DSE

As far as the A1U vs HC3...in our production world, the HC3 has absolutely zero place whatsoever. No audio input, no audio monitoring, no timecode, nada... It has a unique DSP that in very specific situations is superior to the A1, but those situations are rare in the production world. On the skydiving side, there are choices that we don't have on the production side. The HC3 is great for skydiving. Other than the 32mm thread vs the 37mm thread, it's a super great cam, because in skydiving, you really don't need audio input, timecode, phantom power, DSP control, internal color modulation, audio monitoring (when was the last time you wore headphones plugged into your TRV during a skydive?) So, the HC3 is pretty ideal for skydiving and keepoing around for those "Wow" moments. We used some of the footage from the HC3 for B-roll for the TLC project, and we've used break footage from the HC3 for some other extreme sports, and will be shooting a LeMans event next week where we'll likely put an HC3 on a car as a crash cam. I don't mind losing a 1500.00 cam in a crash vs a 5000.00 or 2700.00 cam or our bigger, more costly cams. So...did you make a mistake? Only if you plan to make serious video OUTSIDE of skydiving, did you make a mistake.

You may/may not find this of interest, http://www.sundancemediagroup.com/articles/camcorders/skydive_wedding.htm but it was a fun shoot nonetheless.

I do too. I'm not really looking at my altimeter much until I know I'm in the 6-7k range, and that's where the numbers get more distant. FWIW, I've worn this up with 2 additional altimeters (chest/right wrist), plus my Dytter. It's interesting how the other two require constant tapping to bring them to point, but the Altitrack doesn't at all. It matches my Dytter very closely, but truthfully, I've never paid attention to the chest, and now that I trust my Altitrack completely (I wouldn't jump without at least a second altimeter for several jumps, I guess I'm a little crazy) I no longer wear an altimeter on my right hand.

Thanks guys. I just ran the other room in to check mine...and it's not tight enough to make me cuss, so I guess I'd better shorten it a bit. Knowing now what a premature deployment is like...

While I understand assumptions shouldn't be made, wouldn't one assume the closing loop would be the proper length on a student/rental rig? I have no idea if it was or wasn't, since I didn't look at the container after it was opened. But I have seen it jumped on numerous occasions without incident. Is the length related to anything more than the pressure generated by the bag? In other words, am I missing a piece of the puzzle beyond how tight the closing system should be?

I enjoy my Altitrack, but find I enjoy it *much* more since I got the JumpTrack software. It helps me track my jumps in that I can view velocity on the charts, and understand how that relates to my goals on the dive. Bonnie, your customer service is AWESOME!

not just pins?...I recently saw a looped bridle on a student rig catch wind when the jumper was in the door. Bridle wasn't fully laid flat against the container, and no bridle cover on the container. No one seriously hurt. Deploying at 13k and being jerked out of the doorway *might* have been avoided if the bridle had been more closely checked along with the pin check, or so it seems. I'm thinking that if the PC hadn't come out with the main, it could have been a horseshoe mal as well?

Someone (you?) posted a variation of this a while back. I worked on it late at night in a closed shopping mall. Other than the guards thinking I was really strange, it really helped me make a difference overnight. Thanks for the analogy, it's a fine one!

You're right. I did use those words. In response to being attacked for wanting to merely buy a DVD. Not to mention the PM's that came along with being attacked for wanting to simply buy a DVD, like two other people in the same thread. Calling us stupid and ignorant calls for a similar response. I can take it just fine. Problem is, it shouldn't have happened in the first place. Once it did happen, it should have been moderated/edited, IMO. It only serves to make the community look bad to newcomers, of which I'm one.

Lordy, if it were only that simplistic. First post from poster with 100 jumps~"Where do I find this DVD on XXX?" Response post from skydiver with 65 jumps~"Yeah, I'd like to find that too. Anyone know where it can be bought? How much it costs?" Response from skydiver with 500 jumps~"You can't learn XXX from a DVD, you need tunnel time. You're an a$$hole if you don't go to a tunnel, it's cheaper and you can't learn XXX unless you either go to a tunnel or pay much more for a coach and hundreds of skydives.You know so little, you don't even know what you don't know." Response:~"Regardless, my coach thinks it's a good idea for me to read any/all material related to the subject, and watch any vids I can find on the subject, and I trust my coach/instructor. Her team has done very well in competition. Additionally, it's summer, and tunnel time for me is more of a winter option." Final response: "Your coach is an idiot, you're an idiot, everyone who doesn't do tunnel time is an idiot." in different context: I want to buy a DVD on self-sufficient first aid for my cut finger" "You can't learn to fix a cut finger from a DVD, you have to go to the hospital." All I want is to watch a DVD. Maybe it will help me find questions to ask a nurse or a doctor that can teach me better if my comprehension of my cut goes up." "you're an a$$hole if you don't go see the doctor. You don't even know what you don't know." "OK, I'll accept that. I've never been a doctor, but I am a trained EMT that worked in an elementary school for years. They're both medically related, but I understand how my somewhat similar experience doesn't make me a doctor, but I'd still just like to buy the DVD. That was my original question. Additionally, my professor thinks I probably will understand more about what I should be thinking of if I watch the DVD." "You're still an a$$hole if you don't go see a doctor. Your professor doesn't know sh**" Is that really productive for anyone? Thanks to people like AFFI, NWFlyer, Billvon, Phreeflyer, and a few others, there are posts that can actually be learned from, rather than made to intimidate or intentionally segregate the community. Interestingly enough, a local guy who was telling me the other day why I shouldn't be playing with my risers at 4K biffed it very badly on a hook turn a few days ago. He has hundreds of jumps. Then there are those whose sole purpose is to scream "You moron/idiot/jackass/fool, you shouldn't even be in the air. What makes you think you're human enough to even consider being in *our* sport." I'd submit that the mere love of flying, the time we've invested thus far and continue to invest, our dedication to improving ourselves, our sometimes feeble attempts to learn difficult maneuvers, our innate desire to survive in challenging moments, and our insatiable need for seeing the world with a different perspective gives us the same right that many of those elitists have forgotten that they to, had to grow into. I meet guys like Jay Stokes, world jump record holder, and they're super-humble, super helpful, and incredibly ready to teach. Jack Guthrie, one of the early pioneers of container design and test pilot for anything that wasn't round...same story. John Stewart at SD-Hawaii...thousands of jumps, inspired, excited, humble as hell. Never dismissive, occasionally humorous about mistakes, but always dedicated to being sure that newcomers are welcome, and pointed in the right direction. Many thanks to those kinds of people. AFFI, thanks for posting this, I've enjoyed our PM discussions on this subject. I hope it can inspire at least one or two folks take pause before they flame.

it works very well. Incredibly well. For 3 seconds. Not sure how you'll use that length in "real life" use?

Found em' there too, behind the watch counter. Also learned that while the unit calls for the #399 battery, it also accepts and works fine with the 355 battery. Much easier to find. Thanks again for the help, folks.

We've flown the HC3 and A1u for at least 50 jumps at this point. If the HC3 is set up correctly, you shouldn't see any skip. The A1 should never have skip. A1 has bigger buffer. HC3 can skip if hit with extreme range and fast motion, and set for certain exposure modes. The GOP structure of HDV can cause this when coupled with a DSP hit. I personally prefer the A1, the pieces we shot for TNT last week were all done with A1, but had one HC3 for comparison. Notable diff in chroma and luma management, but the HC3 is still arms and legs above any DV cam. Just be sure to set it up correctly. There is a review of the HC3 on the www.vasst.com site, but not as many pictures as I'd like to get in there.

AFFI, I've come to the conclusion that this is a lot of what this community is about much of the time. Sad, but this seems to be the order of the forum. Daniel, as in my original post and answered here, the waiver is to protect, but I think in great part, it's an attempt however strong or frail, to be sure you: a: understand the risks b: are willing to accept the risks for yourself c: set some sort of notice/initial barrier to those that would come in the event of an experience of the consequences of those risks. You have a right to wonder about the necessity of such a waiver, but if the question of the waiver keeps you up at night...then you should probably step back and examine your decision to skydive. One thing I'd mention as well, is that as a production company specializing in extreme situations, you'd be surprised at how short the DZ waiver is compared to what our cameramen have to sign. Big difference is tho, you're in the pursuit of fun and joy, and they're in pursuit of income. I hope you're able to resolve any concerns to the best of your own experience, and you're either jumping and enjoying the experience, or you've let it go for now, and will consider it another day. Azoo’oo’ naan’ tah’ (fly in beauty)

Nope, that makes perfect sense. I kept rotating it counterclockwise, and no beep, so figured I was doing something wrong. In spite of being told it has new batts, I just now removed them after your instructions and measured them on a VOM. They're next to dead. How long should the batts go on these? Thank you very much for the concise explanation.

Anyone here got an instruction manual for the old-style Dytter? L&B's site has been down for a couple days, and I'd like to get going with one, but don't know how to set the altitude values.

I'd highly doubt pressure from the rear would do this. i'll look forward to seeing some raw m2t

Here's a twist to that scenario; Skydiver has 100 jumps. Wants to start jumping a Xaos or other extreme performance canopy. DZO tells him "You're not ready for that" and refuses to order one for skydiver, so skydiver goes to a DZO, Ebay, or used alternative that doesn't ask about skill level, or maybe doesn't care. Skydiver brings rig back to the DZ that has refused to sell him the rig, jumps it, lands it safely, and DZO realizes the skydiver has circumvented him and bought a high performance rig. DZO shakes his head and walks away. The skydiver then proceeds to do a low level hook turn on next jump, breaking his legs and back while taking out one or two other skydivers/spectators on landing. Who is now responsible aside from the skydiver? Anyone? No one? Both DZo's? One DZO?

You can also achieve this with a post-grad, Tiffen has a software set that is very nice for Photoshop, Premiere, AE, and other applications. You could do this with a grad lens filter too, but I don't know that I'd do that for one-shot photo ops. Film stocks, glass, etc can be very closely emulated in post today regardless of whether it's digital or film, video or stills. My company makes film-emulation software for Sony Vegas and Final Cut Studio, and it's always funwhen people win awards using the software because of the "look" of film like treatments of digitally originated media.

The image suggests that something overloaded the DSP on the camera. I've heard about this from engineers, but have never experienced/seen it myself. I'd be curious to see the actual footage just prior to and post. Bear in mind that pointing any cam directly at the sun can create all sorts of havoc with the CMOS or CCDs, plus seriously screw with the timing of the DSP. My initial response to the image is that something similar happened here, but would want to see pre and post error frames.

After reading this thread, I guess I'm pretty anal. I wear an Altitrack on my wrist, Galaxy II on my chest, and a Timeout in my helmet. I can't always look at my wrist, and can't always see my chest, but don't trust the Timeout. I don't completely trust anything electronic, I guess I've been around electronics too much.

old news? The event happened yesterday.

found some video... http://www.cnn.com/video/partners/clickability/index.html?url=/video/offbeat/2006/06/20/walker.ut.skydive.wedding.ksl You'll prolly have to turn off your popup blocker due to how CNN feeds video. Notice that two of the top 5 stories on CNN video are skydiving stories that don't involve an incident. 1 is the older veteran that jumped in Texas, and the other is this couple that got married.

http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_3957747 This story was on several television stations around the US. The footage of the in-air ring exchange looked great on the news.

my point was, Tooele Airport is much closer to SLC. 10 minutes? What you been smokin? Given that I make the drive to Hill regularly, and Tooele regularly, I'd give my left arm to make the drive from central SLC to Skydive Ogden in only 10 minutes more. Part of my right arm, too. Added to the other part of the wierdness of it is that Ogden is no where near as affluent as SLC, and EVERY business in that area has failed, including the main mall. Skydive Utah draws from Ogden, Provo, Evanston, Wendover, etc. Ogden gets Brigham and maybe Logan. The two added up don't cover the population of SLC, and the further north you go, the less income of the general population. Farther south, it's significantly higher in affluency. Point either way, is SLC is a substantially more intelligent location, regardless of which dropzone you prefer. The main reason I brought up Tooele is because they have the Deseret Peak facility, and Larry Miller's monstrous new sports park. Both are less than half a mile from Erda. I'm quite sure I'll be logging more miles to Ogden once their tunnel is done.