Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

P41 "Fast Mode"

T

TimberPig

Active Member
I have been playing with my P41 homebrew and I notice that I am still getting some butt shots on close deer. This trail was maybe 8' or so from the camera, farther out I have no problems. I was running standard 24 hr mode on the BG2.
I hadnt tried the fast mode so when I got the cam home I switched the settings and really didnt see much difference. As close as I can run a stopwatch, I'm getting about 1.5 to 1.9 seconds with a flash pic and maybe a hair over 1 second w/o a flash. Seems to be the same wether its in fast mode or standard. Yes, I left the board off for a while after changing the settings. And no, the batteries are not fully charged, would that slow it down?

My questions are, do you guys see a big difference in fast vs regular mode, and how much quicker does fast mode drain your batteries? Do most of you run fast mode when using them on trails?

997boyer_92_Small_-med.JPG
 
Its been a little while since I read the instructions, but the p41 fast mode will speed the camera up only during the day. Basically when the camera will not need a flash it doesnt need to charge the flash capacitor so it can take a picture faster.
 
Timberpig,
Did you disable the shutter cover on your P41? That might speed it up a little and in the process save the batteries and make the cam virtually silent. I really like that mod and will be doing it to all mine from here on out. Is there a sensitivity adjustment on the BG2's?
 
The shutter cover is not disabled on this cam, but I wouldnt think that would slow it down much really. The BG2 does have a sensitivity adjustment. It was almost maxed in this setup and was picking up rabbits and squirrels at 20'-30' so its plenty sensitive I'd say.
I usually dont aim straight across a trail but in this case there were 3 trails that met and it couldnt be avoided.
My next two cams (s600's) are getting a wide angle lens to give them a head start.
 
I get the feeling you're quite knowledgeable about homebrews but just for kicks you might check to see if your board's sensor is still lined up really close to the focal point of the PIR fresnel. I found mine to be off by a significant amount after the initial install. What clued me in was that when doing a walk test, the walk test LED would only light up when I was well off to one side of center in the detection area. After getting things lined back up with the sensor, my detection distance increased from about 30 feet to 70 feet and it always caught me in the dead center on the line that the cam was pointing. A good clue to whether this might be an issue would be if most of your butt shots are occuring on the same side of the detection area which in the case of the posted pic seems to be the right.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I get the feeling you're quite knowledgeable about homebrews

[/ QUOTE ]

Lol, sorry to have fooled ya.
grin.gif
I've only built two and didnt even hack the cams, but I did drive by a Holiday Inn Express the other day.

I think your partly right though, and I had forgotten about this until your reply. My sensor must be lined up well because I was getting detection at 90+ feet in 40* weather. But one thing I did screw up was not putting the board in line with the camera shutter. It just never occurred to me during the build. The board/sensor is to the far right of the shutter, so the subject would already be to the right of the center of the pic when it was triggered. On top of that the camera isnt flat on the front and therefore sits in the case slightly angled to the left, adding to the problem. The difference might be slight, but it may have made a difference in this pic for example where it just cut off the end of the face and rack.

997just_missed-med.JPG


Of course if he were going the other direction the cam would have a slight head start.
 
[ QUOTE ]

Of course if he were going the other direction the cam would have a slight head start.

[/ QUOTE ]

Good point.
grin.gif

I wouldn't be terribly concerned with the sensor not being in line with the shutter though. Mine isn't either. My sensor is in the upper right and my shutter is in the lower left. The cam being cocked in one direction however COULD absolutely lead to such an event although I'm curious to know what kind of case you used to have enough room inside to get the cam cocked. Mine is housed in a 1040 Pelican and there isn't much room for movement within. Might be something to toy with. Anyway, here's a pic of the front of my P41 setup showing my sensor to shutter orientation.


Cam2-1.jpg
 
[ QUOTE ]
I did drive by a Holiday Inn Express the other day.


[/ QUOTE ]
doah.gif
grin.gif


Interesting stuff...I'm curious how mine do on trails. I think I'll still try to point them 45 degrees to the trail to give it more time.

Hate butt shots (of deer
wink.gif
)
 
My sensor / shutter arraingment is just about the same as yours, except my camera is on the top. The difference in that offset would be minor, and maybe non-existent in the field? I dunno, might need to drive past that motel again.
My case is a 1040 also, only uglier. If you look at the p41 the shutter side is thicker and the cam doesnt lay flat if you lay it face down. Add a 1/8" of glass, a layer of pt1100 tape, and a flash gasket, all under the shutter, and suddenly it doesnt sit very flat at all. I tried shimming up the thin side of the cam to level things but the lid then hits that side of the camera when you close the case, even though I dremeled the lid some. The cam isnt cocked to the left alot, but its noticable and doesnt help the problem.
Its really all a bunch of nitpicking anyway, since all I have to do is angle the cam to the trail, or make sure they come from the right.
grin.gif
 
True, but if I understand the words of Brian (BG2 board maker) correctly, the fast mode might show more benefit for night pics under field conditions. You may see some variance between controlled at home tests and situations where the flash capacitor has been idle for a long period of time. I'm paraphrasing here so take it for what it's worth. With the speed of the P41 a guy (me) would like to believe that he could set up across a trail but I guess there does come a point even the fast cams can miss a shot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom