gear reconfiguration/ antenna

[guest]

Serious question. Most of my base technical information comes from books, videos, and adaptation of my 500 skydives. Ive got 21 basejumps slider off bridges. Ive studied antennas, and will now jump one. I reconfigured for this the other day; I was told to finger tight the connector links and then use a wrench to take it 1/8 to 1/4 of a turn further. I did not use a counter lever (second wrench), but just held the link in my hand, then used a small crescent wrench to make the turn (because i heard you can damage it by over tightening it). All 4 links barely got 1/8 of a turn past finger tight then stopped dead. I had intended to put it between 1/8 and 1/4 so i was surprised when it froze at almost exactly an 1/8 of a turn. I decided to go with it, because the links have slider stop (rubber) coverings which might act as a back-up to keep the suspension lines in place if the links failed. Do i need to dissemble the system and do it better or is this enough?? Couldnt get it past the 1/8 of a turn. Should I get a bigger wrench? How exact or forgiving is this part of the rigging? Mesh slider up, 4 sec delay; 1100 ft antenna, good landing area. p.s. when i say finger tight i mean 2-3 times turning the link as hard as i could. when i say 1/8 turn past finger tight, im using the flat face of the "nut", a face of one of the facets of the turning part. A line drawn perpendicular to the surface of the reference face would be 45 degrees over when in the new position after the turn is made and the nut stops dead. 1/2 of 1/4 turn is 1/8 by this marker. Thanks in advance, everyone. Also, i assume the tailgate is never used on slider up jumps. I removed it. (brake lines rerouted through rear slider grommets, and through guide rings on risers, brakes set shallow, slider on smooth grommet side down, long part of slider is in front/back. slider quartered into canopy, microreefing on rear two stabilizers, tail drawn around stabilizer groups around slider only, nose exposed and drawn around pack job). thx

[guest]

It sounds like you have it figured out very well. As far as the links go, that sounds about right. I finger tighten them and then gently snug them up with a small crescent wrench. Don't use a counter lever. People tend to over tighten when they do that.
Make sure the tailgate is off.
There is 2 inch reinforcement tape on one side of the slider around the edge and you can see the mesh on the other side. The tape side should be toward the canopy.
I would recommend a pilot chute in the range of 38-42 inches.
If this is your first stowed jump, practice reaching and throwing your pilot chute in the living room many times so you know exactly where it is. Trying to find it for the first time in freefall is stressful.
Everything else sounds good.
Have fun!!!!
Jump with the wind to your back splitting the wires.

[imported_mknutson]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jun-16-01 AT 08:30 AM (PST)[/font][p]I would agree with this rigger. Overtightening will crack the nut on hte links. So even though this works, always check your links every several jumps, just to keep an eye on them. You should always know every piece of your gear!

Also, I don't know this object, but a 4 second on an 1,100' tower is short. Not as an ego thing, but as a safety thing. I would not tell you to take a 8 or 9 second delay, but make sure you go at least 4 to 5 seconds. This way, you can maximize you distance from the tower in the event of a 180. But still be conservative on your delay. Slider up jumps should not be attempted on delays under 4 seconds (my opinion :-)) You really need airspeed to get a solid opening.

And, if this *IS* you first stowed jump, practice in your living room prior to the jump.

And, remember this:
When you reach to grab the PC, do not reach and throw in panic or blindly. If you reach, know you have the PC firmly, then pitch in a solid manner, you will take maybe .5 seconds longer by thinking about having hold of the PC.
VS.
Reaching quickly, pitching in a panic because this is a new deployment for you, and missing. Then reaching again, to get the PC out. This can take 1 to 2 seconds more, unless you did not even know that the PC did not come out. At which point, it will take 1 to 2 seconds after you realize it, to get the PC out. (4sec delay + 2 sec to realize you missed + 2sec to redeploy + 1.5 sec opening = ***VERY FREAKIN LOW***)

Does this make sense?
BTW. Have a great time! I hate climbing antennas, but the visuals are intense! No other object gets my heart pounding like them...

[img src="/cgi-bin/gallery/randpic.cgi?Antenna"]


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Thank You

Mick Knutson :D
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[guest]

thanks very much, both. ill take it longer, mick. i wasnt sure about the links so i was going for the lower forces involved with small delay, so as to give myself the chance of not overloading them. This will be a "first stowed" event. I had planned on packing center line extended; should i rather pack the other way shown on the video for "longer delays" (terminal?), or can center line extended handle the 5 second delay windspeed without getting sucked out? Lastly, though i have not engaged the tailgate, the red line is still inserted; i didnt remove it because it is well above the slider grommets, buried deep in the canopy; i assumed when the suspension lines take a load with the red segment removed it would close the place in the threads of the line where this is inserted necessitating my having to pick the line apart to reinsert it. Could not visualize the red segment interfering with the canopy as long as it is not banded to contain lines. Wish me luck for i am not a clever rigger. Cya!!! Thanks again....

[guest]

p.s. what does "BTW" mean?

[imported_mknutson]

You will be far from terminal. Use the "Mushroom" PC packjob please! I actually use that on every stowed jump, even terminal ones.

You will not have any issue with loading the links, even if they where not tightened, they would still hold the load, but there are many other things then to think about..but I have to finish a fire here at my full time job, so I can't go into it now....

"ANYONE ELSE CARE TO EXPAND?"

"BTW" means: "By The Way".

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Thank You
Mick Knutson :D
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