so i decided to make it better. basically in Feb, a buddy and myself were daytime hunting some coons. the decoy worked for about twenty-ish minutes then it started slowing down. so after that stand, we grabbed it to change batteries and it was HOT! like i couldn't hold it even with Mechanix gloves on. i was able to get it apart and the four AA battery holder had melted and it wouldn't work. so with my knowledge of low voltage, i began to make a design. i found a couple of ideas on the internet and i began to play.
i chose to use a single 9V battery instead of the 4 AA (6 volt) original layout and used a 555 timer as a astable timer circuit. i love that circuit layout. the circuit that i made allows it it ON for 6 seconds and OFF for 3 seconds. the LED is there to light up when the motor is not running. its a simple circuit and i use it for my IR/VIS beacons i make myself.
i also was able to reuse much of the original. i reused the motor, switch, wiring, cap that the motor screws to, the spike and topper. i have the faux fur that wrapped around the original decoy and i'll use that for other decoys that i hope to make sometime soon. the rest came from Menards... just some 1.5" PVC and my spare components bin.
anyways, hopefully you like it.
this won't buff out. the chip has some stress, there is a disc cap that is gone and that zener looks pretty stressed.
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this is what i used for the circuit:
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she's all painted up and ready to the next hunting trip.
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