Re: Setting up a remote camera rig

At the distance you're going to be allowed by range safety and security, you're going to be at least three miles back, maybe more... the sound will trail the light of actual ignition by some seconds, so you'll miss the actual takeoff if tripped by sound unless you're really close. Plus, those mic-tripped arrangements can be accidentally triggered by wind rumble, a bug landing on the mic, or a passing jet, or you might set the listening window so narrow that they also miss the launch. You also have no idea of the situation regarding holds or scrubs. So simple timers or intervalometers may not cut it.

Our tax dollars are well-spent on getting a LOT of camera coverage of these launches already, from every conceivable useful angle, especially so for shuttle launches and of course for a new experimental vehicle, so I wonder; why not leave it to the pros and just request dubs from NASA afterwards? Do you really think what you have lens wise is going to be better than what they already get?

Assuming you still have a good reason to get your own, and they let you put the rig somewhere where it will have power, yet remain undisturbed, I would go for hooking up something using cellphones. You watch the launch on CNN or NASATV or whatever, live. Whenever the count gets down to t- five minutes, you phone the relay rig which starts the camera. Actually similar operationally to the IED's they use in Iraq, only with a non-lethal purpose. Buy a disposable tracfone for $30 and use that for the camera end: the lithium battery in it will last on standby for a couple of days. To me the harder trick is powering the camera and over-riding it's built-in setting to power down if not shooting for a while.

That, and getting permission to plant the unit where you want.