Crow Busters Forum

fowlplay · Member

E caller FP CS-24 suggestions

Bob · Guru

Ron,

The CS - 24 L unit is a slick little rig. Mine is on all the time even when the sound is on mute. Since the AA batteries did not last all day I kept a spare pack with me. At the advise of Possum Al out of Kentucky (big coyote man) I sent my unit back to have another battery pack put on the other side of the speaker so now I have 20 AA batteries instead of 10! This should solve the problem, I will have to wait until next season to find out for sure.

If you are mainly hunting coyotes 10 batteries holds most hunters all day long.

The volume is very good with the 30 watt Krakotoa Speakers, those are the only ones I have any experience with.

Bob A.

nhcrowshooter · Guru

How is that technology takes a step backward? The old JS cassette units would play all weekend without recharge. Get home plug them in or plug them in to the cigarette lighter in the vehicle. AA battery systems do not campare to that convenience.

Big A · Veteran Member

I run a old school JS cassette unit, added the booster and have plenty of volume. You can put it away for a year after a charge and pull it out to use, and be hard pressed to run it down after a weekend of hunting. It is somewhat of a pain to lug around, but I have it set up in a duffel bag that also holds my shells,cassettes,hearing protection,ect.....I would love to have a new FoxPro, but thats alot of coin I can spend on ammo and fuel for the truck instead.

8fishermen · Guru

The Ole School heavy units don't have the cordless capability of the newer high tech one. There is a trade off in everything in life.

Bob · Guru

NH,

The batteries that were used in the JS model 512 and 612 units were superior, you could even buy better ones then the ones that came with these units if you chose too. They never ran all weekend the way I used them, I'd put em on the charger every nite.

If the 20 AA batteries last all day then the problem will be solved. I think it will work out much better as the batteries won't be run all the way down. This season when I was using 10 AA batteries it would take up to 11 hours to charge them up which was a problem because I was out the door 8 hours later the following morning on the go! Now with 20 AA's I have hopes they will charge in 8 hours or less like the JS models did.

Now in the Snow Crow Pro unit they use a much larger battery and it lasts all day and charges up within 8 hours at nite. If it does not last all day then my advise would be to go buy a brand new battery, this will solve the problem.

Bob A.

SHANEDOG · Guru

I have been running a Wild Life Tech KAS 2030 for five years,10 AA bateries,I have a charger that will charge 4 in 15 minutes,if you have a bad battery,grab another rechargable of the shelf and pop it in.I have had some of these batteries for the five years,during coyote season I hunt every day,and crow season all day long. smile

nhcrowshooter · Guru

I am still using a tape caller for both the low initial cost but more importantly the convenience of the long rechargable battery life, it's nice not having to fool around with AA's batteries. Yes they are heavier but we all lugged them around before digi callers were invented. I have a cassette tape duplicator and can make copies of cassettes or make cassetts from records or CD's as well. I recently picked up two JS 612's both as new in the box for $79 shipped each. One had a weak battery and I picked a new one up from an electrical supply store for $14 which way less than batteries for JS callers as advertised on the net. I have now have four functioning tape callers, I'd be hard pressed to not having a couple fully charged and ready to go at any time no matter how much I hunt

smile

Mainehunt · Guru

I like my AA batteries in my Spitfire. Granted, it only uses 4 batteries, but it will run for about 12-14 hours of steady use. I now have recharables so it won't cost me so much.

Kev

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Bob · Guru

NH,

Since these units are now obsolete, if a part breaks you are done, there are no parts for them. If you really like them then if I were you I would buy a few more so as to use them for spare parts. Once they are gone they are gone.

Bob A.

Big A · Veteran Member

I always have some string handy to tie a crip or two to the speaker, then i can give the speakerwire a tug to keep em hoppin when crows are in sight.

Bob · Guru

NH,

In one of you're earlier posts you mentioned how in you're opinion technology takes a step backwards when using AA batteries. This is in regard to how long they last in the field.

You know I can remember a time long ago when the game callers (Burnam Brothers, Johnny Stewart) used D size batteries in the game callers. If you think things are bad with the AA's you would have gone looney using the D sized batteries. The D size batteries lasted 1/2 a day if you were lucky in those old 45 rpm record players. As the temps went down later in the fall and throughout the winter it got even worse! But as the years went on bye the technology improved and the batteries lasted longer.

Bob A.

nhcrowshooter · Guru

Bob wrote:
NH, In one of you're earlier posts you mentioned how in you're opinion technology takes a step backwards when using AA batteries. This is in regard to how long they last in the field. You know I can remember a time long ago when the game callers (Burnam Brothers, Johnny Stewart) used D size batteries in the game callers. If you think things are bad with the AA's you would have gone looney using the D sized batteries. The D size batteries lasted 1/2 a day if you were lucky in those old 45 rpm record players. As the temps went down later in the fall and throughout the winter it got even worse! But as the years went on bye the technology improved and the batteries lasted longer. Bob A.
I can not imagine how clumsy lugging vinyl records and a portable phonograph would have been and D size batteries which were probably pre alkyline.
The JS callers I picked up recent seemed pretty cheap enough and as you point out I will be able to potentially canibalize parts from one to keep others going. When they are working they work well. My hope is by the time the last tape caller is dead digi calls will be all the better.

SHANEDOG · Guru

The real benifit of the remote operated E caller is the instant sound changes,I get more crows to come back because I can overload thier auditory senses by manipulating sounds. smile

Bob · Guru

NH,

By the time you go through the four JS callers you have now (and they might last you another 10 to 15 years) I'm quite sure that the e-callers of today will be like the phonograph players (in JS & BB) of yesteryear by that time.

Bob A.

Mainehunt · Guru

Bob wrote:
NH, In one of you're earlier posts you mentioned how in you're opinion technology takes a step backwards when using AA batteries. This is in regard to how long they last in the field. You know I can remember a time long ago when the game callers (Burnam Brothers, Johnny Stewart) used D size batteries in the game callers. If you think things are bad with the AA's you would have gone looney using the D sized batteries. The D size batteries lasted 1/2 a day if you were lucky in those old 45 rpm record players. As the temps went down later in the fall and throughout the winter it got even worse! But as the years went on bye the technology improved and the batteries lasted longer. Bob A.

My first "electronic caller" was an old Sears & Roebuck cassette player, one of those that was about 12"x6"x3". When you pushed EJECT, it would pop up from the top surface. Well, it took 6 or 8 "C" size alkyline batteries. I tore the player open and disconnected the speaker, then added about 50 feet of wire and hooked that to an old bull-horn speaker. If it got below 30 degrees outside, I had to keep the player inside my Carhardt coveralls or else it would play too slowly and distort the sound.

My buddy and I split the cost of one JS cassette, cottontail in distress. We killed a lot of Red and Gray Fox using this setup.

This all took place in 1980-1984 during my high school days, in N/W Ohio. Fur prices were way up back then. We received as much as $73 for a good Red Fox, $9 for an extra large muskrat pelt, we even got $3-$4 for a darn 'possum hide.

I used an old single shot Winchester in .22 rimfire for the "long" shots and my buddy used a Model 12 Win, in 12 gauge if they came in Kamakazi.

Kev

Bob · Guru

Hi Kev,

I made up a box built out of 1/8th inch plywood, then insulated it for my JS tape player. This was years before the 512 & 612 units came out. I bored a hole in the side of the plywood box so I could hook up the two external speakers. If it was in the single digets outside I'd put a hand warner in the box with the caller.

Hey, I just thought of something, Dick and I were on a hunt this past season and we were using his JS rig. Dick plays two units at the same time with one speaker per unit. We are shooting and all of a sudden one player quits so we figure it's at the end of the tape. To much time went by so Dick checks it out to see what the problem is and to make the long story short what happened is he shot a real low crow and in so doing he shot the speaker wire in two! Boyd Robeson did that one time many years ago on a low crow, I never have as of yet. I had an experience with a young heffer (a real heffer, not a young gal) many years ago. What happened was that the damn heffer got it's rear leg tangled up with my speaker cord and the next thing I know the heffer gets spooked. The heffer takes off bucking like a stallion and the next thing I hear is the speakers being ripped out of the tree and see that they are bouncing along the ground behind this spooked heffer. I still use those speakers on one of my backup units to this day.

Bob A.

Big A · Veteran Member

Great story Bob! I had to read it twice, cause I was laughing so hard the first time! Just the thought of those speakers flying out of the tree and chasing that heffer had me bustin a gut.

Bob · Guru

Hi Big A,

It had me in shock! It wasn't until it was all over that I thought if that damn heffer didn't stop I might have seen my caller and blind following the speakers!

I was hunting around a small hog farm years ago where they fed the hogs outside in a hog pen. I had the same two speakers that survived the heffer incident with me that morning. One of the speakers fell over into the hog pen without me knowing it. I just happen to glance to the west and I see this sow chowing down on my speaker! That old Whiteman speaker still works to this day and still has the marks on it that the sow put into it so many years ago. So many memories chasing those crows over the years.

Bob A.

Big A · Veteran Member

Sorry Bob my kids are going crazy in here. Its always fun hearing wacky stories from oldtimers ( I'm not being disrespectful) Next time I'm heading down to your way to hunt, it would be fun to have some cold ones and tell some stories. I go down @ Emporia way, not sure where your at? Happy Friday and have a great weekend...........Big A

Bob · Guru

Big A,

I live a two hours drive from Emporia.

Hey, you can call me oldtimer just don't call me late for dinner!

Bob A.

Big A · Veteran Member

One year crow hunting down there we were running the e caller and had flock after flock of snow geese working down to us. Nobody had steel shot with them plus we were using electronics. Snow geese working crow dekes, it was wild. the louder we ran the caller, the closer they got.

SHANEDOG · Guru

Thats the way it is!!! Set up for crows and geese show up in force,set up for geese and the crows show. I have thought about having two guns,but alas I live in a commie aZZ state!!!

Big A · Veteran Member

I knew a guy that had a duck blind on the lake we hunt. It's illegal in Mich. to have two guns with you but this dude was tight with the warden. He would run a A5 without a plug and a sbs 10ga. When the ducks worked in to the deks it was all A5' if they flew past high or wide the 10 spoke. This guy spent a lot of time on the east coast sea duck hunting and was the finest wingshot I have ever seen. If the ducks flew anywhere near him we knew are chances were slim to get any action.

Rook-ie · Senior Member

I built an e-caller per online instructions -- Radio Shack 4x6 PA speaker and RS Mini-Amp with .wav and .mp3 calls and sounds on my Smartphone. Finding clean recordings is the challenge, and sounds manipulated (e.g., noise removal) with Audacity software are off just enough that I think the crows with those big ears know. Anyone know where I can get quality crow sounds in those audio formats?

fowlplay · Member

You have a link for that site with the instructions?? That would work just building something specifically for crows.

Try http://www.mscustomcalls.com/MP3.html I am not sure if this is the site I was thinking of that had alot of predator calls, cant remember what they had for crow calls. I am at work now and "big brother" has a block on most sites so thats why I cant say for sure. No block on this site though.

IF that is not the site I was thinking of, I will find it when I get home and repost.

8fishermen · Guru

fowlplay wrote:
You have a link for that site with the instructions?? That would work just building something specifically for crows.
Try http://www.mscustomcalls.com/MP3.html I am not sure if this is the site I was thinking of that had alot of predator calls, cant remember what they had for crow calls. I am at work now and "big brother" has a block on most sites so thats why I cant say for sure. No block on this site though.
IF that is not the site I was thinking of, I will find it when I get home and repost.

http://crowbusters.activeboard.com/forum.spark?aBID=136119&p=3&topicID=40421848

http://crowbusters.activeboard.com/forum.spark?aBID=136119&p=3&topicID=39854034

In these two post you can see the progression I went through building callers. There are links to varmit als and predator masters where you can find all the info you want about e-callers.

fowlplay · Member

Thanks 8fishermen. Saw your recent post regarding your build and it gave me alot of good ideas. I see you went to a bigger amp from the original radio shack amp. Was that because you went to a double speaker set up or were you unhappy with the performance? I ordered the single Radio Shack amp for my attempt at building a caller before I saw your recent post about your dual set up.