jont

My 20D has some small marks on the sensor, which are showing up as small round splotches on light images. It's not dust, looks more like water marks or something. Anyone seen anything like that before? Suggestions for cleaning? All advice welcome ta jon t

Posted these once before, about 6 months ago, in a different forum. But I still love 'em. jon t

These were taken this weekend in Texel when we got weathered out and went gokarting instead. It was an indoor track, with poor lighting. I was using a 20D. I set the camera to meter for ambient lighting, giving shutter times varying from 1/30th up to over a second. I tracked with the subjects as best I could (remember, the eyepiece goes blank while the shutter is open). I then used the built in flash (don't have an external yet) set to second-curtain sync. Lots of shots were just a mess of light and movement (yay digital! delete delete delete) But some came out good - I quite like the arty speedy effect. Jon T

If anyone is interested, Word of Mouth will be doing a 4 minute segment on The Language of Skydiving at 4pm this Friday afternoon (repeated 8pm Sunday night), including amongst other stuff some input from yours truly. Like all BBC radio output, it will also be availabe for streaming from the website for one week after transmission (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml) pip pip jon t

On Saturday I am recording an interview for Word of Mouth on Radio 4 (that's the BBC, for those of you who aren't Brits.) It's a magazine programme that looks at language and all the ways it is used. I am going to talk to them about some of the words and phrases skydivers use. You know, Whuffo, Mal, Dope Rope, Videot, that kind of thing. There's a few I just don't know the derivation of - can anybody help me? For example, formation flyers often refer to being "hosed". Anyone know where that comes from? I assume the freefly formation Spock is named for Mr Spock's method of reading minds, but what about a Wagga? What the hell is that? And how about the Daffy position in head down - is that named after a duck or what? I have a list of interesting and unusual phrases I have collected - but if you have any particular favourites, post them here and I'll try and get them included. blues skies Jon T

There are 2 things you can do on the 20d to help in backlight conditions. One is to play with the exposure evaluation setting. Use the far right button on the top right, and the small adjuster wheel, to choose the setting with an empty circle showing on the LCD rather than a filled one. This means the camera is only reading light from the centre of the screen, not the whole image. The second thing you can do is choose to have the camera deliberately over-expose by around a stop. Half press the shutter button, then turn the big wheel (make sure the power switch is in the fully on position) to move the little line towards the right on the scale. This will make the camera over-expose the light areas of the image, which means hopefully the darker areas (i.e. people's faces) will be properly exposed. By the way, both of these will only work in the Creative Zone (settings above the green square on the left hand wheel). hope that helps blue skies jon t

Hi all, hope someone can help me A copy of Premiere 7.0 Standard (not Pro) came with my new VAIO laptop. I am just experimenting with it. Have dumped a load of footage of a 4-way training camp into it, and have edited out all the unwanted stuff. Now want to burn the result onto a DVD. The online pdf manual says I should go File/Export/Export to DVD - but when I try I am not offered that option, only export to tape, export to various video formats, etc. The laptop does have a DVD burner on board. Is it because I have Standard not Pro that I'm not offered the option? The manual specifies elsewhere whenever an option is Pro-specific, and it doesn't here. Anyone else used Premiere Standad to output to DVD? Any idea what the issue is here? All suggestions gratefully recieved. Jon T

thanks, dave, I seem to be back on track

A while back when someone posted a new article on a long thread, I would be taken directly to the end of the thread to the newly posted item, which would be marked "new" in red. This doesn't seem to be happening any more. Is this to do with my dropzone.com profile and forum settings, or something to do with the cookies settings in Internet Exploder V.6? I'm pretty sure I have cookies enabled, and can't find any settings in my profile to change. Any help and guidance gratefully received. JT

http://www.byphotos.com/album/1171631

aha! I have finally worked out how to upload photos to a gallery. this link http://www.byphotos.com/album/1171631 will take you to 77 (not always brilliant quality) piccies of various drunks at yesterday's agm. some I know, some I don't. I have full size/full resolution versions if anyone really wants. Of course, no skydiving event is complete without the Beaver boys getting out their bits, and for a bribe I will publish those too (or for a bigger bribe, destroy them. eh, boys?) blue skies jon t

thanks, will do

Still trying to source a roll cage for a PC120 Have been emailing Aerial Focus ([email protected]) but the mails keep bouncing back. Anyone know why? ta jon t

thanks jp, found it.

I managed to buy one with a 17-85 IS lens kit instead of the usual 18-55. It's a great lens, if a somewhat pricey, but you get a lot for your money including the IS bit (image stabalisation). Really nice for ground use. I intend to jump with it too (17 x 1.6 gives a roughly 27mm equivalent) and see what the results are before springing for a wide-angle as well. jon t

Hi, looking to get a roll cage for my PC120. Any suggestions who makes them? Aerial Focus don't list the 120 on their website - does anyone know if they do them? All suggestions gratefully recieved ciao for niao jon t

I bought me a shiny new digital slr while I was over in eloy, and as I couldn't mount it on my helmet yet, I spent a morning playing at taking arty shots of swoopers. This is my favourite, despite the focus being off. Anyone know who it is? jont

Well, L & B have once again demonstrated their superb level of customer care. I have upswapped laptops, and the new one doesn't have a serial port, which means I couldn't connect my Protrack cradle to upload data into JumpTrack. So I bought a Serial/USB adapter off ebay, but after much clicking and cursing I couldn't get it to work. I emailed L & B for advice, and Steffen suggested the problem might be the adapter. They have one that they sell on their website that they know works. I thought he would then suggest I buy theirs - but instead he offered to ship me one Free Of Charge! It arrived today, together with a pack of spare protrack batteries thrown in for good measure. And lo and behold, everything now works. Once again L & B have shown their tireless committment to providing supreme customer service. Would that all my experiences in skydiving kit were at this level! Jon T p.s. no vested interest here, just a happy customer wanting to spread the joy

Hi, can anyone advise please If I go mad and treat myself to a Canon 20D while I'm in the states for the Xmas boogie then a) do I get exactly the same camera I would get if I bought it at home in the UK, and b) will it be covered by warranty once I get it home? And if it breaks, will I have to ship it back to the US, or can I take it to a local repairer. All advice greatly received Jon T

Thanks, any info greatly appreciated blues jon t

Thanks for the post liz. As you can see, I'm trying every avenue! jon t

N/A

A bunch of us Brits from Weston-on-the-Green are coming out to Eloy once again to partake in the joys of the 2004 Xmas boogie. I have a yen this year to stay somewhere a little more welcoming than the old Super-8 Motel up the road. So I'm looking to rent a house or apartment for 4-6 people within reasonable distance of the DZ. Any suggestions? I've approached the 2 real estate agents recommended by Skydiveaz. One had nothing available, the other didn't bother to reply. So do you have, or do you know of anyone who has, anything suitable for rent? cheers and blue skies Jon T

I thought observers got pilot-type rigs - single round canopy, one silver front-mounted ripcord handle, no steering jt

[reply then common sense would have taken over and I would be able to steer - I probably would have flared high and dropped in - so probably hurt - but probably alive. hmmmm. assuming you could work out what the funny yellow things were and were brave enough to pull them out of the keepers, and then knew what a flare was and why. jon t