Cuddeback's Cuddelink

[FredG]

I'm set to field and close. What distance for the subject are you anticipating for "FAR"?

I prefer the "Far" mode for any range between nose-on-camera out to the furthest extent of the PIR sensor, but the "Close" mode can also be effectively used over that very same range. The main difference between the two modes is that the "Far" mode will minimize motion blur and IR burn while the "Close" mode will maximize image quality with stronger contrast and more detail retention. There is no right or wrong between these two choices... it just comes down to the priorities and preferences of the individual user.

 

[Booner21]

Sorry g 5079 with powerhouse black flash no extender. Was hoping to not add extender packs x30 cams. I can live with 60 30 is a no go.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

you will get 120 days or more with them and they are relatively inexpensive , one trip to swap batteries in gas and they are probably paid for if you are any distance from the property. Couple that with the fact that the report will give you a 30 day+ window to get to the property and change the batteries they are well worth it. I suggest these to all that buy the system.

My question I guess is why am I seeing roughly half the battery life as you. With an extender pack I am looking at 60 to 70 days which seems nuts.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[Booner21]

Disappointed in customer service had a cam go down after 2 months have to pay to ship it back and is a 2 week turn around. Asked for a ship prior to or a label and no luck.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[Catscratch]

Anyone know when the Home Unit that allows for a USB hookup to a PC will be available?

 

[john volkman]

My question I guess is why am I seeing roughly half the battery life as you. With an extender pack I am looking at 60 to 70 days which seems nuts.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

have you run the battery booster yet? im at 118 days on several of mine and it hasn't even switched to the internals yet. the booster holds 6 d cells so a total of 10 , i would try it on one of your g cams before you decide on the rest , make sure you use new good quality alkaline and i doubt they will only go 60-70 days unless it is frigidly cold temps the whole time. Your experience getting 40 days on just the 4 batteries is not out of the norm. its not a simple math equation to assume you will only get 70 days. there are always variables that come into play but most who are using the booster are experiencing close or the same as i have. I would invest the $20 in a booster on one of your cams and try it. i think you will be happier.

 

[swat1018]

Thanks for the reply. It sounds like you are really pleased with your set-up.
You are 100% correct that I want it on our place and could set camera's around the house and have a home unit plugged into a PC within range of all of them. The thing is I can pull cards on any of my current camera's within 15 minutes so I don't really think it would be much of an advantage to have an SD card in the house. I don't need a cell to check pictures as everything is so close, but would like to have real time pics. I do not see daylight a lot in the winter, it would be great to have pics texted to me while I'm not home. But it's hard to think about paying for cell service on a camera that is sitting in the house.

True. I think the normal "home" unit will do what you want. The cell package I have is $20/month and you can have up to 15 cams on the network.

 

[john volkman]

Anyone know when the Home Unit that allows for a USB hookup to a PC will be available?

plan was to have this out already but it is currently in design stages and production , the plan was to have it out asap but it needs to work correctly and be safe etc , no definite date yet. this is a complex project to get completed so that any user can get it working correctly.

 

[Booner21]

My question I guess is why am I seeing roughly half the battery life as you. With an extender pack I am looking at 60 to 70 days which seems nuts.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

have you run the battery booster yet? im at 118 days on several of mine and it hasn't even switched to the internals yet. the booster holds 6 d cells so a total of 10 , i would try it on one of your g cams before you decide on the rest , make sure you use new good quality alkaline and i doubt they will only go 60-70 days unless it is frigidly cold temps the whole time. Your experience getting 40 days on just the 4 batteries is not out of the norm. its not a simple math equation to assume you will only get 70 days. there are always variables that come into play but most who are using the booster are experiencing close or the same as i have. I would invest the $20 in a booster on one of your cams and try it. i think you will be happier.

Thanks I put one on the cam that went haywire and has to be sent back. I have 5 at the house will order some more.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[Catscratch]

plan was to have this out already but it is currently in finishing design stages and production , the plan now is to have it out first part of 2019, no definite date yet. It will just be a firmware update and usb cord that will work with the existing home units ( cell home or regular home)

So it's not a new unit, it's just a firmware download and a new cord. If I already had a home unit all I would have to do is update it and buy the cable? Is the firmware free? And will the unit be powered through the USB so that it doesn't eat batteries?

 

[digau56]

if you arent getting a report each day its either a cell signal issue or something is wrong with the cell unit(oftentimes firmware update hasn't been performed).. If you are getting a report each day and the home images total matches the remote images totals the unit is functioning properly.

A

ok, on your cell home or cell home cameras or any g series cams you should run the 3358 6 d cell battery booster. this will give you 120 days or more.
on your remote J cameras run the 3501 solar units if in full sun , if not in the open, run the 3495 6 d cell battery accessory this will give you 90 days sometimes up to 120.
If using solar pick up a tenergy tn438 16 bay AA battery charger, these work great for topping off the batteries and show you what level they re at , well worth the $30 if you are running multiple solar units.
As i said earlier, we are working on additional options that will allow the cams to run even longer incorporating the current solar kit and battery boosters. intention is to have this ready well ahead of 2019 camera deployment season.
I dont recommend the solar on the cell home or cell cameras because they are working very hard, the battery booster is the way to go.

Dang, after reading these latest threads on batteries I think I may have made a big mistake. I just bought 9 solar kits and 8 #3518 battery packs to power 7 G cams, 1 J cam, and a cell home. Sounds like I should have just bought 9 D battery packs? Only the cell home, the J cam, and 1 or 2 of the G cams will be receiving full sun. Not sure about the amount of sun the other G cams will get as I have not had a chance to deploy my system yet. Could swear I read somewhere that the solar panels would keep the batts charged with just "ambient light". John, is any of this going to work, or should I forget that pipe dream and just get the D battery packs? I think I could live with 120 days.

 

[john volkman]

A


Dang, after reading these latest threads on batteries I think I may have made a big mistake. I just bought 9 solar kits and 8 #3518 battery packs to power 7 G cams, 1 J cam, and a cell home. Sounds like I should have just bought 9 D battery packs? Only the cell home, the J cam, and 1 or 2 of the G cams will be receiving full sun. Not sure about the amount of sun the other G cams will get as I have not had a chance to deploy my system yet. Could swear I read somewhere that the solar panels would keep the batts charged with just "ambient light". John, is any of this going to work, or should I forget that pipe dream and just get the D battery packs? I think I could live with 120 days.

I would stick with what you have , reason being , the new battery pack that is coming in 2019 will work with the solar kit and it will be the best of both worlds for any situation . I always suggest running the cell home with a battery booster though and not the solar.

 

[digau56]

I would stick with what you have , reason being , the new battery pack that is coming in 2019 will work with the solar kit and it will be the best of both worlds for any situation . I always suggest running the cell home with a battery booster though and not the solar.

Thanks John, I really appreciate your input. Eager to make this system work as designed, my property is extremely remote and receives heavy snowfall so unless I want to break trail through 4 to 10 feet of snow, I need it to function as long as possible. My home cell will have to be mounted 15 feet up a tree where I get 3 of 5 bars reception. Heck, if I had known I would have designed a more robust solar system even if I had to use a 35 or 50 watt solar panel. Plenty of cougar, bear, bobcat, and the elk migrate right through my draw on their way to winter feeding grounds. Few lynx and wolf too. Excited to share pics with everyone. Extremely curious about this new power solution, a bit perplexed about how it will work. If that little solar panel can't charge 12 AA batteries, how's it going to charge a bigger battery? You going to give us any more hints? LOL

 

[Rlsbowhunt]

I just had a camera go dead with the solar panel and rechargable batteries at 16 day. On a field edge, full sun until around 3 in the afternoon.

 

[digau56]

I just had a camera go dead with the solar panel and rechargable batteries at 16 day. On a field edge, full sun until around 3 in the afternoon.

Rlsbowhunt, J cam or G cam with #3518 battery pack?

 

[digau56]

My battery system for my Spartans work with the g series lineup.

Peplin Creek, can you please describe the components you used in your external battery system? I'm working on a solar powered system that will be much much beefier than the solar kit currently available. Thanks

 

[Rlsbowhunt]

Rlsbowhunt, J cam or G cam with #3518 battery pack?

J cam 12AA battery pack

 

[12pointer]

So I really have no complaints about battery usage when using the battery booster pack on my G cameras. As you can see, most of my cameras are on 200 days and are still running on the initial 4 internal D batteries they had when I put the cameras out in April. The SD cards have been collected randomly several times and most of then within a few weeks, so the SD images numbers should not be considered when assessing the battery usage. I would guess that on average, these cameras take 30 - 50 images a week.

My biggest concern is with the cameras sensitivity. I have done several side by side test with Moultrie cameras and it is consistently a 3:1 ratio of images (Moultrie 3 and Cuddelink 1). As even more proof, we had 8 inches of snow to hunt on last Friday and in several instances, and multiple cameras, there were deer tracks no more than 30 feet from the Cuddelink cameras and no pictures were sent home. I have not pulled the SD cards in the cameras to confirm that the camera did not take a picture as opposed to it took a picture and never transmitted it home, but I don't believe that is the issue. I believe the issue is that it is not actually detecting the animal.

On camera 3 below (Bermuda Triangle) I have not been hunting around there because there have been only 1 to 2 pictures a week. Last week (with the snow) I went in there because its close to the camp and I only had a little time to get in and out. Well when I walked in there, it looked liked Santa's sleight took of with white flags going everywhere. this is a very small piece of woods and there was hardly a snow flake that had been walked on by a deer. However, not 1 picture on the camera.

I'm very disappointed in the cameras ability to sense the animal and capture pictures, as this is what it is supposed to do.

 

[john volkman]

So I really have no complaints about battery usage when using the battery booster pack on my G cameras. As you can see, most of my cameras are on 200 days and are still running on the initial 4 internal D batteries they had when I put the cameras out in April. The SD cards have been collected randomly several times and most of then within a few weeks, so the SD images numbers should not be considered when assessing the battery usage. I would guess that on average, these cameras take 30 - 50 images a week.

My biggest concern is with the cameras sensitivity. I have done several side by side test with Moultrie cameras and it is consistently a 3:1 ratio of images (Moultrie 3 and Cuddelink 1). As even more proof, we had 8 inches of snow to hunt on last Friday and in several instances, and multiple cameras, there were deer tracks no more than 30 feet from the Cuddelink cameras and no pictures were sent home. I have not pulled the SD cards in the cameras to confirm that the camera did not take a picture as opposed to it took a picture and never transmitted it home, but I don't believe that is the issue. I believe the issue is that it is not actually detecting the animal.

On camera 3 below (Bermuda Triangle) I have not been hunting around there because there have been only 1 to 2 pictures a week. Last week (with the snow) I went in there because its close to the camp and I only had a little time to get in and out. Well when I walked in there, it looked liked Santa's sleight took of with white flags going everywhere. this is a very small piece of woods and there was hardly a snow flake that had been walked on by a deer. However, not 1 picture on the camera.

I'm very disappointed in the cameras ability to sense the animal and capture pictures, as this is what it is supposed to do.

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what is your camera delay setting on your remote cameras ? what is your camera delay setting on the moultrie you had side by side? have you walked by any of your remote cams at 30 feet to see if they are catching you ? what height do you have the cameras set ? an easy set would be to walk by the camera in question at different distances and see if it detects you and takes a pic, if its not, its not working correctly. It appears you are using all g series ,they have a option to flip down or up on the detection lens so you get a narrow or wide detection range, which way do you have yours set?

 

[12pointer]

what is your camera delay setting on your remote cameras ? what is your camera delay setting on the moultrie you had side by side? have you walked by any of your remote cams at 30 feet to see if they are catching you ? what height do you have the cameras set ?

John..my camera delay on my cuddelinks is 5 seconds and on my Moultrie's I think its 3 seconds and burst mode. However, I am not going by picture count alone. I am looking at each deer (or animal) and which ones each camera showed at least on picture of.

I have walked by several of my 8 cuddelink cameras with little success unless I am less than 20 feet from the camera. under 20 feet they seem to work fine, but outside of 20 feet not so much....

 

[SELFILMED]

what is your camera delay setting on your remote cameras ? what is your camera delay setting on the moultrie you had side by side? have you walked by any of your remote cams at 30 feet to see if they are catching you ? what height do you have the cameras set ?

I'd also like to add that not every picture taken by your cuddelink camera will be transmitted to the home station depending on what your delays are set to (as John is alluding to above). See page 29 of the cuddelink user manual for a graphical representation...