight to reserve.

Don't own one, but that's an older model. Newer ones are FTA-550 and FTA-750L.

I used EP4s last year, but have since switched to Moldex Sparkplugs. The noise reduction is better, I find them more comfortable, and I got tired of cleaning EP4s after each day of jumping. Now I just buy a box of 200 Sparkplugs and use one pair per jump. They do make hearing people on the ground is a bit more difficult, but no problems on the plane or with the audible.