When crow hunting, there is nothing more aggravating than equipment failure. Especially when it's 6:00 AM, 15 degrees, and still dark. I have had this happen to me about 50 times during the past 8-10 years. I finally got tired, fed-up, and disgusted beyond endurance, and became determined to fix a problem that I was continuously having.
Here's the story.
I acquired my Foxpro FX3 game call about 11 years ago. All was well for a while, and then I started having problems getting sound from my extension speaker. I fiddled with it for a year or two, and finally sent it back to Foxpro for repair, if needed. The unit came back...same problem. I replaced the male connector on my extension cord twice within about 2 years. Problem continued...having only intermittent sound from the extension speaker. Sent the unit back to Foxpro again for examination, or repair. Foxpro's repair and return service is very good! Problem continued. I hunted with the call about 5 more years, and continued having the same problem, after checking all wires, connections, correct operation on my part, etc. No luck. Seems the problem was going to drive me to drinking, smoking weed, and adultery!
My view of the small 3.5 mm extension speaker connection in the Foxpro, is a sham, unreliable, and should be replaced with a 1/4" size connector design. I talked to Foxpro about this re-design, but they were not interested. So, I decided to replace the 3.5 mm toy with a 1/4" connection myself. Tore the FX3 apart, examined the interior for space for the larger connector, and found plenty of room, and easily fit the new larger connector into the unit. Chucked the battery holder full of batteries, and turned 'er on. Bingo! she worked beautifully! I juggled, twisted, and turned the new 1/4"male connector with no scratching, no static, and no complete disconnect of sound. Have a drink!
Bottom line of my experience is that you don't have to suffer from someone else arrogance. Examine any problem you may have, be patient, and never give up!
Attached, I hope, are some pictures showing the simple modification to my FX3, and the small and larger male connectors, and my Radio Shack 8" speaker that I have had for 50 years, this year! The old speaker has never given any problem.
Im still rather green but does a second speaker really help pull the crows in? Is there any special way to set up two speakers?
Volume (as the saying goes--like size) matters. Seriously, more volume helps a great deal, compared to the unamplified Spitfire. As for your second question, read and beware . Just kidding, I like to tinker with things.
I'm running two speakers from my tiny, 4-year old FoxPro Spitfire. BTW (KenCrow)I never thought to enlarge the system to a 1/4 in plug, as in your posting). Still experimenting, but my current, very fragile set-up consists of a pretty cheesy "200W" (I doubt it) Chinese-made $12.00 amp and two horn speakers stationed 50' away. Electronics available on Amazon and E-Bay. Total cost is around $100 (not including the Spitfire. My goal was to emulate Big Honkers's "nuclear-powered" speaker system (that can kill crows merely by sound alone ) but to avoid spending $100s of dollars in doing so.
Components:
1. Spitfire "Aux SPR" to "MP3 IN" on the amp. Bought a 10' cable for speaker to amp. Needs to be longer.
2. 7ah 12V sealed lead-acid battery to power it. (I already have the 12V automotive trickle charger from 1970).
3. Two 50' sections of regular speaker wire (on a reel), taped together at 3' intervals (+/-) added quick release automotive fittings on the speaker ends.
4. Two horn speakers ($20 ea.). Added quick release automotive fittings on their ends to mate with the speaker wire.
5. Cardboard box to haul stuff in. Not the best, but the FEB-MAR season's almost over--time to seek another sturdy cardboard box, before AUG-SEP.
Problems:
a. Not being an electronics whiz, the end result was lots more volume. That's good. But, if I really knew what I were doing, I would likely have a more powerful system, if I knew the resistance values/ohms/impedance/phase of the moon/etc. and the rest of the gobbledegook techno-stuff.
b. The cheesy Chinese $12.00 amp is just that. It is a weak point due to its fragility. For example, one of the four spring-loaded speaker wire plugs broke off. I took it apart, fixed it and it promptly broke off again. Thus, I am running both sets of speaker wires off of one set of outlets instead of two.
c. "b." above really didn't matter, since two channels never worked on this piece of junk to begin with. I am thinking of splurging and moving up to a $24 less-cheesy Chinese amp.
Photos:
Various components emplaced.
On the next to the last photo, note in the lower right, the cheesy Chinese amp on the recycled cardboard box which serves (inverted) as the stand for the battery, amp, and granola bars.
Final photo shows the Spitfire hanging beneath the "owl pole" with the 10' cable from it to the amp, inside the blind. The two speakers are the usual 50' distant.
Have fun.
-- Edited by Old Artilleryman on Sunday 19th of March 2017 04:56:54 PM
. Seriously, more volume helps a great deal, compared to the unamplified Spitfire. As for your second question, read and beware 
. Just kidding, I like to tinker with things.
