parachutist

1440 x 1080 still comes out to 16:9 aspect ratio because of intended pixel aspect, which should be set to 1.333 (1440 x 1.333 = almost 1920). If you look up the specs on the CX-7, it only does 1440.. the CX12 is a different story, as they upgraded it to 1920.

I don't know if this is your issue or not, but I had similar problem when I first started working with CX7 last year: My projects were set to 1920 x 1080, but CX7's AVCHD is actually 1440 x 1080. So my video editing software was stretching the video out to 1920 and that was my source of garbage creation. After I set the projects tp 1440 x 1080 they looked a lot better

Idunno Chris, lately a few people who never intended to try CRW got some really hard docks. With fast canopies in the air above you there are no guarantees you won't be doing CRW at some point.

It's worth trying. I always wear gloves though... I'll need to leave them on the ground for a few jumps

Lee, I collapse the slider, then pull it down behind my head, then unstow the toggles. I don't tie the slider down or have any slider keepers on the risers... it just stays behind my head. The brake lines are stowed on this rig by a few different packers at the DZ usually; methods vary slightly. They're Velocity risers with a small tape loop for holding thse excess brake line. Some packers don't bother stowing them, some fold them up and leave them in the keepers. This is my backup rig. My other rig (main rig) is packed by the same packers, and has the same model risers (ordered at same time as the damaged risers), with same brake toggles, etc... and those risers have no damage... they still look practically new. The canopy attached to my main rig is a VX109 with HMA lines... it has Dacron LSTs, while the backup rig has HMA LSTs A couple times I've needed to grab a toggle and unstow it before doing anything else because of toggle fire or diving after opening. Those times I've just left the slider above the toggles for the rest of the jump. Going back in this story a few months ago: The reason why I bought these new risers: the last pair had similar damage, except it was isolated to the very tops of the risers. I had some vet wrap on those risers instead of dive loops, and the slider always stayed at top of the risers because they couldn't go over the vet wrap. I figured the cause of the damage to those risers was that the slider was sitting in the same spot on the risers & aggravating the same area continuously. I thought pulling the slider down behind my head would alleviate that problem, but apparently not. Chris

This slider does come down fast. Canopy snivels for a bit with slider all the way up, then slider comes down fast enough to leave bruises on my knuckles sometimes if my hands are on the risers. Do you think it could be the grommets are getting friction from the lines on the way down, enough to heat up the grommets, then hot grommets sit on the risers & melt them? Chris

I bought this canopy used... the dings were there when I got it. I assume they were caused by hitting metal links at some point The rig has no rough edges inside... it's a standard Altico Dolphin. The red spots are from the red slider. The slider has some shredded areas on the right edge and left edge. I'm not sure how that red fabric is getting transferred to the risers. I'm sure the cause is not a one-time incident of risers rubbing against each other because I've watched the damage progress over the last couple months.

These are relatively new risers with approximately 75 jumps on them. They're developing some damage and I'm not sure what's causing it. It looks like the webbing is getting melted somehow. I replaced the previous risers, which had similar damage. The slider grommets are in pretty good shape, with a few minor dents but smooth inside surfaces. I only noticed this type of damage after replacing the spectra line set on my Vision 117 with HMA cascaded lines. I'm not sure if that line set change is related or not... may be just be coincidental. All pictures below are of the front sides of front risers and front sides of rear risers. The back sides of all risers are fine... so it appears to be getting damaged only where the slider grommets rub against the fronts of the risers, but it's not the typical fraying that I'm accustomed to seeing, caused by rough inside edges of grommets, so I'm not sure where to go. Any ideas? http://www.funjump.com/riser_damage/IMG_0004.jpg http://www.funjump.com/riser_damage/IMG_0009.jpg http://www.funjump.com/riser_damage/IMG_0011.jpg http://www.funjump.com/riser_damage/IMG_0014.jpg http://www.funjump.com/riser_damage/IMG_0017.jpg http://www.funjump.com/riser_damage/IMG_0019.jpg Chris

We had a team of about 10 people searching the area as the sun was setting. I happened upon the camera... luckily it was in one of the few areas that didn't have dense weeds... it was just sitting on top of hard dry dirt. DSE found the lens 12 ft or so away... it must've bounced pretty good =]

This one has worked great for me: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/229934-REG/Century_Precision_Optics_0DS_55WA_37_DS_55WA_37_0_55x_Wide_Angle.html It's small and the optics are great for the price Here's a lens comparison test by DSE, which includes the Century .55x: http://www.spottedeagle.com/Skydive/lens_tests.htm

Conceptus bite switch. I tried the tongue switch, but I don't seem coordinated enough to press it when I want with it off to the side.

You and I bought the Vapor at about the same time. I've put about 350 jumps on mine since. For the most part I'm very happy with this helmet, with the exception of the mouth piece hump in front. I adapted by moving the bite switch to the side of my mouth, but the adverse effect is that now I'm biting it with smaller teeth instead of wide front teeth, so the bite switch life is cut by at least 50%. Did you change anything to adapt, or are you completely comfortable with that hump as-is? Chris

I had a slow transfer problem with my internal card reader, which plugs directly to a USB header on my motherboard. Then I bought an external card reader and it's smoking fast: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820300103 I'd try a different card reader to see if that corrects your 1-hour issue too. DSE has taught me a lot about how to produce quality video fast with Vegas. If you'd like to attend a class, I can pass that info along and we can send you home with some templates ready for new video clips. Having templates ready for Vegas and for DVD menus makes things go smoothly. Chris

For tandem vids, I recommend shooting in SD HQ, 16:9. That creates MPEG2 files that are handled very fast by Vegas (fast to edit and fast to render). And there are a whole lot of widescreen monitors out there now, so 4:3 seems outdated I shoot some segments in HD: for example if a TV crew is there & wanting a copy, or if it's a fun jump that I want to save in my archives. Please try some high speed sit-flying with this camera and post some footage if you could. The BIG drawback to your camera's predecessor was that sit-flying caused shaking in the image. It'd be nice to know if that problem is still present or not :)

3 months ago I bought an XSI to replace my XT and I've felt the extra $$ were well worth the expense.. The XSI kit provides a lot of performance that the XT didn't have, including much faster auto-focus and much better environmental seals (My XT had problems with weather changes such as very humid and very cold). No complaints on the kit lens either... We view tandem photos on a 37" HD screen and they're sharp, even when zooming in a ways in Photoshop. Chris

My XT had issues with temp changes after door opened at altitude when weather was near freezing up top. Warm days up high: no problems. I went with an XSI and it works in all conditions I've seen so far.

CRW: no skyhook or any other type of RSL. The jumper who cuts away due to wrap with another canopy needs time to separate from the mess by tracking before deploying a reserve.

I've about 250 on my CX7 with no issues. It's taken a pretty good beating, too: no box, it just sits on top of the helmet hitting various inside parts of planes & doors sometimes

Neither of my helmets have the stem pointing down. Don't see why that would ever be necessary. I was just trying to indicate that the ring sight stem is going to be at angle dropping off from the bracket, "down" being relative.

The bracket itself doesn't need to be pointed straight down... only the stem that holds the ring sight needs to be pointed down. Here's a photo of my old setup with an old-style Optik before the Illusion model... so mounting will be a little different for yours, but the parts and placement can be similar. http://www.funjump.com/photos/hdrcx7mic03.jpg

Also several manufacturers have complicated their rigs, adding skyhook-ready etc gadgets. That shoots the prices up too.

Nice vid! I love watching those tight formations you guys are building. Show me how it's supposed to be!

Honestly, any posts from folks who don't fill in profile information appears as spam to me. I look right over it if you're unwilling to put your name in. Maybe you'll have more credibility if you let us know who you are.

Pat, I was under canopy & watched your chop. That was a clean cutaway & quick reserve. At the time I didn't know you were Grannyinthesky! I look forward to seeing you again... it was a fun crowd you brought from Idaho

You still get that visual effect of being so close though... it takes some practice to feel comfortable with it and realize the forest won't bite you =] 96 degrees in GA... hahaha. We're still getting snow on the nearby mountains here in Utah Chris