Create your own wireless remote for Canon Rebel Camera

Wireless Remote Control For Canon Rebel 2000

There are no wireless remotes commercially available

Here is the idea: MAKE YOUR OWN

Canon provides:

1. A 3-connector sub-miniature remote jack on the camera.  The three connections are:
   1. Ground (plug base)
   2. Focus (hot) (plug center connector)
   3. Shutter (hot) (plug tip)

2. When focus is shorted to ground the camera will focus; when shutter is shorted to ground the shutter is tripped.

3. Canon sells a short, wired shutter release.  There are no wireless remotes commercially available

Zenith sells

1. A cheap ($10) wireless door bell.

2. That has two tones, one when the button is pushed one when it is released.

3. The tones have different voltages: 0.5 volts and 1.0 volts

What I did was bridge the gap:

1. Build a circuit using a TLC556 dual timer IC to turn the door bells tones into clean pulses, (http://www.ortodoxism.ro/datasheets/texasinstruments/tlc556.pdf)
2. Used biased NPN transistors ( 2N2222) to detect the two input voltages for the two doorbell tones.
3. Use NPN transistors (2N4401) to handle the high output current.
4. R7, R8 where chosen to bias the transistors to their maximum current flow.
5. Add capacitors and resisters to give the TLC556 circuit some timing.
6. Remove the speaker, C-cells and some plastic from the Zenith case so to have room for the new circuit board.
7. Add 2 AAA-cells (under the circuit board) for power and a switch
8. Add two LED’s to see when focus and shutter are triggered

Key to diagram:

 Everything to the left of the dashed line is on the Zenith circuit board:

• IC1
• R11
• Q4
• The connection on pin 11 of IC1 originally triggered the speaker via  a 1-transister amplifier: R11 and Q4

 The leads coming off the collectors of Q6 and Q8 go to the focus and shutter via an 18 inch long wire.

 Parts list, these things should be available at Radio Shack:

1. IC TLC556   in a DIP-14 configuration
2. Q1, Q2 (2) NPN transistor 2N2222
3. Q5, Q6, Q7, Q8 (4) NPN transistors 2N4401
4. R1 1K ohms resister
5. R2 47K ohms resisters
6. R3, R4 510K ohms resisters
7. R5, R6 470K ohms resisters
8. R7, R8 1100 ohms resisters
9. C1, C3 10 uf  electrolytic capacitors. Since these are voltage rated, anything 3V or above will work mine are 16V rated. Note: these are polarized, the (-) side should connect to the battery (-).
10. C2, C4 0.05 uf disc capacitors
11. stereo sub-miniature plug
12. Green LED for focus
13. Red LED for shutter
14. Small switch
15. 18 inches of 3 conductor wire
16. battery holder t 2 AAA cells
17. project  board 2-1/2 inches square

Other notes:

• Vcc goes to the switch whose other lead goes to the (+) side of the AAA batteries

• Ground goes to the (-) side of the battery

• The LED's attach to the bottom of the circuit board an are lined-up with holes drilled in the plastic case

Limitation of this design

• This remote only works in the "green-box, dummy" mode.  Because the shutter is held down so long, the camera will take multiple pictures in other modes.  Possible (but untried) solutions are:

  	1	Add a capacitor ( 400 uf ??) between R7 and Q7 , Q8 to limit the time these transistors are turned on
  	2	Add yet another timer circuit (555) to limit the shutter pulse
  	3	Find a way to modify the tone signal duration from the Zenith doorbell

   

   

   

View from the inside:

How it works

• When button is pushed chime signal changes from 0 to 0.5 volts

• This activates transistor Q1

• Who sends a low pulse (0 volts) to timer #1

• Timer #1 holds the focus activation for the full duration of the chime.

• The chime pulses from 0.5 to 1.0 volts.

• At 1.0 volts transistors Q2 activates

• Sending a low pulse to timer #2

• Who holds pulse for duration of chime

• From timers transistors are used to short the camera contacts and drive LED displays.

• This prevents burning out the timers from too much current.

Signals from Zenith Doorbell:

This project was designed and built in 2002 by Paul Carpenter and has been in use ever since.

Paul Carpenter holds a masters' degree in Computer Science from Southern PolyTechnic University. 
His electronics background comes from an excellent high school program at West-High Madison, Wisconsin
He works as senior software engineer at Precyse Solutions in Alpharetta GA and can be reached at
(please, no spam) pcarpenter - AT - precysecolutions - DOT - com