Homebrew Trailcameras

[YellowDog]

I have a couple of the 120 cameras and the battery door is also on the bottom of the camera on that model.  I hope to use a couple of these for trailcams but will probably try to get a couple more of the W90s to ket the extra megapixels.  If the 120s are going to be harder to set up as trail cams, I can give one (a pink one) to the girlfriend and one to my mom as they both want a nice compact digital for their purse.

[Grizzly95]

I will wait on the parts, I built a mailbox guard for a buddys dad that live in a rural area that they like to play baseball with mailboxes, we met on middle ground and he is gonna pay for the parts for my cam build so the banker (wife) doesn't have to know.

I am hoping to have a prototype for a new style lock box for the cams by then also, I will be open to any and all opinions on upgrades to the box. It may not be to scale but it will give the general idea. If anybody has any ideas in mind before then let me know and we can add and change plans or maybe have a second style.
 
I would also like to hear from the guy or gal that thinks they are the hardest on equipment for field trial, or I can just set one up in the crackhead part of town

[olsy]

bigdave - If you have room for an extra person, my Dad would like to come with me and watch.  Thanks

[Seth]

Almost Done!  Just need to touch up the paint a little.  Thanks again to Bones and Gramps for all the help.

[Ridgeratt]

I will have plenty of 6/32 screws and nut's. I will bring my soldering iron from work which will be helpful. I also have an assortment of 1/4 x 20's.

[javman]

Well I got my W120 soldered and put back together. If I touch the ends of the red and black wires, it powers on... Green and black takes a photo just fine. But when I hook it up to the board (Red in power, Black in power common, and Green in Shutter), it won't take a photo. After the board powers up and waits a couple minutes, for each motion event, it will turn the camera on, do nothing, then turn the camera off about 4-5 seconds later. I have all the switches set to off right now, but I've tried several settings. Any ideas? Hopefully I'm an idiot and missing something simple 

[Machias]

Dang Seth that looks good enough to eat!! 

[gkowen]

Did you practice touching thewires together so much that you filled up the camera memory?  It sounds like the camera can't take a picture for some reason. Possible causes are, memory full, can't focus so close, flash off and its too dark.  I am not sure what else could cause that.  Oh, the led will light for 30 seconds and then turn the camera on for just a few seconds. Then it goes into its test mode where the led will light when it senses motion. Try to stay still for a minute or so until the led flashes a few times. Then the camera is in picture taking mode.  You have to be still until it flashes or it never will go out of test mode.

[billythekidrock]

Dang Seth that looks good enough to eat!! 

MMmmm.....Chocolate!

[javman]

The memory isn't full... If I turn it on and let it sit for a couple minutes, it will sense the motion, turn the camera on... then turn it off again without taking a pic. If I open the case during this and press the shutter button, it takes a pic. I've unscrewed the wires from the board multiple times to make sure I can still make it take a pic by touching the wires.

Well I just tried a couple different settings and if I set picture quantity to 2, when it senses motion, it powers on the cam, waits about 10-12 seconds and takes ONE pic then shuts off. If I turn it on RapidPic, it powers on the cam, waits 10-12 seconds, then takes a pic after each motion. I'm thinking for the initial pic, it's sending the signal before the camera is fully powered on. That's what I get for using a W120  I'll email Yeti and see what they have to say. Maybe I can buy a board with different timing.

[Bones]

Jayman.  When you power up the board, the LED is on for a 30 second warm-up period. Toward the end of this warm-up period, the board powers up the camera to charge the flash capacitor. Then the board powers down the camera and the LED turns off. The board is now in the walk test mode. After the board does not sense motion for a 30 second period, the LED blinks five times. The board is now ready to take pictures. If the camera is powered up after the five blinks and does not take a picture do this.  If your memory is not full, it sounds like there is a problem with the green shutter wire. Remove the board connector. There are four pins on this side of the connector. Use a short piece of wire and short the pins for the red and black wires. If the camera turns on, short the pins for the black and green wire. If the camera does not take a picture, there is a problem with the wire connection.
  If the camera does take a picture, reconnect the board. Turn dip switch 4 and 6 on. Wait a couple of minutes and power the board up and test it again.
Bones

[Bones]

Jayman,  I have never seen one of the new boards that use screws. Try changing switch 4 and 6. You don't need another board if the timing is wrong for that camera. You just need to change the chip ($3). I don't know anything about the 120 yet.
Bones

[gkowen]

Is the 120 like the 150? I will be wiring up a 150 tomorrow so will test it tomorrow. 

[Bones]

  You guys are messing with cameras that I know nothing about. mark has done the 130 so I am sure he can help you.
  Seth, your camera looks great. I hope you post pictures of it when it is finished.
Bones

[javman]

Well my 120 takes 1-pic (late) in 2-pic mode and takes multiple pics late in Rapid mode. The 120 is the low end of the current lineup, so maybe the 150 has a faster start-up time. I am excited to have gotten this far though! 

Bones, which part of the board is the "chip" that controls the timing?