DIY E-Caller

[steltzer]

Hi all, my first post. I just had to share this.

I got the E-Caller bug, and had to build my own.
Still needs some camo paint.

So here it is, parts list:

2 x 30 watt 8 ohm horn speakers (Jaycar $30 each)
1 x 15watt 2 channel amp (Jaycar $30)
1 x 12volt 9Ah SLA battery (battery world $49, I use also for my Blitz 240 spoty)
1 x Handle (bunnings $3)
1 x 10amp light switch (bunnings $4)
1 x foam tape (bunnings $4)
1 x double sided 3M tape (ebay $15 for heaps!)
1 x NADY DKW-1 lapel mic system ($70 shipped ebay)
silicone
PVA glue
crap loads of screws
12mm MDF board (bunnings $6)
Iphone/ipod
2 x 3.5mm male to male stero jack cables (Jaycar $3)
3-4 cable nail things
wire
and solder skills

JOB DONE, very proud, LOUD AS ALL GET OUT!!
should do the trick, looking forward to trying it out soon.
Thanks for looking.

[Camel]

G'day mate, firstly, welcome to the forum.
Secondly, thats a real neat job you've done there, how much does it weigh ? How good is it when in use ? I imagine it would be just as good as any of the ones you buy, but with the added bonus of being home made. What happens when your phone rings and you are out calling a few foxes ??

[cyclone]

look great. can't wait for the test and report .
seen the same thing use to call coyote on u tube.

[aaronraad]

Nice job stelzer!

What are the details on the transmitter/receiver that you went with? Have you been able to verify the range?

[steltzer]

Thanks for the welcome guys.

Camel - dam good point about the phone ringning! LOL that I didn't think about at all. But it would be easy to put the phone into airport mode to prevent any calls, and still use the the MP3 side of the phone, as for weight, it is 9.34 kilos, so not real light unfortunately. The battery alone weighs 2.6 kilos, so you could shed some weight there if you went with lithium or something, but then you are looking at $150 battery for the same capacity.
I haven't tested it in the field yet, I only put this whole thing together from scratch yesterday, so I am hanging to get it out and have a go. Will let you know as soon as I do.

Aaronraad - The transmitter I used was the Nady DKW-1. I went with this as it was the cheapest ($70 shipped), I could get here in australia that had the range I wanted. I wanted at least 100 yards, and this one does a claimed 250 ft,or 500 ft line of sight, so I think it should do the job, there is only 1 way to find out.

Thanks for the kind words all, I will update with a field test in the next week-ish, I hope.

[The Raven]

Hi Steltzer, that looks great!

Depending on your voltage requirements, you could replace the SLA with either 3 or 4 cell Lithium Polymer pack (as used in R/C planes etc). This would cut weight significantly.

Depending on desired capacity and draw, a 4Amp 3 Cell LiPo would cost around $25. Of course, you'd need a special charger. A generic RC charger covering NiCd, NiMh, LiOn, LiPo, and SLA can be had for around $50+.

[Curtley78]

That's awesome!


I love the smell of gunpowder and hoppe's no. 9

[steltzer]

Just an update!

Well took out last week. Went for a night run. It was freezing cold, and we didn't see much in the first 20 mins. Decided to pack up and go somewhere else, when we noticed a fox behind us. We had packed up the gear, unloaded the guns, and were walking back, so we were totally un prepared for this late comer. We set back up, but by the time we did, he had gone out of range. We noticed a few more all out of range though. Maybe we didn't wait long enough? It also worked on a bunch of cows, and a few roos as well!

I decided to check weather the recording I had were any good at all. So I took the foxinator out (no guns) just to see if I could call a few in. When I got to my location, the battery had moved and pulled a wire clean out of the amp PC board. That was the end of that. Next mod is to fix down the battery properly. Anyway, I decided to pair up the bluetooth on the phone to the car, and open the windows and play the call track, just from my car on the side of the road.

Let it play for 30 seconds, turned on the spotty, and had a fox within 25 yards staring at me. I continued to let the call tracks play, and called 7 foxes in total toward the car. So the tracks work!

I need to get the foxintor out again.

The only thing I wasn't happy with when using it, was the range (30 yards at best). But I realised that the length of the cable between my transmitter and Iphone, is doubled as my antenna, and it is only 50cm long. I need to make it around 2m I reckon, then it should great good range. Thats the next thing to test.

Chucked on some camo...ish paint today, pretty happy with how it looks, just wana nail a redskin with it!!

Next thing to get is a .204, and I will be sorted. The old 30.06 and .22lr arnt quite the right guns for the job. They will work, but I wnat something in the middle.

Pics for you!

[Flip]

Great work.

Keep us posted on the developments. Very interesting work your doing.

You will love the 204 ( if you have not yet used one)Fantastic fox round, not the only one by far but hard to go past IMO.

Looking forward to the updates,

Cheers

Flip

[stinkitup]

That's cool!

Could you use some smaller horns or just a single for a more compact unit?

Do you mind what calls are you using?

Ryan

[andrewk]

good stuff! what's the call you are using?

[bigfellascott]

Top effort mate, I use a Ipod Dock myself which works fairly well (could use a bit more volume) I can get an ancillary speaker for it I guess but its good enough for now but I will eventually invest in a FoxPro of some sort (cheaper the better).

Again mate well done on a top little job.

[dave]

Would 2 x 10watt speakers have enough go in them???

[steltzer]

yeh, there is heaps of enough go, in fact I only use it on 1/4 volume it is just too loud. I have to work out the wireless part of it again, and even the portability sux! I am thinking of a total redesign

[bigfellascott]

yeh, there is heaps of enough go, in fact I only use it on 1/4 volume it is just too loud. I have to work out the wireless part of it again, and even the portability sux! I am thinking of a total redesign

I just put an order in for the Fox Pro Fury 2 - hopefully it's worth the $$$ as far as I can tell from those who use Fox Pro's they are. They have a lot of great features.

http://www.gofoxpro.com/site/products/d ... calls/fury