Bill's KAP Page
Nag's Head '04
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Back in Nag's Head!
Last year, I shot some great stuff from the beach deck behind the house. This year I drove around looking for more subject matter, and I found plenty. There's so much stuff down there, I could spend years shooting this beautiful mix of land and sea.
About the NEW Rig...Last year's rig had a number of problems that ultimately led me to build a new rig. The new one has had a few problems in the field, and I'm already thinking about rig number three.My first rig controlled both buttons using an rc servo. This seemed like a good idea at first, but in practice it meant pushing the lever once every 40-60 seconds to keep the camera from turning itself off. I was constantly counting Mississippi's, and needed a free hand every minute or so. RC also means extra equipment to carry and maintain, more batteries to charge, etc. The new rig uses a little electronic circuit to trigger a motor which pushes the button every so many seconds (adjustable from 10-50 seconds). This means once I launch the rig, all I need to do is fly the kite. I used my AIPTek Mini PenCam, a 1.3 megapixel digital camera. I wrapped the camera in corrugated plastic, added a motor and geartrain I salvaged from a cd player, a circuit with a 555 chip and a 9 volt battery. I re-used the coat hanger wire yoke and hard drive swing-arm cross from the old rig. While my first rig weighed about 13 oz., the new rig weighs a mere 9 oz! It's so light, I'm thinking about getting a much smaller kite for use in strong winds. Thanks...Thanks again to the whole Jellyfest crowd, especially those I found cooking dinner when I got back from a hard day of kite flying.[back to Bill's KAP Page] |
