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Making your own squawk box e caller snow goose call. Easy!

89K views 83 replies 26 participants last post by  teamoutlaw 
#1 ·
Northern Skies Outfitters. Squawk Box E caller snow goose call. Saw this on another forum, so I thought I would post on Nodak for others to see. The process below is how to make one of the best ecallers sold on the market by yourself. It is not exactly the same but about 95% the same. I'm guessing you could make this unit in a couple hours and save $300 or more in the process. Plus knowing who sells these units for $500 plus makes it that much sweeter making your own for a fraction of the price. I have ordered all the parts and plan on making several of these. PM me with questions. I will also likely sell some at my cost and save you $300.

I see a lot of questions on how to make your own ecaller popping up as usual during this time before most people start hunting snows for the spring. Who wouldn't like to have a crisp sounding, portable, last all day ecaller that doesn't break the bank. I certainly do, in fact I like having 3-4 of them. So here is my part list on how to NOT spend an ridiculous amount ($300-$500) on a commercially made ecaller and virtually make 2-3 for the exact same price. (Note; may be able to find parts cheaper elsewhere)

The housing- 12.99
http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/store ... 00028-0140

The amp- $18.90
http://www.amazon.com/Pyle-PLMPA35-Chan ... B004HJ931M

The Speakers- (2 to 4 depending on your preference)- $45.80-$91.80
http://www.amazon.com/Pyle-PHSP4-6-Inch ... power+horn

MP3 Cable to Amp- $2.53
http://www.amazon.com/Cables-Unlimited- ... rds=3.5+mm

12 Volt Rechargeable Battery-(1 or 2 will run ecaller all day) $17.99 (Note: I use a piece of wood to seperate this battery from the amp so that it sits tightly and doesn't have to be removed for charging. )
http://www.amazon.com/Volt-Rechargeable ... chargeable

Now your going to need 1 duplex 120v outlet, with faceplate. On these you need to break the copper connection that sits in between the screws so that your channels from the amp are separated. NOT doing this will lead to overheating of amp. These will have to be inserted into the casing but using a saws all to make a hole big enough for the outlet to set with the faceplate covering it. One channel of the amp goes to one part of the outlet, and the other channel goes to the remaining.

You will need 1-2 Male 120v plugs. I say 1-2 because you can connect 2 speakers to 1 plug, just pre-twist the wire together before you put it inside said plug. If you want to have each speaker have an individual plug you will need outlet extensions. I recommend NOT doing this.

Misc Wires for connects, and its always a good idea to have an extra fuse for amp.

If needed I can provide pictures of completed product, but with a little intuition you will bang out an ecaller in virtually no time.

Total Cost with 1 batteries, 4 speakers and misc parts(roughly)- $157 + shipping of parts.

Adding a remote is at your discretion, I personally haven't found the need for them, but adding one is simple and easy and will add anywhere from $10-$25 per unit.

Good luck, and remember "Save the tundra"
 
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#33 ·
Kelly Hannan said:
I got my box, speakers and amp today. Of course I had to play right away and in the process I tried to switch the filter setting on amp. The little plastic lever broke, do i really ever need to move it? What does it do
You can open up the front of the amp and try to switch it back, otherwise I don't think itll make a huge difference.

Dedbrd said:
So I have everything assembled and the left speaker doesn't work(green wire). Left speaker works with the black wire! Switch out amps, same thing. Any suggestions???
Did you try using a different outlet, making sure both colors are on the same L/R as in Green upper L/R and black lower L/R? Is the copper part cut on the outlet like mentioned? The amps are built pretty cheap but I can't imagine getting two faulty amps at the same time
 
#35 ·
Dedbrd said:
I hot wired the speaker to the amps. I used both harnesses on both speakers and both amps. So I wired everything 8 times. Everything works on the right (black). I have the outlet set up right. I tried switching the wires. I don't know!!!
I guess I'm not sure what you mean by hotwired the speakers to the amp? If you did that what did you use the outlet for?
 
#38 ·
Kelly Hannan said:
maybe only getting one signal out of MP3??? I don't know either.
Could be this. Try using a different AUX cable or MP3 or both. Other than that I'm not sure what it could be. Is that channel connected all the way into the amp? I find it hard to believe that both your amps could be faulty, but weird things do happen, especially on $18 amps.
 
#41 ·
Kelly Hannan said:
I got my box, speakers and amp today. Of course I had to play right away and in the process I tried to switch the filter setting on amp. The little plastic lever broke, do i really ever need to move it? What does it do
Just checked back into this. You need to keep the filter in the middle for it to be the loudest/clearest. That may be what your saying about volume issues.
 
#43 ·
Kelly Hannan said:
time will tell, just doesn't seem very loud to me. But just in the yard
I wired in a couple remotes today on mine, and was curious about what you were saying. Going left or Right from the middle causes the sound to decrease by 30-40% I would say and kind of lose those clear barks you'd on most tracks and just become kind of a muffled noise.
 
#45 ·
juviesoup said:
Kelly Hannan said:
I got my box, speakers and amp today. Of course I had to play right away and in the process I tried to switch the filter setting on amp. The little plastic lever broke, do i really ever need to move it? What does it do
Just checked back into this. You need to keep the filter in the middle for it to be the loudest/clearest. That may be what your saying about volume issues.
What do you mean by the filter?
 
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