Through this publication and word from Brooks, I learned of using a dethermalizing timer to trip the shutter up to 5
minutes after releasing it. This made a dramatic difference in my ablility to get sharp images at my desired altitude.
Aiming the camera to target subjects became easier with practice. This timer was still only good for one shot per
lofting, but it was definately an improvement.
I dabbled with the use of RC gear a few times, but liked the simplicity of timed methods after dunking my first RC
rig when trying to take photos of my canoe while running through a shallow channel. I realized that RC gear gave
me too many things to do "this doesn't have to be a circus act", so RC rigs went on hold for quite a while.
At some point I happened to be in a Woodworkers Store where I spied a Swiss Music Box movement and decided
to try one out to trip the shutter. I fitted it to one of my older rigs and was quite pleased to find that it had enough
power to trip the shutter on a point and shoot 35mm camera 4 times per winding. I took quite a few photos with
this, but found that the unprotected Swiss Movement would be stopped by a little fine sand in the gears when using it
at the beach.
Then I found some Japanese movements that cost only $5 to $7 apiece depending on how many you wanted to buy.
These movements have a protective plastic cover with them and the hole for the winding stem could be made smaller
with the use of a rubber grommet. Surprisingly this has even kept water out on a few dunkings.I shot quite a lot of
photos, some in rather risky situations with this setup. I decided that the musical movement was best used to
just shoot a series of 4 shots at one particular setting for each lofting. If additional points of interest were desired
I would just rewind and reloft the rig. I still believe this to be the best "Bare Bones" rig that one could hope for. It
is both lightweight and reliable. If you have enough wind and the batteries in your camera aren't dead, you will get photos.
As your skills at aiming your rig improve, you should be able to expect to acquire your target photo successfully.