In preparation for some weather balloon flights, we’re working on building up a picavet, which will keep the camera level and steady regardless of the angle of the string – you can read all about them here:  http://www.kaper.us/basics/BASICS_picavet.html

After a couple of hours at the local hardware store, I ended up with a big pile of little parts.

I set to work this morning, and was able to knock out the basic framework for the part that attaches to the kite/balloon string:

Lots of guidance on the web – I drew inspiration from http://www.arch.ced.berkeley.edu/kap/equip/picavet.html#no3.

Next is the camera mount, which attaches to the suspension frame pictured above.  We hope to test it out next week, and to tweak and adapt in advance of a project that will see students doing some aerial and ground surveying of a local nature area.