Pope94/IA

I was looking at PastorJims recent pics of his homebrew and I got that urge to try making one myself.. But how much money would you get wrapped up in one?

PastorJim08

There are several things you will need to buy. You can do everything yourself, which will save alot of money, or you can buy a kit, this would not include the camera. I recommend doing it yourself. The biggest cost is the camera. There are many you can use but the two best seem to be the Sony S600, which is what I have, or the Sony P-41, which is my next build. The boards that power the cameras are anywhere from $30-$55.00. The cases you build them in run anywhere from $12--$25.00. There are a few other items you will need, such as glass lenses, wiring, liguid nails, paint, and etc. These items will cost around $10-$15.00. As mentioned, the camera is the most expensive item and usually must be purchased on ebay since most of the models used are discontinued models. Sometimes you can find them on craigslist or in pawn shops. You can also go on Archerytalk's classifieds and find them for sale. There are websites that sell all the supplies you will need to do your build. Here are some examples. www.yeticam.com, www.snapshotsniper.com. There are others but I can't remember them right now. If you decide to do it, let me know and I will help you all I can.

Blessings.....Pastorjim



i

mj469

As far as money goes, people used to be making them for 125 to 150 a piece if they were good at finding bargains. I had more into mine because my cameras were a little more expensive on ebay. But either way, they will usually take better pics than any camera on the market halfway close to their price range. I can tell you that the soldering isn't for someone who has no idea what they are doing(ME!!)! I ruined one of my cameras because I had no idea what I was doing. I sent my other camera off to a guy on this forum and he finished it for me. There are plenty people on here that are willing to help. Good luck with your first homebrew. I know you will appreciate the quality of the photos when you're finished!

Pope94/IA

thanks for the info guys.

I was checking those websites out and just reading some of the peices you need and I got lost... Im just a 15 year old so you can imagine at how much knowledge I have on these types of things.. On the yeticam website I was looking at the yeticam kit.. I know, PJ, you recommended to build it myself without a kit but with my knowledge would it be better to get a kit?

PastorJim08

Really, it's not as hard or complicated as it sounds. The "hack" or soldering is the hardest part but there are pictorial and video tutorials out there that make it alot easier. Everything else is mostly drilling out the case and connecting everything together. All the kits are is mainly all the parts in one package with the case already drilled and so forth. They are just more expensive than if you bought the parts seperately and did the case work yourself. Even with the camera hack, if you're afraid to do that, I know people that will do that part for you for a very small fee.

Blessings......Pastorjim

Pope94/IA

What exactly is the hacking?

PastorJim08

The hacking is where you are modifying the camera to be controlled by the motion sensor on the board. When it senses motion, it tells the camera to take a picture. It usually involves taking the camera apart and soldering three small wires to the right contact points. The other end of the wires simply plug into the board. It really sounds harder than it is. Here is a pictorial tutorial for "hacking" or modifying a Sony P41. Look at it and that should give you some idea about the difficulty. All the rest of the build just consists mainly of drilling, painting, and finishing the case with the camo job you prefer. Hope this helps. http://www.snapshotsniper.com/ModP41.pdf

Blessings.....Pastorjim

janesburg

I would buy a kit. Do some reading on some websites and don't rush your choice. Any questions and ask. I've built 2 and have 2 more cams hacked just waiting on funds to complete them.

Pope94/IA

I read through that and it sounds do-able for me. My past two cameras that wouldn't work I took apart and just experimented with things so I some what know how careful you need to be.

But there was one problem with that document.. Some of those photos were a bit too blury to see the parts they were working on so I couldn't visually understand some of those steps.

Heres some questions for you guys. When you drill that 1/4" hole.. how careful do you need to be? how much empty space is on the other side of the case? I would really hate so go drilling a whole into the camera case and end up breaking the camera.
And is there a certain drill bit to use for that? Or just a plain wood/steel drill bit?