Building your own Trail Cam - 101

Here is the place to order the kit from...(they are very well done and this guy does most of the hard work for you already)

http://yeticam.com/Kits.htm

Mine is the top left kit, or the Sony S600.

Here is the link to the PDF manual to finish assembling the kit (it's pretty simple), the manual tells you exactly what to do.

http://yeticam.com/Manuals/YetiCam%20Kit%20Assembly.pdf

Now you'll need to get a camera from ebay, roughly 70.00 dollars or so for them...

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=Sony+DSC-S600+

And finally here is the link to the PDF manual and how to MODIFY the Sony S600 so run/work as a trail cam.

http://yeticam.com/Manuals/Modification%20document%20for%20the%20Sony%20DSCS600%20Version%202.pdf

This manual will tell you exactly how to use the control board that operates the trail cam.

http://yeticam.com/Manuals/YetiCamBoardVer13Manual13.pdf

Now here is the real question...

WHY the heck would you want to build your own????

Here is why...

Tired of wasting money on game cameras that don't work as expected? You're not alone! The large LCD display will let you view all of your photos right in the woods without needing to carry along a card viewer. You can also read the time and date the photo was taken on the LCD display. This system is very small too, which means you can easily conceal it in the woods. Powered by 2 AA batteries and 1 9 volt battery. This ensures your system will be light, and easy to carry deep into the woods unlike other systems that use 4 to 6 C or D cell batteries only lasting weeks at a time, and expensive to replace!

This system is built from our premier motion controller board. The PIR motion detection electronics used are second to none in the industry today. With a detection range of 80+ feet, so you won't have to worry about missing any photos. You won't have to worry about false photos either like you see on many commercial game cameras on the market today.

Unlike many game cameras made today this system uses the higher end and more sensitive CCD imaging sensor to capture your high resolution photos. Almost every commercial game camera on the market today uses the less expensive CMOS imaging sensors that are much less sensitive to light and produce fuzzy/soft photos. With this Sony CCD imaging sensor your photos will be sharp and crisp, and you will be able to make out every inch of that trophy buck!

Rabid Mode feature it will guarantee you will capture more photos than other game cameras on the market today. Did you ever notice that almost every game camera on the market today needs a minimum of 1 minute to store a photo before it can take the next photo? In a true "trail" situation this is totally useless! What happens when you have a string of doe on a trail, or a mature buck following a doe during the rut? Why settle for a game camera that only captures the lead animal on a trail?

Frustrated with trying to setup your current game camera? Don't know how to program it or can't even figure out how to easily attach it and lock it to a tree? Never have those problems again with the a home brew camera. With our easy to setup DIP switch you can easily adjust delays between photos, day/night and 24 hour operation, and even setup for movie mode.

Sweet! Thanks for the info. I'm definetly going to try this.

Here is a sample from a couple of my "Home Brew" built trail cams.

Got any other questions? Ask away.

Brett

http://www.muleymadness.com/forum/download/file.php?id=411" alt="" />

Dude i need to get more knowledgable (sp?) when it comes to this stuff. Ha i dont understand anything with all the wires you have to connect ](*,)

So what is your total cost for one of these cams Brett?

It's about $210.00, kind of depends on how cheap you get the camera from Ebay.

Dang man in laimans terms please... I have a hard time seeing it with out a $80.00 torn up camera sitting in front of me. I need to by 3 more cameras so i can figure it out. chit man my wife is going to kill me #-o

"one hunting fool" wrote:Dang man in laimans terms please... I have a hard time seeing it with out a $80.00 torn up camera sitting in front of me. I need to by 3 more cameras so i can figure it out. chit man my wife is going to kill me #-o

LMAO, That is just freaking funny. lol

Thanks Brett, I'm gonna have to get em one of those kits. I wish they had one for my Sony P52 that I dont use anymore, but I guess I'll have to buy a camera too. Oh well. Maybe i'll have one done for next spring.

ok bought a camera now i need the kit ans someone that can understand the distructions.

This manual is also necessary and helpful.

http://yeticam.com/Manuals/ControlBoardBracketAssembly.pdf

Brett

Stuff you will need.

1. Small gauge soldering iron (heat control is best) it not it's fine though. (I bought the smallest tips/one I could find from Radio Shack
2. 30 gauge wire (buy from Radio Shack)
3. Marine Goop or Loctite glue
4. Very small phillips screwdriver for screws on camera
5. Electrical tape
6. Exacto knife/razor blade.
7. Solder of course for the soldering iron, smallest you can find.
8. Tooth pics (help for cleaning off excess glue)

That's about all I can think of at the moment, but I may have missed something.

Thanks a ton; that is awesome, the proof is in the pudding in catching such action shots from your other post like this one, that ain't happening with most cameras out there at double the cost; the very first pic: http://www.muleymadness.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=6478

Very nice looking homebrew. 10sign:

The Sonys only use their proprietary memory sticks, right? It seems like those are not nearly as cheap as the SD cards, right?

The Sonys only use their proprietary memory sticks, right? It seems like those are not nearly as cheap as the SD cards, right?

Yes believe so. A Memory Stick Duo Pro is what this cam needs, can get them decent on sale if you watch at Staples etc.

I think I will finally bite the bullet and do it this year. Thanks again for the info!

Huge29 - And then change that ugly out dated avatar!!!

"Bowtech43" wrote:Huge29 - And then change that ugly out dated avatar!!!

Some things are timeless, there is no outdating that moment, admit it!

Anyone every try this last year or get one working?

Thank You,
I have always wanted to build my own camera, the quality is Top End.

This winter I believe I will try and build a couple.

T.

Well it sounds enticing, but...I agree with "one hunting fool " on following the distructions, I'm not too sure I should be screwing around with a perfectly good running camera. But to maybe help push me into doing it, I have to ask...what is the battery life like with one of these?

I got a question. Where is that camera set up at with the bucks? lol Ok Im kidding not to bad that one buck im sure will be a great one come a month or so.

Depending on that card, I bet you could add a cell phone and have it text you the pics real time. would that be cool or what? I think it would be easy enough to do with a basic stamp chip.-----SS

I just started building cams this year and its very addicting. There are some simpler cams to hack I like the fact I can fix them if and when the stop working. Each camera has pros and cons to using so you need to know how you'll be using it Trail, feeder/wallow ect. Some can even be turned into ir cams which brings up the cost some. Ive built some s40 for alittle over 100 and a few ir cams for just over 200. There is alot of info on the web about builting these cams (hags house,archerytalk, real deal hunting) and its amazing what you can do with them when you build them how you want to use them. If you have been thinking of doing it jump in. Check out yeti boards or bigfoot boards or snap shot sniper boards all have alot of info on parts and kits. I personally think the sony p-41 or p-32 is the simplest hack and best bang for your buck as the ebay prices will reflect shop cl or local pawn shops. dont be scared if I can build one so can you

bump

Hello MuleyMadness,
Your camera takes fantastic pics! What is the trigger speed of your camera @?