Cuddeback's Cuddelink
- Thread starter Peplin Creek
- Start date
12pointer
5 year old buck +
John,
Optics planet sent me an email yesterday saying my home unit 1365 (non-cell) is ready to be shipped, which I am very happy about! (I ordered it in February)! What's the best way to install it? I have 8 G model cameras out with 1 as the home unit, and 7 remotes! Should I turn on and program the home unit as the home unit and then change the current home unit (G series camera) to remote or visa versa!
I'm thinking of setting the current home collection camera to remote and then turning on the home unit and setting it to home. This way there's never 2 set as home at the same time, but want to know what's the right way to do this!
john volkman
5 year old buck +
it really doesnt matter, it will figure it out but it can take an hour or so to connect to all of the remotes. i would switch your current home to remote, place it where ever you want it then power up your new unit , set it to the same channel , set it as home and wait for it to connect.
keep in mind the # 1365 will only work as a home or repeater, it doest have the option to hook into a windows pc yet so you will need to pull the card form the home unit to view all your images.
john volkman
5 year old buck +
the adapter for the solar kit to hook up to the g series is not available yet,(first shipment scheduled for mid august) honestly i would recommend getting the 6 d cell battery booster for it instead of the solar kit. Solar kit is good option for remote cams but the home cell is a workhouse unit and needs a lot of juice. You will be able to use the solar option with G's when the aa battery adapter arrives but the 6 d cell battery booster is a better option in my opinion.
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
I have been following along with interests of adding a few of these cameras to my land. But after following a along for months, the cameras dont seem to be very simple to use, and in my mind dont seem like they are ready for the market, and should have been delayed until the cameras and the accessories are available to use the cameras as intended. But maybe I am missing something. I have been using cellular cameras for years, and they sure seem much easier to use. Buy it, hang it up, turn it on, pay a small annual cellular fee and look at your pictures on your phone practically live, or at least within a minute. When this thread first started and I read what the cameras would/could do, I was intrigued, but now a year later, and the cameras still arent ready for use as they were intended.
I am in the market for some new cameras, but at this point I would need to be convinced that these cameras are going to live up to the hype, or at least do as they were advertised to do. I normally leave my cell cams out all year, and on average get about 500 pictures a month from each camera, and I only need to put batteries in 1 time a year, 12 AA lithiums, and other then that, I never touch them, or have to go to them in the woods.
I am in the market for some new cameras, but at this point I would need to be convinced that these cameras are going to live up to the hype, or at least do as they were advertised to do. I normally leave my cell cams out all year, and on average get about 500 pictures a month from each camera, and I only need to put batteries in 1 time a year, 12 AA lithiums, and other then that, I never touch them, or have to go to them in the woods.
strawhead
5 year old buck +
Are you in the forested portion of Washburn Co? In the forests of Sawyer Co. we get no cell coverage.
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
I am.
bueller
Moderator
Glad to see I'm not the only skeptical one here. Once I saw these units would be using D batteries I was 100% out. Not to mention it's all based on promises from a company with questionable recent history in the trail cam market. IF the ENTIRE setups ever become available AND the common man user reviews are good I'll reconsider.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
You are certainly not the only one. I've been working with RF cams for many years. Since they are not transmitting full resolution images, many, but not all, of the challenges are reduced. RF consumes a lot of power. Balancing batteries, solar panels, and programming has been a huge challenge with my Orions. The second challenge has been pines. Right now, I've got one camera with which I can't communicate. I'm going to need to increase the height of an antenna to get over the pines.
Cudde is an infant in this arena. I expect lots of growing pains. They have some lofty goals and I'd love to see some serious competition drive the prices down, but my expectations have been low since the beginning of the thread.
Time will tell... I'm glad some of the trusted guys on this forum are early adopters so we continue to get real feedback, good and bad.
Thanks,
Jack
Nothing wrong with a little professional skepticism -- it makes good things better. I came into this not expecting a cellular component immediately, but I still saw value in the RF network between cameras with a single "home" unit since I can't make it in to all my cameras easily depending on conditions and if I have an ATV/UTV with me. That said, I also had the full intent of deploying cellular as soon as it was ready to go, and the main advantage I saw with this system was that you didn't need 4 different plans on top of 4, $400 cameras. This is cheaper (at least for me) in the long run.
As for full res versus thumbnails, the thumbs that these cameras send are good enough for me where I don't need the full res pics. I'm a happy camper so far and cellular hasn't even hit yet.
As for full res versus thumbnails, the thumbs that these cameras send are good enough for me where I don't need the full res pics. I'm a happy camper so far and cellular hasn't even hit yet.
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
I am running 4 cell units, and the plan I have is less then $10 per month for all 4 cameras combined when paying for a year at a time. Yes the cameras were $400 each, but they work, and they work now as they are advertised, and all I had to do is put batteries in them, and a sim card, then spend 5 minutes on each camera setting them up, and then I leave them in the woods for a year before I change the batteries. I can make changes to them from my phone as I want to. I get get high res pictures sent to my phone for .10 each if the thumbnail isnt deemed good enough.
Like I said, the way the Cuddie link system is designed to work, had me intrigued, but it isnt working as designed yet.
Like I said, the way the Cuddie link system is designed to work, had me intrigued, but it isnt working as designed yet.
To me, it is all about the longevity of the cameras and if they actually work 1/4 mile apart. I have one spartan cell cam. It is an almost $500 camera and $10 per month even if it doesnt send a pic. Seems like the 12 AA batteries last two to three months. I could get five cuddelink cameras and one of the home units that tie into your computer - yes - I know not ready yet - for about the same as two cell cams - with no monthly fee. Three fourths of my property has no cell service. I put my cell cam where it will get service - not where I want it to go. But, even if I didnt want any of the downloading on computer or cell service, I would still be about as well off as I am now . My current cams cost about $150 apiece - so I could get five of them for the price of four cuddelinks - and it takes me a lot of walking and more than an hour to check the cams - compared to walking to one camera and pulling the data for four more. I like everything about the system - for me it is perfect - if the cameras actually work 1/4 mile apart - and if they last.
I have only had 4 out for 2 weeks and just out 4 more out. First check of the first 4 was way above my expectations. Working as advertised. I have my home camera on a hill top trail and the last camera down in a little hole. Sure they are all fairly close, 100- 200 yards a piece, but it is normal spots I run my cameras every year. Now I do not need to go down and check all the cameras. Pretty slick imo. Will see how the 4 new black flash/red ir ones work. But to me they are easy setups, work good and good pics. Can’t tell on battery life yet but my D battery packs for the j series are showing 28 days left after first check.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
I used similar rationale when selecting the BEC Orion system many years ago. I needed full size images and cost over the cellular networks was both very high and recurring for high volumes of data.
You touch on the other important set of criteria for me which was reliability and longevity. I didn't mind paying the high price up front knowing the cameras would have a very long lifespan compared to most cameras on the network. I did send a few cameras back to BEC for refurbishment of parts that wear like connectors and Lexan, but all of the cameras I bought in 2008 are still running strong.
The transmitters cuddeback uses are limited in power by the FCC like anyone using these frequencies. Transmission distances will depend on many factors like interference, weather, obstructions, and such. Some folks will be very happy with transmission distance and others will not.
Thanks,
Jack
If you have cameras running on your system for ten years - that is great. I just buy run of the mill game cams and I consider anything consistently over three years service to be good. We wont know about the longevity of this system for a few years. Since this is a new system - it is only natural to have a higher failure rate. How cuddeback handles those failures while the work they work the bugs out will make all the difference in the world.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Yes, my strategy is not for everyone. Expensive cameras are not a good fit when theft is an issue. It is pretty expensive just for scouting. However, if you are extracting the data from photos for making management decisions, it is another story. Cameras that don't capture everything or have a high false alarm rate create holes in the data. Trying to service large number of cameras 24/7/365 is problematic. Just keeping up with the data is work enough even when it is automatically transmitted to a single computer.
To be honest, the last time I was in the game camera market, you were lucky to get 1 year out of a $300 camera without a warranty return. Things have improved greatly if you are getting 3 years of lifespan now. That is not to say that some cameras may not last long, but QC was very bad so one guy might get a good one off the line and the next guy would get a dud.
Different strategies work in different situations. If the Cuddeback system proves itself, I may have a scouting application for it on another parcel, but BEC fits me better for QDM purposes.
Thanks,
Jack
john volkman
5 year old buck +
If any of you that are attending Deerfest in WI this weekend, stop and say hi, i will be in one of a couple dealers booth and can answer questions there or go thru cams with hands on use to see how they are set up or work. . There will be product available including some cell units. I will be in either the Huntngear booth or Jons sport shop booth, it should be obvious there is cuddeback presence there and easy to see.
Cameras are definately better now than they used to be. For my area - I cant think of one reason why I need better cameras for anything - including qdm. I could use the cuddelink system for less time of running cameras - that is why I am interested
12pointer
5 year old buck +
John,
Can you connect a booster battery pack to a 1365 home unit?
Also, just thought I update my experience this far with my cuddelink system,. I am running 8 G series cameras (4 powerhouse black flash, and 4 powerhouse IR) They are at around 100 days in the field and so far no complaints. All batteries are still ok and no problems with connections over the first 3 months.
