Update Recording NiteSite NS50 To Mini DVR

Evening All

Just a quick update until the clock strikes 12, Following on from my previous update below I now have fixed the small bag containing the battery for the NS50 and the Mini HDVR to my Air Arms TDR I have put some photos below and also a small test recording with the set up taken this evening,the focus quality is getting a bit better but still needs a bit of tweeking,I am out on my rat shooting permission on Thursday so hopefully a bit of on the ground recording can be done.

Update Connection of DVR To Nitesite NS50

OK you may have read my Post below that I had decided to purchase a Nitesite NS50 Nightvision Scope to replace my Yukon Sentinel Pulsar dedicated set up primarily due to the recording option that was available on the NS50,so here we go with another update now to get the whole set up connected and working.

Well first things first,the NiteSite Camera has a 3.5mm AV in jack plug socket and the DVR Recorder has a 2.5mm AV in jack plug socket here the trouble starts to quote from NiteSite Website  " The NiteSite connection must be  a four pole 3.5mm 4pin jack plug/lead from the tip of the jack plug as pin 1 this is an audio signal, pin 2 a video signal, pin 3, ground (common) pin 4 is an audio signal. For technical details please check the manufacturers instructions for your recording device as these pin configurations may vary for different regions and will not work until the configuration is the same as the NiteSite " OK looking for a suitable connection lead was to be a nightmare and I could not for the life of me find one in this country so I took a chance and ordered one via Ebay from China one single cable one end was a 2.5mm jack plug the other 3.5mm two weeks later it arrived.


Ok I finally had delivered my connection lead from China a quick test and it worked so I temporarily attached my Dog cam DVR,NiteSite NS50,smaller battery etc to my Air Arms TDR and carried out a quick night time test in my garden it seemed to work fine  the clarity is not the best but I didn't bother with the focus too much as I only wanted to see if all of the units would work together especially using the LANC DVR remote that was fixed to the fore end of my gun, I downloaded the recording for you to see you can click on the link below to view

                                                      Dog Cam DVR First Test


Secondly I needed to find a way to tidy up the battery,DVR Recorder and the cables so armed with a small camera case from Poundland and a pair of scissors I made the following "Battery + DVR Stock Pouch" that will fix to my gun a real "Blue Peter Moment" (how it will be fixed will be another project)

Its a lot neater now

Cut some small holes for the cables

hard wired ready to go on the gun

Shooting Update 20/12/12

Morning All

Just another update,absolutely hammering down with rain at the moment so I thought that instead of getting wet outside I would bore you all with another update.

Well before we start on our night shooting venture later on tonight its time to get all the kit ready,thermals,gun, etc. it was when doing this I thought blinking ek we don't half carry some kit with us,so I thought I would give you all a bit of a run down on the amount of kit we take on a normal nights shooting

Ok what's in the box

1) The Gun is an Air Arms TDR (Take Down Rifle) in .22 calibre
2) The Scope is an Sabre Airgnner
3)  Standard Bipod
4) Hand held Nightvision Monocular X 2
5) Spare Batteries
6) Magazines X4
7) First Aid Box (really essential especially when shooting rats)
8) Box of pellets
9) Spare spectacles
10) Insulation tape (really handy)
11) Targets for zeroing before you start
12) Multi Tool very handy

Additional Kit

NightSite Nightvision NS50

This is a new purchase from Nitesite  http://www.nitesite.co.uk/Default.aspx this unit will attach to your day scope and is a fantastic bit of equipment

Bushnell Trail cam

My New Recording Kit To Attach To My Nitesite NS50 this will enable me to record my rat shooting forays

Shooting Update 11/12/12 Nitesite NS50

Hi All

Its been a while since my last post but things have been a bit busy at home, well as said in my previous update my trusty old Air ArmsTDR is now up and running and after firing probably 300 pellets through it the "internals" have now settled down.

OK so the beginning of this week saw me buying a new Nightvision Unit after reading the reviews it seemed like a good thing to do, its called a "Nitesite NS50" click on the photo below for a reveiw

                                                http://www.nitesite.co.uk/products.html

Nitesite NS50

Well after charging the battery we set off for our local permission "Ratopia" three easy steps to set up

1) Attach the camera to my day scope
2) Attach The screen to the top of my scope
3) plug in the connecting wires

and away we go,we decided this evening to try and put down some yoghurt as bait it has worked well in the past and as it was out of date by a couple of days which only made it a bit better,a quick scan with the Nitetsite saw them familiar "headlights" of the scaley tails little beady eyes poking out from under the duck shed door,approx. 30 yds from where I was sitting but this first shot hit home exactly where the cross hair was placed one less scaly to cause damage, the Nitesite worked flawlessly the field of vision was excellent covering a large area the on board IR was more than capable with only the low settings used even at the distance I was shooting which was between 15 and 30 yds,

Between myself and my mate we accounted for 10 scaly tails but my first impression of using the Nitesite  was it is an excellent tool in Pest Control and at a cost of £399 is reasonable for a unit of this quality for further information please click on the link above

Shooting Update 30/10/12

Evening All

Another update,this week we returned to our local shoot at Nelson there is always a few scaleys around the barns and duck shed,this week I have brought along my Air Arms TDR (Take Down Rifle) I haven't used it for a while due to it having an air leak but after watching some stripdown videos on Youtube and having advice from members of an airgun forum I decided to tackle the repair myself and possibly save £80 by not taking it to a gun shop. Well after a week of the gun in bits,waiting for new seals to arrive and carrying out some stock renovation its all back together and working well.

We arrived at the barns at around 6.30 pm now in darkness as winter starts to set in,priorities first put the kettle on for a quick cuppa and then off to do a reccy of the barns it wasn't long before the familiar squeaking of the scaleys could be heard so we set about putting down a bit of nice smelly bait in this case tinned cat food, this week we decided to just sit and wait so chairs at hand and my trusty old mono pod we firstly sat outside of the duck shed , well about twenty yards or so away and it wasn't long before them bright beady eyes started to poke out from under the door,but tonight they seemed really uneasy they knew something was wrong and didn't hang about in one spot for very long but after about two hours or so I managed to shoot five scaleys not bad really as to date we have shot hundreds of them, and best of all is my now fully refurbished Air Arms TDR works perfectly .

Shooting Update 16/10/2012

Just another fruitless update,we decided not to go back to the stables we shoot at last week as another Farmer had said he had seen a couple of scalys near the house so we decided to give it a go.

This time it was back to basics with our kit,off came the night vision dedicated scopes on went the logun lamps we haven't shot this way for probably two years or more, we also took along our 12 v batteries with a red fog light attached,well they worked really well the last time we used them and had helped us account for hundreds of scalys..

When we arrived at the farm the farmer had started work on his new barn so we had to shoot outside,this we hadn`t done for some time shooting in the cold and rain and all that !!!,so we set up just outside a small outbuilding that help probably around forty or so partridge,a quick scan with the lamp and we could see some beady little eyes poking out from a hole in the back wall we had to be careful as them partridge eyes don't half look like scaleys when they are feeding on the ground, well after around two hours we only accounted for one as the others were using the cavities in the wall like a speedway track nothing like last years shooting  we would have probably shot at least ninety between us by now but perhaps it just shows that we are doing a good job,we must be doing something right as we had two further recommendations for other farms on the back of our achievement on this one.

So next week I think we are going back to the stables I will keep you updated

Shooting Update 11/10/12

Ok after a long break we are now back in business,following my hip replacement 12 weeks ago crutches now in the bin we are rearing to go, on Tuesday evening last we headed off to one of our local shoots as although we have shot hundreds of scaly tails there over the last year we were confident that after our long break there should still be more there, well after arriving at the farm and having a reccy of the stables we were gobsmacked as the farmer had only gone and cleaned the place up including a coat of fresh paint of the stalls and most of all he had cleared all of the rubbish from the corners of the yard.

Well after our reccy and feeling a bit disapointed we settled down looking over the shed that housed a couple of ducks it must have only been a couple of minutes when the little beady eyes were starting to appear under the door it was quite difficult to get a proper shot off as they were very quick but after an hour or so we accounted for 9 rats not the best night we have had but at least we know they are there,hopefully next week we will have better luck.

Update 15 May 2012

Following on from my previous post I still haven't managed to get out and do a bit of shooting due to an injury I had some weeks ago,basically I am using crutches at the moment and am waiting for an operation in three weeks time to replace my damaged hip,so getting about is very painful at the moment but I am hoping to go out and do some daytime shooting this week,but in the mean time as I cannot go very far I bought myself an air pistol to do some plinking in the garden,I bought a C02 Beretta 92 FS in .177 cal eight shot what a fantastic little gun it is all metal construction with a very realistic look and feel so at least when I am recovering from my operation I can still carry on shooting.

UPDATE 26 April 2012

Afternoon all just a quick post I have not been able to update my blog for the last few weeks or so due to an injury that has meant I have been unable to go out shooting,hopefully I will be out again soon

Update

Ok so the Sengenedd Farm Night didn't take off,bad weather meant we had to go indoors to shoot,so it was back to the Nelson Farm (Old Reliable) park and shoot indoors,even after shooting 180 rats since before Christmas they were still plentiful,I shot again with my Sony Camcorder Night vision set up my mate with his laser and nightvision monocular by the end of the night we accounted for eight between us  

New Farm Tomorrow (Weather Permitting)

Last week I paid a visit to another farm we had picked up in Sengenedd to have a look around and familiarise myself with the surroundings and any hazards we are likely to come across during darkness when we start shooting,it looks quite promising as there are large buildings including housing for cattle and sheep,chicken and dog pens,general feed stores and various smaller outbuildings used as storage.

The buildings are very old with thick stone walls which are a haven for Mr Rat that is if there are any there,the downside is the other farm we normally visit is all indoors we even park the landrover under cover so we are spoilt a bit,this new Farm is mostly outdoors with a walk from where we park near the Farmhouse to a lower level where the outbuildings are,so if the weather is fine tomorrow we will have a look around and see if Mr Rat is in residence and report back. 

Update Nelson Farm 23/2/12

Ok,a quick update on last nights shooting,arrived at the farm a bit later all ready to go,slight problem the farmer had delivered a load of sawdust and had dumped it right in front of the access gate to the barn we normally parked the Freelander in,now parked outside on the yard we set about zeroing in our scopes,I was still using the Air Arms S410 in .177 cal with the Sony camcorder with Nightshot and Dipol Laser fixed to my SWAT Scope,Shaun my son was using my other dedicated nightvision set up with my Air Arms TDR in .22 cal topped with a Yukon Sentinel Pulsar dedicated scope,I also took along my new purchase A Bushnell Trophy Stealth Camera, have a look at the results on the Video Page under Nelson Bushnell 1.

We Zeroed the scopes to a distance of fifteen yards as that's the distance the new rat runs were,put down a small amount of bait Crushed Biscuit that seems to work well,well after a very slow start they started to feed on the bait but were a bit wary,so the shots were few and far between for a while,after three hours I managed to only shoot two probably due to me spending some time altering and playing around with my Camcorder,Shaun shot seven so not a bad couple of hours,an early night it was so home by 11.45 PM.

Just checked our shot count sheet and from September 2011 until 23/2/12 the count shot was now 170

Update Nelson Farm 16/2/12

Just a quick update on our nights shooting last Thursday 16th February 2012,myself and my son who has accompanied me for the last two weeks arrived at the farm usual time 7.0 pm,unloaded and zeroed in the guns the one I was using an Air Arms TDR in .22 cal topped with my Sony DCR-SR32E Camcorder with Nightshot Mode and a Dipol Laser for added illumination took a little longer due to the focus on the Camcorder was awkward to set.

Now all set we took up our positions Shaun (my son) went to an area on the top yard and set up looking at some containers and old drainage channels,I stayed on the bottom yard covering the stables and duck sheds,it wasn't very long before the familiar sounds of rats squeaking came a bit closer to,an area we had baited earlier with crushed biscuit inside the stables had attracted "Mr Rat" my first shot had killed him outright we measured the distance and it was 22 yds not a bad shot considering it was done by looking through a camcorder screen, Shaun's night was even better than mine as all I could hear is his pellets thumping into "Mr Rat",the final count at the end of a three hour shoot was ten,Shaun had shot eight and I had two mine were recorded on the camcorder, have a look at my Video Page and see what you think.   

Update 15/2/12

Evening All

I have just bought a Bushnell Trophy Stealth cam, for those of you that haven't seen one of these little cameras working have a look at this link   http://www.bushnell.com/products/trail-cameras/trophy-cam/ the reason I bought this,firstly the price was right at £80 second hand instead of anything from £180+,also it will hopefully be invaluable to use on my rat shoots,I can place this where I finds either runs or feeding areas and the camera can either video or photograph any movement , I hopefully will try it tomorrow night and post any photos or videos

Camcorder Shooting Recording Update 9/2/12

My night didn't start well as when I arrived at my Rat Shoot and unloaded the "Kit" one of my two batteries for the Sony that were fully charged on leaving was completely discharged probably due to it being accidentally switched on when I closed the lid of my carry case,down to one battery we started to zero in, Ok down to business,I had made up a "Steady Rest" out of a camera tripod and set about scanning an area where they normally come out to play,bit of cat food put inside a bird feeder cage to stop them running off with the bait it wasn't long before them shiny little eyes were poking out from under the duck shed door and a single shot from my AA .177 laid him to rest, lasered the distance at 27 yds.


I was very pleased with the quality of the recording as a first proper trial but I now need to change the automatic focus to manual and also sort out a better more secure mount for the laser,I have posted some pictures below showing how the camcorder was mounted to the scope and also the finished product.


First photo shows how the camcorder fits to the scope,I have used a 30mm-52mm step up ring that screws onto the front of the camcorder lens,then I have used an camera adapter tube from an Olympus camera that screws onto the step up ring,then cut strips of rubber from an old cycle inner tube and slid these over the end of the scope eye piece,then pushed the adapter tube over the rubber for a tight fit.

This photograph shows the camcorder set in place on the gun and also fixed to the front of the scope is a Dipol laser for added illumination

Have a look at my Video page for updated tests using the camcorder Night Vision Set up

Camcorder Shooting Recording Update

Evening All

On an extremely bitter cold Thursday afternoon I decided to try out my set up to get a feel of the outfit and to zero in the scope / camcorder and I was quite impressed with the accuracy giving you are aiming through a screen rather than an eyepiece,I know on this occasion its daylight recording but as a first trial went well,I hope to have some Nightshot shooting next week.

1) Mr Magpie bites the dust at around 25 yds

2) Couldent Resist Shooting Some Icicles At Around 18 yds

3) Rat target At 15 yds

4) Zeroing Target At 15 yds

I hope to visit my local Farm next week where there were plenty of Rats a few weeks ago so hopefully some night recording to try out my Dipol Laser with the Sony

Back Out Again Soon

Evening All

We haven't been out for a while,hopefully we will be out again next week,in the meantime I have been making up my latest project "Nightvision Camcorder Recording" , I am now going to try and record what we are shooting,this involves fitting my Sony Camcorder that has Nightshot facility to the back of my day scope,fitting a Dipol Laser to the top of the scope for added illumination and hopefully it should work well possibly up to 25 yds or more,I will let you know how I get on.

Also my Foxing mate has bought a Yukon Sentinel Pulsar N550 Nightvision Scope this is the dogs danglies for fox control once he has it set up I will let you know.