Rainmagnet

So you know him and can vouch that its genuine.? I was hoping that someone who knew him or his situation personally would verify this. Thanks.

There is a message currently circulating (mainly on Facebook I believe) saying that Rob Stanley has been injured in Thailand while doing a beach jump and appealing for funds to pay for his treatment and repatriation.. Since several of these "injured overseas please help" scams were doing the rounds a while ago, Im a bit cynical so would like to know if anyone actually knows Rob Stanley and whether this appeal is genuine? His facebook profile (with updates and appeals from people who appear to be genuine) is here; https://www.facebook.com/rob.stanley.35175 If anyone has first-hand knowledge - please post. Thanks

Thanks. I'll try again to find the other post...

A lot of debate on whether this incident is for real. Ive search and cant find any discussion on DZ or an incident report (although I could have missed it); http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9fHrJbj1SY Anyone know the people involved? Comments.? Has to be some lessons to be learned here! Mike

Sent you PM Skygypsie.

From Oliver Scott-Tomlin, Dear All Nick will be layed to rest on Saturday the 27th In Hermanus South Africa at 1100. Please let me know if you can attend. If not please be with us in spirit. Much love Oliver, Tanya, Norma and Frank

It is with great sadness that I report the passing of Nick Scott-Tomlin in the early hours of the 3rd February 2010. Nick was a great guy, a free spirit and a talented free-flyer and he touched the lives of many people. Nick's Brother Oliver has asked me to post this message on behalf of his family; --------------- We are hoping to have a service on the 20th of this month (in Hermanus, South Africa). I am aware that it is far away and short notice, but if anyone would like to come please ask them to contact me and i will give them more information. My email address is [email protected]. --------------- I will also try to post more information here when it becomes available and I hope a fuller obituary will follow. Gona miss you Nick. Mike

OK thanks. I found the tech support number and called them. They say I should send it off for repiar, but cannot confirm if my problem as described is due to a manufacturing fault or not. Fingers crossed or its going to cost about £175 ($200?) to repair. M

I have an odd fault on my PC101 whichlooks like a chroma or colour cast. The camera is slow to react to changing light conditions and the colours look very 'washed out'. All the settings are correct (first thing I tried was to verify the light balance settings etc). Someone told me they thought that there was a model recall for a certain batch of serial numbers, but I have been unable to find anything about this. Anyone else have a problem or know anything about a manufacturing fault please? I cant afford to replace this at present... :( Thanks Mike

He just lost the entire main. It dropped into trees, and despite several searches, we never found it. We think someone stole it (some of the locals are a bit anti-skydiving due to the turbine noise). I dont go along with his theory that a badger used it to wallpaper his sett. Not those colours anyway. ;) He had the presence of mind to keep hold of his reserve handle. He got a message last night that Rob Colpus has managed to ship him the bits he needs annd theyt shouold arrive today(!). We're just waiting for confirmation. Thanks to everyone for suggestions.

PC101 since start of last year. Very reliable and might be some deals out there if you can still find one as they are old models (but the newer ones dont have any better features that make me want them any more). I got a GREAT deal on Ebay last year when I bought mine.

Thanks. We'll try calling DZ sports now.

Thanks piisfish, but we kinda figured that out already... :) But when you ask someone to supply you with a new main "because youve had a cutaway and lost it all", it would be nice if they had mentioned that you needed to order risers etc at the time of ordering the replacement main... Live and learn.

Im hoping someone from one of the UK gear stockists can respond to this? I have a friend who had a cutaway last year and lost the main in trees. His replacement main just arrived, but to to a communications error(!) its short of some parts! He needs to find the bits he needs for delivery by middle of next week as we have a jumping trip to France planned for the following weekend. Do you know of anyone in the UK who can supply them ex-stock? He has a Vortex container and Pilot 190. He needs suitable; Riser set Deploy bag Pilot chute (anything else) Please PM me if you can help as time is short - [email protected] Thanks if you can help.

I ordered in July 2003 took delivery in August. I had mine fitted with a Cameye II and a funky purple paint job which cost a little extra, but looks a lot cooler than black... Initial impressions were very good. Fit was excellent even with my head size (I ordered mine for a 62cm head size - one of the largest they've supplied - no comments please!). One minor gripe I have had is that the video camera (tripod-mount) screw on the mounting plate never fitted quite right. Im not 100% sure if it was the screw on the helmet though, or the thread in the camera base plate. I now have the video (PC101) held in using some rubber 'bungies' (rubber bands), which I prefer to the solid mounting as its not only holds the camera quite firm, but also allows a little more 'give' in the event of an impact to the helmet. The other small modification I made was to superglue a small fibre washer (about the same thickness as the button) around the cameye button, as I found it was too easy to push this accidentally, and it also makes it easier to locate the button by feel while the helmet is being worn. I also fitted a quick-release to the chinstrap, as this is now a requirement when jumping in France. All-in-all, I highly recomment the K2 helmet. I know 3 other people who also use them and we are all very happy with our paurchases. MikeA

I'm chilled Stan. I just dont like people telling me Im wrong about something when I know Im not. Especially first thing in the morning! ;) I know I checked them before boarding and that they were on.. Im not sure what kind of gift you have that tells you that they werent, but it seems to have gone out-of-whack on this occasion... I still think you need to re-read the original post. :) Your point; >if there is no beep, don't use it for THIS jump, Agreed that its not good to use it for alt warnings. That is why I said; >It remained on and still logged the dive(s) Ok (but with incorrect altitudes recorded). Meaning- I wasnt stupid enough to rely on it for any alt warnings until the batteries were replaced! But I dont see that there is any reason not to use it for logging (assuming it remains on during the dive) as the freefall times and speed data should still be OK, and the (deploy) altitudes can easily be deduced by comparing with someone elses exit altitude and adjusting. Assuming that it stays on, then the warnings will just go off (2k?) higher giving a greater margin of safety, but as I already said, Im certainly not going to rely on getting any warning at all under those circumstances, so my altitude awareness was pretty high...

Having a bad day Stan? I suggest you re-read the post before jumping in. It was ONE protrack on TWO dirrefent occasions. I am SURE they were on before lifting as on neither occasion was it the fist jump of the day and they had worked previously. And yes, absense of check beeps IS a good indication, and if I had continued to use them on subsequent jumps after the first failure, then that WOULD have been stupid. But as I'm a stupid person (and obvioulsy a liar) then you probably wont believe this either will ya?

I've had two batteries fail in my protrack with no warning at all! On both occasions the unit was checked before boarding to be switched on and working, but gave no check-beeps at 1k. On checking why not, I turned them on again and they were active by around 2k, so I got the warnings Ok, but 2k higher than normal! It remained on and still logged the dive(s) Ok (but with incorrect altitudes recorded). On both occasions I changed the battereies immediately after, and had no further problems for about 12 months. I'm planning on changing the battereies each year on mine warnings or not and now carry a prodytter as well (And yes - I do have a wrist alti!). MikeA

Im just late to this thread after vacation, but it strikes me maybe you didnt try one thing; You said (cause was...) 2) pushing the pin through either on the plane, or on exit. and the impact force would have had to have been at a 'perfect' angle to push the pin all the way through. The fact that the pins are curved, generally make the pin turn versus push further in. We tried on the ground to replicate this possibility, but we couldnt do it (with the reserve out). OK so you tried pushing the pin through the lopo, but did you try pulling the free end of the pin (the part that was through the loop) back on itself?? It sounds like something made your friend think he got snagged (is there anything outside the plane that would do this?), and this would normally mean a 'pulling' force, rather than a 'pushing' force..? It seems to me that your friend somehow caught the end of the pin against something (or something got caught or looped under it) and it was pulled outwards and back 'over' the closing loop, and that this might allow the loop to ride up over the pin and onto the webbing? Imaging if you were to put a pull-up or something similar under the free end of the pin next to the loop and pull (hard! like the weight of your friend) towards the webbing end of the pin... could this explain it? Doesnt explain WHAT he got it caught on though, or why the flap didnt protect the pin from this happening? just my $.02 MikeA

OK, thanks. I guess thats why it didnt mean much to me then. I'm in Jersey (GB - not 'New') and Sat night live was never really much of a hit here. We just pick up occasional re-runs. So who was the Mr Bill character and why the catch-phrase? And what is the relationship (if any) between that and climbing up someone under canopy and jumping off them?

Does anyone know who this was named after (if it was named after someone and not just made up). Ive had a few searches and cant find an answer.

>First off I usually recommend the FF2 over the FFX. The FFX is a little > cheaper, but I think the immediate access you get with the FF2 is worth > the extra $15-$20. I was shortly going to order the FFX as my first camera helmet, as from the picures I have seen, it looks like there is slightly less to snag on the outside than with the FF2..? Am I wrong? I dont consider that camera access is going to be a major issue for me, but please tell me if anyone has found access difficult with the FFX? Thanks MikeA

Thanks for that info. I have a 'normal' Z1 helmet (which I like) and was considering getting one with a camera mount. I will try and find someone already using one and get their opinions. Someone else just told me that its now mandatory in France to have a quick-release chinstrap on camera helmets, so thats something else I have to factor in while choosing, as thats where I do most of my jumping. What software do you use on the MAC? Thanks again for the tips. Mike.

Hi, I just bought a PC101 and intend using it (eventually) while skydiving. Im still only on 75 jumps, so it may be a few months yet, before I use it, but Im looking for any recommendations (or 'gotchas') from the more experienced users around here. I dont yet have a helmet to mount it on (I bought it early to use for other things!) so that would be a good start. Any thoughts on mountings?, battery types?, tapes?, sights?. What about using it with other gear like mixers etc? Are there any shortcomings of this camera that new users ought to know about? Thanks in advance.

OK. Thanks guys, I think thats all I need to know (except which helmet to buy!). next topic... :) Mike