Homemade E-Callers

I wanted to address a few issues regarding homemade E-Callers. There are quite a few guys reading these "how to forums" on making your own electronic callers from hobby kit amplifiers. While this sounds like a good idea in theory, these same forums are full of guys who have run into major problems after spending more money on individual switches, amp kits, audio jacks, projects etc., than they would have had they just bought a ready made call.

There are numerous factors to consider before attempting to build your own call. The first and most important is to evaluate your ability to assemble and solder small electronic components in a tight place without shorting out the solder joints. Next is to have an understanding of OHMS and resistance and how they apply to wattage and speakers. Lots of folks are buying a kit amplifier with a big wattage rating assuming that the more wattage they have, the more volume they will have. This is basically a wrong assumption in that the OHM rating on a speaker must be compared to the rating at which the amp will deliver a certain wattage. In most cases, an 8-11 watt amp is rated at a 2 or 4 ohm load. Most PA horns used in game calls are 8 ohms. This means that an amp rated at 8 watts on a 2 ohm speaker, will only supply about 1-2 watts into an 8 ohm speaker because of the increase in resistive load. This causes great disappointment to the fellow that has spent quite a few dollars on something that does not do what he wanted it to. Also, some of these kits do not necessarily have all the components needed to complete the amplifier circuit.

The last item I wanted to mention is supply voltage. These kits operate on a variety of supply voltage from 3-18 volts dc or ac. You should make sure you are able to come up with an adequate power source if you want the output wattage to be in the upper range of the amplifier's capacity. Most hunters want a battery power source which makes it difficult in many cases to go beyond 12 volts without the burden of excess weight. The more wattage your amp is delivering to the speaker, and the more volume you are driving into the speaker, the shorter your battery life will be. Also, there is not a great deal of volume increase between a 1 watt amp and an 8 watt amp. The important difference is that the more wattage you can supply, the more gain, modulation, and clarity you will be able to garner from the speaker. I hope these few points might assist someone who is contemplating building their own amplifier.