DSE

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  1. AWESOME, Pat! Congrats to you!!!
  2. DSE

    Voyages of a Skydiver

    Captain’s Log 2010, 0210, Manifest asks for proof of currency and jump numbers, along with the reserve data card from my rig…These are the voyages of Average Skydiver. Many of us grew up hearing a similar introduction to Star Trek episodes, as required by Starfleet Command. A captain’s log is nothing more than a logbook chronicling the journeys and adventures of a spaceship, boat, airplane, or other craft that carries persons or cargo. Logbooks are the basic standard of proving jump numbers in the world of skydiving. Jump numbers are a basic indicator of skydiving experience. A logbook may also be a means of keeping track of where you’ve been, what you’ve done, and who you did it with. Logbooks may be fun, or they can be boring. Skydivers are required to keep a logbook of sorts at the least until an A or other beginning license is achieved that indicates the “student” status has passed. Many dropzones require a written logbook if a visiting jumper wishes to jump. The logbook not only demonstrates the number of jumps, but should indicate skydiver currency as well. If the goal is to become an instructor of sorts, logbooks must be kept until 500 or even 1000 jumps, depending on where the skydiver lives. Riggers are required to keep logs of reserves packed, and it’s a good idea to keep a log for any major repairs done to any skydiving equipment for purposes of “present recall." The same can be said for keeping student logs, or at the least, logging information about students you've taught. Something may come up later in their jumping career. Remember your Coach course? Logbooks might be as simple as a logging audible that keeps track of jumps and as complex as handwritten journals that contain every last detail about each jump, and everything in between. A logbook is a journal of skydiving history. For some, bragging rights related to jump numbers may be enough. For others, recalling who was on a jump, the type of jump, the formations achieved, length of freefall, and much more become part of the bigger picture. Every AFF instructor learns how to fill out a logbook with encouraging information and reinforcement of a student jump while providing “code” so that any subsequent instructor has some information about the strengths and weaknesses of the student. Students will generally improve faster if provided specifics in their logbook, and the logbook will serve as a historical record of their first jumps. Logbooks also preserve records for those that come after someone has retired or deceased. A most special moment was at the memorial service for Gary Douris, where some of his logs were brought out for the attending public to view. Howls of laughter rang across the courtyard at S’nore as people read log entries saying that “So and so had been grounded” and “XXX couldn’t arch but he deployed OK, so he was ready for a longer delay." Samplings of logbooks can be seen here, courtesy of Eike Hohnendahl and myself. Some folks have expressed shock and awe at Eike’s logbooks, which are as meticulous as the man himself. Each jump is logged for place, date, exit point, landing point, participants in the jump, any exciting or interesting moments in the jump. Also included are copies of any payment for a jump, type of main used, and any special equipment used. In many cases, photos of the jump are also included. These logbooks take time, time that most are probably not willing to put into logging each jump. The skydiver making 15 jumps in a day likely isn’t able to log with such tremendous detail. Some skydivers may wish to only keep jumps logged in an electronic logger as mentioned above, and never enter data into any computer or logbook. This is perfectly fine too. CHEATING JUMPS A famous logbook entry, referred to as the “P-51” entry, is named for the kind of pen used to fill in the logbook with false/padded jumps. Although meant in fun, inflated jump numbers are no joke. Lying in a logbook is predominantly a game of lying to yourself, but may carry over into falsification of records, if the logbook is being used to affirm and prove jump numbers for the purposes of achieving ratings or participation in an event. Ultimately, falsified logbooks impress only yourself and no one else. INSTRUCTOR AND SPECIAL JUMPS My own method has been to keep a detailed record of every jump using the L&B; Jumptrack software, until I became an instructor. I keep a separate log of students and the type of instructional jump ie; Coach Jump, AFF jump, Wingsuit FFC, Wingsuit Coach, etc. The Instructional Logbook is kept in paper form, and in most instances I ask the student to sign the logbook, simply because I enjoy re-reading the logbooks at later points, and being able to show students “lookie here, remember when you did your AFF Cat D jump with me? That was a fun ride, yeah?” CHOOSING A LOGBOOK When choosing a logbook, consider how you’d like to log jumps. If you like to write, be sure the logbook has enough space and is comfortable to write in. Do you want to be able to put photos in the logbook? Be sure it’s large enough to hold those photos. If electronic logging is preferred, there are several applications available, including software as simple as Excel or other database software. Software tools like Paralog and Jumptrack interface directly with electronic loggers such as the Neptune, Altitrack, or ProTrack altimeters/audibles. Some logbooks allow for the import of GPS data for tracking jumps, wingsuit flights, or long distance canopy flight. The logging software may display a graph of exit point, speed, deployment, and offer fields to store indexed data such as total freefall time, type of skydive, aircraft used, etc. No matter how jumps are logged and chronicled, it’s a good idea to keep a logbook for at least the first 500 or 1000 jumps, if ratings are to be achieved. If nothing else, logbooks can provide great entertainment during the off-season or after a day’s jumping has occurred. They’re a great place to store phone numbers, email addresses, photos of special jumps, and to remember all those “beer” experiences. And when you're sitting around on a dark windy day with nothing to do but make up lies (No sh**, there I was) and drink beer with friends, a well-kept logbook will only add to the fun.
  3. Then I'd go with John's recommendation for the CX100. The GoPro and GoProHD are decent enough little cameras, but I would feel funny delivering such crap video to a paying person. Some folks feel differently. YMMV.
  4. Keep thinkin. Drink Starbucks. It's good food for thought, and while I do think it's possible to judge non-gripped formations, I think that it's a different category. Docks are obvious, a no-brainer. And of course, should be events/records/noteworthy. At the same time, if we can fly a tightly formed up 100 way (if we can find 100 experienced wingsuiters to fly at one place) then that too, is noteworthy, and should probably be considered a record, just as the 73 way stands as the largest number of wingsuiters in a formation at once (thanks for that, Stoney). Unfortunately, the grid precludes the ability to fly tight, amongst other things. One aspect of this hinted at up-thread; We might have multiple categories, too. Advanced, Intermediate, docked, non-docked... Eventually we'll have to have something other than the nonsense we're currently experiencing.
  5. There is a lot of great information in the photo forum. You've not indicated what you want to do with the camera. -Eventually shooting tandems? -Shooting inside video for freefly? -FS teams? -a "mess around" camera to shoot personal video in the air and some fun stuff around the DZ? Budget? Canon camcorders are all OIS and not at all suited for skydiving.
  6. Actually something more like GoToMeeting.com or oovoo.com, with bidirectional video and chat. Think Skype Video with multiple chats in one window. Failing folks wanting to spend a few $$ to attend virtually, then we'll just use MSN meeting as it's free, offers real-time video out, and not terribly slow.
  7. You can do all the fancy here, too. And still do it in under 10 mins. No transcodes, automatic cuts, music sync, photos synced to music...All the same thing. All automated. And some "really cool shit" too. But 20 mins to deliver a DVD? Never gonna happen at the size of DZ's I'm working with. No matter how cool it is. Greenscreen is great!!; if it's lit well, shot correctly (key work is a huge part of my work in the "real" world). If you can pull a great key using DV or AVCHD...you'll have something the rest of the world (professional or otherwise) will pay serious money for.
  8. Vegas running Parallels, but you'll find that even Parallels won't pass HD video very well. I'd recommend simply putting Bootcamp as a separate boot for windows and avoiding the OSX environment altogether. Tandem vid isn't about cool tools and dressing sharp. It's about getting it in/out very fast with the best quality possible. I'm turning DVDs burned in about 5 mins. If the DZ had faster blanks, I could speed it by another 10% or so. They bought screened 4X discs.
  9. No special equipment other than a webcam and/or chat client. If we use one of the proprietary tools we're looking at, you'll need to download a small file and install it for their chat client, but it's no big thing at all. You'll know well in advance of what tools we'll choose to use, along with instructions of how to best achieve it.
  10. If you put a .025 on the CX (and most any other camera) you'll likely see vignetting. Please bear in mind that this topic is HANDCAM. I feel bad for anyone using tapeless and FCP, expecting a fast result. It simply isn't possible. "fast" is relative. 2 mins is "fast."
  11. As mentioned previously, we'll be holding a wingsuit symposium at FnD. Where it will be located during the FnD event is still being determined. I'd like to hold it in the new hangar, assuming everyone is gold with that. The location may not be available to us, and may require we move off-site to a nearby hotel. It will be on Friday night so that it doesn't interfere with any other activities. Andreea/Supergirl and I are working together on equipment and provider so that people not physically at FnD can attend via virtual meeting. We likely will not offer audio pass for those outside. In other words, you'll be able to see and hear the meeting at home, but we won't be playing your home audio back, except in moderated moments. There will likely be a very moderate fee for the off-site service that those taking part in the off-site service will need to pay. It could go as high as $15.00. The bandwidth for multiple video streams into a meeting isn't small. We'll also have pizza and beer, the first round provided by VASST. A projector will be provided for powerpoints or other presentations. Hopefully this symposium will be the real start of the process to determine how we want wingsuiting to be judged and recorded in the history of skydiving. March 19, 2010. ZFlock. Put it on your calendar.
  12. Jarno, Wanted to be the first to thank you for; -Being willing to stand as an alternative to the other presentation. -Making time in your presentation to allow for all other methods to be presented. -being willing to look at other algorithms for the software. -the assistance in forming a team that can hopefully find solutions to the questions involved in judging wingsuiting competitions and records in the future. -Helping to keep it all out in the open so that nothing is being done behind closed doors. In the end, it's all about our community and making it happen for the mutual benefit of everyone. Thank you.
  13. Can't answer that with any degree of authority. I jump both the Century and the Raynox, and have no issues with either. Water drops from being near a cloud from time to time, but fogging has never been an issue for me in Florida, Texas, or California. I'm told I"m very lucky.
  14. Lemme re-visit my comment. I don't think the age limit should change so that it allows/encourages younger people to do a tandem jump. I merely think the USPA shouldn't be in the discussion. It was very interesting to be a fly on the wall during the APF debates in Australia last year when they were proposing 10 years as a minimum age. Arguments from both sides made sense. At the end of the day, however...most agreed that the government already controls this. FWIW, NZ has an excellent track record, but they're also a very different culture.
  15. Y' busted me, andrew The legal age to drink is 21, age to drive is 14. Age to do both? Seems like it starts around 17, regardless of the law. Martin, I'd eliminate age from the BSR's.
  16. I'm in agreement with you, Martin. Changing the USPA BSR's is very different from lowering drinking and driving ages. Those are state laws, not representational organization rules.
  17. The new Century .5 would be very close, and it's not gonna have fogging issues like the sealed enclosure issues do (or shouldn't). If you do have them, they should be minimal.
  18. In the mail. Jarno, wasn't one of the wingsuit teams using a sort of a "grip" like this at the last competition?
  19. you got AE to recognize full rez AVCHD files, Phree?
  20. Inatalling XVID and DVIX likely won't help unless the video is very old. GSPot will help you find the codec used. Which version of Vegas? If it's 9 and not opening, you may need to convert to a VFW codec.
  21. Using the differential between navel and nose might be valuable to determine differentials and deviation percentages, but IMO, using anything but the head as a pin-point to measure positioning is just asking for trouble.
  22. you're always going to experience quality loss when dealing with transcodes. No way around it. Question is whether you can see the loss. Export to: .mxf .png sequence (My favorite) .avi in a 4:2:2 uncompressed format All work great, all are standards.
  23. Apparently you aren't aware that Andreea is a guy with breasts, who can spit, cuss, and prolly kick the crap out of most guys. While she's wearing a dress. Otherwise, you'll just have to be happy with one of the big red dildoes she carries around with her. I think she lent it to one of the NorCal guys...
  24. Measuring from the centerpoint offers too much of a mess, even when inverting the photo Y/C, and trying to determine the center point. I have multiple rigs. Other than my Voodoos, bottom of container is very different. None of them match to my navel location. Were it that we'd be judging formations based on centerpoints in the predeclaration and dirtdives of the jump, there are a few wingsuiters whose navels would probably be appreciated, but the fact of the matter is that we look with our heads/eyes. It might skew the measurement as much as a foot in extreme circumstances, but we draw our dive plans based around head location, we dirt dive same way, and it seems to be more complex, more variable, and more of a field of landmines to be looking at anything but the head. If we're going to set the rules so tightly for undocked formations that 6" makes such a huge difference, maybe we should be examining the rules. If you look at the current software's flight zones, then couple that concept with John's method, seemingly it's easy enough to understand the strong potential for a sensible solution that anyone can understand. Or we could simply ban midgets and extremely tall people.
  25. **and then there is the camera flyer that swoops and chows it in the swoop pond.