Homebrew trail cam build along

[RUSTY1]

Thanks Mike!

[Missing Impossible]

Ok, here are a few pics showing a completed build.  The reason the Yeti board was ordered specifying back mount controls is because we’re going to point the camera and the motion sensor (pir) out the back (bottom) of the case.  If you look at the latch in the next photo you’ll see that the lid of the case will be against the tree.  The pipe we’re putting thru the case will allow you to lock the trail cam to the tree using a python lock.  Gonna be pretty hard for someone to open the trail cam to get at the innards with that lid locked against the tree!   The other benefit of this is that the camera screen will be right there when you open the lid, ready to review pics.  When you go thru the bottom of the case, you use the same set up no matter what size case you use.  A pelican 1060 is deeper than our 1040 but the pir will always be the same distance to the bottom of either case.  
This is important because the pir sensor needs to be a precise distance to the fresnel lens.  You go to a deeper case with a pir on the front of the board and you need to figure the correct standoff sizes  to get that fresnel to pir distance correct.  
 
The python lock:  
 

If you do not need to lock your cams you could just omit the pipe thru design and add U bolts for tying to tree.
 


The horizontal option is because the pir has to be oriented so that the two internal sensors on the face pick up motion left to right or left to right.  If we were to take our board and mount it vertically, it would only trigger a photo if something moves up or down to cross the two sensors.  Here’s a link that describes this better than I can.

 http://www.glolab.com/pirparts/infrared.html

There are pir sensors available now which allow either vertical or horizontal placement of the board.  The simple sniper from snap shot sniper has this.

Here’s a comparison of some different cases.
From left to right:  pelican 1020, pelican 1040, pelican 1060, and a Moultrie gamespy 200

 

[IMG]http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g177/14fork/build%20along/IMG_0611.jpg[/IMG

[Missing Impossible]

 

This next photo shows a P32 in a pelican 1040 with a simple sniper board below the camera and our yeti board lying on the lid for comparison.  (drilled the pipe hole crooked)

 

We’re going to lay out our camera just like this except we’re using the yeti in place of the ss.

Here are couple photos showing layout options for different cases.  The first pic is a P32 in a pelican 1020 case.  Notice that there is not enough room for our yeti board with it’s 9v power.  

 

Now here’s a comparison between a P32 and an old Olympus D380.

 

Now here’s a D380 in a 1020 case with a simple sniper board.  This is a working trail cam.

 

The next photo shows a P32 in a pelican 1060 case with pipe thru, yeti with 9V holder and places to add the external batteries.  On the lid on the left is a two D battery holder and above the camera is a two C battery holder.  This type of externals would probable last the season.

 

I specified the five wire servo for the build because it’s only a few dollars more than a three wire servo.  The five wire is only needed if you plan on using external batteries to increase field life.  If you do another build such as the layout above in a 1060, you’ll already have the hack completed for the externals.  Heck, even adding a two aa holder to our 1040 build will double the battery life of the P32.

[Missing Impossible]

I'm going to go ahead and post the links for the camera hack.  I do not have access to a macro photography studio so these are a much better reference.  The first link shows only the camera hack using the hags house shutter assembly.  This is the one we'll follow.  The second link shows both the hack for running the cam and the external battery hack.  We'll only refer to this link for the battery hack.  
Please print these off, read, and keep handy as I'll be following these for our build.  My main objective during the hack is to bring up things I have encountered that may pose a problem.
For anyone who is actually doing the build with me, please contact me any time with questions or concerns since I kind of got you into this.  I'll do all I can to help.  Plus you may encounter something that we can all learn from.

 http://www.hagshouse.com/Instructions_Mods/Word%20Docs/Sony%20DSC-P32%20Mods1%20Rev%20A.pdf


 http://www.bfoutdoors.com/PDFS/Sony%20P32%20modification%20with%20external%20power%20hack.pdf

I've set aside this weekend to hopefully complete the homebrew and document for posting.

[leatherneck]

Just as long as your not drinking the homebrew instead building one.    

Looking good brother, Looking good.

Beers on me when your done. or maybe another wine tasting event.

[longbowben]

       

[BobinTN]

Got my sony p32 in the mail today.  It looks good.  Took a picture just to make sure it works.

Now I am waiting on the rest of the supplies.
I am excited to proceed with this project.

[leatherneck]

Just an update. Mike has delayed this for a couple days to allow others to get their supplies together. It will full boar this weekend so get ready. The camera hack is next. Hope everyones been studying the links.

[Missing Impossible]

FYI python locks can be bought keyed alike.  If your going to be getting more than one, remember to ask for this.

[Missing Impossible]

You'll want to buy 512mb memory stick pro cards max for your P32 going in this build, others will work, they'll just be a little slower on the trigger.

The build will be tomorrow.

[BobinTN]

It is a funny shaped memory stick.  I guess the modern shaped memory sticks will not work?

I bought 2 Sony 512mbs memory sticks for $26.

[Jim Jackson]

I've been anticipating this thread ever since it popped up on pow-wow.  Might help to repost the basic prices for materials.  Thanks for putting this thread together!

[Missing Impossible]

I’m going to do this real time instead of all at once at the end.  Before we hack the camera I’m going to do some case preparation.  Your pelican case comes with a removable bladder which we will remove.  You can use the lip of the bladder to seal the lid if you did not buy the rope seal.  I’ve tried the bladder lip and found that it takes a set after a while and can interfere with removing the camera.  Here’s the bladder and a bladder lip.

 

I installed the rope seal by first fitting the seal in the groove then cutting to correct length.  I then place goop in each corner and at each midpoint along edges, making sure that extra goop is placed at the bottom middle where the two ends meet.  Place rope seal in groove then close case for a few minutes to let the goop set.  Here’s the rope seal installed in our case.  

 

The next step is to install the pipe thru the case for our python lock.  Here’s a pic of the purge valve, this cap can be pried out and will give us the location to drill for our pipe.

 

Before you drill out the purge hole, transfer the measurements of the center of the hole to the other side.  I use ½” OD stainless tubing.  Plastic water line can be used just verify drill bit size for a snug fit.  

Here’s the pipe in place and gooped inside and out.  Don’t go overboard with the goop as it will get everywhere.  We’re going to do a dunk test on our case later and will see if there are any areas not watertight.  

 

The next thing I’m going to add is a little shelf for the camera to sit on.  This isn’t necessary but it comes in handy as you’ll have a solid reference for where your camera will be.  As an example, you can do this build with the P32 on the bottom of the case, however the bottom of the case widens as you approach the lid so if you drill your holes then add the foam flash gasket, the foam will raise your camera moving the lens and flash towards the bottom of your holes.  Here’s the shelf.  

 

And here’s the shelf gooped into the case.  

 


Off to the bench now.

[Missing Impossible]

I’m going to go ahead and drill the holes for the bolts that will hold our board to the case.  Here’s a template for the yeti board.  When printing the template make sure that the printer does not scale the page.  Double check too see that the template is true size before marking or drilling.


 http://www.yeticam.com/YetiCamBoardVer13Template.pdf


This is a mounting diagram for the board.

 http://www.yeticam.com/Manuals/Board%20Mounting%20Diagram.pdf

I’ve taped the template to the case in preparation to drill.  

 

I drill a small hole where the center if the pir sensor is since the forstner bit starts with a small tip.  You’ll need to chamfer the outside of the case for the bolt heads to fit flush.  Here I’ve installed two of the bolts that will hold our board.  You can see the chamfered holes and the pilot hole for the pir.  

 

 Here’s a shot of part of my workbench during this build.  

 

We’ll start the hack using this set of instructions as you have to take out the main board to solder in the wires for external power.

 http://www.bfoutdoors.com/PDFS/Sony%20P32%20modification%20with%20external%20power%20hack.pdf

The very first step to the hack is to turn on camera then remove the batteries.  This will keep the shutter cover open then when inside the camera we’ll disconnect the wire for the shutter cover motor.
After the four screws have been removed from the camera, carefully separate the two camera halves paying special attention to keep the bottom halves of the camera as close together as possible.  The next photo shows why.  There is a ribbon cable that can tear very easy if pulled on or twisted.  The camera is clam-shelled open with the bottoms next to each other.

 

The shutter motor connector is unplugged in this photo.  

When referring to the hack link, you’ll see two ribbon cables that need to be disconnected to separate the camera.  These next two photos are close ups of those.  

 

This photo shows the small black tab that must be opened to disconnect the ribbon cable that runs to the back half of the camera.  Here, the tab has been lifted and the ribbon cable has been removed allowing you to remove the back of the camera.


 

This photo shows the second ribbon cable disconnected, allowing the main board to be removed from the camera.  There is no locking device for this cable but care must be taken during removal as it will tear easily.  There are ears on each side of the cable that I gently pry on with a small screwdriver.  


After following the hack link and lifting the latches, you’ll have the front of the camera separated from the main board with the battery compartment exposed.  Here’s a pic of that.

 

[Missing Impossible]

Before we start soldering, we’re going to go back to the case.  Having the face of the camera separated will make it easy to mark our holes that will need to be drilled for our lens and flash.  Our P32 will not drop in to our case without a little grinding.  Here, I’ve taken the face, set it on our shelf,  and marked our case for grinding.  

 

 

I used a dremel to open up the inside of the case until the camera fits snugly.  Here’s pics of the bottom and lid of the case after grinding.

 

 

You do not need a dremel to do this.  The first couple I did I used a  rotary rasp bit with a drill clamped to the workbench.  

Here’s the camera face fitting nicely in the case.

 

Now we can mark the lens and flash holes with no measuring.  The marks don’t look centered in the photo but they are.

 

[Missing Impossible]

On to the camera hack.  Take a look at this picture and you’ll see that one side of the 5 wire servo has three thin wires and 2 fat whereas the other side has 5 fat wires.


 


The side with the thin wires will connect to the camera.  It’s a lot easier to tuck those thin wires inside of the camera case than all those fat ones.  


 I first ran the wires per previous link for the externals and it was very easy.  You’ll have to look at that link very carefully to get an idea of how much wire you’ll need to cut off of the 5 wire servo.  I then went to this link     http://www.hagshouse.com/Instructions_Mods/Word%20Docs/Sony%20DSC-P32%20Mods1%20Rev%20A.pdf    for information on the actual camera hack using the hags house shutter assembly.  The reason we used this item can be seen in the picture below.

 

 

The contacts beside the penny are what will enable use to hack the cam, pretty darn small, huh?

The solder points on the shutter assembly from hags house (shown on the left) are much larger than the other two options shown.  Following the hack link above, you’ll see that only three contacts are used.  The fourth flat wire is used as a spacer to align the assembly correctly.  The only thing I can add to the above directions is that I find it easiest to hold the shutter assembly from the back as shown and take a small screwdriver to start the ribbon cable under the shutter assembly.  In this photo, I’m doing just that except that the bronze ribbon cable has already been inserted.

 

Notice how you can see the flat wires in the shutter assembly lining up with the wires in the bronze ribbon cable.

This next photo shows the shutter assembly installed and taped down ready for soldering.  The wires taped down horizontally are for the externals.

 

Per the directions, I tinned the wires and contact pads.  Here, notice the pad of solder ready to be joined with the wires.

 

I wired red for power, black for common, and white for shutter.  I finished following the hack directions then reassembled the camera.  Here is the servo coming out the finished camera.
 

To test your hack, connect the other side of the 5 wire servo then tape off the corresponding wires for + and – for externals.  Touch power and common together and camera should turn on.  Touching the shutter and common together while the camera is on will take a picture.  Our camera works as it should both turning on and taking photos.

Next, I soldered in a 2 c battery holder and then removed the batteries from the camera.  This next photo shows the camera running on the two external c batteries.  Notice the open battery door on the camera.  Success!!!!

 

[Missing Impossible]

With our camera successfully hacked for externals and to be operated by our board, it’s time to continue with the case.  Clear cases make it easy to locate your holes for your fresnel, flash, and lens.  With a painted case, you’ll need to do some good measuring.  One option for accurate hole placement if your shooting thru the lid is to use a laser pointer plumb with your bench.  After laying out your components in your case (this is where a camera ledge comes in handy), simply center your laser over your target such as the center of your pir, then close the case and mark the location of the laser.  Repeat for the flash hole and the lens hole.  Here’s a photo using the forstner bit to drill out the pir hole that we earlier located with the template.

   

And here’s an action photo of the forstner in action.

 

I used the marks we made earlier using the front face of the camera to drill out holes for the lens and flash.  Now we have completed drilling the case.

 

We need to eliminate part of the external ridge that crosses the case so that our HPWA fresnel assembly fits flush with the exterior of the case.  I first friction fitted the HPWA in the pir hole then marked what part of the ridge needed ground off.  Here’s the case after grinding the ridge flush with the exterior of the case.

 


Here’s a view of the HPWA fitting flush.

 


This picture is of the case thus far along in the build.  The next step is finishing up internal details.

 

You can go ahead and seal the board bolt heads with goop now.  Also, proper placement of the HPWA requires that it be installed with the unmarked portion of the lens placed at the top as in photo.

[Missing Impossible]

We’re to the point where we’re wrapping up this build.  First we take a thin piece of foam and mark it where our flash and lens holes are.  We then take a 1” sharpened pipe or other object and punch the holes.


   

 We goop up the HPWA and install it.  The glass for the lens goes in next.  If you like you can countersink the glass with a 11/4” forstner bit.  If you are going to use glass for both the lens and the flash you need to black out the edges of the glass so that the flash doesn’t bleed over to the lens glass.  This will leave you with phantom blob of light in your photos.  We don’t have to worry about that as we’re using a flash enhancer which is very thin.  Here’s the case with the HPWA fresnel, the lens glass, and the flash enhancer installed.  The flash enhancer has ridges on one side and that side will face the camera.

     

The directions for the yeti board installation calls for nuts to be run down the bolts coming thru the case.  We’ll do this next.  I came up with a standoff length of 0.435”.  Yeti sent me 1”.  I used a micrometer to figure this knowing that the distance from our pir to the HPWA lens needed to be 0.90”.  I had to use the dremel with a plastic cutoff blade to get the 0.435”.    The next photo shows the connection of the servo to the board.  This as well as connecting the 9v power supply  needs to be done prior to mounting the board as the screw connector will be inaccessible when the board is installed as it’s on the same side as the pir.

     


The 9v battery holder will be held in place below the board with Velcro.  This next photo shows the application of the Velcro.  The 9v battery holder has an on-off switch which controls the power to the board.  When you go to check your camera, you’ll turn off this switch as soon as you open the homebrew so as not to trigger the camera.

     

Here is the final resting place for our boards power.  

 

We now take our foam and stick it over the glass and flash enhancer.  This helps keep our camera in place and keeps stray light from the flash out of our pictures.  

 

Next we take a piece of foam and place it on the lid behind our camera to keep our lens and flash as forward as possible.


 

[Missing Impossible]

Here’s the end result front and back.

 

 

You’ll need to remove the board and camera and perform a leak test on the case.  Just submerge the case for a few hours to be sure there are no leaks.  Once your sure your ok you can reassemble your homebrew.

We’ll take on the 3D camo tomorrow.  I hope you enjoyed the build along.

Mike

[longbowben]

Great job mike