DIY TrailEyes™ Remote Game Trail Camera TriggerAssembling the TrailEyes™ Hunter/ Photographer 4 Channel Remote Trail Game Scouting Camera Trigger
Refer to the Hunting-Radar™ Page for general assembly and soldering information.
Assembly Instructions:
Print
out the
Bill of Materials
and the
When the camera is set up in the field the power switch S-1 and recycle timer switch S-3 will be left in on position. The recycle timer circuit will keep your camera turned on if it has an automatic turn-off for power savings. Most new cameras have this function and in order to keep them awake all the time they must be refreshed with a contact closure. The timer can be set to close the contact at what ever the camera time-out is. This time should be in the camera operator literature, set the timer to a time slightly less than that.
A TrailEyes™ Hunting-Radar™ unit will relay a signal to the receiver when it detects a animal walk by. The accompanying momentary relay closure will act as the shutter button to take the picture.
That said, let’s get to fabrication. Open the new LINX enclosure and lay out your indicating LED’s and switches. The LED and switches can be cemented in place with silicone to make them waterproof.
Wiring
The wiring diagram indicates a battery connector with pigtails this will apply to the Eveready 15 volt battery indicated in the bill of materials but if you use a different type of battery make the connections as required by the battery. The instructions indicate soldered connections everywhere but slip-on spade connectors may be used as desired. Also a small screw type terminal strip can be used to make multiple connections thus avoiding the need to solder two wires to one terminal.
· Run a wire from the (+) battery terminal to one terminal (a) of switch S1 and solder.
· Next from the other terminal (b) of S1 run and solder a wire to the (a) terminal of S-2 and S-3 and solder.
· From one of these switches (shown as S-2 in the diagram) run a second wire to terminal #10 of the LINX unit..
· From the (b) terminal of S-2 run and solder a wire to the (+) positive LED wire. This will be the one with the resistor in the wire.
· From the (-) LED lead run a wire to the battery negative (-) terminal.
· Also from the (-) battery terminal run a wire to terminal #9 of the LINX receiver, then run another jumper to terminal #2 of the Repeat timer. Connections to the timer can be either soldered or made with a female spade terminal.
· From the (b) terminal of S-2 run wires to the #1 relay coil terminal, (+) and to terminal #1 of the Recycle Timer. · Run a wire from relay coil terminal #16 (-), to recycle timer terminal #3
· Place the components where you want them and use epoxy to glue the vibration motor into place. It is important to have good contact with the enclosure wall. It might be a good idea to fabricate some wires or a small metal strap to hold the motor and epoxy it all together. A cable tie and tie holder with self adhesive could be used instead in epoxy to hold the motor in place.
· From the #2 recycle timer terminal jumper to #9 LINX terminal or the battery negative (-) terminal.. · Run a wire from #2 of the LINX terminal block to relay common post #4.
Lastly three wires will be connected to the camera i.e. one is common to the camera’s power - one from the normally closed relay post #6 in this illustration will transmit the wake-up or refresh signal to the camera and one from LINX terminal block #1 will transmit the signal for the camera to take the image. If you want to trigger more than one camera from an assembly ad a second relay and recycle timer for each one and wire to any of the remaining three receiver output relays. More on Batteries
Sealed 12v, lead acid batteries are available from All Electric at very reasonable rates to extend your field operation time. Sizes range from2.3 amp-hours to 17 amp-hours ($12 -$35) Add a 12 volt Vellerman #SOL5N solar battery charger for $30.00 and keep TrailEyes out in the field indefinitely. The Solar charger comes with adapters that makes it convertible to an auto battery trickle charger. When thinking about battery field time of your camera the battery internal battery has to be considered as it not only provides power for taking the picture but it also powers the flash. Most camera batteries are 3 volt nominal. To keep from having to rig the camera for larger external batteries, a 2.6 volt solar garden light charger can be wired in parallel with the small batteries to keep them charged. All Electronics has them for $4.00 each (Cat. #SPL-07). The units come with LED lights which you will want to remove, otherwise they will use up the stored energy when they come on at sundown, just cut the wires and tape or silicone them up. To use the solar garden light charger cut a hole in a handy box and drop the electronics through the hole and seal the flat panel to the box with silicone.
There are two ways of wiring the charger to your user; one is to put the rechargeable batteries in the holder provided with the charger and solder a pair of wires to the (+) & (-) battery case terminals on the other end to the camera or other device you can do the same; the other is put the rechargeable batteries in the camera. Solder the wires at the charger terminals then at the other end of the wires solder a small flat tab cut from brass shim stock. Slip these tabs between the batteries and case terminal taking care to keep the polarity right. You can make the pair of charging wires any length desired so that the Solar panel can be oriented to catch the sunlight. To make the whole rig easier to use put a 2 contact weather proof rubber trailer light connector in the line near the camera. This type of connector is self polarizing and having it will make its use convenient and if the camera is only going to be out overnight the charger can be left at home.
For illustrations showing
how to wire the most popular cameras:
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