Homebrew Trailcameras

[Seth]

Gramps, do you remember the length of the stand-offs?  Thanks

[gramps]

Bearbait..The two 1/4" bolts can be 1/2 or 3/4"

Seth..In order to get the proper distance from the motion sensor and the fresnel lens(5/8"), we used a total of 7/8".  A 6-32 nut on the bolt on the inside of the case and then a 1/2 and 1/4" plastic spacer under the board.

HTH

[Seth]

Thanks Gramps, one more question, what did you do with the liner from the back of the case?  Do you cut it?  Sorry for all the questions but I'm in the middle of building my camera.  Thanks again.

[Grizzly95]

We have a wall of nuts and bolts at work that is going to go to the recycler when our new building is done, I will check to see if there is anything we could use, the boss told me to grab what I wanted. I emailed yeti cam friday to see what his stock was since my wife has cut my outdoor budget I wasn't able to order yet, I was going to see if he could express it to me and I will pay the extra cost, if not I will have a W-55 for anyone in need of a camera at the build,I would sell for what I paid for it, or make it a loaner if needed.

[Bones]

  Ridgeratt,  I have an extra board power connector. Also, Mark at Yeticam sent me a care package of extra parts in case we need them Saturday. Thanks Mark.
The templates that Gramps made will speed this up considerably. I think we could make paper copies that could be mailed in an envelope. Anyone on the west side that can't make the trip can have one of these. Just PM your address to me.
  I will post a detailed explanation on how to make the PVC case extension, cut the lenses, and how to use the template. I will post this later tonight. Gramps also made a template for drilling the angle.
  I will post macro pics of the shutter board and how to make the solder connections. I soldered two of the wires on Gramp's shutter board, and then I let him make the other connection. It took almost 20 seconds. The solder part is nothing to worry about, trust me.
Bones

[Bones]

Grizzly,  It is not necessary to have every thing by next Saturday. Mark sent me at least one extra board. You could buy that if you want. Gramps and I hope to leave there by 4:00 PM. You guys will know as much as we do by that time, and you will not need our help.
  I have said this at least a thousand times, Building these cameras is so easy, a cave man could do it,
Bones

[gramps]

Seth
Bones showed me that the foam liner that is in the lid can be removed and saved by putting it in the freezer for a couple-three hours and then peel it out.  You will cut portions of it to put back in the lid and back. Clean the glue residue from the lid so that sawdust does not stick to everything.  He also reuses the liner/seal that is in the 'back' of the case by triming so as to save and preserve the seal portion and reinstalling after the board and battery are in.   A few daps of glue around the groove that the seal sits in will do, close the case for a bit and the seal will stay put.
HTH

[Bones]

The PVC Fitting

  This fitting needs to be cut down to 1/2". Then mark the center location on one of the six flat sides of the hex flange. The two corners to the left and right need to be removed. Sand the fitting until the top is round. Then sand the fitting to give a small taper out to the end. Try not to thin down the part of the fitting that mates with the case lid, and don't get too thin out on the end The fitting can be thinned down to about half thickness. Then, the top inside of the fitting can be thinned down a bit with a dremel but this is not necessary if you don't have a dremel.

Flash Lens

 For this, start out with a small scrap of glass approximately 1 1/2" by 2 1/2". This lens will sit on the PVC fitting. Sit the fitting on the glass so it overlaps the bottom long side of the glass about a half inch. Trace this arc with a Sharpie and mark the glass and fitting at the 12 0'clock location. Then with a glass cutter, carefully score this line. Then snap out the small piece of glass with a  pair of pliers. Check your fit. This glass will be cut down more later.

Camera lens

 Place a small scrap of glass over the end of the fitting and trace the outline of the fitting. Cut away as much glass as possible with a glass cutter, and nip nip away the rest with a pair of dikes

Passive Infrared Sensor (PIR) opening

  The hex flange on the case extension is 1/4" think. This flange is buried in BondoGlass. Cut a 1/4" PVC ring from a 1" PVC coupling. This is gooped around the 1" hole for the PIR sensor. This serves as a form for the Bondo to give a nice clean opening when the Bondo is applied. It also recesses the PIR lens from the weather and BEARS.
The pir (fresnel lens) is glued to the inside of the lid with contact cement. The edges of the lense are then gooped. The rough grooved side must face the sensor on the board.

3D Camo (BondoGlass)

A quart can oft this is $11.95 at Wal-Mart. It will do 7 or 8 1040 Pelican cases. After you have the PVC fitting, PVC ring and your lenses in place. you need to cut two pieces of sticky back foam pad. Trace around one piece with a quarter and cut it out with a pair of scissors. You want to stick this to the lens. It is not necessarily in the center of the lens, but centered on where the camera lens is when it is extended. Use the excess piece you cut off of the hex pvc fitting and trace the arc on another piece. This will be placed on the flash lens Cut this the shape of the flash opening in the case. When you stick it to the glass, leave about 1/16 inch between the pad and the PVC fitting. The seam between the pvc and the glass was gooped when the lens was installed. Mix some of the Bondo. Trowel a layer over the case. With this first coat, you want to bury the hex flange, and the 1/4" mounting bolt heads for the angle, and bring it up flush with the PVC ring around the PIR. Also trowel it over the flash lens and into the seam between the pad and the pvc fitting. I feather it out to the corner edge of the case. Make sure you trowel it off of the foam pad so it is easier to remove after the case is painted and sealed. After this is set, you can add the Bondo to make the case look any way you want. I pick up a gob of the stuff and touch it an the top and drag it down the lid. I use a flat brown spray paint to paint the entire case after the texture is applied. Do not have the camera or electronics in the case while doing this mask off the PIR opening bofore sprying the case. Paint is with craft paints and then spray it with Krylon clear matte finish.
Bones

[Bones]

Solder Connections

Red - power
Blue - Ground
White - shutter




The yellow arrow points at the hole for the screw that holds the shutter assembly together. After the assembly is snapped back together. Install this screw to hold it together

[Bones]

  Someone asked about the external switch. Mark is sending me extra parts and there should be a switch in there. But you can buy a switch from Radio Shack. Just make sure it is an on/off switch and not a momentary switch. I bought the switch for this camera at Radio Shack. I think it cost $2.95

[bowhunter/taxidermest]

hey bones kinda new to this site and im really interested in the process of making this i actually been reading this a little and i got two camreas ready to use i got the materials list i jsut wondering if you could PM me or post the step process to making the trialicam from start to finish if you have already done so could you point me in that direction, thanks

[Bones]

b/t
The only cameras that I can help you with are those covered in this thread. I feel they have been thoroughly covered. What cameras do you have.
Bones

[bowhunter/taxidermest]

w80 w90 ya i belive your right i just need to take some time and put all the info togther and read it thanks anyways

[Bones]

I am going to try to explain how to make the solder connections in detail because at least one person is having problems getting the wires to stick. This was explained in the Pixcontroller link that I posted twice. But hopefully this explanation is a little more helpful.
  First of all, you don't want to solder the wires to the board that are connected to the three wire servo. The wires have to be routed out of the shutter assembly, and then out of the camera. The wires on the servo are not long enough, and you can't get the wires out of the camera with the servo connected. Radio Shack is the only place I know where you can buy 30 gauge wire. They carry it in three colors, red, blue and white, and it comes on 50 foot spools. This is enough wire for 70 or 80 cameras.
  In the first picture, you can see two pads on the shutter board. The pad on the left is the power pad. This pad is under the power button on the shutter assembly, and when you push the power button, it shorts power to ground and turns the camera on. You need to solder the red wire to this pad, and there is only one location where you can do this. I drew a red line across the power pad that points to the solder location. You can see a light blue foil trace in the board. The pad is soldered to that trace. You are not soldering the red wire to the pad, but to a very small solder point at the base of the pad where it connects to the trace. You need to look at that solder, and then hold the tinned wire directly on top of it and apply the soldering iron for no more than 2 seconds. After you remove the iron, don't move the wire for a couple of seconds, and then wiggle and tug on the wire to see if you got a good connection. If the wire did not stick, re-tin the wire and try again.
  The pad on the right  is the shutter pad. In the picture, you can see two large foil traces connecting to the right side of the  pad. The black line points to where the pad is soldered to the ground trace. This is where you solder the blue ground wire. The lavender line points to where the pad solders to the shutter trace. This is where the white shutter wire is soldered. When you push the shutter button on the camera, these two traces are shorted together causing the camera to take a picture. Again, you are not soldering to the pad, but to the solder at the base of the pad where it connects to the trace.



 his picture shows two 30 gauge wires. The bottom one is tinned, and the top wire has a very small blob of excess solder stuck to it. The solder tries to stay on the tip of the iron, but you keep at it until you can get a small amount of excess solder to stick to the wire. Without this solder, the wire will not stick.



After the wires are out of the camera you connect the red wire to the Yeti red wire. You connect the blue wire to the Yeti black wire. You connect the white wire to the Yeti green wire

[Bones]

Grizzly 95,  I will be building three cameras this week, and two of those are for friends. One of those is a W55.. If you have not already ordered yourparts from Yeti, I suggest that you wait because, I am going to try to use a different control board for that camera. I have a Yeti board that is vertical with front mounted controls. I have never done this in the smaller 1040 case, but I am sure it will fit. The horizontal board will work but the vertical board leaves more room for the battery and switch. I will bring that camera to Spokane and show it to you. I will also make a template for it.
I also have lots of spare parts for the W55 including a shutter assembly. I will already have a wired shutter assembly for your camera. The 55, 80, 90 and 200 are the 2007 models. By April 1st, the 2009 models will be at the retailers. Then the 2008 models will start appearing on ebay in large numbers. These are the 120,130,150,170 and 300. The 300 is the camera I am anxious to get my hands on. It is 13.6 mega pixels, and the battery and memory door is located on the bottom of the camera exactly where the 55 door is located. This  55 build will be a test run for the 300 to see if every thing will fit with the vertical board in the smaller case. If you have already ordered a board, the horizontal board will work fine.
 Bones