Minor modification; major improvement.

I modified my "no tools necessary" design for repurposing an "Orbit" two-hour mechanical hose watering timer as a timer for creating panoramic time lapse videos using inexpensive off-the-shelf, ready-to-use parts available at most hardware stores.

Close-up view, rig for mounting GoPro/"Orbit" two-hour timer.

I connected a right angle bend (90-degrees) PVC coupler to a one foot (1') piece of PVC pipe. The new coupler fits snugly and securely without using PVC glue.

The right angle bend orients the camera/timer rig so it can rotate 360 degrees (full circle) without the mount itself showing in the video -- a problem with my initial design.

Mid-range view.

Two gear bags hang from the tripod. I call the white canvas tote bag a "saddle bag"; it's used carry camera gear and tablet(s). The orange Kelty belt-pack is used to carry smaller items such as spare batteries, a small flashlight, pen and paper, etc.

Full view showing tripod/camera mount, and two gear bags.

Parts List

• "Orbit" two-hour mechanical hose watering timer
• Essentia water bottle cap (black plastic) [fits screw threads on male end of "Orbit" timer]
• GoPro flat adhesive mount (mounted on top of the timer)
• Charlotte Pipe 3/4" 90-degree PVC elbow (~$3.00)
• one foot (1') long piece of 3/4" PVC pipe
• Charlotte Pipe PVC end cap (nice but not essential)
• SmallRig Super Clamp with 1/4" and 3/8" thread
• Manfrotto 323 RC2 System Quick Release Adapter with 200PL-14 Plate
  
• Alta Pro SBH 100 ball head and 263AT tripod (The same ball head and a similar tripod are available on Amazon.)

Looking Up

24 OCT 2026 | 4:21 PM EDT

Wind (mph), Weather and Sky Condition

"Wind (mph)," "Weather" and "Sky Cond." are highlighted by red rectangles in the following excerpt from a table of three-day weather observations for KDCA on 24 October 2026 nearest the times when I recorded the time lapse video.

Source Credit: KDCA | National Weather Service

The clouds reported under "sky condition" were all below 6,500 feet. In the temperate region low level clouds occur from 0 to 6,500 feet, therefore most of the clouds shown in my YouTube video are species/varieties of stratocumulus (Sc). 

Looking Down

The following image was captured from Meteor M2-4 -- one of two Russian polar orbiting weather satellites -- during the afternoon on 24 October 2026 by Luis Acosta, my good friend and amateur radio guru.

Luis's ground station is located in New Jersey (USA) but as you can see the view shown in the satellite image includes my location in Northern Virginia (USA). Although the time of the satellite pass 15:48 EDT (3:48 PM) isn't perfectly synchronous with the time of my time lapse video it's close enough. Notice the cumuliform clouds located above the mid-Atlantic United States.

Meteor M2-4. Image used with permission from Luis Acosta.

Visit Meteorology and Weather Satellites for more of Luis's excellent weather satellite imagery.

Tech Tips

My GoPro HERO4 Black action camera was set for "Video" mode / "Time Lapse Video" submode at a resolution of 4K and an interval of one (1) second.

GoPro "Quik" app (Ver. 13.43) screenshot.

In my opinion, it’s much easier to operate the GoPro by pairing the camera with either a smart phone or tablet running the GoPro “Quik” app and using one of those devices to control the camera remotely. In this case I used the GoPro "Quik" app [Version 13.43) running on an Apple iPad mini 6] to compose the scene.

Notice the information/icons highlighted by a red rcctangle in the preceding screenshot. Unless you're The Six Million Dollar Man the info is so small that it's practically impossible to see, especially in the field. Think that's just hyperbole? Consider this: The display on a smart phone must be virtually useless!

And what's with all the wasted space in the bottom third of the screen, especially the rectangle that includes the start/stop recording button? In my opinion that area could/should be smaller in favor of a larger preview window. Hey GoPro, are you listening?

Related Resources

Posts on Walter Sanford's Blog with the label "no tools necessary."

Copyright © 2026 by Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.