WWKW 2009 - And Counting

So there are six days 'till WWKW 2009, and I just noticed my shutter servo tab has cracked, and my rig is inoperable.

AAAAAARGH!

I'm glad I saw it, though. Nothing worse than to have gear fail in the air and not know it. The way it happened was this:

One of my leg brackets wound up getting bent about a week ago, resulting in a crack almost completely through the bracket. Rather than risk failure, I ordered a new pair of leg brackets from Brooxes.com along with a folding Picavet.

The folding Picavet really is a thing of beauty. It comes in two pieces, and replaces the stock single-piece Picavet. By pulling a quick pin, you can rotate the top half of the Picavet, which can then be rotated parallel to the rig for some really compact packing. Even better, in the packed position there's a second hole to insert the quick pin so that it locks the Picavet in that position, too.

After installing the new Picavet, re-lacing my Picavet lines because I couldn't keep the pulleys straight, removing the broken leg bracket and my old antenna bracket, and installing the new leg bracket, I finally saw that my shutter servo was sitting at some oddball angle. Oh dear...

I toyed around with the idea of building a new bracket, and even bent up some of my 1/64" brass strip stock while testing out a couple of ideas. In the end I went back to trying to get the GentLED-CHDK2 working with my camera, a Canon Powershot A650IS. When I first got it I had no end of problems trying to get the A650 to recognize the timing coming out of the CHDK2. Things hadn't improved, and more testing only indicated the same behavior.

As a last ditch effort, I asked to see if I could exchange the CHDK2 for a GentLED-CHDK, which does work remarkably well with the A650IS. Hoping for a positive response.

If not, I've got enough Atmel ATtiny hardware lying around to make a fair simulacrum of a GentLED-CHDK, and can get that built before WWKW 2009. And failing that I'll sacrifice another shutter servo to my existing bracket, knowing full-well the mounting tab will likely crack off within the year.

I'm not giving up on my chances of doing massive KAP during WWKW 2009, but I hate having set-backs this late in the game. It makes me paranoid.

Tom

Plans for WWKW 2009

World Wide KAP Week 2009 is two days away, slated to start Friday, 24 April, 2009, and extend through 5 May, 2009. My own planning started months ago when the dates were first announced, but as things are getting closer, plans that were once vague maybes are firming up into certainties.

Gear -

I've made a number of changes to my gear, and added some new things to the bag:

4x5 - Lots of changes since the last WWKW, but nothing new in months. All my film holders are loaded, so it's a matter of bringing it everywhere I go, and hoping for dead smooth wind. Maybe also bring some counterweights to try to damp down the remaining vibrations.

Archaeo - I've got a new rig this year that's all ready to go: my ortho-only archaeology rig. This is the rig I also plan to use for garden photography, so that may be where I use it during WWKW 2009.

RC Rig - I've changed out my radio to a 2.4GHz Turborix radio, and added a prototype for an AutoKAP controller that's now under development. Both will get field time this year. I'm also adding a folding Picavet to make packing my rig into my bag even easier.

Anemometer - I bought an anemometer from one of my print sales, so I can keep better track of the conditions in the field, and go back later to compare with the wind models.

Winder - My new winder is now a thoroughly tested and battle-scarred denizen of my KAP bag, and will be my primary winder for the duration.

Locations -

Kohala:

• Pu`ukohola Heiau
• Spencer Beach Park (New)
• Kawaihae Canoe Club (New)
• Archaeological Sites along the Kohala coast
  
• Lapakahi Historical Monument (New)
• Mahukona + Lighthouse (New)
• Decay north of Mahukona Park (New)
• Mo`okini Heiau
• King Kamehameha's Birthplace
• Wind Farm (New)
• Lighthouse
• Pololu Valley
• Next valley over (New)
• Kohala Architecture & Sugar Camps (New)

Kona:

• Hapuna (New)
• Beach 69
• Petroglyphs at Puako (New from kite)
• Anaeho`omalu Bay
• King's Trail Petroglyphs at Anaeo`omalu Bay (New)
• Scoria Abrader Quarries at Waikoloa
• Waikoloa Beach Resorts (New)
• Beach Without a Name
• Wainanali`i Pond and Kiholo Bay
• Kua Bay
• Anchialine Ponds along Kona Coast (New)
• Puako Tide Pools (New)
• Pu`u Waawaa

Hamakua:

• Waipi'o Valley
• Akaka Falls (New)
• Old trestles on the Hamakua Coast (New)
• Gulch bridges on the Hamakua Coast (New)
• Laupahoehoe Point (New)
• Kalopa (New) (MAYBE)
• Boiling Pots / Rainbow Falls (New)
• One of the beach parks, but this is tough (New)

Waimea / Central:

• Various sites in Waimea
• Mana Road
• Whistling Canyon (New)
• Waimea Resevoirs (New)
• Head of Waipi`o Valley (New)

Mauna Kea:

• Mauna Kea Summit (New - Heiau has fallen over)
• Lake Waiau (New)
• Adze Quarry (New)
• Cinder Cone Edge (New)
• Domes & Dishes

Saddle Road:

• Pu'u O'o Kipuka Trail (New)
• Pu`u Huluhulu
• Hunter's Cabin (New)
• Silverswords on R14 (New)
• Pu`u near Kilohana Check-In (New)

South Point:

• South Point
• Green Sand Beach (New)
• Whittington Park
• Across the bay from Place of Refuge (New)
• Kealakekua Bay at Captain Cook's Monument (New)
• HOVE - Road to the Sea, turn north (New)
• Na`alehu (New)

Puna:

• Kapoho Tide Pools (New)
• Kalapana
• Hike to Pu`u O`o ? (New)

Volcano NP - Contingent on permission from NP Director:

• Ka`u Desert Trail; Footprints in Lava *
• Chain of Craters Road Trail *
• Great Rift? * (This may be hard to get to)

Goals -

I want to fly in new locations, most specifically on the south side of the island. There really is architecture down there, along with the Kapoho tide pools, sites inside and outside of Volcano, Green Sand Beach, and a couple of archaeological sites.

I'd like to fly some of the less-likely locations for Hawaii. I've done tons of beaches. I want to show off cattle country, desert country, volcano country, etc. There's more to Hawaii than beaches. Besides, this is a vitally important component of the book I'd like to do later in the year of low altitude aerials of Hawaii.

I want to take some 4x5 photos from the air. I'd really like at least one rock solid image I can print at wall mural size. If I can get a couple of solid ones, I'll be happy as can be.

Mostly I want to have fun, knowing that all over the world people will be flying cameras on kites anywhere and everywhere they are, and sharing what they see. I was blown away by the output for WWKW 2008. I can't wait to see what happens for WWKW 2009!

-- Tom