Need help with a DIY E-Caller

mr_snyper

mr_snyper

New member
Hey y'all - I built an e-caller a few years back using a speco sp5 speaker, radio shack amp, mp3 player and a tupperware housing. It's worked well but I'd like to build a new model and I need a few pointers.

I'd like to house the speaker, amp and electonic components inside a large flashlight I have. I plan to have the cable with the 1/8 jack coming out of the unit to an external mp3 player.

Here is where I'm stuck - I'd like to rig this new unit so it's rechargeable and has an on/off switch with an LED light that lights up when the unit has power. As far as recharging goes I'd like to be able to plug the unit into a wall chharger to recharge the battery.

I need help with the wiring and figuring out how to set up the battery. thanks!
 
I am anxious to see some answers here. For the second time I set up on Sunday morning to start my caller and when it didn't make any noise I found out that the amp swith had beed nudged and turned on. It was as dead as a hammer!
I resorted to hand calls, but unfortunatley no takers.
Good luck Mr Snyper!
I'd love to see how yours ends up.
 
Hi mr snyper and trickrick. This is my first time posting, so I hope I am doing everything right.

I too am working on a DIY e-caller and ran across this forum. What you are talking about doing should be pretty simple. I made a diagram that should work for what you were talking about.

I would recommend using a 9.6v rechargeable battery, like the type used on most RC cars. Cut the outside of your housing so that the charging plug, located on the battery, would fit where you would be able to plug the charger into it. Inside of your housing, tap into the positive and negative wires on the battery.

Run the negative tapped wire to the LED and the amplifier. Run the positive tapped wire straight to the switch. From the switch, run the positive wire to the LED and then, from another tap, to the amplifier.

This type of wiring should allow you to be able to charge the battery without removing it from the housing. Any other battery with a charger would work as well, but this type should work well and last a long time on a charge.

I would be careful if you did wire it like this and make sure that the switch is turned to the OFF position when charging. The chargers for those batteries put off 12-14v, which could damage the amplifier and the LED - but it could also work fine and not damage it. I don't know a lot about circuits, so I can't be sure what would happen.

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Thanks for the replies! I'm hoping to get the pieces here together and assemble the caller around Christmas. One question I thought of after looking at that awesome diagram is that my radioshack amp is too big to fit into the housing. How do I extract the guts of the amp without all the extra housing and wire it into the rechargeable battery?
 
If it was me Id ditch that Radio shack AMP, and either get a Velleman 7watt AMP or a canuck kit193, both AMPS are available from Carls Electronics, Both easily have the ability to REALLY out perform the RS amp. Are you totally committed to a flash light housing?? I built my home brews using pelican cases, I use RC car battery packs they have a easy quick disconnect all I had to do was open the caller and unplug one plug, plug the charger in and It was good to go..

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lowtempguru, you have some very impressive callers! I recognize the switch you are using seeing as I just received one in the mail today from RadioShack.

I like how you recommended other amplifiers. I can not believe that the RadioShack amp performs as well as it does when it is rated at 0.2w. How expensive are the two amplifiers that you recommended?

I also notice that you have used several different types of speakers/horns. Which one do you believe has performed the best? It would seem to me that the car speaker would offer a good response through low to high frequencies, but the horn style speakers would be louder.

Also, in your experience, what has been the most affordable wireless transmitter/receiver that you have purchased that performed well? It looks like you used a NADY in at least one of them, but that system is fairly expensive if I am remembering correctly.
 
Before I take a stab at the questions from the posts above, let me clearly state I am NO expert and I didnt stay at a holiday Inn last night.

1. The biggest cost in a homebrew caller is the wireless microphone be it a NADY or an AZDEN, The middle caller with the TOA610, Nady351, canuck 193 amp, batteries in series for 18VDC to really drive the AMP, plus MP3 player would cost close to the price of a spitfire, but would have the clarity and volume of a CS24-10watt... and I know this because I own a CS24 10watt.

2. The AMPS are both under 20 dollars and if you are asking for my choice I am very partial to the Canuck 193, its loud, clear and it has built in over voltage protection, don't ask me how I learned about this feature..lol

3. I have used both Azden (cheaper) and Nady 351 wireless microphone both work well, I could easily get 50 yard reception with the caller on the ground, others posted better results I am only stating the distance I got. Another note if your really into Feq response, the Nady has a higher Feq response then the cheaper Azden for what its worth.

4. I picked pelican cases or their knock offs due to the easy to carry and the fact I could carry the transmitter, wire, mp3 player and spare batteries inside the caller so everything stayed in one neat package in the vehicle and going to and from the stand.

5. When I got into building homebrew Ecallers, I learned a lot from Lionho and doggin coyotes,, if your serious about building a quality ecaller it is well worth the effort to go back and search and read their posts.
 
Here is a newbie question. How does the wireless microphone work with the caller? How does the sound get into the mircophone? Is it connected to a MP3 player? Or are you blowing the calls.

Like I said, newbie question. I have seen the DIY callers that plug into a MP3 player and understand the concept. In this case, the play list is started (with a few minutes of silence) then when it runs out, time to get up and change it. I just don't see how the wireless mic fits in.
 
the transmitter is wired to the MP3 and stays with the hunter.. the receiver goes in the caller which can be set 25-75 yards away, You get a wireless caller with the ability to change volume, sound selection, and mute
 
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It make sense now. The MP3 player replaces the microphone. Dah! I was picturing the full size microphone with the transmitter built in, not the little lapel microphone with a cord to the transmitter.
 
Originally Posted By: lowtempguruIf it was me Id ditch that Radio shack AMP, and either get a Velleman 7watt AMP or a canuck kit193, both AMPS are available from Carls Electronics, Both easily have the ability to REALLY out perform the RS amp.

How hard is it to wire up the canuk193? How is it that they really outperform the radio shack amp? I need an amp but not sure if I can rig up the canuk, just wonderin.....
 
If you want a good amplifier and don't know how to wire up the Canuk, I would just buy the Dayton Audo DTA-1. It is 15 watts per channel (into 4 ohms). It runs on 8 AA batteries.

It is a Sonic Impact 5066 copy. You can find them (the Dayton) for around $40.00 online.

If you are using a Nady, you really do not need an additional amplifier unless you are calling in really open country where you need to reach WAY out there. Just turn the gain up on your Nady transmitter and it is plenty loud if you are using a horn type speaker. I use a 6" horn from an old Lohman cassette caller on mine.

I ditched the 9 volt battery from the Nady receiver and wired it to an 8 AA battery pack, running rechargeable batteries. The receiver will run for a LONG time on the 8 AA's.

If I were going to use an amp. in connection with the Nady, I would go ahead and wire it to run twin speakers mounted at a 45 degree offset so you are broadcasting sound over a wider area.

There are a lot of good parts available for building your own call, but if you use quality parts you can easily have the cost of a commercial electronic call in it by the time you have it finished. It is very satisfying to call in game with a devise that you put together yourself though.
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Originally Posted By: JackindistressIf you want a good amplifier and don't know how to wire up the Canuk, I would just buy the Dayton Audo DTA-1. It is 15 watts per channel (into 4 ohms). It runs on 8 AA batteries.

It is a Sonic Impact 5066 copy. You can find them (the Dayton) for around $40.00 online.

If you are using a Nady, you really do not need an additional amplifier unless you are calling in really open country where you need to reach WAY out there. Just turn the gain up on your Nady transmitter and it is plenty loud if you are using a horn type speaker. I use a 6" horn from an old Lohman cassette caller on mine.

I ditched the 9 volt battery from the Nady receiver and wired it to an 8 AA battery pack, running rechargeable batteries. The receiver will run for a LONG time on the 8 AA's.

If I were going to use an amp. in connection with the Nady, I would go ahead and wire it to run twin speakers mounted at a 45 degree offset so you are broadcasting sound over a wider area.

There are a lot of good parts available for building your own call, but if you use quality parts you can easily have the cost of a commercial electronic call in it by the time you have it finished. It is very satisfying to call in game with a devise that you put together yourself though.
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Well I ordered a Nady 351 but havent got it yet and just tried my ipod with the Speco spc-5 and thought it should be louder but didnt realize I could raise it with the Nady. I guess I will just wait until I get the Nady to see if I still need an amp.
 
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