Cuddeback's Cuddelink

[spaniel]

Willow,
I hate to say this about a WI company but I've never been more frustrated with cameras. It seems like I change batteries constantly. The sensors were bad, and it didn't take as many pictures as it should. They replaced them. When the D batteries die most times the camera has to reprogrammed. . I live in WI and I've been to the factory twice. Customer Service was nice enough but the problems never really got fixed. I guess they did get slightly better. We are on the 107 page of this forum...enough said. Game cameras really shouldn't be this complicated. I would highly recommend the Spypoint cellular camera. I've only had it 1.5 months but its worked flawlessly. The resolution of the pics isn't the greatest, but not bad.

How many pics per week are you getting to drain the batteries? I'm going on 6 weeks now, cameras are OK, I have about 300 pics across 4 cameras for the first month then expanding to 6.

Regarding taking pics my main observation is that instead of having a camera take 200 irrelevant pics as the sun sets as my cheaper cameras did, I get 1-4 REAL pics including animals. In ~300 pics I have had one single image which didn't include an animal. Am I missing animals? I cannot exclude that possibility without mounting a different camera in parallel. But given experience to date I'm doubting it.

Competition is good for the industry. Problem is right now if you want to run multiple cameras remotely, you run Cuddelink or pay multiple cell fees. I'm happy with the performance of Cuddelink thus far.

 

[RRAB58]

Ok here are some test pics with and without the Moultrie flash extenders (I used both the 850 and 940i). The camera used is J series black flash 1422, except pic 3. Settings: 1 image, 5 sec delay, Far, 5 mp.

Pic 1: no flash extender
View attachment 24994
Pic 2: 850, high flash setting
View attachment 24995
Pic 3: G series Powerhouse IR, no flash extender
View attachment 25001
Pic 4: 940i, high flash setting
View attachment 25002

As you can see they make quite a difference for the black flash cams. If you shop around they can be had for under $25 w/ shipping. I feel like that's a qfair price for the performance they deliver. They also fired on every pic taken, that was with a 5 sec delay. Some units were pretty finicky with how the photocell was aimed. But once you get it right they work. I had the flash extender mounted right above the camera but will play with remote mounting to see how far I can separate the 2. Hope this helps some people.

Any of the pics of the Powerhouse with Flash Extender?

 

[RRAB58]

Willow,
I hate to say this about a WI company but I've never been more frustrated with cameras. It seems like I change batteries constantly. The sensors were bad, and it didn't take as many pictures as it should. They replaced them. When the D batteries die most times the camera has to reprogrammed. . I live in WI and I've been to the factory twice. Customer Service was nice enough but the problems never really got fixed. I guess they did get slightly better. We are on the 107 page of this forum...enough said. Game cameras really shouldn't be this complicated. I would highly recommend the Spypoint cellular camera. I've only had it 1.5 months but its worked flawlessly. The resolution of the pics isn't the greatest, but not bad.

What sensor's were bad?

 

[RRAB58]

Ok here are some test pics with and without the Moultrie flash extenders (I used both the 850 and 940i). The camera used is J series black flash 1422, except pic 3. Settings: 1 image, 5 sec delay, Far, 5 mp.

Pic 1: no flash extender
View attachment 24994
Pic 2: 850, high flash setting
View attachment 24995
Pic 3: G series Powerhouse IR, no flash extender
View attachment 25001
Pic 4: 940i, high flash setting
View attachment 25002

As you can see they make quite a difference for the black flash cams. If you shop around they can be had for under $25 w/ shipping. I feel like that's a qfair price for the performance they deliver. They also fired on every pic taken, that was with a 5 sec delay. Some units were pretty finicky with how the photocell was aimed. But once you get it right they work. I had the flash extender mounted right above the camera but will play with remote mounting to see how far I can separate the 2. Hope this helps some people.

Ok here are some test pics with and without the Moultrie flash extenders (I used both the 850 and 940i). The camera used is J series black flash 1422, except pic 3. Settings: 1 image, 5 sec delay, Far, 5 mp.

Pic 1: no flash extender
View attachment 24994
Pic 2: 850, high flash setting
View attachment 24995
Pic 3: G series Powerhouse IR, no flash extender
View attachment 25001
Pic 4: 940i, high flash setting
View attachment 25002

As you can see they make quite a difference for the black flash cams. If you shop around they can be had for under $25 w/ shipping. I feel like that's a qfair price for the performance they deliver. They also fired on every pic taken, that was with a 5 sec delay. Some units were pretty finicky with how the photocell was aimed. But once you get it right they work. I had the flash extender mounted right above the camera but will play with remote mounting to see how far I can separate the 2. Hope this helps some people.

If you run another test, trying putting camera IR Mode on “Close”, see if that corrects some of the blur.

 

[Bpressley]

I didn't take any pics with the Powerhouse and flash extender together. I just deployed thaat cam yesterday morning too, so no test pics unless I get another one anytime soon. I did test the "close" setting and the blur was more pronounced than the "far" setting. I could post some of those pics later today.

 

[RRAB58]

I didn't take any pics with the Powerhouse and flash extender together. I just deployed thaat cam yesterday morning too, so no test pics unless I get another one anytime soon. I did test the "close" setting and the blur was more pronounced than the "far" setting. I could post some of those pics later today.

I would have guessed it would have changed exposure. Oh well. Still ok for Black Flash.

 

[FredG]

I didn't take any pics with the Powerhouse and flash extender together. I just deployed thaat cam yesterday morning too, so no test pics unless I get another one anytime soon. I did test the "close" setting and the blur was more pronounced than the "far" setting. I could post some of those pics later today.

I would have guessed it would have changed exposure. Oh well. Still ok for Black Flash.

Changing from "Close" to "Far" does change the exposure, but it does so in a counter-intuitive manner. The "Far" setting will result in a shorter shutter speed which will diminish motion blur... the opposite of what one might expect.

 

[Boone]

I bought the k series cell cam today. I plan adding more g cams but this will be the only cam for awile. I set the cc mode to on, cl mode to off and images to be sent every 8 hrs. I hope this is right? Also I dont believe I set the delay or count. Does anyone know what the default settings are? I may have to go change that. Any idea how many days I will get from the 6 d cells? Suppose to be 90 all next week here in central Wi.

 

[cspot]

I know the solar panels comes with Tenergy AA battieries. Can someone tell me which ones they are? I am going to buy the solar panels but I want to buy from Bass Pro when they get them in stock since I have a bunch of Cabelas points. HOwever I want to get the Tenergy Charger and enough batteries so that I can swap out a set or 2 if the solars don't quite keep up. Figure I will go ahead and buy those now so that I could start using them instead of buying more batteries as I want to get a couple of cameras deployed soon.

 

[JLemon]

I know the solar panels comes with Tenergy AA battieries. Can someone tell me which ones they are? I am going to buy the solar panels but I want to buy from Bass Pro when they get them in stock since I have a bunch of Cabelas points. HOwever I want to get the Tenergy Charger and enough batteries so that I can swap out a set or 2 if the solars don't quite keep up. Figure I will go ahead and buy those now so that I could start using them instead of buying more batteries as I want to get a couple of cameras deployed soon.

Hopefully the Tenergy batteries have improved but when I bought my solar panels last year (4 sets) there was at least 2 batteries in each one that would not take a charge. I ended up just buying Energizer rechargeable batteries.

 

[MercerRidge]

Quick question been following this thread awhile first post but I have 10 Cuddelink J style cameras and 1 G style cell does anything one do anything to these cameras new out of the box to help protect these cameras seal anything else up or put dielectric grease on battery springs etc...I have had my cameras for about 6 months and they seem to be working great but didn’t know if anyone had anything extra or special they done to help protect from elements...thanks

 

[WillowRidge]

Just pulled the trigger on 8 Power House black flash's, One Dual Flash Cell, & 9 power packs. Pretty excited to get these things working!

 

[RRAB58]

Just pulled the trigger on 8 Power House black flash's, One Dual Flash Cell, & 9 power packs. Pretty excited to get these things working!

Welcome to the addiction!

 

[RRAB58]

Quick question been following this thread awhile first post but I have 10 Cuddelink J style cameras and 1 G style cell does anything one do anything to these cameras new out of the box to help protect these cameras seal anything else up or put dielectric grease on battery springs etc...I have had my cameras for about 6 months and they seem to be working great but didn’t know if anyone had anything extra or special they done to help protect from elements...thanks

I’ve never used anything. Never had any water issues on any brand I’ve ever used. Dielectric grease is not conductive, I wouldn’t put it on contacts points.

 

[Bpressley]

John, have you heard about pricing for the J/K series adapter cord yet?

 

[john volkman]

John, have you heard about pricing for the J/K series adapter cord yet?

it will be minimal but i dont have an exact cost, we will be including both cables with the 2 boosters . The dual power bank and the 3358 booster once they arrive.

 

[RRAB58]

I unplugged external batteries (new) from camera and when I plugged it back in, the camera doesn’t recognize externals. Once it goes to internals, do they have to go dead (or pulled out) to go back to externals?

 

[john volkman]

I unplugged external batteries (new) from camera and when I plugged it back in, the camera doesn’t recognize externals. Once it goes to internals, do they have to go dead (or pulled out) to go back to externals?

it may take a bit for it to recognize it, you can also remove the internal batteries after unplugging the external and leave them out for a few minutes or hit any button to use up remaining charge in the capacitor , when you put all the batteries back in and plug in external it should show it if they hold enough charge.

 

[RRAB58]

it may take a bit for it to recognize it, you can also remove the internal batteries after unplugging the external and leave them out for a few minutes or hit any button to use up remaining charge in the capacitor , when you put all the batteries back in and plug in external it should show it if they hold enough charge.

It happened once on new camera at home, no buttons would function. Took out internals and still had to wait. This time I unplugged it when I moved another camera about 3-4 days ago, it’s still showing internals. I should’ve thought to remove internals and let it reset but I was about to have a heat stroke and was not thinking. The camera might have been on might have been the cause. No big deal. Just a lesson learned I guess. Thanks John!

 

[RRAB58]

I’ve never used anything. Never had any water issues on any brand I’ve ever used. Dielectric grease is not conductive, I wouldn’t put it on contacts points.

It has been flooding (5+ inches) for the last 2-3 days. I will be able to tell you for sure how well my new Cudde's are waterproof. The only vulnerable areas I see are the lenses. I can move the PIR lens around fairly easily. It appears to be an o-ring gasket. If cam is tilted up a little, rain may seep in there if water sits on the lip of the case. I doubt it, but maybe.

I got 200+ pics last night. Some looked as if lens were fogged up. Most likely from rain running down the camera. At 7:20pm, the camera IR filter shifted back and forth for several pics. I am assuming it was the dark clouds that came and went and no clear transition from day to night. It may have been water running down outside of lens diffusing the light hitting the sensor. Time will tell.

I worry more about ambient temperature than water. 98/99 degrees & heat index over 110 degrees several days.