johnboy

So just for the sake of curiosity and knowing approximately squat about hard drive construction, I poked around a bit and my guess off of what I'm reading says there really shouldn't be any damage if the heads are parked and platters not spinning. The air pressure at sea level is apparantly what keeps the heads from bouncing off the platters at sea level, so naturally as altitude increases and air pressure decreases, more potential for bouncing. The big question would then whether the heads are actually parked as to whether I would want to try and jump the camera or not. I probably wouldn't either way since there is more likelyhood of platters and heads bouncing at altitude. In my experience, skydiving isn't always the smoothest activity! I don't know if this actually adds anything to the conversation or not, but at least I educated and amused myself for a while. Thanks for listening to me ramble!

I used the 5/8 bit on my helmet. It's a bit of a squeeze to get the button assembly through the hole, but since it's rubber, it's not too big a deal. Also, the assembly doesn't slop around in the hole that way, and leaves the little red button right at the surface of your helmet. Nothing to shear off that way, and with the little ridge around it that's poking through the helmet, it's easy to find even with gloves on. I'd snap a pic for you, but I've no way to post it right now. $0.02 deposited.

If it's a concern for humidity or pressure changes, does it matter whether the heads are parked or not? From your short response, I would have to guess not. Anyway, back to my corner....

It would seem to me the hard drive could still develop issues even if the heads are parked. Am I wrong on this?

Admitting to a hardcore sci-fi fascination, I like most anything by Greg Bear, particularly the EON series and Darwin's Radio. Also, Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars series is pretty cool. Pretty hardcore sci-fi again, revolving around terraforming Mars, but some remarkable observations on human behavior and politics, too. There are a lot of history books on my shelves, particularly biographies of various folk in leadership positions, ie- Chruchhill, Lincoln, etc. Heck. I just like to read.

peonies = flowers (I wondered about that, too!) http://www.flowerbud.com/peonies

Okay ltdiver, you've got Sotheby's, I'll take Boeing. That way when you're hosting boogies worldwide, I can get everyone there. I like the idea of my own fleet of 747s. Suppose we could figure out a jump door? Could they fly slow enough for jump operations? I'd volunteer to not be a floater. Off to do some research...

Geez, maybe if you're arch was just a little stronger! Keep up the good work!

It is the opinion of this poster that as society continues to take its focus off the family as its single most important unit or building block, things will only continue to fall apart. Nothing bothers me more than seeing kids hurt, and no doubt the kids you are dealing with are hurting severely for lack of that family support. It is SO the parents' responsibility to teach their offspring the importance of responsibility for themselves and how to fit into society, and for kids to not have that guidance makes it almost impossible for them to figure it out. I'm not saying you should not press charges, because I absolutely stand with you on that, but I believe you are doing the most compassionate thing you can for those boys. Until they grow up and can understand that there isn't a person on this planet who is a product of their environment, but rather a reaction to it, there is little else that can be done for them. That being said, my nine year old daughter can punch like there is no tomorrow. Not long ago, one of the girls in her class threatened her on the playground. My daughter got in the girl's face and told her, "I don't want to fight you, but if that's what I have to do, I'm going to make you cry." Conflict over. She has yet to get herself in a fight (except with her five year old sister about important things like who's turn is it for the Play-dough, even then it never gets physical). I'm proud of that kid! I'm with you on this Bobbi. Hang tough and it sounds to me like you're doing fine raising your son!

I got a smokin deal on my second hand FTP last year. You can buy new liners from BH if the lid doesn't fit you.

It would figure that now that I have Vegas Pro in the mail and I planned on ordering new cameras in a month, that my good PC and laptop both crapped out today. Sigh. Off to order motherboards.... Thanks for the advice on all the transfer devices, btw. My shopping list never seems to shrink.

Cool. That's the thing I was looking for. The "pile" is probably a good 40-50 tapes deep and I was hoping to convert and archive them for now for later editing. I appreciate the possible offer of loaner equipment, but I'd be awful nervous about having your toys in the house with my rather spirited children (hence the toasted Pinnacle POS). I get enough other projects that I want to have a good converter anyway. Now, could you recommend a device for transfering 8mm film? Can it be re-mastered in HD since it's film? Given that its old film, do I care if I can re-master it in HD? I've seen lots of cheapy piece of crap devices for this, and some way-more-than-my-budget devices, too. My wife just inherited about 100 rolls of film from her grandma and really wants to do something with it. As if editing skydiving video didn't get weird enough already. Thanks for the input, Spot! I'll have to see if FedEx can do interplanetary deliveries yet...

So my copy of Vegas Pro will be arriving any day now, and I've a huge stack of Hi-8 tapes I want to re-import to my computer. My old Pinnacle device just bit the dust, so I'm shopping again. Granted it will never be of the level of quality of a new Sony camera, but anyone have a favorite piece of hardware for importing said video? I'm wondering if there might be some Firewire device I've missed in my searches so I could do this on my laptop. I wouldn't even care so much about these old tapes, but there's a lot of things like bringing my first born home from the hospital, my now deceased grandpa playing with her, etc. Any input would be much appreciated.

Since it's too late to edit my previous post, insert an appropriate "not" on my jump numbers comment. Duh me!

I just bookmarked that link. Thanks for that brilliant tidbit. Now I'm going to email a whole bunch of politicians.... And to not hijack this any further, talk to your instructors! Get video!

I've been around the sport for almost 16 years, including my eight year layoff shortly after marraige (piss poor college kids). My wife always new that skydiving was part of the package and has always been okay with it. My layoff from the sport ended after my first kid turned 4. I have discussed this with my wife more than once, and her only request is that my canopy choices are conservative and I always jump with an AAD. So far the smallest canopy I've jumped is the Hornet 190 I'm still using today and my Cypress got new batteries a few months ago. And one of the coolest things on the planet is landing next to my giggling girls and collapsing my parachute on their heads. There are undoubtedly risks in this game, but they can be calculated and managed. I've seen a few friends leave the sport after kids and absolutely respect their decisions. I've also seen friends leave the sport when their new spouse says its time to sell the gear. I can't help but feel sorry for those as it was not really their decision, nor can I understand how a relationship could work if someone couldn't accept a big part of what makes the other person tick. If they were trying to compete with Luigi on who's got the smallest life expectency, err, parachute, then I might have a different opinion. So to end a long post, I think most of us here can see it both ways. Your marraige will always be more important than skydiving, but she needs to be understanding, too. Also understand that your kids will only be this size one time, and missing out on it sucks. That's the single biggest reason my jump numbers are as high as I would like them to be. As long as you are doing what you feel is right, you'll get a thumb's up from me.

When he's wearing the sunglasses, I was thinking Johnny Knoxville.

I remember DSE posting a while ago about being able to give students their videos before they leave the DZ. I don't remember what thread that was, though. Hopefully somebody else does. Also, the only machine I would ever buy stock would be a Sony, and that probably only for office usage. If there's a PC Club near you, they build custom systems for pretty reasonable prices if you don't want to try building your own. They also warrant their work for year.

Welcome to Chernobyl. I'll be your tour guide today.

I like this thread. Lots of cool spouses out there. So here's my turn.... 12 years of marraige with 3 beautiful little girls, puts up with my eclectic tastes in music and my love of falling, and when my business collapsed a few years ago because of a bastard partner, all she said was, "well, that was just an expensive lesson in choosing business partners. What are we going to do next?" When I suggested selling gear to cover bills, she told me I sacrafice too much already and wouldn't allow it. Truly a remarkable woman and I am so blessed to have her. Thumbs up to all great spouses everywhere!!!

Your kids are a trip, tunnelmom! Well done!

Yeah, I meant the 3x Canons. If you do try jumping that rig, I so want to be there for it! I will be interested in your review of the Casio, though. That looks like some remarkable bang for the buck for a high speed camera.

I'm most likely going to pick up a CX-7 in the next few weeks. My early concern was the lack of a LANC port, but knowing there are D-link solutions on the way, this is no longer a concern; I really like my Cameye, and I'm too lazy to pick up a soldering iron and make something. The ridiculously small package is very appealing, and I need a new computer/editing solution anyway. $0.02 depositied.

Yeah, riser slap shouldn't be an issue. I'll be sending you your neck brace in a few days...lol

So who's going to be the first to try jumping it?