I got my NEPTUNE!!!!!!!!!!

[Rdutch 0]

Finally more than 119 seconds on a bird-man suit. And I worked so hard. It sucks that my suit wouldnt fly that good with a pro-trac. Now I have a Neptune my suit flys so much better.

But so far 2 jumps on it and I love it. The real test comes this weekend when I (Hopefully not) test its waterproofing on Zhills pond. But the canopy mode is my favorite, but for Bird-men this is a great product, time for the Pro-Trac makers to step up or get left behind with the time they log.
Oh yeah to add, IM wearing it as an altimiter, not an audible, but I will try that out also soon, it definitely is loud enough.

Ray
Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

[skybytch 273]

Noice!!

I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous.

[Jimbo 0]

Canopy mode? What is it? What other neat whistles and bells are on the Neptune?

-
Jim

"Like" - The modern day comma
Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

[masher 1]

http://www.alti-2.com/neptune.htm

--
Arching is overrated - Marlies

[masher 1]

I can't find any reference to canopy mode on the website...

I guess the question still stands.

What is it?

--
Arching is overrated - Marlies

[spidermonky 0]

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I can't find any reference to canopy mode on the website...

I guess the question still stands.

What is it?

Third bullet point on the website:
"Display automatically changes to GROUND, AIRCRAFT, FREEFALL and CANOPY modes"

Don't really know what they mean though...

[ianmdrennan 2]

I emailed them and asked about this as I specifically want the neptune for that reason alone.

It shows altitude in increments of 10 ft. Very nice feature for high performance landings
Blue skies
Ian

Performance Designs Factory Team

[kevin922 0]

yep mine is here too, giving it the wingsuit test this weekend.. will post a review later this weekend.

first impression is documentation is less than par compared to protrack.. they feel the interface is so easy to use they don't need much documentation.. however I read on the website that you should not use "manual mode" in the 1.5 software revision, of course I can't find anywhere what the hell manual mode is. anyway pics and review later..

[cpoxon 0]

Neptune Owner's Home Page

Manual

Skydiving Fatalities - Cease not to learn 'til thou cease to live

[Rdutch 0]

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Canopy mode? What is it? What other neat whistles and bells are on the Neptune?

-
Jim

Caanopy modeis when you open it switches to 10 ft increments, and shows your desent rate, when the software comes out it is supposed to log your maximum desent rate just like in freefall, this I plan on using a lot with my swoop training, faster desent=faster forward speed. I think this is a great tool for Swoop training, So far for Bird man and Swooping its thumbs up from me.
With the s3 I have a hard time seeing any altimiter, but I heard that Bird man is working on a pocket just for the Neptune. that will be cool.

Ray
Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

[spidermonky 0]

Does it feel well made? Do you think it'll last for hundreds/thousands of jumps with normal wear and tear? The pictures make it look kinda cheap to me.

[pilotdave 0]

Looking at the manual, it appears that to switch from hand mount to audible will require a screwdriver and some tiny little screws. Is that correct?

Dave

[LouDiamond 1]

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but I heard that Bird man is working on a pocket just for the Neptune. that will be cool.

You heard right and you might want to keep the receipt handy for your current neptune as there is even more cool things in the works

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[indyz 1]

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Looking at the manual, it appears that to switch from hand mount to audible will require a screwdriver and some tiny little screws. Is that correct?

That's certainly what it looks like. It does come with a mounting clip. Since my helmet already has an audible pouch, I'm either going to attach the clip to a handmount, or build a hand mount with a pouch and clear window on it.

[Kris 0]

Mine arrived as well. I can't wait to take it for its first jump this weekend.

Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and
Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

[indyz 1]

Replying to myself here:

Got a jump with a borrowed Neptune on a handmount today. It was pretty good, but I have a few gripes (and yes, I will email these to Alti-2). The log screen shows max speed and speed at different altitudes, but not minimum or average. Also, speeds are all in feet per second, which is a legit unit, but most skydivers in the US think in MPH. So what I want to see is a minimum and average speed display in the log, and an option to change freefall speed units (feet per second, meters per second, MPH, and KPH).

Please note that I didn't have a whole lot of time to mess with the unit. I'm pretty sure I checked all of the menu options, but I might have missed something.

[Luna 0]

Quote

but I have a few gripes (and yes, I will email these to Alti-2). The log screen shows max speed and speed at different altitudes, but not minimum or average. Also, speeds are all in feet per second, which is a legit unit, but most skydivers in the US think in MPH. So what I want to see is a minimum and average speed display in the log, and an option to change freefall speed units (feet per second, meters per second, MPH, and KPH).

I just used mine for the first time today, and I have to totally agree with this! I was thinking the same thing. My other gripe is, and maybe I'm just missing something and someone can explain, but the speed that it is listing at 3K, which is during my deployment sequence, so I should be slowing down as my canopy is snivelling open, is actually one of the highest speeds listed. My husband took it up for a jump, too, and he had the same result. Can anyone give me a reasonable explanation why this would be the case? On my jump in particular, it listed me as in the saddle by about 2850 (I pulled a little higher, not quite trusting it's accuracy yet ), but my speed recorded at 3K was almost my max speed recorded!

Aside from those issues, I love it so far! Granted, I've never had a Pro-Trak or anything like it, so it's all new and fun to me.

I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

[kevin922 0]

Here is my review of the neptune.. i'll probably have my rigger put a clear pouch on my S3 right over where it says "S3" on the left arm.. will update with pics if i end up doing it..

[Kris 0]

Here's a crosspost of what I put into the review thread, since I think it's pertinant info to watch out for.
---------------------------------------

Interesting, Kevin. Mine has version 1.5 software. I can't believe they didn't put the latest revision on it.

Okay....I put 3 jumps on mine this weekend and I loaned it to another guy for a jump.

My biggest gripes would be the fact that it displays the log results in f/s instead of mph and that the numbers do not seem to be averages.

In freefall, the display was amazingly easy to read.

Now....here's my biggest complaint. I do not think they tested the Neptune in a Cessna or with someone doing IAD or S/L instructing.

On one jump, I had a load of 3 students to take up in our Cessna 205. The climb was a bit slow and the Neptune didn't catch it. It showed the MSL going up but it didn't think it was in an airplane until around 600 feet. It then finally went into A/C mode but the altitude was now 600-700 feet off.

OK, no biggie, I'll just use my eyes. I put out the first two students and as I was getting ready to put the third student out, I noticed that the Neptune had gone back into ground mode. Apparently, circling at the same altitude for several minutes made it think it was back on the ground and it didn't do squat in freefall.

I will definitely be contacting Alti-2 on Monday.

Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and
Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

[Rdutch 0]

Quote

Does it feel well made? Do you think it'll last for hundreds/thousands of jumps with normal wear and tear? The pictures make it look kinda cheap to me.

Not cheap, very durable, and well made. Also the battery is supposed to last a long time, based on what kind of battery you buy. There is 6 difft manufacturers of the battery type, Panasonic being the best and then it goes downhill, there is supposed to be some crappy battery makers.

Ray
Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

[Rdutch 0]

Quote

Quote

but I heard that Bird man is working on a pocket just for the Neptune. that will be cool.

You heard right and you might want to keep the receipt handy for your current neptune as there is even more cool things in the works

Coolest thing is, you dont need your receipt, all updates can be done on the web, (with the soon to be released software) Alti2 seem's to want to keep the customer's happy, and they told me that if I had any idea's they will listen. Most of all if you have any idea's, questions or aything Email them, from what I have seen they want to make you happy.

TB99 had something happen today, and he recieved a backup for the little time it took to get his fixed.

Ray
Small and fast what every girl dreams of!