26 replies to this topic

[rude robert]

Hi, I finished a game caller that Mike who was on this forum made. I have it from a mp3 player to a radioshack mini amplifier speaker to a radio shack power horn(mega phone). The volume is okay but i want to increase the volume. The wind is blowing pretty good now so i went outside and i can hear it at least 5 houses away. I dont hear well so i still think i need to increase the volume. I was thinking that perhaps i can add another mini amplifier in line to the above set up to get more volume. Any ideas Please

[rude robert]

I went and tested my hearing with my caller and i can hear it from 115yrds away. How does my range compare to fox pro? It doesnt seem that far to me, i think it should be farther

[MikeNC]

I went and tested my hearing with my caller and i can hear it from 115yrds away.

I'm no expert by a long shot, but if your hearing is not good and you hear it at 115 yards away, I suppose a predator will hear it many times that distance away. The real test will be taking it out to the field and giving it a work out. It may take many times out before anything responds, especially depending on the number of predators yoiu may have or not have in your immediate area. Good luck with it and post up your results.

[Frank]

Well, I've never actually "tested" how far I can hear any of my (3) callers. However in open terrain one of my buddies could hear my loudest rabbit sound well over 1/2 mile away. I too, have bad hearing & I have heard my same friends fx5 from well over 1/4 mile away. Again, how far a sound can be heard will also be determined by the type of terrain we're calling in. The more open the terrain the further apart our stands are. My 2 foxpro's, specifically my 416, is very loud with certain sounds, while my spitfire was not until I bought an external speaker for it. Now it is fine to my liking. My call by Primos has excellent quality sounds, however, I can hardly hear it with the speaker in my ear. Ok, an exageration, but the volume is very low to me & I won't use it, but I don't have to either. lol Anyway, my "guess" is, 115 yards is pretty low volume. But hey, proof is always in the pudding so just give it a try. And as already stated, coyotes can hear MUCH further than we can which never ceases to amaze me actually. I mean, can you magine how far a coyote has to travel in just a short 5 minutes at a trotting pace to reach our stands? Incredible IMO!Good LuckFrank

[rude robert]

Yikes, okay so how do i increase the output lol

[ratassassin]

Maybe try elevating it a bit to get the speaker path above stuff that would block and absorb sound (e.g., brush, rocks, etc.). That would certainly help the sound carry farther.

[Frank]

Well, electronically speaking I have no idea. Hopefully someone else will come along to answer that. Mine was easy, as it was a spitfire by FoxPro & all I did was order one of their external speakers.Also, Ditto what rat said, in that elevating it on top of a fence post, bush, or rock etc will definitely increase the volume range. Another thought is to check with different vendors such as ALLPREDATORCALLS, Cabela's & FoxPro etc, for refurbished and/or used calls. ALLPREDATORCALLS had some fx3's(?) for around $229 awhile back for example. A killer deal!Good luck and keep us posted of your decision & resultsFrank

[OrneryOlMofo357]

If your Radio shack amp will accept the input from another amp would be the question. Back in my Radio days I would use 2 amps for talking on the Ham radio. One was a driver, but if you exceeded the input power you could knock out the circuitry in the final amp. How loaud are the sounds that you are using? Have you got a way to record your own MP3's and boost the volume that way? Foxpro has sounds that really blast, but then some are recorded a little quieter. I would try different volumes of sound to increase the output of your amp providing the sound didnt distort. Good luck

[MikeNC]

Here's the home made job I put together per the instructions at Varmint Al's site. It works well and is plenty loud without any doubt.

[D-Man]

So is that Cass Creek call working ok for you? I have one of those and use to use it a bunch, then I went to the IPod and now use a Power Dogg.Darren

[MikeNC]

Hi Darren....Yes, the Cass Creek works well with the amp boost and external speaker to louden it up. I also got one of those power doggs like you as I saw them on sale at Gander Mountain last year at a price you could just not walk away from.

[D-Man]

With the IPod I could have almost unlimited calls. Only problem is that IPods fail in freezing temperatures. Might have to dig out my caller like that and use my Cass Creek caller with it.Darren

[rude robert]

I have the johnny steward ecaller the green one for like 39 dollars. You can hook it up to that set up as well. my system is similar to yours Mike. But mine is no louder then the Johnny s....? I was just on line and found battery operated mini guitar amps, I was thinking maybe I can get that to work. I think it should be able with the mega phone thing to be able to get louder for sure. I have the same set up as varmint Al except my mp3 player of course. I have spent so much money on fuel(diesel without getting any yotes, except for one) that asking my wife for 300 dollars for a caller she'd kill me lol. I know the system works just not very loud in my opinion. I'd like to use the extra money on a hawk scope, because the glass on the bushmaster isn't that great but it works.

[MikeNC]

I have spent so much money on fuel(diesel without getting any yotes, except for one) that asking my wife for 300 dollars for a caller she'd kill me lol. I'd like to use the extra money on a hawk scope...

Let me pose a hypothetical question which might solve your dilemma..."If a man walked into a cool gun shop...and spent several hundred bucks on some nice glass and several hundred more on a very cool and very LOUD Foxpro...and his wife wasn't with him to see or hear any of what just went down-- Did the man actually spend any money on some cool and much needed huntin' gear???"

[Frank]

Exactly MikeNC, exactly...Bad, bad idea asking or telling the mrs. Very bad! Heck, mine couldn't tell you what or how many toys I have if she had to anyhow. Couldn't even come close. And is MUCH better that way. LOL So, shop away Rude.... Besides, it's (almost) Christmas Frank

[BPS]

Rude Robert, you have just beeen advised by the Best in the buisness, combined they have atleast half a century of experience under their belts.Who's to say what scope is on your rifle, & who's to say what ecaller you have in your truck, As long as the Family isn't doing without, & you wear the Pants in the Family (& even if you don't) The age old saying, "What she don't know, won't hurt her" has never been more true.Another word of advice, credit cards are your enemy (unless she don't know about them) Statement's sent in the mail will get you hurt, The safest way is to "Rat Hole" a little money at a time over a long period of time, spare change, 1's & 5"s add up real quick.I have to go now, SWMBO is coming............. Lee

Let me pose a hypothetical question which might solve your dilemma..."If a man walked into a cool gun shop...and spent several hundred bucks on some nice glass and several hundred more on a very cool and very LOUD Foxpro...and his wife wasn't with him to see or hear any of what just went down-- Did the man actually spend any money on some cool and much needed huntin' gear???"

Exactly MikeNC, exactly...Bad, bad idea asking or telling the mrs. Very bad! Heck, mine couldn't tell you what or how many toys I have if she had to anyhow. Couldn't even come close. And is MUCH better that way. LOL So, shop away Rude.... Besides, it's (almost) Christmas Frank

[Frank]

There ya go, Rude! More great advice by BPS, & (rat holing) is what I do. Hey, we are here to help Frank

[MikeNC]

......And besides, if the wife can tell the difference between your new hawke scope and what you have now or the other $$$$ necessities you might buy; what's the worse that could happen.....Kapow Like Frank said...were here to help

[Shoot-it]

GO out and try it when you hear someones dog start barking from miles away as you play howls it's loud enough.The mini amp and out door speaker is very loud.I had made one before but I like the remote callers a lot better it's worth the extra money.

[rude robert]

Well, I haven't been married for 20 yrs because i did everything i wanted too lol. It's cheaper to keep them hehe. Actually, it be cheaper for her to let me go lol

[MikeNC]

Oh yea...There's lots of truth in everything you say there Robert. There's always a compromising place in the middle that usually works out best for everybody. I talk alot of sheet and laugh about it, but Diane will let you know who's the real boss after 33 years of married bliss I do have a couple toys and an oddity or two around the gun room however that she's thinking I owned since around puberty ...So that tidbit of advice I gave is very usefull as long as a shooter don't get too stupid about it

[Frank]

Ditto MikeNC... ALWAYS should take at least some of what we say with a grain of salt. But only some, as mine is 36 yrs w/the Mrs. LOL

[mtn dog]

I also made an "El Cheapo" homebuilt caller using the exact same Radio Shack components that Varmint Al describes. I ran it from an iPod and always thought it was plenty loud. I also played around with trying to use a wireless transmitter & receiver to use it remotely but I was never happy with the degraded sound quality compared to plugging the iPod directly into the mini-amp. When I finally bought a Foxpro FX3, I experimented with feeding the FX3 output through the Radio Shack amp and Powerhorn speaker. I did not notice any increased volume. Then I removed the amp and fed the FX3 directly to the Powerhorn like an auxiliary speaker accessory. This seemed louder but, more importantly, the sound quality was much more clear without the mini-amp in the set up. I'm no sound engineer so I don't have a technical explanation.All that said, the Varmint Al homebuilt is very popular and very deadly so even if the amp is not the greatest, the thing works. Now my homebuilt will become a 'back up' caller just in case my Foxpro dies. That's how garages slowly fill with surplus gear.

[lif2fsh]

If you hunt around on the net you can find a company that sells 12 volt amp kits that you can build for your home brew, i think it is in las Vegas, NV. for a bout $15.00 worked very good for me. Also used the battery pack from a RC car from radio shack 9.6 volts $20.00 with charger. Not as loud as my FURRY but close. Like what was mentioned in other posts screwed around with the Nady system was not worth the trouble, just copy from varmint Al's web two Min. of silence worked for me. GOOD LUCK.

[NVWalt]

About how loud a caller needs to be. I don't use the e-callers anymore and havent for the last bunch of years. back to the subject of how loud. When I call with my hand calls I don't make them very loud at all, you can't really hear me say 30 yards away but I have watched coyotes come into my calls from 3/4 to a mile away. Those coyotes can hear you calling from a good distance away and even in the wind they hear that call from a very good distance. I call in the wind a lot here in Nevada and that has been my experiance over the years I have been calling. In fact, I believe I get more coyotes from soft calling than I do from blowing the reeds out of my calls. Just my 2 cents on the subject. Don't underestimate the abilities of ol Cannis latrans to home in on faint sounds. Ever watch them mousing?.....Walt

[Pogo]

Don't underestimate the abilities of ol Cannis latrans to home in on faint sounds. Ever watch them mousing?.....Walt

Yes. Just the other day was watching a coyote out in the alfalfa in front of the house. He was out mousing right at the pipe in the middle of the field, which is a half mile long field. House is about 100 yards from the edge of the field, so I know he was right about a 1/4 mile +100 yards away. Right at dawn and I was sitting in the shop watching him, quiet as can be. I could give a lip squeak, not real loud or real quiet (hard to explain I know) and a few seconds later he'd pop his head up everytime. Had fun with him for a while, had 25-06 in the pickup but it was a long shot for sure, besides he was just mousing in my alfalfa, can't complain about that. Still over a month from calving so I'll let him be.Sure was neat to watch though. He coud easily hear a squeak at that distance, even though he was busy doing 'the hop' mousing.

[Truckeedan]

Robert,Don't know if you ever got your caller volume question answered but I have a similar homemade caller. Mine is pretty loud and to get the combination of loud and sound quality you desire you have to experiment with the gain wheel on the amp and the volume setting on the MP3. Mine is an old 32mb Sansa so it doesn't have a lot of storage for sounds. You should end up with a setting that allows the highest gain without hum from the speaker. That should allow you to crank up the MP3 volume as loud as it will go without distorting the sound. Also, I found that I get the most volume and best quality by having a very short wire from the amp to the speaker and no more than 50 feet of wire between the MP3 and the amp.NVWalt is right. Coyotes can hear a mouse pass gas at a half mile. I have called them out of the trees across an open meadow 200 yards across with a lip squeak.