Posts Tagged ‘trail camera’
A Sony S600 on/off button fix
The single most aggravating thing about Sony S600s is the on-off button. These cams are really one of the best for homebrew trail camera traps and I really enjoy using them. For some reason the switch tends to bottom out and the cam cannot be turned on. I have seen so many where someone previously used their fingernail to turn it on and off, and after awhile it just collapses and will not work.
Sony S600 on-off switch repair
I like to turn my S600s on before deploying in the forest to check the time, date and other things like mode, ISO, flash on, etc, and trying to turn it on with the sensor can be iffy. There is not enough time to check anything before the sensor tells the cam to shut down…!
Solder points for switch repair
All the Sony P and W-series cams usually do not have this problem and even the S40 button is good. As most of my 600s had this problem, I came up with a simple trick to fix this. A small push-button switch and short wire is soldered onto the pad as shown in the photos. Run the wire through the buttonhole and ‘Goop’ in place. I have now fixed all my S600s like this and they are working very well.
Hope this helps those on the forum with this S600 affliction.
A Black Leopard passes my camera trap
A series of images captured with a Sony S600 camera trap
A black leopard in mid-afternoon on a trail to a hotspring in Huai Kha Khaeng (cropped).
It is now late April in the forest of Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, my favorite-place in Thailand. The first rains have come and doused the dangerous forest fires that spread through the sanctuary during the dry hot season starting in March.
Full frame shot of the leopard.
As usual, I’m setting-up camera traps at various mineral deposits (natural seeps) around a ranger station deep in the interior accessible only by a dirt road. These waterholes are visited by all the large mammals including tiger and leopard, and provide excellent opportunities for some great animal shots.
An Asian tapir passes by.
As I was going through a few of my old camera traps changing out cards and batteries, I decided to have a quick look at a 2GB card that was in my Sony S600/SSI/1020, one of my first cams using a Pelican box.
A young ‘tusker’ on the trail showing off.
Imagine my surprise to see a shot of a ‘black leopard’ in mid-afternoon walking on the trail. Other denizens caught include elephant, tapir, sambar, wild pig and muntjac (barking deer) over a month period back in February to early March of this year. The cam recorded some 400 images mostly elephants and sambar. It truly was a bonus and I actually closed out the program with this cam.
Sambar stag on the trail.
I actually forgot to download the card and if I had formatted it, only a recovery program could have got them back as long as I had not filled the card with other images. Been there done that…!
Another sambar stag checking out my cam.
The black leopard brought back fond memories of this place more than 15 years ago. I was sitting in a tree blind up by the hot springs when a black leopard walked in about 4pm and posed for me at several places for over an hour.
My first black leopard in the late afternoon sun showing its spots.
The mature cat up at the hot springs.
My leopard posing on a fallen tree.
These were in the old days of slide film, and I did not know how good the shots were until the film was processed. Here are a few images from that lucky sequence many years ago.
The morel of this story: Make sure you double-check and download all your cards before formatting, or you may loose some valuable images like I almost did…!
Some other images from this set:
A very young elephant checking out the cam.
Looks like the bigger elephant lost part of its tail.
A youngish elephant on the trail.
Same elephant checking out the cam.
A sambar stag feeding on grass.
A mature sambar stag.
A young sambar stag.
Another spike stag with blotches.
And yet another spike stag.
A sambar doe.
Sambar doe close-up.
A wild pig in the late afternoon.
A muntjac (barking deer) early in the morning.
The ‘tiger hunter’ after setting the cam.
A ‘Trails End’ camera trap comes my way
A neat trail cam: Sony P41/Snapshotsniper SS board/Pelican 1040/2 AA externals by Trails End
Last week, I visited my old buddy Suthad Sappu, a forest ranger in Kaeng Krachan National Park down in southwest Thailand along the border with Burma. We worked together along the Phetchaburi River deep in the interior of the park for some 10 years back during the 90s, and we got many tigers and leopards on camera trap plus loads of other cryptic creatures like elephant, tapir, gaur, bear (both species), fishing cat, banded palm civet, banded linsang and many more.
As we were chit chatting over dinner and drinks about our favorite subject, camera trapping, Suthad pulled out a very nice camera trap from his bag. It is a homebrew that was made up by ‘Trails End’ using a Sony P41/Snapshotsniper SS board/Pelican 1040/2 AA externals. It is very well built and looks new, and is unused. The case and eyebolts are dipped in a woodland type camouflage.
He says I can have it if I can get it working. Took me a few minutes with some fresh batteries and reset the date on the Sony. Flipped the toggle switch down and it fired up, and was working normally in a few minutes. I said thank you very much and smiled.
He has two more and I said I could get them going too. Does anybody know who ‘Trails End’ is and are they still in business? They certainly do very good work. I’ll be taking this cam along with a Bushnell Trophy Cam to India on April 3rd after tiger. The lodge I’m staying is reported to have leopards walking through the camp. Can’t wait to get there.
Some days are better than others….especially when a nice trail cam comes your way for free…!
Africa Series: Sony S40 catches bat-eared fox
A camera trap’s final stint at a fox den in Amboseli National Park, southern Kenya
Bat-eared fox cub in its den
I took a Sony S40/Plano 1449/SSII/4 double AA externals to southern Kenya in December 2012 to be used in quick set-ups with minimum security (no Python locking cable) mainly to be used by the side of the road. The first location was Amboseli National Park near Mount Kilimanjaro where I captured a rare carnivore: a whole den of bat-eared foxes.
Bat-eared fox adult just outside its den
As me and my driver/guide Patrick Njoroge were on game drive, we noticed two adult foxes running away from their den that was about 10 feet from the road. I got some nice shots of the adults in great light. I decided to leave the cam overnight in some rocks near the ground as the site looked promising.
The other mature fox in the afternoon
While setting up the cam, I heard the pups in the den and one of them actually barked at me. I sat in the truck and waited, and in a few minutes a young one popped its head out shown in the lead photo. I had a great time shooting the little carnivore with my Nikon D3s/600mm.
Fox family checking out the S40
We left shortly thereafter so as not to disturb them and let the home-brew do its work. That night, two adults and four cubs were caught by the S40. The next morning I was elated to see that this family was surviving in Amboseli. I downloaded everything from the card immediately. It’s a good thing I did too…!
Getting closer and not afraid of the flash
Later that day we moved to Tsavo West National Park situated east where I previously had set-up a Bushnell Trophy Cam at a waterhole deep in the park. With no cable, the S40 attached with tape was vulnerable but I thought who would steal a cam way out here. Boy, was that ever a big mistake. That night, a hyena came and took the S40, and the Bushnell recorded it all as seen on my previous post ‘Bad Hyena Night’.
Even the cubs are not afraid
It’s hard to believe an African hyena would actually take my cam. Somehow, the creature must have been attracted to the salt residue left by my hands is the only explanation I have. The next morning on our way out, we looked around but could not find it. We left but I accepted the fact the S40 was gone but it had done a brilliant job of catching the foxes and that was that…!
My favorite S40 shot
I wonder where the S40 is now? Could it be down the hyenas den still tripping? Is it a chew-thing for the hyena cubs? I will never know.
Sony S40 camera trap set in rocks by the road at bat-eared fox den
The moral of this story; whenever you can, always download your card or you could loose a lot….!
Enjoy.
Bad Hyena Night
This is what happens when you get lax….or was it just an oversight…? Needless to say, I lost my great little Sony S40 cam in a Plano 1449 and SSII with double AA externals to some tenacious hyenas. It was a great little cam and took good photos. And yes, it was the S40 hacked by Joe 12-Ringer I won in last year’s camera trap competition held by Camtrapper.com. I took this homebrew to Kenya as a quick-setup cam mainly to be used by the side of the road and hence, there was no ‘Python’ locking cable. Unfortunately, I also lost a whole bunch of photos that the cam took because I used some sticky tape to hold it in position above a Bushnell Trophy Cam. The rest is history.
PS: I do have two spare S40s with boxes and sensor boards that will be built some time in the near future. They are great little cams…!
A wild elephant’s foot…!
All images by a Sony S600/S40 camera trap
Wild Asian elephant herd checking out my camera trap
The toughest test of a camera trap in Thailand’s forest is being attacked by the awesome power of a wildlife elephant. These huge beast are very inquisitive and will check-out anything that catches their eye. Camera traps are of special interest and depending on how tight the cam is on the tree, these giants will try to rip it off. The following sequence was captured last month.
Mother elephant and baby
Elephant’s rear end
Female elephant showing tushes
Elephant’s muddy foot
Another ‘mud paw’
They tried in vain to get my cam off but it was so low, they could not get any leverage so they just used their muddy ‘paws’ but failed. However, the lens and sensor were covered in mud after this. The last few shots show what an elephant’s foot looks like…!
Special interest:
This shot of a very old, old banteng bull with a damaged pair of testicles was earlier on the same setup before the elephants. No telling what happened to this poor guy. He was probably evading a predator and scratched em’ on a stick while bolting through the forest. There are big tigers here that go after the old bulls…!
This bull is very old judging from the hang on the dang….!
Huai Kha Khaeng: A birthday tiger and leopard
A new Sony W55 trail camera catches the big cats
On May 19th (my birthday) 2012, I decided to celebrate in the forest after returning to Thailand from a two-week photographic safari in Africa. It was once again a great trip to the Dark Continent and I managed to photograph the ‘Big Five’ (three times now) plus a multitude of other animals including some rare species like black-mane lion, black rhino, striped hyena, sable antelope and bush baby. I also got many other common animals like elephant, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, warthogs and antelopes. I also managed to catch Mount Kilimanjaro when the clouds lifted. Kenya is absolutely one of the greatest natural spectacles on the planet and I look forward to returning next year.
A male leopard caught by a Sony W55 homebrew trail camera trap
However, there are still a few wild places in Thailand that harbor many magnificent Asian creatures such as tiger, leopard, elephant, gaur, banteng plus many other mammals, birds, reptiles, insects and plant species. Huai Kha Khaeng is one of the top wildlife sanctuaries in Southeast Asia, and the world for that matter.
Leopard caught again checking out the camera
To get there, it takes about five hours by vehicle from Bangkok and is tucked away in the forested mountains of central-western Thailand in Uthai Thani province. I have written many stories about this place and its wildlife, and it never fails to live up to its status as a ‘World Heritage Site’ but this time it turned out even better than my wildest dreams.
A young female tiger caught by the Sony w55 trail cam
My birthday wish to catch a tiger and leopard up-close with one of my camera traps was granted by the ‘spirits of the forest’ and all the hard work building the cams, setting them up, waiting while they soaked and then the pain-staking collection was truly worthwhile.
My favorite shot of this young tiger
Arriving early in the morning, I got everything ready and went out to check the cams. One location has been extremely productive and had been very lucky catching tiger and leopard almost every time (three months in a row). When I went through the photos on my new Sony W55/SSII/1020/3 AA externals, I could not resist shouting out loud with one big hurrah. A leopard had stopped at the cam for a few shots and a night later, a tiger posed for a whole series of close-ups from the low-down set-up. I was speechless for a few seconds.
Check-out the ticks and markings on the right ear
Remember this tiger eye and ear
This game trail is situated deep in the protected area and many animals use it to get to a mineral lick and waterhole. The balance of nature is in full force here and ‘eat or be eaten’ carries on everyday. There is a fallen tree right across the trail about 500 meters from the dirt road some 15 kilometers in the sanctuary.
More ticks and note the wound on the left shoulder
Both of these big cats jump this log as they hunt for prey but usually a few days or two apart. The leopard is a very mature male but the tiger is a young female that seems to may have finally left her mother. I have a close-up shot of this same cat captured together in March and identified it as the same tiger two months ago by markings on the right ear. What a coincidence!
Stripe-pattern on right side used to identify this cat
All I can say is: this has been the best birthday in many moons and I know that my prayers are really answered from time to time. It is hoped this young tiger will continue to live out its life in safety and carry on its legacy as the world’s largest cat. Huai Kha Khaeng is truly a remarkable place and I have not even scratched the surface of this amazing wilderness!
LBK ‘Clear View’ camera trap project
Building a modern digital camera trap
LBK ‘clear-view’ camera traps parts assembled
Recently, I wanted to up-grade my camera trap fleet using ‘Pelican’ cases available here in Thailand consisting of the 1010, 1015, 1020, 1030 and 1040 ‘Micro’ series. All of them were clear and I thought I would just coat them with camouflage paint when finished. After studying and collecting cameras, boards and externals, I began building this series of trail cameras around these clear boxes.
Camera trap #1 in the ‘clear view’ series
A Sony S600/Pelican 1015/SSII/2 AAs
Then it hit me. The practical aspect of this build is no need to drill an extra hole for the flash and just let the camera’s flash shoot straight through the box. A lens snorkel is used in every build and so there is no flash-bleed with the clear boxes.
I sourced all the components including Sony cameras depending on which Pelican case was used including a S600, W55 and several W5/7s. The infrared board is the SS1 & SSII plus one Yeticam board. Snorkels were machined from aluminum and a rubber gasket was made from Permatex black silicon sealant. SnapShotSniper ‘HPWAs’(High Performance Wide Angle fresnel lens) are used with one exception (the W5/1040/Yeticam using a standard wide angle lens).
Completed Sony S600/Pelican 1015/SSII/2 AAs
At most of my camera trap sites in Thailand’s protected areas, an aluminum box fitted around the Pelican case to protect it is an absolute must primarily from wild elephants, but also from theft. I use several 3” stainless lag bolts inside the box screwed into the tree (preferably dead) in conjunction with a ‘Python locking cable’ in 5/16” or 3/8” diameters. A 3mm aluminum alloy faceplate drilled for the lens, flash and sensor holes is bolted on to the front using stainless steel ‘power torque’ 10mm machine screws.
Power torque 10mm machine screws and wrench
This system has defeated many inquisitive jumbos who can destroy traps with extreme strength. These aluminum boxes are so firmly attached to the tree they just leave them alone after awhile. A friend of mine recently had three camera trap units with Python locking cables completely ripped off the tree and smashed by wild elephants in Thap Lan National Park in eastern Thailand because he used no lag bolts.
Fortunately for me, there is a custom motorcycle welding shop close to my house that offers ‘Tig’ welding of aluminum and I can have custom dimensions made up to fit any one of the Pelican cases I use. I do all the machining required in my shop at home. Aluminum is much better than steel being more lightweight and rust proof. Also, it is much easier to machine then tough old steel.
Completed camera trap and ‘elephant box’
I cut off the belt loops on the Pelican to make the boxes slightly smaller. I then do a 3D camouflage job on the outside box with black silicone sealant and paint with flat brown, tan and/or green to suit different tree bark colors and patterns. Pre-scouting of camera trap areas and photographing the trees to match-up the bark pattern can be accomplished.
Another aspect of using clear Pelican boxes is I can then use them in wildlife photography and camera trap workshops I occasionally do for Kasetsart University and the private sector in Bangkok. Camera trapping in Thailand with all its exotic animals is amazing and this series of clear boxes are my 4th generation camera traps (1st – generation were film cameras in aluminum boxes, 2nd – digital cameras in aluminum boxes and 3rd – Standard Pelican cases in aluminum boxes).
I hope this might help some people with bear problems in North America and elephant trouble elsewhere with access to ‘tig-welding’ equipment and a machine shop. I have completed the first trap shown here and will post the others to follow. This one is my favorite: A Sony S600/SS2/1015 with a single AA external. This small camera trap is just right for my day pack.
I will be setting this one next month in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, a World Heritage Site situated in western Thailand. I now have ten digital camera traps and three video traps working in this forest and will post photos and videos as soon as I get back out from the field. I am extremely lucky to be able to work here.