Adding wireless capability to the snapshot sniper II

[Warks]

Hi,

I'm new to the world of custom camera trapping. I just finished building my first trap using a Snapshot Sniper as the motion detector. Right now it works fine for my use case in France, but I'm moving to French Guiana and with the way higher level of humidity there, I would like to make the build as waterproof as possible. And thus, I would like to get rid of the mini jack cable between the camera and the motion detector.

Does anyone know how if it is possible/how to make the trigger signal from the Snapshot sniper wireless ?

Thanks !

[-jeff]

There are many wireless remote modules like this out there. The price is around US$2.50 and available many places on the internet.

399

This one will provide a open collector pull to ground to trigger your shutter when the Snapshot Sniper detects motion. The transmitter will run a long time on a couple AA batteries. The receiver draws a bit more current since it is on all the time, so you will need a few more batteries depending on how long you want it to run.

[Warks]

Thanks Jeff ! This exactly what I was looking for. I knew something like that existed, but I have zero knowledge with electronics so my researches yielded no result =)

I would like it to run for at least two weeks, ideally 4. Do you know how many batteries that would require ?

Thanks again !

[-jeff]

Thanks Jeff ! This exactly what I was looking for. I knew something like that existed, but I have zero knowledge with electronics so my researches yielded no result =)

I would like it to run for at least two weeks, ideally 4. Do you know how many batteries that would require ?

Thanks again !

The receiver draws about 3mA. So, using this handy battery life calculator https://www.digikey.com/en/resources/conversion-calculators/conversion-calculator-battery-life , two AA batteries in series assuming the AA has a capacity of about 800mAh and the receiver is drawing 3mA the projected live would be about 10 days. But the only way to get a really accurate battery life measurement is to hook one up and try it.

[Warks]

This tool is awesome. Thanks Jeff !

So I ordered the one you showed me and tested it this morning with 4 AA in series at 2200mA. I'm only seeing your answer now, but it looks like it'll be fine =)

Although, I did struggle a bit with the receiver. For some reason, when I connect the wire from the camera shutter to any of the four receiver's channels, the camera directly takes a photograph (and keeps taking it), with the transmitter not even powered on. The only other wires that I connected are the black one from the shutter cable to the ground pin and the ones for power. Do you know what I'm doing wrong ?

Sorry for all the questions, as I previously said, I have zero knowledge with electronics. wished I had more times to figure that on my own, but it's really not the case.

Thanks again !

[-jeff]

The receiver specs say it requires 3.3 to 5.0 volts. Four AA in series is 6 volts or more depending on battery type. Not sure, but that might eventually fry the receiver. The receiver incorporates a linear voltage regulator to keep the voltage supplied to the components at 3.3 volts. Linear regulators are very inefficient. So, the closer you can come to 3.3 volts of input voltage, the less current the receiver will draw. Two or three AA in series will keep you in that range.

When I use this TX/RX combo I run the RX output into a microcontroller and let it do the level shifting timing and controlling the camera.

When the receiver receives the signal from the transmitter, it causes the corresponding pin on the receiver to go high (3.3 volts). Your camera wants to see the opposite. If you put a voltmeter on the shutter pin on your camera you will see about 3-4 volts depending on the camera. When you press the shutter button that voltage goes to zero causing the shutter to fire. In the idle state the pin is low. This is why your camera fires when you connect the receiver directly to the camera.

What you need is a way to invert the output of the receiver. The easiest way is with two general purpose NPN transistors. A couple PN2222 will do fine.

400

When the receive port goes high, the two transistors will pull the shutter and metering low causing the camera to take a picture.

Don't worry about the zero knowledge. We are all born with zero knowledge. If you are willing to learn, you can make this happen.

[Warks]

I was using nimhs at 1.2v, so 4 of them was fine. But taking it account what you said about the linear voltage regulator, I'm now using 3 AA.

Thank you a lot for the schematics and all the explanations ! I followed it and it now works perfectly !
I did struggle a bit with the channels between the receiver and the transmitter not following the same order. But other than that, it all went very smoothly !

Thanks again Jeff ! I'll be in French Guiana in two weeks, I can't wait to test it in the field =)

[Zeader]

How did your camera trapping setup perform in the field, especially in the different environmental conditions of French Guiana, and did you encounter any specific challenges during your testing?