Alloutdoors - you are absolutely right.

Early in 2003 I built a 35mm game cam. It was a great experience and it works much better than a Camtrakker that I received for Christmas in 2002. Battery life was a problem with the Camtrakker and it did not want to advance the film all the time. Lots of problems.

My newer home-brew D-380 works perfect every time and the battery life is about twice as good as the store bought cam.

In January of this year I purchased a Sony P-32 digital camera, an HH1 controller board, and an Army surplus first aid kit box. I purchased the controller board at Hagshouse.com, the camera and box on eBay. In just three days I had built the finest game cam I have ever used. The guys over at hagshouse.com are terrific at engineering, designig, and making controller boards. The battery saver circuitry they developed has improved the life of the batteries to about 4 months on one 9V battery. The electronic timing on the camera (controlled by the board) has increased the camera battery life to about 4 months also.

Since January I have built 3 Sony game cams and all work perfect. The 3.2 megapix camera is more than I would ever need for scouting my hunting areas.

Just yesterday I purchased a new Sony P-41 at OfficeMax for $149.99. I ordered a new generation controller board and an Otter drybox from Hag's House. When I'm finished I'll have approx. $230.00 in parts and I really enjoy making the assembly.