drudchen

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Posts posted by drudchen

  4. 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.

  5. 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

  6. 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.

  7. Quote

    I did a search and I know I've seen threads on this topic before.. but what is the going resale formula for main canopies?

    I think I remember seeing once, 80% of retail price minus $1 per jump? Assuming good/excellent condition and all. Thanks for your help.

    I've got a Pilot 168 with 100 jumps (give or take) that I'd like to sell at a fair price and I'm trying to figure it out. Guessing $1430 or so is fair?



    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.

  8. 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?

  13. 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.

  14. Quote

    Are you a little bit of a fan for releasing brakes prior to loosening the chest strap?


    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

  15. 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...

  16. Quote

    Quote

    I jump a 5-2ext with a xfire 129 and a speed 135!



    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)

  17. Quote

    Quote

    I just paid $4.19 per gallon of gas this morning.



    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!

  18. Quote

    Just a note to announce a full time turbine for the 2008 season. We are all going crazy about new possibilities opened up. Thanks to DZO Adam Mabee and STL where the plane was based previously!

    RM


    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... B|

  20. Quote

    Negligible increase in performance. I tried a variety of 190's (Sabre, Sabre 2, Spectre, Safire 2, Triathlon) loaded at 1.19 back when I was flying a Spectre 210. The difference in performance wasn't enough for me to justify buying a 190.



    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.

  23. Quote

    Howard, how did you grab the cam settings? File info wasn't showing up on my PShop or Aperture?



    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.

  24. 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.