parachutist

Here's what I've found works best for me, with my glove: Video on top with camera set to 720p 60fps, photo cam on the bottom. http://www.funjump.com/files/Dual_cam_glove_instructions.pdf Chris

About 9 months ago I bought a 1900AHS. I'm happy with the Juki because it was easy to get skydiving-specific patterns on a memory chip (from Skyworks), plug those into the machine and I was off and running. It's been very hassle-free so far, after recovery from Juki sticker shock of course. I don't have any experience with the Brother for comparison. Chris

Pope, I've been going back and forth on what the best solution would be for your needs. Outputting to typical MP4 takes longer than most any other options, and the reason is lots of data crunching, which (mostly) all happens in the CPUs right now. So you'll need some high-speed multi-core processors, right? But that means more power needed, which translates to more heat. You mentioned the ambient temps there are not low. So in order to get very high speed while keeping the temps reasonable, some creative thermal management would need to be employed (really big heat sinks for the CPUs and likely for the chipset too). That could be done, but it gets complex and the more complex your system is, the more maintenance it'll need. Putting together a system specifically designed for your MP4 outputs would require some experimentation. I'd love to play with a 16 or 32-core server setup and one or two RAID 0 SSD setups to see how the best performance could be reached, but that gets expensive and hot fast. I wish I had a better answer for you, but you're in new territory that hasn't been explored much yet. In the end, I think I'd settle on an 8-core AMD FX CPU (same that we're offering on our VASST systems currently), with a relatively large heat sink. That can stay within reasonable temp specs while rendering files. This configuration is offering good performance for the price, reliability, and the ability to run in a warm environment. Even with a fast system, it will take quite a while longer to render most MP4s than it would to output DVDs (usually about 3x-4x as long). Are you certain you want to move to MP4 on thumb drives? Over here in California I would expect to get lots of support calls from customers wondering how to play that file, or wondering why it plays in poor frame rates on their home computer systems. We have some customers who request raw files from our HD cameras, but we make sure those people will be able to use the files. About half the time when they realize those files can't be played in a DVD player, they change their minds and request a standard DVD instead. regards, Chris

I've never seen a snap come undone, and it'd be difficult to catch anything on it. Med should fit you well, as long as the gloves are like Mechanix/Neumann style... if you wear thicker gloves then I'd go for a Large. Chris

Preface: I'm biased because I'm a manufacturer (funjump.com). That said, here's why I think mine are the best for tandem hc: Low profile for minimal snag hazard. Wedge shaped to improve aerodynamics. Try pushing a big plastic block through the air to create smooth video. Easy access to the SD card slot and power input. The only glove that provides lens protectors for your cam(s). Do you have any questions/concerns about my gloves? Chris

Hmmm... You shouldn't be seeing a downgrade in quality with GP2. Just out of curiosity, what's the firmware rev on your cameras? It's listed in the misc folder on the card. Chris

I've been using a GP2 for handcam over the last few weeks, and I haven't experienced the pixel issue you're describing. Mine is set to 720p 60fps. Can you post a video example of the problem? Jiggling will always be an issue with these cameras if they're bouncing around while recording. The videographer needs to be steady while shooting to get some good footage. it takes some practice to learn good shooting habits with GoPros and probably with other small format cameras. Chris

That's why half my SD cards have P written on them with a sharpie, the other half: V. I appreciate the editors because they free up my time, so I can jump more. I try to help them out where I can.

Is the mic just velcroed to your glove? No, it's stitched in place with some Supertack.

I bought one last night and used it for a few tandem handcams today. I added an external mic using the HD Hero2 stereo mic port (see photo). Poor sound quality was my only real complaint with the original HD Hero, but for me GoPro resolved that gripe with the Hero2's mic input. Nice job GoPro! Here's a clip from today, shot using the external mic: http://youtu.be/kVf6Qwejd0E Beyond that... honestly... I didn't see a major improvement in the video quality. I shot all day using 720p 60fps. It looks really sharp and clear on a 32" LCD, presented at 720p... but so did similar video from the original HD Hero.

Several years ago I would have said "Yes, prices will drop dramatically." However the last few years I have been watching classifieds and not seeing that tremendous drop in winter months. Maybe many others are looking to the used market during all months because new gear is pricey, and they don't have that much extra income. With so many potential buyers there's not much need for sellers to go rock bottom pricing, IMO.

You must be reading my mind! I am looking to offer a couple of different classes starting about about the first week of December. One of those will be sewing machine repair. I have a couple of people interested so far, but really need 2-3 more to make it worth my while. I am leaving for NZ to do the above first though. Dates would be December 9-11. Anyone else interested?? BS, MEL I'm interested. I still need to do some juggling of schedules to see if those dates will work for me though. How in-depth do you plan this machine repair class to be? Would a complete tear-down and rebuild be part of it? And what other class are you offering early Dec? thanks, Chris

I think the problem is how you're getting to the Levels window. You can add FX to any of these: individual clip (event), one track, or entire project. Here's how to try out any of those and see the results on the fly 1) Make sure your preview window is set to view FX results. Click the "Split Screen View" button above your preview window and choose "select left half". You can change this later if you like, but for now it will show half screen with FX, half without. 2) To apply levels FX to an event, go to the timeline, zoom in far enough that you can see the "event FX" symbol at bottom right of an event, click that symbol, choose "Sony Levels", hit ok, and start playing with your levels. You should see results in your preview window. 3) To apply levels FX to a whole track, go to far left of your screen where the tracks are listed, pull the edge over if all symbols can't be seen for the tracks, click the Track FX button, add sony levels there, and proceed as above. 4) To apply levels FX to entire project, make sure you have "Video Bus Tracks" showing in your tracks list. You can use CTRL+SHIFT+B to toggle it on showing or not. Click the Video Output FX button on that item, and add Sony levels from there. Chris

Thanks for posting this. A customer brought a brand new container/reserve to me for assembly today. It has the brown stain on the closing loop. I figured "No problem... I know what to do cause I read about it on DZ.com". So I pulled out the ripcord and wiped it down with a dry paper towel. It sure turned the paper brown. So I wiped it again, and again, and again... every time brown on the paper. I set the ripcord down and jumped for a few hours, came back and continued wiping. More brown. At this point it's just residual I think, not enough to drip down the pin again.

Nice stuff there, Frank

Thanks for that suggestion. I bought one of these a couple weeks ago, along with their dial-temp accessory, and it's sooo smooth

About 8 years ago Jack saw me and he realized I just needed a little confidence kick to progress in this sport. He provided that boost and gave me some tools to work with. Whenever I had questions about Coach/AFF ratings or about ways to teach, he'd take the time to explain them. I learned a great deal from Jack, and he never asked for anything in return. I could see the smile on his face however, when he saw me succeed. Thank you, Jack. You will certainly be missed.

Show us some sample vid! My first guess is that you're just learning and it takes practice. The good news is that you're noticing the shaky video and working to improve it. You'd be amazed how many videos I've seen that I thought were complete crap.... but whoever shot it thought it was great. I remember first starting video with a sidemount and feeling like I couldn't keep my head straight up and down. Two weeks later after practicing I'd forgotten completely about that. Practice makes issues like that dissolve. Then I'd worry about shaky video, so I'd hold my neck rigid in freefall, check the video when I get down and keep working on that. Eventually I forgot about that issue too because everyone was saying I could quit doing freebies and start getting paid for videos. So just keep working on it and you can go from rigid neck to relaxed-but-stable, producing smooth videos. That's just my guess without seeing the helmet, you, your footage etc.. but at 11 camera jumps this seems like the most likely reason to me.

UPT e-mailed these instructions to me, but the file's too big to upload here. I submitted a copy to Parachutemanuals.com. so it may be there soon.

"The complete assembly of the Y-Strap mod is available from UPT for $120, or you can manufacture it yourself using the attached work instructions. " Does UPT actually provide these instructions, or are they expecting riggers to look at the pictures in the installation instructions and guess the best way to make these, guess how long the webbing should be, etc.? I had no instructions or template attached to the e-mail I received... if anyone did, please post them here.

The good thing about GoPro stills is that the camera doesn't need a really stable mount (not the case for GoPro video). As long as you have some good light outside, it'll generally take great pics even if the camera's getting bumped around a bit. You could probably throw a soft mount together and stitch it onto your glove with some supertack. I'd rather have it permanently mounted instead of velcroed in place. The difficult part with soft housings for GoPros is making the lens cover fit well and having all controls + ports accessible

With a new system I'd be suspicious about hardware first. It may be heat related like Theonlyski said, or it could be a memory issue. There are some free tools available for testing both. I'd try this: 1) Try Memtest. Let it run for 3 or 4 full passes (this should take a few hours). If it passes with no errors, your memory should be fine. http://www.memtest.org/#downiso Use the Prebuilt ISO if you'd like to boot MemTest off a CD, or Auto-installer for USB key if you'd rather boot from a thumb drive. 2) Try Prime95. Run 3 instances at once, and let them all run for about 4 hours. If the system is still responsive after that time, then it's probably not a heat issue. http://www.mersenne.org/ In order to run multiple instances you'll need to unzip the contents to a folder like C:\prime95, then go to command prompt in windows, navigate to c:\prime95, and run prime95 -a0, then prime95 -a1, then prime95 -a2. Run the Windows Task Manager/Performance tab to see your CPUs getting maxed. If your notebook system passes these without error, then I'd say the hardware's in good shape and I'd start looking at software possibilities. Make sure you have Vegas 10e update installed, btw.

Check the Level control on your video track. It's a horizontal slider bar on the left side of your screen. If it doesn't say 100%, then make it so. That's most common cause I've seen

Are they doing this in response to TMs reports of hard openings? I see a lot of people who shove the nose into the packjob and don't really have a good reason for why they are doing it. It's a packer habit left over from last year, when we stowed the Icarus 330 brake lines in rubber bands near the canopy. That stow made the canopy open snappy, so the packers would shove the nose in or roll the tail tight in an effort to slow the openings. Then we stopped stowing the brake lines, which makes for soft openings... however if one combines unstowed brakes + pushed-in nose on this canopy, it creates an extremely slow opening requiring rear riser work to make it open.

It looks like the canopy was packed with intention of slow opening. We've been reviewing some tandem main openings similar to this recently. In our case, the cause gets traced to packers shoving the nose in before laying the canopy down.