base801

Any updates on this thread, I know its cold in your area of the world so testing may not be going ahead, but hope there is some progress going on, even if the plane is in the hanger getting a flashy paint job

pictures as promised yesterday http://www.kentaylor.net/gallery/main.php/v/osaka/ for the moment i will wait. but with only an old (dodgy) camcorder at the moment i cant wait that long. lets see what DSE gets his hands on at at NAB may be some other stuff he can tell us about after that. also lets hope that someone can find out if the heads park on the HDD hybrid cameras.

here in Japan the TG1 costs less than the CX7. I had one in my hands yesterday and 2 things. 1) it definatly does not have a filter thread 2) the screen does have to be open (can be fliped back in the open position) for the lens cover to open and i could not see the switch so it must be internal. When i have access to the net with my own PC i will upload all the photos i took of it. some with the CX7 for comparrison.(got a bit snap happy in the sony store in Osaka.) Almost there if it had the tread for a lens it would be the Bollox for a lot of the FF side mont brigade. decised against it for a few reasons. (no lens thread and no night shot) now i realy want one of the Hybrid cameras Sony are bringing out. Hybrid plus with Mini DVTape Memory stick and Internal memory would be best (backwards compatability for all my old footage) if not then a nice small (side mount) HDD cam that parks the heads with memory stick and internal memory will be the next best option. this way i can either dump footage from the memory stick to the hdd or record direct on to hdd when not jumping. best of all worlds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYpONVioWfw shows it being used nice but stil does not confirm for definate if it has a filter thread and a D A/V connector :-( we need to know base801

I Sold my PC-1000 in a mad moment so i am now in need of a new camcorder. (as my pc5 and 105 are busted. does anyone (DSE think you have a photo of this in your CEX report from earlier in the year) know about the Sony HDR-UX20 Hybrid it has DVD,8GB internal memory(not shown as HDD) and memory stik slot 1cm narrower than the CX7 according to the specs but seems more, 100g heavier, full 1920x1080 recording and 118,000 yen which is cheeper than the 139,000 they want for the cx7. PAL version needed wont use the DVD feature but hoped could side mount it easier than the CX7 as narrower and flatter side. any help would be apreciated. as im in japan and loking arround the stores i also looked at the canon 450d which is called the X2 here but alresdy have the 400D with only 700 ish photos taken by it (has not been jumped still great condition and have the box etc so could ebay it :-) ) so I NEED compelling reasons rather than just "new toys" to warrant buying this. ITS NEW and shiny are compelling reasons as is the 12MP and the dsic? picture stuff from the 40d (yes i have no idea and need to lean but looks and sounds cool on the digital photo website write ups. but i think/know my credit cards will explode/melt down and i wont be able to jump if i blow this much :-( as i also need a new mac for the camcorder editing as mine wont do AVCHD (wont do ilife08) and I have promised my self a nice new helmet this year (as i have for the last few seasons) designed to take a video and stills (poss ff3 or ff side but thats another discussion) as mine is 8 years old and bodged together and set up for a pc 1000 thanks for any help with video camera details and resons i should or should not buy the new canon stills.... Base801

I have seen the early version of this (was straight out of the mold in gel coat not even polished very little mold marking i thought it was a finished helmet. it looks very similar to the current model except closes with a bungy around the enclosure below the camera lens opening. there is also more room in the box due to the change in shape of the helmet and box as there is no need for a latch mechanisum. the lens hole has also changed to be more like earlier versions allowing for more variation due to lens type or camera type, will fit all cameras that the current model will and more :-) they have also changed the hinge to a chunkier one that is mounted in moulded sections on the helmet and box this is for 2 reasons helps in manufacture as requires less alignment as just pops in to the recess and the hinges that were used are no longer avaliable. when i was there i also saw a half built version of their side fx which has nice camera and camcorder mounting brackets built in, thin secure and easy to use from how they were explained to me. regards Ken

I have just purchased a hanson helmet second hand and have ripped out all the foam as it was sized for a pin head. i now need to resize it. I am familiar with the basics as i remember a web page from the late 1990's early 2000 that showed how to do this what i need is advise and help on how i do the alignment for the cameras with the small foam blocks prior to the expanding foam filling. i want to get the angle of the top plate correct so its not pointing up or down when my head is pointing at the target object I know its expanding foam the article mentioned a particular type does it make a difference. i was going to use low expanding as i beleive it sets stronger. any help will be much apreciated thanks ken.

I did not train at pudding hill but have jumped there. the main jump area at christchurch when i was there 1999-2000 was wigram which is on the edge of christchurch its a good size landing area an old airforce base i beleive. alot of the non airside area has has housing built on it in 99/2000. Pudding hill was the country house of the owner of the DZ at christchurch it is a grass strip by the house with a hanger. set between 2 rivers. at the base of the mountains by the ski resorts. you fly over them on the way up to altitude. the feature that gives it its name is a pudding basin shaped hill which is just beside the end of runway and its about 1000 ft from memory. so you dont want to be low opening over there. Nice place if a bit remote. not the place i would recomend a beginner to jump. but with a group of othere jumpers a plane and a few drinks for after jumping has finished a great spot. the only thing i would say is that when we were jumping in christchurch tandems came priority number 1 if you were boarding and a tandem walked in you were off loaded untill the tandem was trained and jumped. even though you would have been up and jumped by the time the tandem was ready to go. Daedalus

A group of 9 of us went to spain to jump and ended up at skydive lilo ok we thought members of the group had been there last year great place to go. But the bar, cafe, pool, showers and toilets are all fenced off and the only facilities were 2 almost overflowing portaloos and a few vending machines that were usually out of change and low on drinks. and the shop never seemed to have change (although they did as i found out by asking 2 people the same thing one said no and the other a minute later said yes) we were told that NO One could use the proper facilities due to some paperwork issue and politics but we later found out that the dropzone staff were still using the nice flushing toilets (key at manifest)but expecting their paying punters to use the discusting portaloos a picture is at http://www.kentaylor.net/spain/magicgallery/PICT0060.htm The planes cannot be faulted and the packing facilities good. instructors friendly. but maybe they should get the basics sorted before investing in new aircraft. a note on tickets if you buy a block there will be a recalculation of any refund to make you pay the higher rate on any tickets you used less than the block price which is understandable but say you buy 25 block tickets and only use 21 you will be charged the full price on all 21 they will not give you the advantage of the price of the block of 10 even though you have paid in bulk and used more than 10. its their policy but a bit unfair and on top of the other issues we had we felt a bit off especially as the manager one day agreed with one of our group but then the next day said he could not do it as it was policy. i hope that the DZ manage to sort out their issues with regards to the land that the bar pool and toilets are on and get back to the level they were at last year as i beleive that the dz realy had something and if they get this back it could be a great place to visit relax and skydive. i would even consider going back if i was welcome after this report. but i cannot currently recomend anyone go there untill these fundimentals have been resolved. ken

im afraid i cannot tell. on the qualityof the image if you are getting one at the weeknd i assume the boxes will be available monday base801

managed to jump the camera once this weekend. looks great on the camera screen in wide mode but need a wide screen tv to realy see how good it is. looks ok on normal screen. need to do more jumps to see how it realy behaves has the camera side mounted on a renegade in a home made mount with a .3 red eye lens tip from the wise if building a mount wrap the camera in clingfilm. i tested to see if it would stick to my plastic mounting compound and it didnt but when doing it for real i managed stick it firm and loose some parts of the body but hey it still works and its not a jump camera without gaffa tape base801

what with jumping, weather, meeting women, staying in bed long in to the day with a hangover i am afraid that i failed to finish the mount so didnt jump the camera will let everyone know how it went when i have. base 801

brought one yesterday £739 very light compared to the pc350 feels very plastic. have already taken it apart to remove the hand strap 5 screws to get to it and 2 holding it in cant seem to get the door over the lanc port off using my usual trick of using a pin to depress the locking spur on the plastic tab so it slides out but dont want to open the whole body up just yet and dont want to cut it off either just incase its no good for jumping and i need to ebay it. put the red eye on it and started building the mount. will try to get it jumpable b4 the end of the weekend. jumping without camera is just ot the same Ill let you know if there are any issues once i have jumped it. Daedalus Base 801