drudchen

During this guessing contest, how many times did a 'bomb/explosive device' come up?

At least it relates to a keyword "skydiving" better than these: http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/actions/3581914-money-rain.php?id=3581914 http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/concepts-and-ideas/time/2947156-amazing-glacier-breaking-and-falling-hd.php?id=2947156

G10 does indeed have a standard 2.5mm remote shutter release port. I've made a few jumps with it. But as far as I know G9 doesn't. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3387180;

I have a Wings W8-2 EXT with PD126 reserve and cypres. 107 is a perfect fit for it, 120 was a brick. 97 actually fit pretty nicely too. Now my new Kat 89 is a tad loose in it, so I have a W1-2 now. Go figure... Maybe it's the EXT thing.

Just wanted to let everyone know that the new Canon G10 (as opposed to an old G9) now has an external shutter release, regular 2.5mm plug for a bite/tongue switch. I got it a few days ago, and it seems to work pretty well. It's fairly light and fits great on my Rawa helmet. Has lots of features, manual settings and has 14.7 Megapixels. The lens has a pretty wide view as well (28mm (35mm equiv)). Also shoots RAW (and RAW+LJPEG). The downside that I noticed so far is the noise at high ISO settings. But I guess it is expected with the size of the sensor. I was shooting at 400ISO last weekend, and noise is noticeable. I'll probably use no more than 200 from now on. It also has AI Servo autofocus which works well with a biteswitch A few sample pictures attached Edit: online review and specs: http://www.dpreview.com/news/0809/08091702canon_g10.asp

I really like the bottom skin logo/artwork. Looks cool! If only it flies as nicely as my Katana, I'm sold! edit: I guess it's still too early to ask about personal opinions and flight characteristics, and getting a demo here might be tricky.

That sounds reasonable. But it pretty much comes down to how fast you need to sell it. (If you dont mind waiting a bit the price should be ok, but you'll sell it a lot quicker if you lower the price). Also, when buying a canopy for that much people start being picky about colors.

there's a lot of information here: http://www.clusterballoon.org/ would be so cool to do. I wonder how expensive would it be to use these balloons to get to altitude and then cutaway into freefall? (i.e. this guy from the website lands and reuses his balloons, so that it's probably a little cheaper) and regarding tethering and using a rope to give you at least 3000ft, I bet the rope of that length would be incredibly heavy - the weight of the rope has to be supported by the lift of the balloons. edit: looks like a single 725 lb spectra line is 0.68gram per foot, making it 2.04 kg (4.5lbs) for 3000ft rope. Better than I thought, actually. For a hop-n-pop altitude, at least. But is one spectra line strong enough to support all the lift of the balloons once the person is released?

a few landing sequences

Just wanted to share a couple of pictures that I've got over the last little while with my pocket-sized Casio EX-Z700 it's so small and light - love it.

So, if someone wanted to buy a brand new paracommander right now, how much would it cost? Just wondering...

Just started jumping stills this weekend. A tiny 112 gram Casio 7.2MP camera topmounted on a rawa with a tongue switch

this morning, I've modified my Casio EX-Z700 compact digital camera to add external shutter release. It was pretty simple, just soldered a wire to a tiny place on the circuit board next to the actual shutter. So to take a picture, you just connect the two wires together. Still need to get a biteswitch, but that should be a very simple connection. Now the good part: -it only weights 112 grams! -it remembers all the manual settings when you turn it off, and then turn it back on later The bad: -no autofocusing, as you need to half-press the shutter. (but the manual focus works fine, i set it a tad below infinity) -works at 0.5 fps,, so can't get a fast sequence of shots -quality of the optics isn't that great, but still it's 7.1 megapixels -400-800 ISO setting is pretty grainy when zoomed in should be easy to top-mount onto my rawa helmet... I came across another camera that I think could be pretty good: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 If I can modify it the same way, it's going to be awesome 360 grams total, good quality lens, has continuous autofocusing (all the time, dont have to half-press shutter), works better at higher ISO levels, and can possibly attach wide angle lens, better burst mode/continuous shooting framerate (2-3fps), 28mm at its widest setting (35mm equiv), can do RAW. Has anyone played with this camera? edit: ..note that I'm not doing tandem stills, so not looking for professional quality for sale for now, but, rather just playing around :) Dmitry R.

Maybe. Although a few times I've tried that I felt it was tricky to do. My canopy is fairly sensitive to inputs, so while playing with the cheststrap with toggles in hand it's hard to keep it flying straight. So, I prefer going with my established routine. I think it is possible to get a pretty good idea if there's something wrong with the canopy by a visual inspection, seeing how it responds to initial rear riser input, and wind noise (speed). And if the toggle is knotted and can't be released, I think I'd prefer to use a hookknife on it anyway instead of plan B. And if the canopy has to go, I imagine the cheststrap would have to be quickly tightened back up before cutting away. ..just my two cents and thoughts in mostly disorganized fashion

most of the time I: -grab the rear riser right after the opening and turn to fly perpendicular to jumprun immediately -check for other canopies for a second or two -collapse the slider, pull it below slinks/toggles, roll it up -do a visual inspection of the canopy -loosen up the cheststrap, let the canopy fly wider, but not undo it completely -release the toggles, flight control check i am not a huge fan of the idea of loosening the cheststrap before releasing toggles/controllability check in case it turns out to have to be cut away, but I'm trying to make up for it by doing a more detailed visual check before... I've tried loosening the cheststrap after releasing the toggles and it didn't seem too comfortable...

oh, and a 8-2ext with a sabre 150 and a speed 150! wow. what's up with Wings container sizing? I have a wings w8-2 ext as well, and a PD126R is a brick in it. and 120 main is definitely the biggest i could fit in it (97-107 was a much better fit)

I wish! Gas is $4.53 to $4.69 a gallon where I'm at! I'm afraid that by the end of 08, we won't be skydiving much. $5.11 per gallon in Canada. (it was $1.35 per litre last weekend). this is getting ridiculous!

Had a chance to jump the new Caravan at PST a few times last weekend, and all I have to say is: wow, what a sweet ride. Very comfortable take-offs, quick climb to 13.5, and well equiped with roll-up door, front and rear outside steps, floater bars... ..i guess PST won't be known any more only as a dropzone that flies all Canadian Winter in a plane with no door...

My new (to me) baby. It's a W2-1 EXT, with pd106r and st97.

why are we talking about 210 to 190 transition? According to OP's profile he's loading a 150 at 1.03. That makes it 1.07 -> 1.19 correspond to 144 sqft to 129. When i went from a 120 to a 107 (same loadings - 1.08 to 1.2 - both Sabres) it was a nice change. Definitely justified buying one and making about 100 jumps on it.

PST is a really cool place with great people and a good vibe. The closest dropzone to Toronto. And this summer we have a full-time Grand Caravan, so you'll never have to wait to get in the air again. Good prices and discounts too.

My RAWA - PC1000.

Clicky: http://www.niagarafreefall.com/ Awesome. About time! It's been a couple of years since their website was saying "opening soon". I might just come up when it's open, and get some tunnel time. Anyone knows what the prices are going to be? I sure hope that it's cheaper than skyventure (newhampshire for example) seeing as niagara tunnel is slower and smaller.

At least in Windows XP - Save the jpg on your computer, right click on the file and go to properties, Summary tab, Advanced button. All the camera settings are there.

I have a W8-2 ext, which is built for 120 main. When I had a 120, it was a brick. Now a 97 fits very nicely into it. Also, is it an EXT or regular? This might help, but apparently this chart is old, and they switched their sizing info: http://www.garlyn.co.nz/wings/Wingsizingchart2.html And according to http://www.skydivewings.com/faq.htm, Q: Where can I find a sizing chart? A: We don't have one available to the public, since we have changed our sizes quite a bit. So if you have a question on that size canopies your container will fit, just give us a call or email, and we will help you out.