Archive for August, 2017
SSII (Snap Shot Sniper) Lithium Battery Blues…!!
A quick fix…!
Three different ‘Tupperware’ style boxes with SSII’s and battery modification…!
The little 3.6 volt lithium battery that comes with the SSII (Snap Shot Sniper) sensor is great until they start losing power. I went to India without checking the battery and after setting up my Nikon D3000 DSLR travel cam, it started tripping and would have gone until the camera batteries were done, or the card filled up which ever came first. With no spare within thousands of miles, I had no option but to close-out this location…I missed tiger and leopard because of that little battery.
I recently started building some new cams (Nikon D3s and Nikon D2h pro-body cameras) and pulled out my stock of SSII’s and the lithium batteries. Nothing would trip my cameras except for one that still had enough power and actually worked. All the other batteries were pretty much dead or close to that. What was I going to do? They are available here in Thailand but are very expensive due to taxes and shipping from where ever (I think it’s Israel-double or triple the price from the US).
Then I remembered someone on the forum had modified all his SSII’s with the 3 AA or 3 AAA battery packs. I had one and just soldered the wires from the pack to the spring (negative) and the post (positive). The sensor came on right away and went into walk test very quickly, and then shuttered the camera. I have now modified all my sensors to use these cheap battery packs depending on sensor box size (either AAs or AAAs). Even I can do this soldering modification…! However, there are some home-brew cams that will not allow this mod due to space restrictions.
I know it’s not glamorous but hope this helps those with limited skills and lithium battery blues like me…hah..!
Gash – An old Asian Tapir female..!
My Nikon D700 catches an odd-toed ungulate near a hot spring in the ‘Western Forest Complex’
An old Asian tapir female with a gash on her left flank…!
Before my trip to the U.S.A. this year in May, I set a Nikon D700 DSLR trail cam near a hot-spring in the ‘Western Forest Complex’ of Thailand. My first capture was an Indochinese female tiger shown below. But a real bonus was catching an Asian Tapir quite a few times usually leaving the waterhole after drinking the important minerals that seep from a rocky outcrop just down from this location.
Caught again later the same night…does look like she’s been through a meat-grinder…!
The ‘gash’ on it’s left flank is probably caused from a tiger’s claws trying to catch it but not being able to hold on. Tapir have extremely thick hide, and are very agile and fast and can shake-off a tiger. I have seen many tapir with these blood markings. Needless to say, a tribute to the tenacity of this rare species and a lucky catch on my Nikon D700…!
A female tiger camera trapped a few days before the tapir above…!
Botched shutter speed and focus…!
Two Asian leopards pass-by my Canon 600D
For the most part, I usually catch something interesting on my camera traps in the ‘Western Forest Complex’ of Thailand. This place is one of the last great Asian forests where rare wild cats like leopard and tiger still thrive plus many other cryptic animals like sambar, banteng, gaur and tapir living alongside the predators. It does not matter if the camera was set right or wrong. I still manage to get some good record shots of black and yellow phase leopards at this new location.
A black leopard on my birthday: May 19th at 1.49pm, exposure: 2.5 sec…a lucky catch…!
A yellow phased or spotted leopard on May 28th at 8.13am, exposure: 1/8 sec.
A spotted leopard on June 19th at 2.41pm, exposure: 0.3 sec.
A spotted leopard flashing by on May 28th, exposure: 0.6 sec.
I’m not sure how my 600D jumped from ‘Manual’ over to the ‘Tv’ setting (shutter speed priority) but the answer is obvious. I somehow moved the wheel and did not double check it before closing up the cam. So all the shots had very long exposures hence blurry and out-of-focus images. However, the proof that leopards do thrive at this location is still good news. And the bad news is:
Stolen Nikon D90 DSLR camera trap…!
My first DSLR camera trap; a Nikon D90 and SB400 flash with a Yeti’ board in a clear Plano box…!
After capturing leopards on my Canon 600D, I hated to pull it out but had no choice. When I set the Canon, I also set a Nikon D90 DSLR (shown above) in an ‘elephant proof’ box a little bit further down another well-used trail (about 100 meters away). After I checked the Canon, I went straight to the Nikon but it was gone. Someone had stolen it plus two Nikon SB-28 flashes and a SSII (Snapshotsniper) sensor. The complete rig had been taken including the ‘aluminum housings’ and all the hard-wiring. This is my third camera stolen in this ‘World Heritage Site’…!
I have no idea who it is but one thing for sure; it’s the same group that stole my Bushnell Trophy Cam video and ‘Fireman Jim’ 125 DXG video in another section of the sanctuary earlier this year. It means that someone has the special ‘power-torque’ wrench to open-up the ‘elephant proof’ housings, and a 17mm socket wrench (for the 3/8 X 3″ stainless lag bolts) to remove the aluminum boxes from the trees. The ‘power-torque’ wrench is only available at a few special tool shops in Bangkok, or it was found in the forest where I lost one awhile back. Needless to say, it’s back to the drawing board to beef up security of all my cams. I have a new design that will make it even harder to steal that I will post at a later date…!
Nikon D700 catches an Indochinese tiger
A female tiger returns again…!
About five months ago, I set a Nikon D700 DSLR camera trap at a hot spring deep in the interior of the Western Forest Complex of Thailand. I managed to get some nice shots of a female Indochinese tiger as she walked back and forth, and up and down to the mineral seep. I then moved the D700 to another tree close by for a better capture and composition. When I got to my camera last week and checked my files on the Nikon, I almost fell off the log I was sitting on. There she was again but this time with expression, behavior, focus and exposure perfect. This shot is one of my best all time tiger camera trap images….great success at last at this new location…Enjoy…!
Camera: Nikon D700 full-frame body
Lens: Nikon 35mm manual lens (very old)
Sensor: Snap Shot Sniper SSII
Case: Pelican 1150
Box: Aluminum ‘elephant proof’ housings for camera, flashes and sensor
Flashes: Two Nikon SB-28s
Exposure: 1/200th – ƒ5.6 – ISO 400
The first shot in the string…!