Homebrew Trailcameras

[Bones]

bow4elk,  Gramps and I are building a W90 tomorrow. We will take pots of pictures.
Bones

[bow4elk]

Thanks guys - appreciate it.  I have two homebrews but they are a Sony P41 and P32 IR.  I bought both of them from the guys who built them so they don't do me much good for the hack on the W80.  I'm very confident in my technical skills and don't think this will be difficult at all.  I just know how fragile the parts are and that you can short out boards just by touching them if you're not careful.

[bigdave]

Proud of you guys on the wet side for gettin' right in there and goin' for it!
Your camera is lookin great!

Dave

[javman]

Thanks for all the info you've posted here Bones! I should get my yeti order before this weekend, and I'll be giving it a whirl with the W120. Can't wait!

[gkowen]

Here are my results. The night was overcast without much light.  The auto focus assist light is very bright. WOW.  After this test I have decided to make a couple changes. I shortened the PVC lens tube and opened up the area around the focus assist light a bit.  Tonight, I add my external auto flash. 

Me at 15 feet or so.


My dog Rascal and I at 20 feet or so.

[bow4elk]

Looking very good gkowen!!  I'll be PMing you for any help I may need.

[Bones]

gkowen,  Your pics look great. You did a good job, congrats. I can't wait to see pics from the field from your camera

[whacker1]

I am interested in attending this camera building party on the 24th - still room?  I won't have materials by then, but I think based on what I have seen that it will be enough just to watch the process go down and meet a few of locals to boot.  Let me know if there is room.
Regards,
Neil

[whacker1]

I am confused on one issue - I see 9 volt batteries in some of the pictures and talk of battery chargers in other posts.  Are we using the factory sony batteries in some cases and 9 volt batteries in others or do you use both?
How long do the batteries last? 
Neil

[Bones]

Whacker1,  The camera is powered by the internal Sony lithium-ion battery. I recently got 755 pictures on a battery charge, and 90% of those were flash pictures. The control board is powered by a 9 volt battery. That battery lasts about two months. I use rechargeable 9 volt batteries.  I hate buying batteries.
  The external power switch turns the 9 volt power on or off. The control board turns the camera on or off.
  Gramps and I worked on his camera this morning, and we will not be able to finish it until Friday morning. I will post pictures then. His camera will go to the field Satuday
  The control board can also be controlled by a switched 4-AA battery holder. Those battery holders do not work for long. They are too cheap. Most of us don't use them any more. That is why we added the external power switch. You can approach the camera from the side and turn it off without getting your picture taken. With the external switch, there is no need for a switched battery holder,
Bones

[whacker1]

Thank You - It make more sense now.
Neil

[Bones]

  It is not necessary to have a camera or parts on the 24th. If you are even considering building cameras, you need to come. After you see the steps involved, I think you will agree that it is not hard at all. Gramps saw this process today, and he does not think it was very hard to do. He can do it alone now. I also showed him some of the very incredible features that these cameras have, and I think he was impressed. You guys that already have these cameras will see what you have next week. These are awesome cameras.
  Bones

[gkowen]

It appears my slave flash doesn't work. I didn't use the connections on the board. I just used an optical sensor that senses the camera onboard flash and flashes. The camera flash must do more than 1 flash.  I will probably be putting my camera out this Sunday.  I don't really have a great place but will try to find one. Thanks again Bones for your willingness to help and expertise.

Checked the manual and yes it is 2 flashes. So I need to build a new flash detector or give up for now. I think 20 feet on the flash is pretty good. Its about as far as I need.  In fact, I might use ISO mode mostly and not use the flash.

[Bones]

gkowen,  There is only one flash if you have the red eye reduction turned off. It is probably the auto focus illuminator causing this. You may have to turn it off and use programmed distance settings.
Bones

[Bones]

  Here is something for you guys to do with your cameras. Take some landscape pictures. When viewing the pictures on the LCD. zoom in on the picture, and use the up,down, left and right arrows to move around on your pictures. Find the slideshow in the menu, and start the slideshow. If the sound is not turned off, the camera will play background music while you watch your pictures. The camera also adds special effects to the slideshow. It is very important that your wife does not play with these cameras. I know several guys that had their cameras taken away from them.
  You can also use the camera out of the trailcam case. Here is a picture I took last March with my W90 while shed hunting. In the first picture it is very hard to see the bull elk about 800 yards away/ He is left and above the center of the picture.



 Here is the same bull. I got this shot with me W90 by holding it up to my spotting scope. The scope is a Burris 20x60x80mm.



  This is the same picture after it was cropped. Not bad for a trailcam camera. You will love these hi-rez trailcam pics.