anybody make home made trail cams??
 

Just wondering if anybody has made ones they like and work good? PM me with any info you might have and how much it might cost someone to build one and if someone might be interested in making or selling one depending on price of cource ;-)
Thanks

For under $100 you can pick up a pretty nice trail cam so I'm not sure why anybody would make one. By the time you buy all your parts and get it assembled, I don't think it'd be worth it.

Thanks kinda what I was thinking too but I thought I would get some input from others here ;-(

You can get a tasco 3 megapixal trail cam from Wal-Mart for $50.00
Thats what I have.
You can't get the stuff to build one for less than that.

I'm pretty sure pastorjim has made one of his own. You would have to look further into it. His thread name has to do with his "homebrew" build. It would be an older thread under the trail camera section of the forums.

I have built one and to compare it with a $50.00 Tasco is like comparing a Cadilac to a Chevette. You can build one for around $100 depending on the price you pay for the actual camera. As far as comparisons go. there is no way you can compare the picture quality or sensing ability of a homebrew to any really cheap camera. Believe me, I have owned probably 15 different brands of cameras and nothing, with the exception of the Reconyx, matches the sensing ability of a homebrew. The quality of the photos are second to none and the reliability is great. Plus, if something does go wrong with it, you are your own customer service. You built it and you can repair it. I will say they are not without their faults though. For example, unless you can find a way to hook them up to a car battery, they will not give you the battery life of most commercial units. Also, they are a bit finiky to use until you get used to them. If you prefer an IR unit, it can be done but they are a bit trickier and I am not crazy about the pics I have seen from the homebrew IRs. I'm not sure I got into building my own because they were neccessarily better than a commercial cam. Rather, it just seemed to be the next step for me with this hobby. Good luck with whatever you decide. Here are some photos both day and night. Compare them with anything else you have seen from any other unit.








Blessings.....Pastorjim

PastorJim's photos are a perfect example of why so many people like the homebrews. I have a Sony S600 with Pelican case and I belive a Yetti board that needs re-soldered due to getting bumped around during a move to the new house. Someone like PastorJim or I believe Willy would be able to repair it for you and you could see how you like it before you build your own. You can pm me if you are interested. Homebrewing is a whole new kind of hobby than just trail-camming :)

pastorjim is right on the money with all aspects of his post.

I too didnt get into homebrew trail cameras because of cost. Just a certain self gradification from building something yourself, being able to fix it yourself and the quality of pictures you can get from something you built. Trail cameras are more to me that just figuring out a nice buck.

Sure its great to put the puzzle together but after hundreds of nice buck pictures and thousands of deer pictures, there were a lot of bucks that only gave that one photo oppertunity to never be seen again. For those incounters I always wished I had a better quality picture. Now I get the quality. If I get luck and get the buck I am after, I have a bunch of really nice pictures to go with it and a greater sense of accomplishment for me personally.

sent you a PM

where did you go mj469???? get me a little excited last night and your GONE lol pm me when you get mine k thanks