ast4711

I used a Garmin Forerunner a couple of times during skydiving. In my opinion it is a nice toy but in no way necassary. Under a small fast canopy you do not have that much time to play with it and even worse, it distracts you from keeping an eye on other jumpers or may even distract you so much that you have to make a non optimal approach which may led to low-altitude turns you normally won`t do. Of course, I specifically for skydiving designed GPS wich automatically calculates wind direction and speed would be nice but I would never want to be dependend on this. It may be useful if you open and do not see the ground, but in these conditions you should not jump at all. It is useful for wingsuit-flyers to record their track and compare and analyze it later on the ground - If somebody wants to put the effort in it... Ah, yes, there is one thing where I liked it: Knowing the exact spot in the plane just before exit alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

@all: thx for your opinions! I really tried everything and was very disappointed when that happend because there was a "speciality" aircraft (Antonow-2 in amazing close formation with WingWalkers) we jumped from and now I just have the video :-( Changed Battery, changed lens, changed flash-card, read the manual and googled a little... So you don`t have the feeling that out application is to "extreme"? alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

Hi there, I know a lot of people are using the EOS 20d for skydiving. Yesterday mine went off. Taking some shots on the ground (no skydive that day before). First I got a Err99 which disappeared by opening/closing the CF-bay but afterwards the kamera did focus and gave the two beeps but it did not release. I was able to power-on but it did not power off when turning the switch off. Sent it to canon this morning.... Did anyone also have problems like this? I am afraid that could be that we stress this cameras to a high level. Wind, Humidity and Temperature differences are extreme I think. I remember I did a jump throu clouds the day before (not feeling wet but some minor clouds...) I took about 12 to 15k pictures in 6 month since it was new. How can we protect these cams, e.g. is there some kind of camera-condoms for still-cameras or do you think that is not required? alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

last weekend I got some nice exit-shots. The pilot gave his best :-) alex http://www.tandemmaster.net -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

thanks for all replies... I have to see what the results are using the standard-mode (sport-mode gave me some great shots with my pc3), and maybe you will find the camera on ebay someday :-/ alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

Well, my old PC3 never showed this shadows. In this aspect the older PC3 did a much better job... Eric: Did you ever repair it, and do you remember the costs? alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

Hi there, I bought a used PC330 for skydiving. The cam is perfect shape and showes no obvious damage. However, what really disturbs me are vertical shadows when looking against light. In the attached Image these violett shadows are easily visible below the windows. The image is taken with a .5 with skylight1B but the effect is also visible without any additional optics. I realized that the shadows are only visible when using sports-mode with a higher shutter speed. All other modes are unaffected. Is this common to the PC330/350 or could this be repaired? Blue skies, alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

Lisa, please take my points only as examples. I think it may be difficult to integrate all possible options. There`s another example. I am in no way an expert in all these things, but AFIAK it also depends on WHO did a repack in WHAT country, or better under which law. So, if a - lets say - US rigger packs my reserve (which is valid for a year according to my local regulations if repacked in germany) during my trip in the US, it is only valid for 120 days, even if I return to Germany. (somebody who knows it better may correct me) There shurely are more combinations of nationality, licenses and/or local regulations. I think the only way is to ask every skydiver for the current cycles on each system part during rig-registration or after a change (e.g. reserve activation) has been made. But this means that every client is required to be aware of this - and to enter this in RigTrack. Not very different to what I currently do... alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

Lisa, this is a great thing and I belive many skydiver will use it. Nevertheless, there is still a lot of work to do: What comes to my mind first when I registered is internationalization. Your system asks for a US format phone number. No way to enter a non US number. Since I am shure, you will add all missing gears/dropzone to the database soon or leave your customers the option to enter them manually, I currentliy dont worry that I could not enter my gear (vector III, crossfire, pd reserve). More important seems the fact that different countries have for example different repack cycles. E.g. in Germany we now have a repack cycle of one year (if the manufacturer allows it of course, but all major manufacturer agreed on this). Furthermore we must bring our gear to a qualified rigger each year for an inspection. Other countires may have other guidelines... Did you think about all these different "laws"? Keep it going!! alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de