VTmotoMike08

Thanks, thats pretty much exactly what I needed to know! Isn't the internet great You don't happen to know off hand which is the ground prong on the skydance blow switch do you? Top prong or bottom? I can play with it until I figure it out if needed. last time I crimped it and put a ton of gaffers over it instead of soldering so hopefully I can make that work again.

Its been about 2 weeks since I started using a blow switch. I posted a thread on here previously about how I hard a hard time choosing a switch. I love the blow switch, I really want to stay with it. The blow switch has only two terminals (prongs) so I can't hook up the autofocus wire... I think. On the advice of another camera flyer, I taped my zoom ring all the way out (already was doing that) then taped my focus ring almost to infinity, so it should have been focused when it was pointing at the distance that I should be from my target. Well... my pictures suck. Its better in very bring light but even then I can't make out clear details on rigs and I couldn't even get decent face shots. I know some people can take awesome shots on manual focus but I am not at that point yet (but any tips would be great!). I don't want to tear up my switch which is carefully crimped and gaffered if there is no way to do this, but does anyone know a way to wire an autofocus wire into a blow switch? Can I just put it on the same terminal as on of the other wires? I was hoping that some who gave me tips on wiring my own switch in my previous thread could help me here. Thanks

We'll call you "Tasteless" I never claimed to be a nice guy And if he (chuteless) is going to post his typical crazy end-of-times theories, then he can reasonable expect to be called out and publicly embarrassed when they don't come through. Anyway, seeing as she triple posted this in several forums, its likely to get deleted when the mods notice it.

I have some unfortunate news for you- the world is going to end before then! It's all in the Bible, you just have to interpret the prophecies. Read it here: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=3031781;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25;

Hiding in bushes Masturbating silently Restraining order No, I didn't think of that one, but its pretty funny

So... my blow switch is here now. As I should have know, there is still no easy solution. I am decided on using the blow switch- pro mouth is too little feed back and too hard to hold down for me and I can't use a bite switch because I have no jaw movement in my helmet. Actually, my pro mouth switch totally died the other day, go figure. I might try the hand switch, which is on order from who knows what warehouse in hong kong. (FYI- Ritz Camera closed 3 of 4 locations in my town because of the bad economy, no sales so I had to go to eBay for the hand switch) Now I have to make a good solder and secure the housing of the blow switch on the back corner of an Optik Illusion while keeping it out of the way of my camera- should be interesting. I would like to hear how anyone else managed the bulk of the blow switch. I guess this is all part of "growing up" as a camera flyer. I've been pretty good about playing by the rules, only adding one new component at a time, listening to those with more experience and taking it slow. Every time I add something new, I think it will be easy to deal with. But every step of the way, its harder than I think. I have pretty much figured out that the rest of this season is a learning experience and hopefully I can join the staff next year. O well, I am willing to spend the time to learn to do it right

I think I'll have about 8 of whatever is cheap, light and domestic when I roll into Raeford later tonight

Got it

Any reason why? I use a hand switch and love it. No custom rigging. Bought it off the shelf for $30. Have used it with no problem. I have a full face helmet so a mouth switch isn't a good option for me. My $ 0.02 I was thinking about this and it seems I would still have to wire an extension- I don't want loose wire in free fall so it seems I would have to run a wire from my camera, into the helmet, out the back of the helmet out the bottom between the padding and the shell, then have a jack/ plug to connect to the jumpsuit wire, which runs out the left sleeve. The hassle of plugging the helmet wire into the jumpsuit wire is what swayed me away from this idea. But maybe I'm making this too hard. I would be interested in hearing more detail about how you run the wire if you would like to share. Thanks.

OK, so after a trip to radio shack... I got a micro roller switch like [ChangoLanzao] suggested. I really like the tactile feel of this switch, it offers a really positive feel and it easy to press. However, something is reversed. It takes pics when the switch is not depressed and stops when I press it. I reversed the wires and it stops working altogether. No combination of wire connections has made it work correctly. Maybe there is different kinds of these and I just need a different one. Any comments? Also, its gonna be hard to make my own switch that is as durable as I would like. Either way, it only costs me $9 in parts and was kinda fun to do. I would go that route if I could work out both of the above. Next try will be a blow switch from paragear. Radio shack didn't have 90 degree elbow 2.5mm jacks but I can try another local store or order online. Hopefully the soldering between jack and switch is easy to do and clearly labeled, I will have to wait and see when I get it. PharmerPhil, that is a really nice setup that you have with the 90 degree jack on the flat top helmet. I am saving some cash and I plan to make a FTP setup over the winter and I will keep that in mind.

Everyone has equal opportunity to use public infrastructure (roads, fire, cops, libraries, etc) to get rich. That's why they call it public. Millionaires paid into those facilities too. Why do you seek to diminish their accomplishments? As another poster mentioned, 80% of millionaires are first generation rich. They didn't get that way by complaining that they were supporting other people's wealth- they went out and made their own.

Anybody?

So I didn't read this whole thread and I have no intention to, but I've got a question: Say the wackos are right and he truly was not born in the USA. Then what? Is he kicked out of office immediatly and Biden takes over? What would the procedure be for doing this? I, of course, believe that he was born in Hawaii, but lets assume for the sake of discussion that he pulled off what would probably be the biggest con of all time- then what happens?

Very interesting! That would probably explain why my switch sticks more in the air when its in my mouth than when I press it here on my desk with my finger. A couple other questions: -Anyone know where I can get an "extension" for my 2.5mm external shutter switch. I would like to preserve the port on my camera for as long as possible and constantly inserting and removing the jack is not the best way to do that. I hope this question is clear. -Does using a blow switch as described disable the shutter on the camera body? Using the pro mouth switch does not, but one of the above post talked about adding another button to the outside of the helmet so I am not sure. I'm gonna make a radio shack run and see what I can come up with... Thanks.

AH, I see. I've got some wire strippers and I'm pretty handy with tools in general so I'm sure a basic connection like that will be no problem. Hopefully I can hide the soldered connection inside my helmet, or at lease tape it down good with gaffers tape. Thanks.

I assume you mean item L1337 on that page, as it is the only blow switch. That says its for 35mm cameras, it is also for digital cams? I REALLY don't want to cut apart my camera and start soldering wires like that descriptions suggests. I sure hope there is a blow switch out there that uses the 2.5 mm stereo plug on my digital rebel. Thanks,

Four year collegiate competitor and former president of the Virginia Tech skydiving club here. Hopefully I can get some time off work to make it to the next collegiates, I would hope to join the video pool. I was hoping you could elaborate on the above statement. While comments from competitors could have started it, someone at the BOD had to bring up the motion. In the interest of full disclosure, can you let us know who? I want to know who not to vote for next time. (And yes, I did vote in the last USPA elections.) Having seen the last several collegiate comps, I am beginning to get an idea of how things get done there. There seems to be a couple ways to change things: 1. Enough civilians make enough noise and a minor rule gets changed through a long drawn out democratic process. An example of this is the addition of two classes for 4-way in 2007 (Eloy). We started a big debate on the collegeskydiving.com forums several months prior, it got brought up at a meeting (I believe due to Mike at chuting star), voted on and it happened, although it was a watered down version of what most people wanted- seperate classes for civilians and military. 2. Any academy coach "issues a decree". I use the term with quotes because it is obviously more complicated than that, but the power of the Academy coaches to talk to people, pull strings, and make rule changes happen should not be ignored. Example: taking the exits out of the 4-way comp. I didn't know why this happened at first, but after talking to an Army coach in the loading area, I found out why- the USMA "only gets to jump helicopters" (meaning they don't have their own Super Otter like the AFA) so the exits were taken out and the first point was always a star (M) so that those poor kids who were deprived of an Otter and forced to jump helicopters would have a fair shot. Now if I had gone to the CC and brought it to their attention that the only DZ less than 4 hours from my school jumps cessnas and suggested that they make the first point a star for every round, I undoubtedly would have been laughed out of the house- as it should be. The folly of taking out the exits should be obvious so I won't get into that. There was a great dislike of this change among pretty much every competitor that I talked too, so I know I'm not alone here. I am sure that taking the exits out also went to a vote with the BOD/ CC but one might think that who is making the suggestions has a lot more to do with its passing than the validity of the suggestion. With that in mind, lets examine this whole "no grad students" rule in light of the above examples. Who wants grad students gone? Well, I have a suspicious feeling that it's not the civilians- we are just happy to see more civilians in any form there. The above posters did a pretty good job blowing the "similiar to other NCAA sports" argument out of the water. Mr. Wenger, if you say that you were not involved in this rule change then I believe you. I doubt you remember it, but we did talk briefly at the last collegiates. You seemed like a nice guy, so please don't take anything I say as an attack on you. But I'm just saying- someone who seems to be well connected has it in for grad students and I would like to know who so that I can vote accordingly in the next elections. And why does said mystery person want grad students gone? We've hit every angle (I think) here and the general consensus is that there is no convincing argument for excluding grad students. Perhaps they have a personal grudge, I don't know. I am not one to spread crazy conspiracy theories- perhaps the whole thing is my paradigm (college word). But I think I did a pretty good job using examples to back up my point so I welcome any criticism of my way of viewing things. As a final thought- I would like to add that I think the Collegiate comp committee is a great group of people. I always had a great time when I went, and I can't think of anything else in the world that I would want to do during that time. Something said last time (maybe it was by Mr. Wenger, I forget) stuck in my head. When members of the USPA BOD were asked to raise their hand at a meeting if they had participated in the collegiate comp as a competitor, the vast majority of them confirmed that they were indeed former competitors. The implied thought was that today's collegiate competitors are the leaders of the sport and the organization tomorrow. Surely there is nothing to be gained by excluding some of them now.

OK, so I am beginning to come around to the idea of using a blow switch. My info about not taking multiple shots came from one person at the DZ, maybe he has an older switch or maybe I misunderstood him. So if I am understanding correctly, blow switches can take multiple shots, but that is limited by how long you can continuously exhale without taking a breath. Right? For getting the perfect exit shot, I think it would be easier to crunch down on the bite or tongue switch than to continuously exhale, but everything is a compromise... Anyone got a source for blow switches for digital cams (2.5 mm stereo plug)? Doesn't look like paragear has them. PM if needed. In a perfect world, my pro mouth switch would offer a little bigger "click" when it is pressed so that I can feel it working and not stick in the ON position.

I am new to shooting digital stills, just got a digital rebel XT a couple weeks ago and I’ve done about 15 jumps with it so far. I’m still trying to get the shutter switch to work well on it. I first got a pro mouth switch. This was easy to press, almost too easy because it is hard to tell when you are pressing it with free fall force wind on your face (to me at least). Then after less than 5 jumps on it, the switch started sticking, so it would continuously take shots all the way down, stopping only when I unplugged it. It has done this on almost every jump since. Another camera flyer on my DZ mentioned that his occasionally does this too, so I ruled out a one product flaw. Does anyone else have this problem? So the pro mouth switch is out. I wish I could get my money back, but its opened and used. I don’t think I can use the most popular bite switch with my helmet because I jump an optic illusion with is very snug on my XXL head and I have almost no jaw movement when wearing it. It is my understanding that blow switches are generally inferior to either of the above because you can’t hold it down and keep it down for multiple shots. So what can I do? I really don’t want a hand switch that I have to run thru my jump suit, but if that is the only good option then I might do it. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks

Strawberry Sanchez with Sprinkles!

good call. What it really comes down to is technology and market forces. My iPhone can find it's location to within about 10 feet pretty much anywhere. Now if someone could take that technology, put it in something about the size of a lighter and find a way to secure it to risers or a D bag and sell it together with the reciever for about 200 bucks, then I could see some big sales! Problem is that skydiving is a pretty small market and R&D costs on such a device would be pretty high. Then you gotta bring it to market and convince people that it is worth the costs. Sounds like a pretty risky venture, so it will probably never happen.

Meh, makes about as much sense as getting off on pain to me- none at all! But to each, their own. Actually, if I had to choose between getting my balls smacked and eating the booger... I would eat some snot any day (lesser of two evils, IMO).

I just had an idea: Smoke emitter that will go off for a couple hours when the risers separate from the harness. That should give you enough time to follow the smoke trail and get your canopy. But it would have to be small. And it wouldn't help if you chop on the sunset load. But maybe still better than nothing...

>>So, then, tell me, how is it that CO2 knows to let infrared radiation in but not let it out? Seriously? Dude, you need to go pick up a basic physics book. Read the chapter on wavelength absorption spectrum. Also read up on black bodies and reflectivity. Kinda takes away from your entire credibility when you make statements that show a lack of understanding of even the most basic science concepts.

Well, I actually picked up the phone and called PD yesterday instead of speculating on the internet, imagine that. In their own words- "It could be a couple weeks, it could be a couple months." It is out of their hands, presumably sitting on some big shots desk at the FAA.