DSE

I don't know if it's common or not. I've only been banned from one thing in my life, and that banning was for a short period of time. Bozo makes it sound like it's common, so maybe it is. [edit to add] my 2cents, a dropzone isn't owned by USPA. If the DZO feels like you're a detriment to his dropzone either by your attendance there, your safety, attitude, or the fact that you have some other oddity that isn't copacetic with how he wants his dropzone run, that's his call to ask you to not show up. Maybe if you give him time to cool down and you *sincerely* apologize and show you're not the jerk he probably thinks you are...maybe you can get back in. We all screw up sometime. Not any different than a restaurant that is a member of the ARA...they may have a sign that says "No shirt, no shoes, no service."

Which is a phrase related to white men bringing government goods to Native people, and then selling them off before they made it to the distribution center. "Redskin" is no different than "Spic, Chink, Ni****r, Guinea, Blanco, Cracker, Jigaboo, Shiksa, Spearchucker, Peckerwood, Squaw, Beach Nigger, or any other noun that is racially based or intented to denigrate another person on the basis of skin color. The difference is that in the US, it's seemingly acceptible to single out one culture for commercial uses where it's not acceptable to single out others. While some would debate the minutae, deep down I believe any reasonable, intelligent person knows it's wrong. It's as offensive, but not the same as calling someone a faggot, raghead, etc because those things are based (at least from some point of view) on characteristic traits or religious choice as opposed to skin color. If teams are based on the historical views of years past, I feel we should have a national team name (for any sport) of "AmeriKKKans." It would accurately represent America at one moment of history.

So, at the end of the day, you discovered that a DZ isn't a democracy, as someone else previously pointed out. If you truly "love it more than anything else" then you'll probably find a way to skydive somewhere. I'm sure that *every* DZ has an odd rule, odd people, or other unique features that not everyone agrees with. Perhaps that's part of skydiving, is learning to accept (or not accept) those controls over the facility, but in any event, if you have an issue with a rule, it's probably a better idea to approach the boss and ask them if you can have a few minutes to better understand why the rule is in place. Usually (although not always), the existence of a rule is in response to a previous situation with an eye on prevention. Sorry to hear you've been banned from your DZ.

You mean like trying to find Jay Stokes in 6' corn at 5:00 a.m. pitch dark?

A1 has a better stabilizer, but not better enough that you'll notice unless you're shooting a lot of tripod stuff. If you're not using the audio package on the A1 (which can be modified to work with the HC7) then yes...you'll like the HC7. Same lens element, A1 has a bigger CMOS sensor, but HC7 has ClearVid, it's smaller and lighter. We have several that have been motor mounted and wing mounted, I'm switching them all out for HC5's. Cost is just too damn enticing. I was at Snowbird just this last week shooting paraski, as part of a memorial vid for a paraskier recently passed here. Didn't stay long, just needed to get a few shots as Broll. Looking for'rd to meeting you, seen some of your work.

The HC7, like the A1, downconverts the footage. The HC7 doesn't offer 4:3 conversion/cropping, however. This feature is going away across the manufacturer board. It's either letterbox, or full screen in the future. Were you here in utah for the Paraski comp last week?

The HC1 doesn't have a built in lens hood like the HC5/7 do, and this lens hood should be protected from wind. I think that Redkite had this issue with his HC3, but it went away as soon as he mounted a UV filter on the lens.

no headdown, but aggressive downward tracking, yes. Sit, yes. Diving, yes. Stand, no. CMOS offers more intelligent tracking of the image and pixel placement. I don't believe this is due to the chip system. I leave stabilization off, BTW. Before I start digging into this (we have access to a vibration platform on which we've tested camcorders) I'd like to know from Guscabana if the lens is outwardly exposed.

Nope. Jumped it probably 2 dozen or more jumps. If you don't have a UV filter or wide on the front, you *might* see shutter flap from the built-in lens hood. But I wouldn't be jumping without a UV over the internal lens anyway....

I could be wrong in how I heard it, but Larry Hill did say that you must have an A license to visit during an interview at PIA. I'd imagine they do have a program for hire if you're a visiting student, but it's also likely not cheap. great place, you'll enjoy it even if you don't jump. but it's more fun if you do.

Everyone that jumps is a winner...just that some win bigger than others.

my camera jacket came with the Fastex clips, but I didn't care for the way they fit under the leg clips. I've got to admit, never considered putting the female side of the fastex on the leg strap, I guess I got too focused on the snap shackle instead.

Sorry to hear of your loss. My pets are family members here as well.

I'm not picturing the plastic clips, would you mind posting an image?

FWIW, I'm in the process of rating several lenses for width, resolution, etc. A couple manufacturers have not responded to emails asking for test products, so will be missing a few, as I'm not interested in buying all the various lenses out there. I've already got what I need for my own use. Anyway, using standard EIA charts and DSCLabs charts, coupled with measuring software.

Shannon and Ian won it jointly for 05, didn't they?

I'm using this type of snap shackle (scroll down a bit and look at the "Fixed Eye"). Same as an RSL, but stainless vs brass, a tad more expensive but seems like it would be hard to nick/damage. Found em' at a marine supply store, much cheaper than ParaGear or other skydiving supply, so bought 8 of them for myself and future needs. They attach nicely to a small Dring I had a rigger attach to my legstrap. I also had my rigger bartack nylon to the release ring on the snap shackle.

Altitude checks are enough of a constant for me that I didn't consider the need to write it down. Flying cam, I'm dumping higher than when I fun jump, but other than wings/swoop cords, my process is identical. BTW, I can easily reach my toggles with swoop cords in place, just that I prefer not to. Most of my early jumps, I landed with my wings (I started jumping with wings long before I wore a cam) and found I prefer having them off, but am comfortable either way. I can fly without the cords, and can fly comfortably without the wings, but I like the additional control and upper body pitch that they afford *my* fat ass. Already had my "oh shit, here I am" altitude wakeup call a while back, and do not need to repeat it. Aside from being grounded after it happened, it was disconcerting, stupid, and a realization that I never want to experience again. There are those very comfortable with saddling out in 3 digits, but I'm not one of them. I do perform control checks pretty well the second my hands are on the toggles. And I very much appreciate your input. Regardless of how well you know (or think you know), it never hurts to hear it in various phrases, and usually helps.

By who? Someone with experience jumping with swoop cords and wings? the person who was gently chiding me for my procedures is a guy with thousands of jumps, but predominantly a freeflyer and swooper. Very good guy, just that in his way of thinking, I should be getting to my toggles before anything else. My thought is, if I'm not flying straight with toggles stowed, I might as well find out sooner than later, and more importantly, I might need to be free of my swoop cords and wings in case of some situation. Glad to hear my process is similar to that of others. Eric, how are your swoop cords over your fingers? Mine are just thin ribbon, much like a pull up cord. I need to use both hands to remove them. They're not tight on, just that they're such lightweight material that they don't shake off easily.

Encoding quality depends on two factors: Speed of encode and bitrate. You want your bitrate to always be in the 7-9Mbps range. Anything lower, and you run a risk of aliasing/macroblocking being obnoxious. If your encoder offers two-pass (or more) and speed of encode isn't an issue, use the multi-pass option. you'll see a huge leap in the quality at any bitrate. Also, if you want to increase the quality of the encode, crush the blacks and clip the whites. Values that go as far as 16RGB and 235RGB can create havoc, depending on the encoder. The "flatter" you can make the gamma curve, the better the encode. In other words, have the majority of the color gradiation happening in the mid tones, such as sky, skin, etc. Let blacks be flattened. Using a lot of transitions, or lengthy crossfades from your camcorder will mess with lower grade encoders as well. Software encoders run from high end (CinemaCraft) to low end (Nero) and all sorts in between. Adobe's version of the Main Concept encoder is pretty weak; Sony's version of the same is very strong. Canopus ProCoder is very good, so is Sorenson Squeeze. Ulead has a reasonably good encoder in their cheap DVDMovieFactory 6. You say the vid is choppy; is that on the computer HDD playback, or on the DVD playback?

I have a deployment sequence that I feel works well for me, both in terms of safety and comfort. When describing this to someone else, I was informed that it's unsafe. I'd like feedback from others. After I dump; -I reach for rear risers. -Level flight is then established, and/or turn (rear risers) if I can see anyone in current flight path or similar altitude. -I then release my swoop cords from my fingers -collapse/stow slider -Release camera wings/snap shackle -Unstow brakes and either float out until 1.5, or head for the pattern depending on altitude I was told that I shouldn't worry about swoop cords or wings, should collapse/stow/brakes immediately on deployment, then take hands from brakes to clear wings and cords.

Videogames don't kill people, shitty parents do. Oops, I forgot, this is the new generation. Parents aren't responsible for their children any longer. Since Quade brought up Columbine, I'd like to know why the parents of both of those kids aren't locked up. The MSNBC Interview tells it fairly straight for me. “Dylan (Klebold) did not do this because of the way he was raised,” Susan Klebold told columnist David Brooks in Saturday’s editions of The New York Times. “He did it in contradiction to the way he was raised.” ...They acknowledged they missed signs that their son was in trouble. Klebold and Harris were in a juvenile diversion program for breaking into a van and stealing tools and other items in January 1998. In another interview I can't locate at the moment, the Klebolds "saw no harm in the violent video that their son was playing online with other kids." Even though the police had been notified a year earlier that the boys were making pipe bombs in the basement.

there are still pure Mayans living in the wooded areas above/north/west of Guatemala City. Several languages still persist in spite of the governments "Mayan Death Squads" of the late 70's. If I remember right, Carter or Ford cut off all US military aid to Guatemala because the government was attempting to eradicate all Mayans from the country. I don't think they sacrifice virgins anymore, Steve...just Christian tourists. If you ever have the chance to see the spring rites in Tikal or Poptun (not so far from Belize boogie), it's well worth the experience. Just plan on staying in Tikal, where the electricity is shut off after dark and monkeys rain rocks on your cabin all night. Otherwise, you waste more than half a day just getting there from most anywhere. Guatemala Antigua is a city that everyone should have the opportunity to experience. Incredible place, and if you like chocolate, you can have it custom pounded right then and there on the street. Can't blame em' for wanting to clean up after Bush, can you?

Not big on garpes myself. Grapes, on the other hand... "The World According to Garpes?"

Ummm... right . There's a lot more to it that you apparently know nothing about. You're probably right; I only know what I've been told by folks, and what I've read. I'm definitely on the outside looking in. I also know that when I won a major industry award, I heard more from the "He didn't deserve it" crowd than anything else, and mostly from "insiders" in the industry. "Fuck em', is all I could say. I did the work, and if the industry chose to grant me the award, then obviously someone felt it was deserved. Same is the case here, as far as I can tell from reading. Last year I heard the same sort of bullshit about Shannon Pilcher and Ian Bobo. I've gotten to know them quite well, and have watched them in a variety of situations and locations. From my relatively ignorant point of view, they have well-earned any accolades received. But to hear a bunch of folks yakking off, they "didn't deserve it." Sour grapes... Of course it could have been bought, traded, bribed, or marketed for. If that's the case, I say "Prove it." Until then, I only can say "Good on ya!" to her.