BrianM

It's only in the April 1 edition. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

You cheated me out of a great show - I was just above you and off to the side a bit waiting for you to chop. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Might be a bit hard for him to do that at our small Canadian DZ that has only two riggers (the DZO and myself). There's no such thing as a full-time rigger up here... He has, however, watched me I&R his rig and do other odd jobs. He also asks lots of (smart) questions (often over supper/beer/scotch at his place), and he pays attention so he doesn't ask the same questions as last time. In short, DeN ReN is one of the good guys. Oh, and I have followed him around at his job while he worked on my truck, and he is one busy guy. He can multitask better than my computer. He's also the only person I'll let work on my truck (mechanics are like riggers: when you find a good one, you stick with him). He'll make a good rigger, too. There, that should be good for another supper! Edit: he says I forgot to mention that he's an asshole... and I only earned mac&cheese with gourmet weiners... but that's ok, cause I know where he keeps the scotch. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Let's see... food, beer, scotch, and cheap truck repairs & maintenance, in exchange for rigging services and help with your house renos. I think I got the better end of the deal! Yep. People who are interested in their gear usually do (or will learn to) both treat it better, as well as get stuff fixed before it becomes a much bigger repair. Makes my job easier... "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

This hasn't completely answered the question in my mind. While they state that the units detected a fast enough rate of descent at a low enough altitude to cause them to fire, they haven't said whether the whole of the data could have reasonably represented a freefall. Any digital AAD should be be smart enough to know that it's not physically possible to, say, be at 800 feet a few seconds after being at 20,000 feet. Anomalies do show up in any data collection system, and the system needs to be able to filter them out. I don't know whether or not the Vigil has such smarts - I've never seen any information about this aspect of the Vigil's design. Whether the Cypres units didn't fire because they had these smarts, or because they just got lucky by not having their firing parameters met, is also not clear. I would like to see the altitude and speed data for the entire event. P.S. Airtec has also posted a statement about this incident: http://www.cypres.cc/Sites/englisch/Frameset01_engl.htm "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Not necessarily. Depends on wavelength, data rate, protocol, etc. Just because they're both infrared doesn't mean they can talk to each other. My guess would be that they cannot. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

If it's the same as my older flitesuit, that patch is actually a pocket. I keep rubber bands and pullups in mine. Check along the top for a zipper, it's hidden by a small flap. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Did you mean you can't think of how an RSL could kill a skydiver? I can think of several: - unstable reserve deployment resulting in reserve malfunction - broken riser resulting in reserve/main entanglement - riser hangup after cutaway resulting in reserve/main entanglement - RSL/reserve entanglement after cutting away from two canopies out - deployment too soon after cutting away from an entaglement with another jumper resulting in another entanglement (granted the RSL should be disconnected prior to cutting away - but that assumes that the jumper remembers, is able, and has time). This is probably not an exhaustive list. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Just to play devil's advocate: What if the owner asks a rigger to remove the RSL, the rigger refuses, and on the next jump the owner is killed by the RSL? How will the rigger feel? What will he/she say? "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

I've seen a friend's young daughter telling people they are packing wrong... "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

CATSA says that airlines may permit parachutes as carry on "provided certain conditions are met". If the airline says its ok, then it is. I would take copies of the CATSA policy and any communication you had with the airline saying it's ok in case you run into problems with security. You can find the CATSA info here: http://www.catsa-acsta.gc.ca/english/travel_voyage/list.htm "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

If you think that's cool, check this out: Light Field Photography with a Hand-Held Plenoptic Camera "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Read the fine print at the bottom of the page. Paragear gets its numbers from quite a few sources. The data for the 160 comes from the PIA, the data for the 175 came from somewhere else. Basically these were measured by different people, no doubt using different methodologies. To get an idea of the relative pack volumes, you want to use numbers that were measured the same way. Aerodyne themselves provide the following: Tri 175: 405 cu. in. Tri 160: 390 cu. in. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Oops, my mistake, you are correct. Thanks for the correction. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

They are the same camera. The model number is different depending on the market. For example, it's the 350D in the US, but it's the Rebel XT in Canada. It is available in silver or black, there is no difference other than the colour. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

You mean like this? "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Hi Dennis, Peter... For the rest of the readers: you can't really see this in the photos, but the laterals are too long, not just the main lift webs. According to the manufacturer, the MLWs are too long by 1 inch, the laterals are too long by 2 inches. The rig floats around a fair bit on his back if I grab on to it and push and pull it around, even with a reserve in it. Options: 1. Jump it as is. Probably doable but not ideal. My biggest concern would be the "hole" at the back (see BIGUN's link). 2. Have it modified. Whether this is worth doing depends on the cost vs the value of the rig. I know you're already looking into this. 3. Sell it and use the money to buy something else. 4. Steal Dennis' rig. It's been mentioned that it will fit a bit better with the reserve in it, but remember that if you ever need to use the reserve, the reserve will no longer be in it, of course. You can't count on having the reserve in there. I'd like to take a closer look at how the harness fits you, especially now that the reserve is out - I don't think I saw you in it without the reserve. P.S. How much are you loading that ceiling? "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

According to the specs (I've never used one), the 300 has partial, and also has center weighted but only for manual exposure. That seems a little odd. The 350 has all three modes without the manual exposure restriction - again, that's according to the specs as I've never used one (I have a 20D). "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Spot metering exists only on the 5D and the 1 series. The 5D means you are looking at more than 2.5 times the cost of a 20D, or more than 4 times the cost of a Rebel XT/Rebel 350. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

It is dark. You are likely to be eaten by a GROO. :) You are such a geek . Lbh fnl gung yvxr vg'f n onq guvat. Rhyr Bs pbhefr vg'f abg n onq guvat! And I do believe it's spelled "grue"... "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

He needs to clean his sensor? "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

True with the XT this is possible but w/the 300D it isn't and I'd Imagine that the cost of a few filters would be less then the cost of a new XT... and they would have the same effect as the camera software is likely to have.

You don't even need the filters, since this can be done on the computer as well. The XT/350, 20D, etc, which can do B&W allow you to select B&W filters from the menu - no physical filters required. Less stuff to carry, more cash in your wallet.

I think you have misunderstood something about what RAW really is. Since the sensor is a colour sensor, when shooting B&W jpegs, what is actually happening is the camera is shooting in colour, then converting to B&W after the image has been captured, the same as you would do if you converted a colour photo to B&W on your computer. The only difference is it is done inside the camera. RAW is as close as you can get to the raw data coming from the sensor. Other than the analog to digital conversion, there is not much done to the data (that's the whole point of RAW: data is not thrown away by the postprocessing in the camera, so it is available to you for postprocessing on your computer). Since the camera has a colour sensor, a RAW file contains colour information. There is, in fact, no such thing as a B&W RAW - if you are shooting RAW and want B&W, you must do the conversion to B&W while postprocessing on your computer. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

No, it remembers the AEB setting on auto-power off regardless of the custom function setting. True. I like being able to take exactly three shots at a time when using AEB, but it's too bad there's not an option to choose either that or continuous shooting. I would use both for different applications. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg