Many trail cameras support both internal batteries as well as an external power supply. When there is only one power source, it’s clear where the power comes from. But what does the camera do when both internal and external power is available? If you use rechargeable batteries inside the camera, and a set of primary batteries in an external pack, which set will the camera use first?
Continue reading →I recently released firmware for Browning Elite HP5 cameras that bypasses a limit of 20 seconds on the length of night time videos. Several folks have asked: “Is this a safe thing to do, isn’t the limit there for a reason?” … Continue reading →
The Browning Elite HP5 series trail cameras have a rich set of features. But, like all computer firmware, it’s not perfect. Based on some Facebook feedback, and our own experience, I identified several small additions of interest to the camera … Continue reading →
Teardown of Stealth DS4K Trail Camera, featuring insights into design and manufacturing quality. Video of teardown provided as a reference.
Continue reading →Teardown of Bushnell Core DS 4K Trail Camera, featuring insights into design and manufacturing quality. Video of teardown provided as a reference.
Continue reading →Knowing the detection zone pattern can help produce more “true triggers” and fewer “false triggers.” In an earlier post Deep Tech: Trail Camera PIR Sensors I covered some of the details of PIR sensors. Based on feedback from subscribers, though, I realized that I had missed some subtle aspects of the Fresnel lens optics and detection zones for PIR sensors. In this post, I look more closely at trail camera detection zones, and how they work. I also give a straightforward way to find the detection zones in most cameras. I use this method to measure the detection zones for three camera models.
Continue reading →In this post I look explore capacity vs. temperature and discharge rates for rechargeable Li-Ion AA batteries from TenaVolts, EBL, and Pownergy
Continue reading →Teardown of Browning Spec Ops Elite HP5 (BTC-8E-HP5). The PIR sensor “blinders” are gone and there’s a new lens configuration.
Continue reading →In this post I look inside a Browning Recon Force Elite HP4 Trail Camera. I find a couple of quirks which can be easily fixed.
Continue reading →One of the challenges facing the homebrew DSLR camera trapper is finding a good trigger sensor. In this post, I describe a system for using a commercial trail camera to trigger a DSLR camera.
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