# Homemade E-Call setup



## themaddmortician (Sep 26, 2006)

Hey folks!

Just wandering how loud you need to have the speakers turned up before you actuall scare the yotes away. There must be a better volume , lower or higher. We were out last night with our homemade device, mp3 player with an electronic version of a cottontail in distress.. we know there are lots of coyotes because we see them all the time. We started a little after 5:30 and by dark 8:00 we never even saw one. I thought maybe we had the device too loud......

any thoughts
Thanks,
T


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## SDHandgunner (Jun 22, 2004)

I think a lot of problems with E-Callers is that people (including me) call too loud at times. I try to set my e-callers no louder than I can call with a mouth call.

On my particular caller (with the volume on the Radio Shack Mini Amp set at the sweet spot, ie loudest volume without inducing amp hiss / noise) I control the volume with the MP3 Player. My MP3 Player's volume goes from 1 to 20. Generally I will start out with it on 8 to 10 for the first few series of calls. Then if nothing shows I increase the volume a little until the coyote is spotted and then I cut the volume again or just use a coaxer.

Larry


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## themaddmortician (Sep 26, 2006)

Larry, I read an article you posted a few years ago about your homemade e-caller, as you've heard before great stuff!

I was at our local Radio Shack up here in Manitoba, Canada and they do not carry that mini amp. I searched high and low and to no avail have I found such a thing. I was wandering if I was to purchase some satellite speakers for a laptop and tried to convert the ac adapter to lets say a 12 volt dc battery if that would work????

I no my limits and there is now way I could follow your easy instructions on how to create one like yours.

I already have the calls on my MP3 player so really now I only have to get these speakers working.

By the way does a stuffed animal moving around make any difference when trying to attract coyotes. Last night i found something from when my daughter was young and made a homemade working rabbit so to speak??

Thanks again,

T


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## SDHandgunner (Jun 22, 2004)

I have a buddy that made an E-Caller using Battery Operated / Amplified Computer Speakers. If I remember right they were powered by 4 C Batteries (which should be 6 VDC). I am not sure if he still uses this caller or not and I never hunted with him when he used it so can not comment on the volume or sound quality.

Not sure about shipping to Canada but you should be able to order the Radio Shack Mini Speaker Amo at Radio Shack on line.

The last one I built used a 12 VDC Cana Kit Amp. This amp rocks and provides all the volume you'd ever need. The only place I was able to order this amp was from Cana Kit in Canada. I just housed the Amp and the Battery in a Plastic Housing (yeah I bought that too at Radio Shack).

If you search on the Fox / Coyote Forum you should be able to find the post on the 12VDC Caller.

Larry


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## themaddmortician (Sep 26, 2006)

Larry:

Do you remember the type of cana kit, was it a 5w audio amplifier (assembled) or was it a 20W Bridged Power Amplifier (Assembled) .

Thanks T.


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## SDHandgunner (Jun 22, 2004)

The ones I have used were the Cana Kit #UK193 20 Watt Bridged Amplifier. I have put together a couple callers using this Amplifier and they work great. One thing to note is to use Shilded Cable to go from the Amp to the Jacks for the Speaker and Sound Source to eliminate NOISE induction. I just used plain speaker wire on the last one I built and there was some amp hiss so I had to redo it and used Shielded Cable.

This is a super simple amp to use. 6 Solder Connections are all that are required on the Amp ( + & - Power Leads, and + & - Speaker and Sound Source Leads. The only other soldering is the LED Indicator Light and the Switch in the Power Leads.

I have used a couple different speakers with the Cana Kit Amp and both worked quite well. I used a rectangular PA Speaker from Radio Shack that worked quite well, and I have also used the Speco SPC-5 with good results also.

Larry


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