Cuddeback's Cuddelink

[12pointer]

heres the short easy answer-
use an external battery pack on the G series or the new soon to arrive dual power bank on your K , G cameras and you will be happy - When your report shows your cam has switched to internals "BAT OK" or with the Dual power bank when it switches to bank #2 plan to swap out the externals at your next earliest convenience ideally within 30 days if possible.

Heres the long answer -
A brand new battery is about 1.6 volts. Thus internals start at about 6.4 volts and external about 9.6 volts. We have learned “good” batteries (Rayovac) are good to about 1.1 volts. We set B LOW at 1.2 volts.

INTERNAL LOW is about 4.8 volts and dead is 4.4 volts. Between LOW and DEAD picture quality (night IR) can suffer some as batteries do not have enough power to drive the capacitor /LED's.

EXTERNAL LOW is about 7.2 volts. However, the external will continue to be used until the external are EQUAL to the internal, about 6.6 volts IF the internal are perfect (which they probably are not). Because the internal will loose power on their own they will typically be 6 to 6.4 volts, and thus the external may be powering the camera down to 6 volts. This is ideal as this means every drop of power is sucked from the external batteries. This also means battery LOW goes from 7.2 volts to 6 volts (1 volt per battery). This is why BATTERY LOW on externals can be many weeks long. But this is not a problem as the user should not change the external batteries until the display or report switches to BAT OK, which means the external are completely dead and the internal have taken over.

Im not sure how you determined your batteries only used 33% but something went wrong in your test , if you pulled them after your report Switched to BAT OK the external 6 should have been dead. If you pulled them the day you saw EXT LOW on your report you could have used them longer but not 66% longer. In rare cases that happen in certain weather conditions ive seen the external go from ok, to low, to ok again. This is rare and typical happens on very cold nights followed by warm days where the unit is in full sun and the batteries warm up.[/QU

John,
Thanks for the detailed respond....if I follow you correctly it might be a good idea to run a week or so on internals before connecting the externals! This would allow the externals to run longer before switching! Is that correct?

 

[john volkman]

im not sure this will offer enough benefit to warrant the extra effort, but it may allow the externals a bit more. . Keep in mind the internals will draw down some just sitting in the camera. This is another reason why i always buy batteries at a place that turns a large volume of batteries so i know they havent been on the shelf a long time. I use Fleet Farm in my area.

 

[Jason6517]

Is there a battery pack that works with the K series Cell camera? If not what are my options to keep this camera up and going since solar panels are sold out everywhere?

 

[RRAB58]

See this post.

john volkman Post #1,843 May 15, 2019 Forum: General Discussion

 

[Bpressley]

Is there a battery pack that works with the K series Cell camera? If not what are my options to keep this camera up and going since solar panels are sold out everywhere?

Yes. The 3358 battery pack will work once the new adapter cord is released. Also the new 3563 dual power bank will work once it is released. From what I've been told from John and from Cuddeback CS the adapter cord should be available soon. The dual power bank should be available by end of summer.

 

[john volkman]

Is there a battery pack that works with the K series Cell camera? If not what are my options to keep this camera up and going since solar panels are sold out everywhere?

there are a few retailers that have some solar panels left. i can give you some names if you would like, just PM me. To use the solar panel with he K series you will need to purchase low discharge rechargeable D batteries.
one other note , if you go with the 3358 booster with adapter cord it will extend the battery life but since both the camera and the externals are 6d's both the externals and the internals will draw down at same time. The Dual power bank is set up to run on one bay of 6 and then switch to the other bay when the first gets to low, you can also use solar on one bay of the dual power bank.

 

[swat1018]

John, had tow J-series go under water in this crazy spring floods. Water had never been where it went, since I've had the place. Any program to get a new one or get them repaired?

 

[john volkman]

John, had tow J-series go under water in this crazy spring floods. Water had never been where it went, since I've had the place. Any program to get a new one or get them repaired?

i dont think they can repair them if they were under water for any period of time but they may offer a trade in, i would call CS mon-fri 8-430 central , they will give you the options.

 

[cspot]

Ok. Got a few questions after reading thru many of the posts in this thread. I have 4 of the J series cameras that I bought shortly after they cam out and they have worked well except for the battery life. Spotty cell service at our camp so they only go to the home camera right now. After the reading I just updated my firmware to the most recent.

1. I have never tried it but can you turn off the home camera and change batteries and will it link back up to the remote cameras without having to reset the remote cameras?

2. 2 of the 3 locations where I have the cameras get a good bit of sun, so it sounds like the solar option would probably be the best way to go? The 3rd location would get some sun, but since it is only on a trail and not a food source it doesn't take alot of pics. It is also the closest to the home camera. So solar may still be the best way to go for it? I know alot of retailers have sold out of the solar panels. Is there more stock coming?

3. My home camera location doesn't get alot of sun so it sounds like the dual power bank will be my best option there? Which is to be released soon?

4. I have just been running the factory settings for the cl settings. Is there better settings for those that would help extend battery life?

5. The new dual cell camera with the high gain antenna. How well does it work with spotty service? Will it drain batteries fast if it doesn't get a connection. Will it wait until it has a connection to send photos.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[john volkman]

Ok. Got a few questions after reading thru many of the posts in this thread. I have 4 of the J series cameras that I bought shortly after they cam out and they have worked well except for the battery life. Spotty cell service at our camp so they only go to the home camera right now. After the reading I just updated my firmware to the most recent.

1. I have never tried it but can you turn off the home camera and change batteries and will it link back up to the remote cameras without having to reset the remote cameras? yes it will link back up , no need to reset anything

2. 2 of the 3 locations where I have the cameras get a good bit of sun, so it sounds like the solar option would probably be the best way to go? The 3rd location would get some sun, but since it is only on a trail and not a food source it doesn't take alot of pics. It is also the closest to the home camera. So solar may still be the best way to go for it? I know alot of retailers have sold out of the solar panels. Is there more stock coming? yes more solars are on the way, if you dont have full sun a majority of the day i would recommend the dual power bank, a a replacement D battery pack for the J

3. My home camera location doesn't get alot of sun so it sounds like the dual power bank will be my best option there? Which is to be released soon?
yes first shipment is scheduled for august - get with a retailer and get one ordered if you are sure you want one.

4. I have just been running the factory settings for the cl settings. Is there better settings for those that would help extend battery life?
if your camera is on bait or mineral lengthen your delay depending on how many pics you are getting. if not, i set for 5 second camera delay, 1 pic per trigger, cl Delay 5 seconds and if running a cell home camera batch 30 for image transmission.

5. The new dual cell camera with the high gain antenna. How well does it work with spotty service? Will it drain batteries fast if it doesn't get a connection. Will it wait until it has a connection to send photos. you can run a test on site with the Dual cell, the dual cell tens to do better than most cell phones regarding reception but we cant guarantee service in a particular location. yes it will use more battery life if the signal is weak and it fails in attempts to send images. a rule of thumb is if you can download images on your phone in a particular spot the Dual cell will be able to transmit. A cell test at the site with the dual cell is the only true way to know.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

answered below your questions.

 

[cspot]

answered below your questions.

Thanks for the answers. Cell service there is too spotty I am afraid to get it to work. Usually can't download images there. Keep hoping that they put in a cell tower somewhere close.

 

[john volkman]

only thing i can suggest is to try and find a spot anywhere on the property that has service even if its not where you want a camera, once you have that you can link the other cameras to it and get everything. I had a similar situation in western wi bluff country , i put my cell unit in a stand 20 ft up on a ridge, all my cameras linked to that unit and i was alble to cover the entire property with remotes as a result

 

[cspot]

only thing i can suggest is to try and find a spot anywhere on the property that has service even if its not where you want a camera, once you have that you can link the other cameras to it and get everything. I had a similar situation in western wi bluff country , i put my cell unit in a stand 20 ft up on a ridge, all my cameras linked to that unit and i was alble to cover the entire property with remotes as a result

Hmm. That has me thinking. May be able to do that in the one location. Maybe use a climbing stand to put it up in the air aways.

 

[JLemon]

Hmm. That has me thinking. May be able to do that in the one location. Maybe use a climbing stand to put it up in the air aways.

I had the same issue. There's literally no where on my property that gets a good enough LTE signal with the camera at ground level so I had to go up a tree. It's not the ideal setup. If I would have figured this out sooner I would have just bought a Cell Home since I can't use the camera side of the K series.

 

[Bpressley]

I have been testing the Moultrie flash extenders with my J series black flash cams. I have the 850 and 940i and both significantly improve flash range and clarity. I can post sample pics and details if anyone is interested.

 

[12point]

I had the same issue. There's literally no where on my property that gets a good enough LTE signal with the camera at ground level so I had to go up a tree. It's not the ideal setup. If I would have figured this out sooner I would have just bought a Cell Home since I can't use the camera side of the K series.

All I've used are the Cell Home units only with their internal batteries. I'm only getting around 17 days of services from them. The benefit of the K series might be longer battery life. I'm looking at getting battery pack external power units. The K's may extend the days of service. How many days are you getting out of you K unit? Are you running external power units and what kind if so?

 

[JLemon]

All I've used are the Cell Home units only with their internal batteries. I'm only getting around 17 days of services from them. The benefit of the K series might be longer battery life. I'm looking at getting battery pack external power units. The K's may extend the days of service. How many days are you getting out of you K unit? Are you running external power units and what kind if so?

This from this mornings report. I was just using the non cell home plus running off a 12v battery regulated to 9v and home brew solar panels charging it. I never changed batteries. I’ll probably run the K the same way once they release the cord.

 

[WillowRidge]

Hello, I am new to the board and excuse me if this is covered before in this thread but I have done a good bit of reading and would just like opinions. I just purchased a 527 acre farm and am very interested in the cuddelink system. I was going to start off running 8-10 cameras. I would just like to know if the consensus is the cuddelink system is worth the investment or not. Starting from scratch and knowing that I will likely have this farm for many years, I would like to get some input on which cameras to use and accessories. I had previously had all g series power houses in cart with solar panels since i live 3.5 hours from my farm I wont be able to get up as frequently to change batteries etc.. Any input would be appreciated!

 

[JLemon]

I run all G series with a Dual Flash K series cell sending me emails. I have all my remotes running the D cell power packs and I’m over 75 days still on externals. I think it’s a great investment and I’m very happy with the system.

 

[WillowRidge]

I run all G series with a Dual Flash K series cell sending me emails. I have all my remotes running the D cell power packs and I’m over 75 days still on externals. I think it’s a great investment and I’m very happy with the system.

Thanks, exactly what I was thinking of running. Do you know if the solar panel would be worth the investment?