New (novice) bird at Space Center

[alw 0]

Thanks to Matt and the people at BM I should get my suit in time for the weekend. Once I get some jumps on it I'm looking forward to flying with others here in Central Florida. Home DZ is Titusville - one other bird here but he's not been too active lately.

I've been jumping a PF Track Suit and testing different mounting locations for my eTrex Summit so once I'm comfortable with the Firebird, I should be able to start collecting some data.

Pictures and beer to follow . . .

Allen

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Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

[LouDiamond 1]

Welcome to the Flock Allen Have you tried mounting your eTrex on your chest strap yet?

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

[alw 0]

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Welcome to the Flock Allen Have you tried mounting your eTrex on your chest strap yet?

Yes. I've tried that using just a slightly modified pillow block. It maintains a fair lock in a track and a solid lock under canopy if I don't do any rapid heading changes. For HAHO it works OK as a poor man's OPANAS, without the tactical stuff. I may try linking it to my Kenwood TH-D7AG and transmit APRS data for high hop and pops during Hamcation here in Orlando.

While it works passable good under canopy, I'd really like to be able to reference speed (primarily) and heading (maybe) in ws flight. I've tried that during track dives in the track suit, just looking for speed input, but while interesting, it isn't really functional in that position.

I'm watching the Titan development with great interest since I don't think I can comtemplate Atair's HMD.

All things to ponder while building hours in flight training. My goal is precision WS navigation. Took me almost 8 months just to get to the point of flying one so there's a long way yet to go yet. Since I'm firmly attached to my ass, first thing is to keep it safe and secure (my ass that is).

As a data logger, I've been able to use it in conjunction with DOQQ's and Fugawi to give me track info overlaid onto satellite maps. I haven't gone the Google Earth and Paralog route yet. It does tell me that I've reached certain goals like speed in track, heading and distance.

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Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

[JENNR8R 0]

[LouDiamond 1]

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It maintains a fair lock in a track and a solid lock under canopy if I don't do any rapid heading changes

That has to be a receiver issue. I use the Vista mounted in a neoprene case on my chest strap and the only time I get spotty reception is when I am inside the aircraft. I usually reacquire before exit and have sats the whole flight. Have you tried helmet mounting it?

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I'd really like to be able to reference speed (primarily) and heading (maybe) in ws flight

I know of at least one individual that is currently doing that with a Garmin aviation model GPS receiver. He adapted the garnin marine(boat) mount for his unit into a extremely large hand mount and wears it on his left hand and his alti on his right. While I can't say how effective it is for him, I was able to see it's read out while I was flying on his right hand side fairly easy. However, he had to bring his arm forward to see the receiver so his flight efficiency decreased everytime he looked at it.

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I'm watching the Titan development with great interest since I don't think I can comtemplate Atair's HMD.

I think you're really going to like it once they release it. The read out is quite simple but that is dependant on the software you use it with. It can easily rotate through a preprogramed list and display the data as it changes. It is very cool and WAY cheaper than the Atair unit.

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I haven't gone the Google Earth and Paralog route yet

You really should give it a try, it is way easier to use and gives you more wingsuit specific data for a fraction of the price compared to the 2 your using now and it logs your flights.

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

[alw 0]

Sorry

HAHO high altitude high opening - At

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Space Center that's a long canopy ride.

OPANAS Operational Parachute Navigation System.

TH-D7A is an amateur radio walkie talkie that transmits both voice and data

APRS - Automatic Position Reporting System - it takes the GPS position of the receiver and transmits it to other radios which can display that position on a map.

HMD helmet mouted display

DOQQ - digital ortho quad quad is a satellite photo that is lined up with map coordinates so that you can plot your position on a picture instead of a taditional map.

Sorry. Sometimes I just go into the ACRO mode, but worry not! Phoenix Fly makes a suit and once you put it on you understand all the acronyms .

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Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

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[alw 0]

Thanks for the info. I haven't tried helmet mounting, but have put it in the shoulder pocket of a flight suit with good results.

I also have rigged a wrist mount - rollerblade wrist protector reversed and held to the GPS with tube stow large bands. Haven't jumped it yet.

If L&B doesn't release the Altitrack pretty soon I'm going to have to go with the Neptune - that would force a shift to Paralog.

See you in the sky.

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Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.

[LouDiamond 1]

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DOQQ - digital ortho quad quad is a satellite photo that is lined up with map coordinates so that you can plot your position on a picture instead of a taditional map.

I prefer to call it Georectifying, plus its easier to say

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