Budget Bite Switch

How to make a radio triggered wireless bite switch shutter release for about $50.



Start with a wireless radio trigger. I used a Vello Freewave and have been very happy with it. It isn't quite the cheapest, but it is only $40 at amazon and hasn't failed me yet. Here's a link to the one I have for my 6d. They don't make one for Nikon, but who uses that junk anyway? (kidding)


I got all the components for the bite switch at Radioshack, here is a list.

Small switches
Soldering Kit with solder
Flux is a good idea
Heat shrink tubing
I used 24 gauge wire I had laying around. You could use 20 gauge speaker wire too. Whatever you use, make sure it is flexible enough that it won't be a pain to deal with.


Now for the fun part. Using a screwdriver take apart the transmitter end of the shutter release. Once you do this spot where the switch is wired onto the PC board inside. This is where we will be attaching our remote bite switch. Take the wire and split and strip the ends leaving about 1/16" or 3mm exposed. Dunk this in your flux, and then "tin" it by melting solder into it. Place each end on the respective solder joint for the switch and carefully melt the solder just enough to solidly melt your wire into the joint. Finally, use the soldering iron (or another method) to make a small hole in the plastic case to allow the wire to come out and screw the case back together.

Here is a photo of the soldering. The shutter release switch is the silver square box with the red spot on the middle, you can see the grey and black wires soldered on to it. You can also see the hole I melted in the case to allow the wire to pass out, and the small switch that the other ends of the wire are soldered to.

Finally, I took one of the larger pieces of heat shrink tubing and fit it around the switch. To seal it I simply heated up the end until it was starting to shrink and then pinched it closed so that it stuck to itself.

Here are some pics taken using the trigger:


I don't expect the switch to last forever, especially since I tend to bite down and clench pretty hard when riding something scary. It's not a big deal though, I can easily fix it!

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