The Nichrome wire arrived yesterday (Sept 4, 2010).
I ran a few tests to see what could be done with a 6 volt photo battery (actually about 7+ volts on a new battery) and was plesantly surprised at the energy contained in those batteries.

Today, I rigged up a circuit board to run a cut down test.  I ran the test two times and it was successful both times!      The wire is cut to about 3 inches and wound into a coil of about 4 turns. This coil is wound just large enough to accept the Load Line section. This leaves enough lead wire to attach to the circuit board via 6-32 screws.  The resistance of the coil was measured at 2 ohms for both tests and the Battery voltage was 7 volts.

I have attached photos of the circuit board and the test setup and also, a video of the test.
            Circuit Board              Test Setup           Video of Test

At last, I have some stuff on the WIKI site.  Feel free to edit, I'm not a very good writer...   

Here are a few photos of the Load Cell and Circuit Board:

The Completed Load Cell    Attachment Loop    Strain Guage    Circuit Board

After Balloon Burst, the load line and the balloon often get tangled with the parachute and module rigging and also blocks the camera view.
I have begun experimenting with an Automatic Cutdown Device to cut away the load line and the remains of the Balloon after Balloon Burst.

This is the result of the experiments, so far:

I researched the Web looking for a 'cheap' (inexpensive) strain guage and I found one <here>.  They have load cells that will measure from 1/4 to 40 pounds and even more.  However, I was interested in the low range and I chose model LCL-010, rated at 10 pounds max. (you can exceed the rated load by 150%)  Since the output of the Load Cell is very low, some amplification is needed.  The INA 125 instrumentation amplifier chip fills the bill.  You can set the output voltage at max load with an adjustable pot.  In this case, I chose to have the max voltage at 5 volts, (the max allowed to the ADC on the PIC.)
This means that at 10 pounds, it will produce a 5 volt output.  This works out to 0.5 volts per pound calculated.  I tested this by hanging an 8.8 pound weight and it produced 4.3 volts.  This works out to 0.488 volts per pound.  Pretty close!

Sounds good.  We need every advantage we can get.  I still haven't tried out my compass yet, but will let you know when I do.

I guess there is always room for improvment, even if it is a year before the next flight.
I was browsing a balloon web site today and found where they were using the RM-60 Geiger counter.
There was a diagram showing the hookup using only a 5 volt source.  I tried it and it works very well.  Now we have
eliminated 2 9volt batteries!!  The module is running from the main battery supply.
So, we have eliminated some weight, and two batteries.

           

I downloaded and installed it on my Ipod, and it works very well.
Thanks.   

Apparently the Linux server that this is using recognizes the eBook as a .zip file...When you download it, change it to 2008_Balloon_Project.epub instead of 2008_Balloon_Project.zip ... Sorry about that, I didn't know it would do that until I just tested the download...Cheers//

Cheryl's book "2008 Balloon Poject" is available for download for your iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad (if you have iBooks)...You can download it from here...For your iPod, after you download this file, open iTunes, click on File, Add File to Library..., then find your downloaded file and select it...Afterward, the book should show up under "Books" in iTunes and should be available for sync to your iPod...I think it's about as close as it's gonna get to the original...Enjoy//dan

We got the WHOLE thing back, even the whole balloon.  It wasn't shredded... 
We have the video and I have a DVD for you whenever we can get together...