hackish

Are you looking for a rating that you never plan to use? Ie to work in a packing tent? The important part I didn't see is what position you were looking for. I bought a T10R (sorry no d-bag) and packed it 80 times for my master rating and it was under $100. You could talk to Marc Nadeau - I think he's the distributor for National and if there is anyone I know who would have a diaper type round it's him. -Michael

Tried something similar but the cell signal went away around 5000'. Toyed with the idea of putting a wifi antenna on the outside and using a directional on the ground but the AMO didn't feel comfortable with putting a transmitter like that on a certified aircraft without paperwork... -Michael

I think it will only really affect 182 jump ships. I tried waving a similar magnet around inside a 172. At chest level it doesn't seem to do anything but in line with the compass it did make it swing even from about 1.5' away. Since we don't have any 182's I can't sit on the floor to see exactly where a camera helmet sits in relation to the dash but it's something to look at. -Michael

I can bring a drogue and a bridle. Both show off wear in the most common places. Bridle is worn where the disc attached. Drogue is all worn on the kevlar attachment points. Maybe other riggers have some other good examples to provide? -Michael

They specify that the battery will last 300h in standby mode. That's 12 days. A dozen jumps per week is a conservative estimate. 7 days battery life is not unreasonable based on these estimates. Operationally, getting someone to swap units once a week is already a no-go. Are you suggesting that someone open and close 20+ rigs at the start and end of each day? Straight from the horses mouth. $39/unit is in quantity 50. They will do $45 per unit in smaller quantities. Shipping and duty is extra. $50-$60 per unit landed is quite realistic. There are ways to ask where numbers came from. Some are respectful and some are not. The cost of a SIM plus their activation fees add to about $80USD per unit. I checked both rogers and bell and neither would waive either the $50CAD activation or the e911 fees. Under a corporate plan, data can be shared but based on 20 rigs it works out to about $1250CAD total or $40USD per rig per year. At the end of the day, GPS/cell technology is better for our needs but cost prohibitive. For this reason my review is focused on the coin sized bluetooth LE devices. The downside is range but the upside is cost and size. -Michael

From what I can see it's more like $50-$60 per unit plus the cost of a SIM card, which for us is going to be about $80 and $40 per year. With that, you also need to charge it once a week. That means 2x the number of units versus rigs, swapping them out for the first jump each week. Too much maintenance! Would the DZ justify $40 per rig? Probably. $100 per rig+$40 per rig per year? I think that's where the problem is. I definitely believe that a cell/gps unit would be best but I don't see the technology and pricing yet. -Michael

I've seen gear dropped on a PA-31 to try and coax a little more nose down due to drag. It is effective but I'm all that confident with the practice... -Michael

I have never seen a GPS unit sold for that price. That ioda one was around $150 when I looked at it. Do you have a link? -Michael

I have offered a bunch of our worn out drogues to Frankais. Do you need some too? I think a sample of lines would be useful too. I can try to get some good and less good and set them aside next reline I do. -Michael

Someone pointed out a new 4k gopro competitor - Mokacam. Looks mildly interesting but I did note a "feature" that might be of interest to skydivers and pilots. It comes with some nice fancy magnets so you can stick it to metal items. This isn't going to necessarily ring any alarms with jumpers but when the pilot starts wondering why the compass is always pointing a someone's helmet it is an issue! Someone just pointed out magentic riser covers but I think these units are many times stronger and right in-line with the AC compass (depending on the airplane). -Michael

I find they're a really nice AC to fly except a few things. -Small door -Touchy C/G -Difficult engine heat management. Jump run is a little quicker than many jump AC but it's manageable. You can't hang 4 in the door, you'll run out of elevator authority long before that! Tandems are manageable as well, not great but easier than a 182! You also need to adjust your maintenance program to pay significant attention to the condition of the gear. It doesn't like the number of cycles from a skydiving op so you have to look hard at the time based maintenance and check/lube all the parts way more often. Another thing to look closely at is the exact engine spec. Make sure you have the heavy case variant. They do make a good stepping stone before you grow to a caravan. -Michael

I've been watching the small bluetooth LE technology as it's been evolving. I'm not a fan of GPS based cell network technology because of its size and $100-$200 price tag. I purchased a Tile 2 which uses Bluetooth LE. It was $25USD and lasts about a year on a non-replaceable battery. It is definitely small enough to be safely installed in a d-bag. I simulated a lost canopy by sticking it in the park by my house and hanging it in my hedge to simulate a real canopy hiding spot in the woods. An ipad was able to pick it up from about 50ft away when obscured by bushes/trees. Clear LOS on it gives about 100'. I used an embedded MCBT40 bluetooth LE USB development device on my laptop and got it from about 150-200'. When you read the specs 75' doesn't sound like a lot but when you're wandering around with the tile stuck in your hedge it's a lot further than it feels like reading this at your desk! I had hoped for more so I desoldered the chip antenna from my receiver and put on a standard YAGI PC board antenna optimized for 2.4ghz. I picked up data from the tile from the end of my street which I estimate to be about 500'. It was not great but hanging the tile from a string in a tree definitely improved the range. Here is what I think so far: a) At $25/unit the technology is affordable but isn't a guarantee you'll find a lost canopy. b) universal compatibility with most smart phones means practically everyone at the DZ has a receiver already. c) Bluetooth antennas on phones are not great but a dedicated receiver could improve range. I'm going to play with the idea a bit more when I have time but I thought some real world test data would be helpful. -Michael

Use a rigger as a trusted 3rd party. I've done this many times. Seller will ship the rig to me. Someone pays for the inspection. I inspect it and send the results to both parties. When the seller confirms they've been paid I release the rig to the buyer. Otherwise someone pays to have it shipped back to the seller (agreed upon first). -Michael

I'm not sure about Iota specifically but I kickstarted a high power bluetooth tracker called stonetether but got screwed. It's continual promises but no products. Instead I just got a tile and have been testing out the range. I think it's a viable solution. Next step will be to design a long range antenna and see what sort of range I can get. -Michael

Interesting article but I think it misses some of the most important parts about harness/toggle symmetry that cause the spin in the first place.

So many years ago, it was not so hard. The service bulletin or whatever that was posted earlier in the thread described it, and someone recalled how they had the local fire department test the capabilities of their boltcutters. A large set of bolt cutters will remove them. The important thing is not to use an abrasive process. Stainless steel filings/metal chips are quite sharp and you don't want these things embedded in your rig or canopies. They're quite unpleasant when embedded in your fingertips. -Michael

My comments in no way are directed to this specific HW manufacturer, however I will say that in working with a number of asian based companies it is very common to have metal samples advertised and certified as 304SS yet when analyzed in a lab they were a completely unknown alloy that wasn't even close to the advertised spec. This sort of problem has also existed in aircraft hardware and I remember once reading about a crash caused by "fake" hardware used to attach a tail. So in the parachute industry I think we also need a level of vigilance to keep people safe. Chong Ching Enterprises in China can sell you hardware "certified" and "tested" at 1/4 the price. If their hardware fails and someone dies, the company vanishes and in 2 days re-opens at the same address as Chingy Chongy. -Michael

You need the proper codec to be installed. The one that is recognizing it as audio can probably only decode the audio stream. As was already suggested gspot will tell you what codec it needs to view the file. -Michael

Need to modify my favourite quote from the original... I was packing parachutes ... "while you were still popping zits on your funny face and jacking off to the lingere section of the sears catalog..." Best line ever. I saw the preview and figured I'd wait until it shows up on satellite before watching... I'm sure there will be many clients showing up the DZ wondering if they can try out a squirrel suit... -Michael

Rob you're too old to become a dirty rotten low pulling base jumper. Now, I have seen some bicycles that fold up to be put in a trunk that might suit your needs. I'm always nervous about these kickstarter things but you might want to check out a helix bike. I saw photos of a prototype that was to be folded up in the back of a carbon cub. Other than that, check out a dahon uno they're not made out of unaffordium and you can find them on amazon. -Michael

3d printing would do exactly what you need. I have seen them before. As long as you can put up with the colour selection... -Michael

Honestly I think you're going about the problem in the wrong way. What's needed is a low snag mount made from a plastic that breaks given a certain amount of force. With a cast plastic design you have some control and repeatability. With a fabric type attachment you are going to have issues keeping the camera snug and the material from being worn, torn or otherwise violated when installed on one of 100 types of helmets available. -Michael

skytribe. I bought one and installed it on my 112w140. The only issue is that the piece I got was defective, otherwise it would have worked properly. The defect was that the holes were bored crooked so one of the needles was not straight. -Michael

skytribe. I bought one and installed it on my 112w140. The only issue is that the piece I got was defective, otherwise it would have worked properly. The defect was that the holes were bored crooked so one of the needles was not straight. -Michael

After a number of months of hard work, replacing and adjusting parts I think I finally have a reliable tacker. Next topic is how to clamp lines so you can get an accurate tack each time. Does anyone have any ideas or examples for my B430 machine? Thinking out loud I can machine a line-sized groove in the clamp to hold the line consistently. Getting those tacks dead centre each time every time, is that just an issue of using a clamp with a small enough opening? I can also build/get a variety of rubber clamps, pullies or cleats to ensure the line is exactly in the same place every time. Suggestions? -Michael