DIY: Cell activated Hog trap gate

[Duckhead78]

Consider adding a momentary pulse relay instead of just on/off for your door actuator. Those actuators only need a short pulse of power to actuate and close the door. If you provide constant power they will burn up and if you forget and leave it on, it will drain your battery. There are lots of wiring diagrams out there for DIY momentary pulse relays. We had poor cell reception so it was always a guess if the trap actuator turned off after we sent the command. With a pulse relay it never gets more than about a second of 12v power.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

Thanks for the information! I'll be sure to look into that.

[jimmyneutrontx]

This is very cool.

[Duckhead78]

Consider adding a momentary pulse relay instead of just on/off for your door actuator. Those actuators only need a short pulse of power to actuate and close the door. If you provide constant power they will burn up and if you forget and leave it on, it will drain your battery. There are lots of wiring diagrams out there for DIY momentary pulse relays. We had poor cell reception so it was always a guess if the trap actuator turned off after we sent the command. With a pulse relay it never gets more than about a second of 12v power.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

Had the relay wired up as you mentioned to work momentarily and it works perfectly! Takes 30 seconds to reset.

[T-roy66]

When will mine be delivered? Great Project !!

[10132297]

Great job.

[Duckhead78]

When will mine be delivered? Great Project !!

Anytime for you. If you really want a control box I can make it for you.

[Dusty Britches]

That was awesome, Duckhead. I never realized it was that simple. I might have to make improvements to my big trap.... but then again the pigs normally come in after I am asleep. Nonetheless - good job!

[Seatruckn]

This is awesome. Gonna keep an eye out for a few sticks of c-channel now. Been wanting to build a few doors like this to let the hogs in the feeder pens at times during the off season. Nice!!!!

[Duckhead78]

That was awesome, Duckhead. I never realized it was that simple. I might have to make improvements to my big trap.... but then again the pigs normally come in after I am asleep. Nonetheless - good job!

Thank you kindly!

[Duckhead78]

This is awesome. Gonna keep an eye out for a few sticks of c-channel now. Been wanting to build a few doors like this to let the hogs in the feeder pens at times during the off season. Nice!!!!

Thank you!

[DoveBlaster]

Just finished building my frame, door, and trigger mechanism. I have the gsm, the popper, and a solenoid. My question is since the GSM can be turned off and on remotely and the popper requires momentary power will a 12V feeder battery and solar panel be strong enough to pop the popper? Also not completely sure how much the prepaid SIM will be per month... sending pm duckhead

[roughneck266]

Just finished building my frame, door, and trigger mechanism. I have the gsm, the popper, and a solenoid. My question is since the GSM can be turned off and on remotely and the popper requires momentary power will a 12V feeder battery and solar panel be strong enough to pop the popper? Also not completely sure how much the prepaid SIM will be per month... sending pm duckhead

It should do it, most of these door poppers draw more than 15A though, so if you are going to use a feeder battery, a charge controller and solar panel would be a good idea. TECHNICALLY a 12VDC 7AH battery would be able to supply 15A for a little less than half an hour, but in real practice, with in rush and all the other variables I doubt it would do more than 20 mins.
We use car batteries on our hog traps, and 25W solar panels, but the expense for one here or there is a little too high in my opinion.

[jrfan]

Sent you a PM duckhead78

[DoveBlaster]

I just finished building the frame, gate, and gsm popper box with feeder battery and solar. Checked everything in Fort Worth and it worked great, brought it out to install and can’t get any service! I bought a cheap SIM card on Amazon and checked the service map which was solid green but still no service. I left it out all night, maybe it will acquire some service...

[roughneck266]

I just finished building the frame, gate, and gsm popper box with feeder battery and solar. Checked everything in Fort Worth and it worked great, brought it out to install and can’t get any service! I bought a cheap SIM card on Amazon and checked the service map which was solid green but still no service. I left it out all night, maybe it will acquire some service...

Are you using an external antenna for it? If so what type? We have tried the longer whip type antennas with very little success, but have had good results with the Yagi antennas.