Delayed Start for ThetaS? Please

Need ability to delay start video capture on ThetaS. Only know the rudiments of coding, and to be honest, I hate it. Require ability to plug ThetaS to external battery power supply and set a delayed start to initiate video capture up to one week in future. Using a CamDo Blink to achieve this on a GoPro Hero 4 Black. Looking for similar solution for my VR videos. Can anyone help?

Cheers,
James, code illiterate, McClean

If you use a phone or a laptop for the trigger, is it in a secure place? Or, can someone steal your equipment?

Does anyone know of an application that can do this?

Seems like a cool project, possibly a side-business, to put the RaspianOS and the application on a microSD card and sell it for $10 or whatever amount (including the cost of the card). The person would then need to get a Raspberry Pi, battery, and USB cable. The THETA can be powered from the Raspberry Pi from the USB cable. The only problem with this approach is that the rig has no screen interface. The user would need to hook a keyboard, mouse, and monitor to the Raspberry Pi to configure it, then, disconnect it. Either that or ssh into the Raspberry Pi to configure it.

Theft is not the question, remote telemetry/control is the issue. Deep in the woods or on a mountain top where I do my timelapse work I have no network access without satellite connection. Would be nice to remotely access ThetaS via an ad hoc WiFi network. However, if there is service there are usually hands available to also trigger capture.
Goal is to hike a mountain, set up a ThetaS with external battery, and have ThetaS self initiate video capture at a specific time in the future. In my case during solar eclipses. Then I would climb back up the mountain and recover gear days or even weeks later.

Can presently power unit overnight with 12v lead acid battery using USB port, but need delayed start for video as deployment could be a week or two in advance of an eclipse. Goal is to have LOTS of these units stashed across path of totality doing remote capture.

Thanks for your input. My problem is also that I do not know what is the API. Is this alternate firmware, akin to Magic Lantern? maybe what I seek is available in that direction.

Cheers,
James McClean

Suggest you move the discussion to the public topic as other people may be able to help you.

Maybe someone can build the Raspberry Pi for you and send it to you? It’s a cool project.

How are you protecting the THETA from the weather? Like rain?

You probably want to put the battery, Raspberry Pi and THETA in a small plastic container like a fishing tackle box (waterproof), then have the THETA sticking out the top in a globe. Then, use a laptop to configure the triggers of the Raspberry Pi based on time/date stamp.

That guy that build the globe is a professor at Harvard and he’s setting up a THETA in the Congo for this project.

Thanks Craig! Environmental sampling is my background, so years of experience deploying electronics in remote locations for long term sampling. ThetaS is new to me. Prepping for trip to Patagonia next week for annular solar eclipse, will share experiences testing ThetaS against KM360 in the field upon my return.

The forum is a brilliant, fertile ground for networking. I have the Theta hard case, but think a rounded globe might give better results as I saw in that forest timelapse in NY state. Will follow Congo project with interest!

Cheers,
James McClean

I’m trying to encourage small businesses or hobby-businesses to build accessory products or at least kits to make these types of cool projects easier. At the current time, only the hard-core tinkerer can build their own custom gear. The camera can be controlled with a USB cable, so it’s possible.

It seems like the requirements for this projects and actually most of the projects can be handled with a low-end Raspberry Pi, even a Raspberry Pi Zero. I’d like to get someone to build a programmable kit, or at least the software in an easier to use format