# DIY Electonic Coyote Call Box



## upncomer (Sep 10, 2012)

thats pretty sweet nice work.


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## ctdflyboy (Sep 7, 2011)

Thanks


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## Stab 'em (Dec 26, 2008)

Great job and that was an ingenious idea using the 'tooth technology to run it with your phone.


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## FarmerPaul (Jun 9, 2005)

Looks good !! have to let us know how it sounds .


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## ctdflyboy (Sep 7, 2011)

It sounds great. It is highly recommended to not stand in front of it when pumping calls through it as it will make your ears bleed.


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## ribsyj (Oct 1, 2010)

You have any better details on how you got blue tooth working. I have same setup but I am same as u were with 200 ft of wire.


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## Capt'n D (May 15, 2007)

More details would be awesome!


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## ctdflyboy (Sep 7, 2011)

Ok I'm going to attemp to give a better write up on this and make it sound good. 
The parts used were 1)Powerhorn P/N 401440 2) Mini Amplifier P/N 2771008 3) 1/8" Mono Plug P/N 2740868. These were obtained from the local Radio Shack. The bluetooth reciever is an iLive IAB13B obtained from Walmart. The box is a 19" plastic toolbox obtained from Walmart.

To put it all together, install the 1/8" mono plug on the powerhorn speaker wire. This will be plugged into the output of the mini amp. The bluetooth reciever plugs into the input of the mini amp. The end of the toolbox gets cut out to allow the powerhorn to slide into the box. The powerhorn then gets mounted to the bottom of the box with machine screws. Pick a convenient location inside the box and mount the mini amp with velcro. Now to modifiy the bluetooth reciever. You will also need an antenna and wire out of an old router. This unit uses a printed circuit board antenna. Some units use a ceramic chip antenna. Simply solder the antenna wire center wire to the PCB trace antenna. If you have a reciever with a chip antenna you will need to remove the chip antenna then solder the center wire of the router antenna to the board where one contact was removed for the chip and solder the shield to the other contact on the board. After the new antenna is soldered in there will need to be a notch in the side of the reciever case to allow for the wire to pass through. A round jewlers file works great for this. There will need to be a hole drilled in the side of the toolbox to allow for the antenna to pass through. After the antenna is mounted a zip tie was used on the inside to keep the antenna snug. The paint job was done with two coats of primer, two coats of the green base color, spotted brown and dip. The dip is easily done. Fill a rubbermaid container with water. Spray your selected colors into the water fairly heavy, stir slightly with a stick (just enough to swirl the pattern) and dip the box into the water. The paint will stick in its own random pattern.


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## ctdflyboy (Sep 7, 2011)

The trace antenna is the squiggley line in the middle of the board.


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## drsm720093 (Sep 21, 2010)

What was the total cost for this project?


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## ctdflyboy (Sep 7, 2011)

Right at $80 after it was all said and done.


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## Bownut400 (May 29, 2007)

thanks for sharing, that is cool.


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## handirifle (Jun 9, 2005)

Humor me please, but WHERE did you solder the new antennae onto the board? It that the red wire, and how did you know that's where the PC board antennae was connected. I am very knowledgeable in electronics, as you can tell (NOT!).

Very cool idea. Good old American ingenuity at work here.


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## ctdflyboy (Sep 7, 2011)

The trace antenna is usually pretty easy to spot as it is usually the only gold "line" on a printed circuit board that doesn't seem to connenct any of the components on a circuit board. I'm a C130 electrician in the Coast Guard so I've had some practice with some of this kind of stuff. I would be more than happy to give any assitance anybody needs with this kind of stuff.

I soldered my antenna where the red arrow is pointing but it could be soldered anywhere on that line.


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## oldschoolcj5 (Jun 8, 2009)

thanks for doing the leg work on this! I can see this being copied many times.


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## ctdflyboy (Sep 7, 2011)

No problem. I enjoy building this kind of stuff. It works out to be much cheaper than purchasing most times


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## slowen (Jun 27, 2006)

Nice!


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## Bucks (Jul 27, 2005)

simply brilliant


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## bingerarcher (Aug 9, 2009)

That's way cool. Should work great! Post pics when you call in some critters.


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## smithte426 (Feb 20, 2012)

tag, cool idea my buddy said he wanted to do some coyote hunting soon this would be fun to add to the trip


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## huntnfishnut (Jan 12, 2011)

Sweet! What are you using for power?

Edit: I see the amp takes a 9v battery. That enough power?


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## ctdflyboy (Sep 7, 2011)

Yep the 9v is plenty to drive the power horn. The bluetooth reciever has a built in rechargable battery


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## ctdflyboy (Sep 7, 2011)

Forgot to put the site to get the call files from. I downloaded mine from varmintal.com


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## ruffme (Aug 4, 2005)

Don't let the FCC know you did that! LOL..


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## ruffme (Aug 4, 2005)

Here is your next project...roll one from scratch.

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10628


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## ctdflyboy (Sep 7, 2011)

I'll have to look into that but its gonna have to wait till I finish my current project. A remote accessible game cam. Basically my version of a Spypoint 3G/4G camera.


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## ruffme (Aug 4, 2005)

ctdflyboy said:


> I'll have to look into that but its gonna have to wait till I finish my current project. A remote accessible game cam. Basically my version of a Spypoint 3G/4G camera.


What are you going to use for a cell modem?

Here is one I'm working on....but it is a GSM modem.


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## ctdflyboy (Sep 7, 2011)

That looks really good. Quite a bit more compact than what I'm building. I picked up a used Verizon jetpack. I'm using an ip camera for a home security system that will take still shots and pan.


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## ruffme (Aug 4, 2005)

Ah I see what you are doing...you are going with a hotspot setup.

This one is a straight up cell game cam. It sends the pict through SMS or FTP.

How do you deal with power consumption? That sucker won't last long out in the woods on a battery unless you can put it into a sleep mode.


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## ctdflyboy (Sep 7, 2011)

I can shut the live feed off so it just sends the motion activated picture to my email and ftp. The challenge I have right now is a 12vdc to 5vdc step down converter that will supply the required 3a. I'm going to use a 12vdc feeder battery with a solar battery tender.


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## ruffme (Aug 4, 2005)

ctdflyboy said:


> I can shut the live feed off so it just sends the motion activated picture to my email and ftp. The challenge I have right now is a 12vdc to 5vdc step down converter that will supply the required 3a. I'm going to use a 12vdc feeder battery with a solar battery tender.


3A!!!!! Holy cow! What a hog!

I was going to suggest this..but you can only draw .5A max
http://www.dimensionengineering.com/products/anyvolt-micro


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## ctdflyboy (Sep 7, 2011)

The required is 2.3 but I want to make sure I've got enough to power the camera and hotspot reliably


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## benwhite34 (Jul 2, 2010)

Can you put up an after pic with the new antenna soldered to the Bluetooth adapter?


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## ctdflyboy (Sep 7, 2011)

Here ya go


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## smithte426 (Feb 20, 2012)

can you put up a complete parts lists with prices and places you bought them thanks.


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## Big Easy (May 1, 2009)

So the antennae is basically soldered anywhere on the gold line?


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## smithte426 (Feb 20, 2012)

can you take pics of everything like the Bluetooth adapter and everything in place and maybe a schematic so i can see what i need compared to the Youtube video i watched, i am unable to get the mini audio amplifier at radio shack it out of stock and the one i went to the person was clueless which don't help when I'm not to sure about all of it yet. thank you sorry to be a pain


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## smithte426 (Feb 20, 2012)

smithte426 said:


> can you take pics of everything like the Bluetooth adapter and everything in place and maybe a schematic so i can see what i need compared to the Youtube video i watched, i am unable to get the mini audio amplifier at radio shack it out of stock and the one i went to the person was clueless which don't help when I'm not to sure about all of it yet. thank you sorry to be a pain


Never mind i missed a post but am still wondering how you hook up the bluetooth to the mini audio amplifier. thanks


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## ctdflyboy (Sep 7, 2011)

smithte426 said:


> can you put up a complete parts lists with prices and places you bought them thanks.


1)Powerhorn P/N 401440 $26.99 2) Mini Amplifier P/N 2771008 $14.99 3) 1/8" Mono Plug P/N 2740868 $4.99. These were obtained from the local Radio Shack. The bluetooth reciever is an iLive IAB13B ($24.98) obtained from Walmart. The box is a 19" plastic toolbox ($10.00) obtained from Walmart. The antenna was donated by one of my old routers.




Big Easy said:


> So the antennae is basically soldered anywhere on the gold line?


Yep anywhere on the circuit board antenna will suffice.



smithte426 said:


> Never mind i missed a post but am still wondering how you hook up the bluetooth to the mini audio amplifier. thanks


The Bluetooth receiver uses and Aux cord for an output. This cord is plugged into the input side of the amp.


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## smithte426 (Feb 20, 2012)

i have got mine all done thank you so much for posting this. I was wondering one thing though if i wanted to add a second PA speaker can i just splice it in or would i need to buy another Mini audio amplifier to get that one to work too thanks.


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## ctdflyboy (Sep 7, 2011)

smithte426 said:


> i have got mine all done thank you so much for posting this. I was wondering one thing though if i wanted to add a second PA speaker can i just splice it in or would i need to buy another Mini audio amplifier to get that one to work too thanks.


You could solder the speaker wire for both speakers to the mono plug. The only drawback might be a lessened battery life in the mini amp and possibly not as much drive wattage for the speaker. If you are already planning on adding a second speaker I would try it before buying another amp. If you decide to use a second mini amp a mono stereo y cable would do the trick to get the audio from the Bluetooth receiver to the amps.

P.S. Post up some pics of the critters you call in with it. I haven't had time to use mine yet. Still trying to get some deer on the ground before the first of the year.


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## Big Easy (May 1, 2009)

I just built mine. I don't have it in a box yet, but it works pretty well. I don't get 100 yards out of it though. More like 45-50 yards. That's still plenty for my needs. Thanks for posting the plans. I'll post pics when it is completely finished.


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## b0w_bender (Apr 30, 2006)

How about a turntable on the the top with a bit of fur on it that flops around?


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## ctdflyboy (Sep 7, 2011)

Big Easy said:


> I just built mine. I don't have it in a box yet, but it works pretty well. I don't get 100 yards out of it though. More like 45-50 yards. That's still plenty for my needs. Thanks for posting the plans. I'll post pics when it is completely finished.


I was able to stretch the distance away by getting a little elevation above the box.




b0w_bender said:


> How about a turntable on the the top with a bit of fur on it that flops around?


I've thought about mounting my Mojo to the lid.


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## revwilder (Apr 11, 2005)

Brilliant!


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## smithte426 (Feb 20, 2012)

b0w_bender said:


> How about a turntable on the the top with a bit of fur on it that flops around?


the guy from http://varmintal.com made this out of the $7 weazel ball, this is what my plans are soon and will have it break a part so i can store it in the call box


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## ribsyj (Oct 1, 2010)

smithte426 said:


> the guy from http://varmintal.com made this out of the $7 weazel ball, this is what my plans are soon and will have it break a part so i can store it in the call box
> 
> View attachment 1827613
> 
> ...


I built one like this works pretty good. Had a very eye catching erratic movement.


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## dmr400 (Feb 24, 2012)

Just a thought, from a guy who's lucky enough to call coyotes as part of my job. In my experience a decoy can either hurt or help you depending on the situation, being able to turn it on and off is a great benefit. If you can work that into your build you will be way ahead.


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## smithte426 (Feb 20, 2012)

dmr400 said:


> Just a thought, from a guy who's lucky enough to call coyotes as part of my job. In my experience a decoy can either hurt or help you depending on the situation, being able to turn it on and off is a great benefit. If you can work that into your build you will be way ahead.


If thats the case you could just take a cheap R/C car and use the motor to turn the weazel and this would all be by remote control when you would want it running,this would be a sweet idea and cheap too


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## Stab 'em (Dec 26, 2008)

smithte426 said:


> If thats the case you could just take a cheap R/C car and use the motor to turn the weazel and this would all be by remote control when you would want it running,this would be a sweet idea and cheap too


This is a good idea. Those rc cars have decent long range remotes.


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## ctdflyboy (Sep 7, 2011)

dmr400 said:


> Just a thought, from a guy who's lucky enough to call coyotes as part of my job. In my experience a decoy can either hurt or help you depending on the situation, being able to turn it on and off is a great benefit. If you can work that into your build you will be way ahead.


My question is how do I find a job like yours?


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## Pittstate23 (Dec 27, 2010)

Wow that's neat


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## Lance Adams (Nov 26, 2013)

Here is a place for more free sounds.

http://www.predatoruniversity.com/predu/Sound_Files.html


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## SeasonTicket (Nov 15, 2013)

*  What else can you use for an antenna if you don't have an old router? *


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## ctdflyboy (Sep 7, 2011)

SeasonTicket said:


> *  What else can you use for an antenna if you don't have an old router? *


A 2.4ghz antenna and interface cable with connector will work. I'm thinking about modifying mine to this for a little longer range 

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/558
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/662


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## SeasonTicket (Nov 15, 2013)

*   Thanks, gonna give this a try soon. *


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## Jshields42 (Jan 2, 2012)

Tagged


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## Crashnburn86 (Dec 28, 2013)

so essentially all power is being pulled form the 9v battery? Have you tested the unit yet, how long does it last? Is there any way to hook it up to a rechargeable 12v sealed battery.


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## Crashnburn86 (Dec 28, 2013)

Also what is the range on it . Most blue tooth only ranges 30'.


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## ctdflyboy (Sep 7, 2011)

Crashnburn86 said:


> so essentially all power is being pulled form the 9v battery? Have you tested the unit yet, how long does it last? Is there any way to hook it up to a rechargeable 12v sealed battery.





Crashnburn86 said:


> Also what is the range on it . Most blue tooth only ranges 30'.


Yep all of the power is being pulled from the 9v. I haven't left it on for a continuous period to find out what the battery life is. The longest I've messed with it is about 2 hours and haven't killed either the bluetooth or the amp. By adding the external antenna and getting a little bit of elevation above the box I have been able to get around 70 yds range.


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## SILVATICUS (Jan 18, 2008)

AWESOME Thanks for all the info


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## Kstigall (Feb 24, 2004)

I have just recently been looking into build a predator call. I was looking at going with a MP3 player/amp with a remote.


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## wally243 (Sep 30, 2008)

tagged


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## Govtrapper (Mar 24, 2012)

Pretty cool


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## huntnfishnut (Jan 12, 2011)

Just had my wireless router die. Score on the antenna and my first piece to the puzzle lol


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## 43fireman (Jan 5, 2011)

Thanks for the info on how to do this! It works great and was a snap to wire the bluetooth receiver/antenna up. I get about 40 yds testing at the house, which is fine for my needs. I used a cheap 2.4g 5dbi antenna with cable off ebay for $6. Works MUCH better, clearer and more dependable than it was with the el cheapo wireless mic setup. This is THE ONLY way to do it!


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## wildlfehrtsrgon (May 24, 2014)

Awesome job guys, I really dig coyote hunting. Ive always wondered how the E-callers work compared to a mouth call. Also thanks for the varmint al link I forgot all about him!! swell guy for sure too. :thumb:


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## c1090c (Apr 26, 2007)

Anyone having success with this? Any other mods. ?


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