parachutist

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Posts posted by parachutist

  4. I haven't found a good way to mount 2 Hero 5/6/7 Blacks in such a way that all the important buttons, lenses, and ports would be available without removing the cameras every jump. For that reason I made no double camera designs for these Blacks. I had hopes for the Silver and White models because of their simplified ports (the micro SD card and USB are both in the same side door). But the lack of a timelapse photo feature on the Silver and White made me throw my hands up again. Instead I still recommend double Session 5's for now.

  7. SethInMI

    Interesting. I can't find any concrete information about a session replacement, except for this from GoPro CEO Nick Woodman from Nov 2017:

    Quote

    Demand for GoPro’s entry level Session was much higher than anticipated [this year], and will result in a sooner than expected end of life for this product,” Woodman said on the call, “but [this] identifies a significant opportunity for us to expand our market with a new entry level product slated for 2018.” This new camera will be one of “several new products planned” for GoPro, Woodman stated.

    “In 2018 we’ve got a new product to address that entry level which we’re even more excited about than Session, because it’s an even better form factor for that price point"



    Reading between the lines, they will have a new Session style camera coming out some time this year, but it will be even smaller.



    I figured Nick was referring to the new Hero model (same body as the black 5 & 6) as the replacement for the Session. I hope you're right about a smaller-than-session camera in the future

  9. PhreeZone



    They are still in my lower 1/3rd of containers I like to pack



    I felt that way for several years, until something finally clicked and I felt I understood how to pack them better one day. After that I started appreciating some details of the Wings: the line pouch protects the lines from the velcro closure with no need for extra tools. The bag split in the middle allows me to fill those ears quite full with little stress during insertion. No extra tool is needed to guide the closing loop through separate top/bottom grommets. The freebag is made of durable material, instead of thin F111. I guese all my appreciation is for the freebag design. Hmmmm

  10. Replacing a kill line yesterday, I noticed it seemed a little thicker than the usual 1000#, so I did a search through the newer Sigma manual and found 2 entries with different values.
    http://uptvector.com/PDF/Support/Manual/Manual_Sigma_MAN-013.pdf

    From p3:
    The Drogue System (Patent: 6,626,400)
    The 1¾” Kevlar outer bridle extends past the disc all the way to the main deployment bag. The kill line is 1200
    lb. Spectra and terminates at the bag.

    From p14:
    K. Kill Line – A length of 1,250 lb. Spectra line, with a 1” loop at each end, which runs inside the drogue
    bridle from the kill line attachment bridle to the Rapidè link at the bag attachment loop.

  11. Unstable

    Quote

    However I've been using thirds for a few years after getting tips from a UPT rep at a PIA symposium.




    Manufacturers are notorious on giving select riggers 'tips' on methods outside the manual. This manufacturer in specific.




    Folding in thirds seemed to make the mass stay more solid while pushing it through the hesitation loop, making it easier when I get one of those not-very-stretchy loops.

  12. pchapman


    However, there's still a minor difference in the bight made:

    Vector fold in half, insert 1"
    Icon fold in thirds, insert 1/2"




    Sigmas Fold in quarter, insert 1" (That's new to me, I thought it was still listed as half in the manual. However I've been using thirds for a few years after getting tips from a UPT rep at a PIA symposium)

  13. masterrigger1



    Chris,
    I hate to disagree with you on this; but unfortunately I do.



    No problem, and I'm glad to hear what you have to say.

    Going back through my experiences on DZs, I've been present on 2 occasions when hard openings caused fractured neck bones, and 2 times when the force seemed strong enough to cause injury, but luckily didn't. The lines involved were Spectra (almost new Pilot loaded at 1.2), Dacron (Lightning loaded at 1.3), Spectra (Silhouette loaded at 1.2), and Technora (xVX loaded at 2.2). Causes for 3 of those were attributed to packing techniques, and the Lightning one... Could be air speed, body position, packing, and canooy nature all mixed in.

    Very often I see damaged HMA and Vectran lines after 100-iah jumps on a new canopy. Sometimes owners notice, sometimes packers notice for them, but often they aren't recognized until a reserve repack. Or sometimes a line breaks during canopy opening or flight. To me these dangers seem more common than an extremely hard opening. Spectra isn't perfect, but breakage is something it avoids very well.

    What would you say is a better line choice for low-experienced jumpers?

  14. skyderrill66

    When Spectra goes out of trim on a big canopy with low wing loading, the typical symptoms are increased off-heading openings, harder openings, and less effective flares. Those are pretty mild consequences IMO.
    I lost a good friend because of those mild consequences. He was jumping a old saber 1 i think a 190 and he was around 165 lbs and it opened so hard it tore his aorta and they think he was dead before he hit the ground. >:(>:(>:(>:(>:(>:(>:(>:(>:(>:(>:(>:(>:(>:(>:(>:(>:(so no they are most definitely not mild consequences.>:(



    Fast openings are known to be the nature of the Sabre 1. If that nature were combined with very out of trim lines, I could see it resulting in an extreme situation. I did mention that harder openings are one of the indicators for needing a new line set. They start out very mild on the canopies that I specified, and they progress gradually. Canopy owners have time to recognize the changes in their canopy's behavior.

  15. Blis

    ***Welcome to this addictive sport!

    Details:
    That Tempo 210 supports a max of 226 lbs. Right now you'd be overloading it. At 200 lbs you'll still be overloading it. So you should buy a more recent reserve first off. Here's an example of a modern manufacturer's reserve weight limits:
    http://www.flyaerodyne.com/canopies/smart/smart-specs/

    My suggestions for a main would be a Pilot or Sabre2. I'd request Spectra lines for either of those. HMA, Vectran, and ZLX are the lines that may need replacing soon.



    Could you tell us a bit more about why you recommend spectra lines instead of the other options? Is it just because of the longer assumed life span?

    Just asking becouse from a rigger point-of-view I cant really recommend spectra because it goes out of trim very quickly and even thou it "lasts" maybe twice the jumps compared to other lines the trim should warrant changing the lines at the same time as other lines (vectran lasts maybe 400 jumps give or take)...

    When Spectra goes out of trim on a big canopy with low wing loading, the typical symptoms are increased off-heading openings, harder openings, and less effective flares. Those are pretty mild consequences IMO. They're indicators that it's time for a reline.

    HMA, Vectran, and ZLX lines can quickly get abraded to the point of breakage. Many newer jumpers don't have the knowledge to watch for the wear spots, or they simply don't pay attention. They get very little benefit from those lines but high risk. Vectran lasts maybe 400 jumps under ideal conditions with a jumper who pulls the slider down past their toggles every time. Newer jumpers have their attention maxed out already worrying about separation and merging into landing patterns. I don't think they need to be pushing toggles through #8 grommets after opening, or dealing with an RDS system.

  16. Welcome to this addictive sport!

    Details:
    That Tempo 210 supports a max of 226 lbs. Right now you'd be overloading it. At 200 lbs you'll still be overloading it. So you should buy a more recent reserve first off. Here's an example of a modern manufacturer's reserve weight limits:
    http://www.flyaerodyne.com/canopies/smart/smart-specs/

    My suggestions for a main would be a Pilot or Sabre2. I'd request Spectra lines for either of those. HMA, Vectran, and ZLX are the lines that may need replacing soon.

  17. faulknerwn

    Was definitely planning to save the names of new gear and have an option for user input. Just seemed like it would save a lot of time to avoid having to type in Javelin and such every time if I could just choose it.

    And if they pick rigging innovations to be able to just be able to choose between flexon/curv/talon etc seems easier than having to type it in every single time.

    Plus my goal is to have it save rigs by jumper name so that if I put in bob Jones as the user I can have it pop up his Javelin or his Mirage or whatever.

    Plus I think having it as choices will avoid lots of typos and having mispellings and such everywhere.



    Yes, some of us dislike typing more than necessary, so I think you're on the right track. Or maybe I'm biased because what you're describing is similar to what I'm using. Our dz uses gcskydiving manifest software. It has a database of all the funjumpers at our DZ, along with rig info for that jumper's rigs. It uses drop-down boxes for gear choices like containers, aads, etc, and it keeps track of repack due dates. If a jumper tries to manifest and his rig is out of date, a red flag pops up for the manifest window. The DZ integration has been useful for that reason, plus user addresses are stored there, so I can access it for log book info. Also it's cloud based, which has been very convenient when I'm on the road and a SB comes out: I can look at serial numbers fairly quickly (but there's not a search by SN or by DOM type of search available, which would be nice.)

    Also there's no rigging accounting functionality built it, like a list of work performed with prices, invoicing, etc. That would be nice to integrate.

  18. Adding another pulley is a way to increase the force while using a standard power motor.

    Downsides to this:
    1) when you want to tilt the machine head, you need to loosen the pulley and slide it up, then retension it when done.
    2) the original solid steel pulley weighed 15 lbs, causing problems for the brake on the needle positioner. That's why a printed 4 lb pulley was subbed in here.

    [inline pulley1.jpg]

    This machine doesn't hesitate when pushing the needle through anything I've thrown at it yet.

  19. Skydog0223

    Yes, but I thought it was in connection with oversized reserves, btw just info the container is 4 years old, I heard Sunrise had done some kind of mod, anyway my rigger is fully aware of the situation and we looking at options. In any case a total mal would render any kind of reserve assist device useless, so a bigger PC would be the only realistic option IMO. I'm not a parachute rigger etc but I'm an Aeronautical Engineer and seems like simple laws of Mechanics apply.



    Or abandoning the solid molar shaped freebag could work too, if a suitable option were designed and tested. The molar bag is like a brick and the entire brick needs to be extracted at once. But if it were a sleeve style bag it could be more snake-like and the total friction of the entire freebag wouldn't need to be overcome at once: the RPC could pull the upper section free, then middle, then bottom, etc. Then of course we'd probably be introducing a whole world of extra problems that hadn't been considered. Maybe there's another way to break up that freebag extraction into more manageable chunks, so the brute force of giant pilot chutes wouldn't be necessary.

  20. masterrigger1

    Quote


    I was looking at a fully deployed reserve bridle and PC and nothing else!



    Were you aware of the "Issues"???

    http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=4840136;page=2;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25;

    Yep, it is time to do something about this...

    Mark Baur, you probably need to address this with the PIA rigging committee. It has gone on long enough.

    MEL



    This scenario has happened with other brands of containers too: Jumper's back is to the earth, reserve pc deployed, bridle fully extended. The rpc can't pull the freebag out of the tray in an acceptable time frame because it's nearly a 180 degree bend on the bridle where it wraps around the jumper. This happened locally with a sport vector a few years ago. I think most containers currently on the market would have the same result unless a MARD was being used. Do we need RPCs of 60" size, capable of rolling the jumper over?

  21. kawisixer01

    What about a dual mount for the Sony action cams? As far as work flow, is that a better configuration?



    We made one for the Sony HDR-AZ1. I had issues with the buttons, indicator lights, and the battery life when using those for tandems. and it wasn't all that popular, so we didn't pursue any more mounts for Sonys.

    Can you describe the improved workflow that you're seeing with Sony cams?

  23. This is a project I've been working on. It's still in the design phase. Upsides: the video footage is smooth, and the cameras are out of the way. Downside: When you raise the windscreen, the cameras go with the screen, so landings don't get filmed.

    I love my Aero!

    [inline aero1.jpg]

    [inline aero2.jpg]