Jeff, I was aware of this limitation and included a link to the "omni-pivot" RRS pano package in my post. One can easily upgrade to the full package, but that doubles the required investment. For now, I am getting by with the basic unit. With the full package, one could use a multirow pano from a 35 mm style dSRL to rival the quality from a medium format digital camera or even a 4x5 view camera.
There's actually a simpler solution, just mount the ballhead upside down
Here's a slightly older version of the panohead that I built:
and the current version in macro mode: