lewmonst

Wes, is that you? That's gotta be you... If so, I owe you some photos of my helmet setup, I just keep forgetting to take them when I'm at work. Everyone gawks at my helmet. And I might have another customer for you from Perris willing to fly accross the country. I'm tinkering with wiring my own focus selector switch. Hope you don't mind me using the idea to make my own. I hadn't told anyone about it because I didn't want to post your idea, then I saw this. And your bite switch is GREAT. I just need a new heat shrink cover on it already... My personal preference on switches is a tongue switch, so I don't move my jaw at all. But those have the same issues as all mouth switches. I also just got a wireless remote switch with a button only suitable for a hand switch. It works great on the ground, but I haven't jumped it yet. I'm not too keen on having anything on or in my hand, even wireless. So, why not wire up the "Focus Selector Switch" to just take continuous photos in AI Servo mode for the 60 seconds of freefall or so and switch it off at breakoff or after opening? (Assuming you have 8+gig cards and don't mind going back and deleting the useless shots) Karen http://www.exitshot.com

Again the false assumption is that there are employers and employees. DZO's are not employers of instructors. Instructors are independent contractors. DZO's are business owners. http://www.exitshot.com

Or just have the camera plugged in and test by touching the wires together... http://www.exitshot.com

it doesn't matter which prong you use, all you do when you blow the switch is close the circuit telling the camera to fire. http://www.exitshot.com

Solder the Focus and Shutter Release wires together, then solder them to one terminal on your switch. Solder the ground to the other terminal. This will set up your camera to focus and take a photo simultaneously. This works pretty well 95% of the time. The only time you might have an issue is with a fast changing focal distance, there could be some hesitation in the shutter release. An alternative is to solder the focus and the ground together on one terminal, and the shutter release on the other. The downside to that is that as long as the switch is plugged in to the camera, it will constantly be focussing, thus draining the battery faster than normal. However it will not hesitate to take the photo when you blow in the switch. Make sense? You can get a basic soldering kit from radio shack for 8 bucks. You can ask the kid there for tips on how to do it or search the internet. (Put the heat shrink somewhere on the wires before soldering - that was my last mistake) Depending on your camera, lens, and knowledge, generally using AutoFucos in AI Servo mode will yield the best results. Also try using all 9 focal points. But yeah, you definitely need to hook up the focus wire. There are occasional situations I will use manual focus, but it's pretty rare. Good luck. http://www.exitshot.com

I think the minimun req to get a TI rating should be 1000 jumps. It doesn't matter how good you are, there's a lot more that can go wrong, a lot more decisions, and a lot more handles. Even one of Airspeed got into a nasty sidespin once... http://www.exitshot.com

My experience with many Sigma 15's is that they're crap compared to a Canon 15. If you want sharp images, spend the extra $100 and get the Canon over the Sigma. If you're just shooting tandems and don't care about the quality of the photos, Sigma is adequate. http://www.exitshot.com

Incorrect, actually. Instructors are independent contractors who only get paid when they take a customer. Instructors get no benefits, no health insurance, no workers comp, no pay on rainy days. Out of their per jump pay, they must pay their own taxes and health insurance (if they choose to get it, which, sadly, many don't). It's a living, but generally paycheck-to-paycheck. Every little bit helps. So tips are not expected, but definitely appreciated. It is work. It is fun work. But it's still work and the instructor is still risking their life on every jump. The heavier a tandem passenger is, the more work it is, especially over 200lbs. A good instructor makes it look easy, but the reality is it's not always easy. Most passengers are completely unaware of how much work the instructor is doing to ensure their safety, comfort and enjoyment of the jump. Don't tip if you don't want. Don't worry about it. A genuine "Thank you" goes a long way too. http://www.exitshot.com

Yeah, I accidentally recorded over my first base jump from Bridge Day in 2000. Thank god we're finally getting rid of tapes. http://www.exitshot.com

Nice job! Congrats. http://www.exitshot.com

Or better yet, a Canon T1i and a fixed Canon 15mm lens. http://www.exitshot.com

Where on their site? I did not see any boxes. Ditto... I can only access page 1 of 3. Seems the link/button is not working. DSE, do you have a direct link to the Schumacher cage? Thanks http://www.exitshot.com

iMovie 09 imports them just fine. http://www.exitshot.com

This thread is hilarious. Thanks for the laugh everyone. Bill, seriously, "approximation"? I'm losing faith in you. It's not an approximation, it's a repeating decimal equal to 1. .9 repeating = 1 so YES, 3.9(repeating 9) = 4 and 2.349999999... = 2.35 I teach 12 year-olds this, they get it. There are several proofs and useful discussions here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/0.999... My favorite: "Q: How many mathematicians does it take to screw in a lightbulb? A: 0.999999…." hahahahahaha(repeating "ha")... Karen http://www.exitshot.com

You should be able to take out layers of padding to make the chin cup thinner if it's too bulky. Then baking it and wearing it a lot will then get it to fit well. http://www.exitshot.com

Who was your instructor? http://www.exitshot.com

Awesome videos! Thanks for sharing them. http://www.exitshot.com

Here you go: http://www.apexbase.com/store/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=83 Switch out the pilot chute and make sure you jump it over water. Good luck! http://www.exitshot.com

BillVon, I'm hurt. What's a girl gotta do to make your list? And, btw, none of those chicks listed actually work at the Perris School, so not sure what BillVon's line of thinking is. I do work at the Perris School. You can ask me anything you want about our instructors and training. Perris can be busy on the Saturdays. We recommend AFF come on Sundays or any other day of the week. You can come Saturdays too, just know we're busy. For your recurrency, we'll take as much time as you need on the ground and jump when you're ready. When you get to single jumpmaster jumps, and for all coach jumps, we offer FREE debrief video. We have an onsite windtunnel along with all the other better facilities already mentioned. We're open and usually turning otter loads every day. Karen http://www.exitshot.com

So one guy goes extreme and kills somebody.....that makes every pro-life protester a hypocrit? I did not say "every". I was only referring to this one act by one person. http://www.exitshot.com

The pro-life protests can't get any more hypocritical than that. http://www.exitshot.com

Had you said something private or asked me to keep it private I would have. I posted nothing new as you yourself said you'd "stated that position more than once in the thread". I will speak out against discrimination. http://www.exitshot.com

B_D, thank you for outright stating your opinion, even though you resorted to a PM to send me this: It is discrimination. The Federal government already recognizes and prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment. (See http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/fs-orientation_parent_marital_political.html) The manifestation of this type of discrimination by state governments regarding marriage is just the next issue that needs to be addressed, and will be. This, I would bet on. http://www.exitshot.com

Again, are you saying you think this whole issue is not discrimination? http://www.exitshot.com

I wasn't going to post in this thread anymore, but i will answer your question. I have already addressed this, but will so again. There is nothing about all people having equal rights that abhors me. I would love a world where that actually happened. But you people here have interpreted my position that gays are not being discriminated against as my somehow being against their right to marry who they want. I am not. People are disciminated against for all kinds of things. Gender, age, intelligence, height, weight, etc. I will worry about who people can marry (something that is relatively trivial) when discrimination for much more important things is eliminated. "trivial"???? hmmm. You really think this is trivial? Let me get this straight, are you saying you think this whole issue is not discrimination? I actually have been discriminated against blatantly for my gender, and less blatantly for my height and other traits. None of that really bothered me. But this issue of not allowing gay marriage, this really bothers me. And I'm not gay. It's a civil rights issue. Anyone who cares about their own civil rights should care about this issue. http://www.exitshot.com