Cuddeback's Cuddelink

[kfab12]

Thanks for the pictures Risbowhunt. I got my black flash cameras a few weeks ago but can't get out to my property because of the snow. I tried driving out a few days ago with my wife and granddaughter, I couldn't pick up my cards from the cameras out there now, not my Cuddelinks. If I would have stopped I was going to get stuck and that wasn't what I wanted with a four year old and 14 degrees. So it's nice to see what I can expect with these pictures. Won't be until a good thaw before I get my cameras out.

 

[yoderjac]

View attachment 16328View attachment 16330
Pulled my cuddelink cameras after about one month. Here's one thumbnail taken from the home camera vs the full resolution (5 mp option) taken from the original camera.

Do you know if that is a 5MP sensor or an interpolated 5MP?

 

[Peplin Creek]

5mp is the sensor, 20MP is interpolated.

 

[yoderjac]

Thanks. If it is a 5 mp sensor, we are not really seeing the different on the forum. 5 MP pics with hit a max limit and get decimated. To truly see a comparison, one would need to take a small section of the picture (say the head of the buck) and crop the rest. Then upload that to compare to the thumbnail (which is probably small enough that it is not decimated). that would provide an apples to apples comparison between 5 MP resolution and thumbnail resolution. There are also other factors before digitization that affect the picture like the lens itself and camera settings. You may not see the effects of these at thumbnail resolution but you would at 5 MP.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Peplin Creek]

Thanks. If it is a 5 mp sensor, we are not really seeing the different on the forum. 5 MP pics with hit a max limit and get decimated. To truly see a comparison, one would need to take a small section of the picture (say the head of the buck) and crop the rest. Then upload that to compare to the thumbnail (which is probably small enough that it is not decimated). that would provide an apples to apples comparison between 5 MP resolution and thumbnail resolution. There are also other factors before digitization that affect the picture like the lens itself and camera settings. You may not see the effects of these at thumbnail resolution but you would at 5 MP.

Thanks,

Jack

Most are just concerned with the compressed image size anyway. The comparison that was posted seems fine and can show where compression might degrade the picture.

In my experience with the system so far, animals close to the camera and 20 - 30 feet away are easily identifiable, after that you can still make out a buck vs a doe, and if there are any crazy characteristics on the buck you can tell. clarity just isn’t as good. Comparable to cell units that transmit images at 800 x 600.

Does it lead to disappointment at times.... yeah sometimes I can tell it’s a good buck but not sure which one. The trade off, is that i didn’t have to go to the camera during the best part of the hunting season and risk messing up a great stand location. That’s a trade off for me i’ll take everyday.

For the everyday hunter that sets up cameras on waterholes, mock scrapes, trails etc. I’d be willing to bet compression of the images will not be much of an issue. I intend to put a bunch up over plots this upcoming spring/summer/fall. We’ll see how that does.... i’m thinking I might be dealing with more compression issues but maybe not.

 

[yoderjac]

Most are just concerned with the compressed image size anyway. The comparison that was posted seems fine and can show where compression might degrade the picture.

In my experience with the system so far, animals close to the camera and 20 - 30 feet away are easily identifiable, after that you can still make out a buck vs a doe, and if there are any crazy characteristics on the buck you can tell. clarity just isn’t as good. Comparable to cell units that transmit images at 800 x 600.

Does it lead to disappointment at times.... yeah sometimes I can tell it’s a good buck but not sure which one. The trade off, is that i didn’t have to go to the camera during the best part of the hunting season and risk messing up a great stand location. That’s a trade off for me i’ll take everyday.

For the everyday hunter that sets up cameras on waterholes, mock scrapes, trails etc. I’d be willing to bet compression of the images will not be much of an issue. I intend to put a bunch up over plots this upcoming spring/summer/fall. We’ll see how that does.... i’m thinking I might be dealing with more compression issues but maybe not.

Compression may be some of it, but most likely comes from the decimation. Then there may be some loss from compression. Posting the thumbnails is enough to decide if they are sufficient for a particular application. The short range PIR may limit the distance to most targets which may limit the amount of resolution necessary to that in the thumbnails. Posting a small portion of the original at full resolution along with the thumbnail allows folks to compare what they will get from the SD compared to the thumbnail transmitted.

I tend to agree with you that 800x600 with reasonable jpeg compression is sufficient to identify most targets under most environmental conditions at 20-30 feet.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Bill]

Those pics look good enough for me. And .65 miles isn't any thing to sneeze at. the signal will suffer some loss when the trees are full of water and have leafed out. But....

Come on home unit!

 

[Red Picqua]

Those pics look good enough for me. And .65 miles isn't any thing to sneeze at. the signal will suffer some loss when the trees are full of water and have leafed out. But....

Come on home unit!

totally agree.. pics look great. I was blown away when I read .65 of a MILE! wow. that's impressive.

 

[kfab12]

The pictures look good enough for me also and not having to go out to retrieve my cards is a huge bonus. I'm looking forward to getting my cameras in the field. I can't believe how much I've learned from the posts on Habitat Talk in just a couple of weeks. Thanks you guys!

 

[Ed Brodt]

Update on Cabellas solar chargers and the Cuddelink system. it had been about 3 weeks since last camera check. Since last check we had about 10 days where the temps never got above freezing with night time temps in single digits and day temps usually in teens. Checked all four cameras - temp was in teens. Two were humming along just fine. Two were not working. Checked the card in the home unit that reports camera status. The home camera status card showed that the two cameras that were not working appeared to have come on-line and off-line several times during this period and sent pictures to the home camera. Checked all connections in the field and could not get these two cameras to come one. Inserted D batteries into cameras and they popped right on. Got back home and plugged solar units back into cameras and they came right on. So it appears that extreme cold had some negative effect on the solar units powering two of the cameras. So the question would be why did two cameras continue to operate and two intermittently stop. One explanation I can think of is that the two that failed weren't fully charged when initially deployed. Will set them up again in a couple of days and see what happens.

 

[Peplin Creek]

Update on Cabellas solar chargers and the Cuddelink system. it had been about 3 weeks since last camera check. Since last check we had about 10 days where the temps never got above freezing with night time temps in single digits and day temps usually in teens. Checked all four cameras - temp was in teens. Two were humming along just fine. Two were not working. Checked the card in the home unit that reports camera status. The home camera status card showed that the two cameras that were not working appeared to have come on-line and off-line several times during this period and sent pictures to the home camera. Checked all connections in the field and could not get these two cameras to come one. Inserted D batteries into cameras and they popped right on. Got back home and plugged solar units back into cameras and they came right on. So it appears that extreme cold had some negative effect on the solar units powering two of the cameras. So the question would be why did two cameras continue to operate and two intermittently stop. One explanation I can think of is that the two that failed weren't fully charged when initially deployed. Will set them up again in a couple of days and see what happens.

In the report did they originally say ext batteries? I find it odd that your internal batteries were dead as well. From understanding the cam should use the externals first and then switch to internals after that. It could have been running on the internals for quite awhile if those were dead too.

 

[Ed Brodt]

In the report did they originally say ext batteries? I find it odd that your internal batteries were dead as well. From understanding the cam should use the externals first and then switch to internals after that. It could have been running on the internals for quite awhile if those were dead too.

The way we have this set up we do not run internal batteries at all. It is all powered by a 6 volt battery with a solar charger. See http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-External-Battery-Box-Solar-Panel-with-Volt-Battery/2344309.uts?productVariantId=4641146&WT.tsrc=PPC&WT.mc_id=GoogleProductAds&WT.z_mc_id1=04480298&rid=20&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIj6ix-rXa2AIVjbXACh3FQgk0EAQYASABEgJmrvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Peplin Creek]

The way we have this set up we do not run internal batteries at all. It is all powered by a 6 volt battery with a solar charger. See http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabe...VjbXACh3FQgk0EAQYASABEgJmrvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Got it, I assumed they had internals too. Let us know what you find out with the solar panels, sounds like either faulty batteries or not enough energy to recharge the batteries only maintain them.

 

[yoderjac]

Got it, I assumed they had internals too. Let us know what you find out with the solar panels, sounds like either faulty batteries or not enough energy to recharge the batteries only maintain them.

Those are likely 4.5 ah SLA batteries. First, those solar panels are quite tiny and are not going to provide much charging capacity. Cold weather has a big negative impact on SLA batteries. That means most of the energy was being provided by the battery itself as it discharges. The rate of discharge depends on the number of pictures, how many were night time (LED usage), and how good the signal was (retransmission of lost packets). So, each camera can be consuming energy at a different rate. Likewise, depending on your setup and how much light reached each panel for how many hours per day, the charge rate could be different. So, having different results from different camera is not surprising.

Also keep in mind that SLA batteries can sulfonate. This occurs when a battery sits for a time period in a low state of discharge (say 50% or less). When this occurs, the lifespan of the battery is significantly reduced. Label your 4.4 ah batteries with unique identifiers. Fully charge them before deploying them using a smart charger. Each time you deploy them put a different battery in each box (or move the boxes which ever is easier). See if your short battery life moves with the battery or stays with the camera/location. My guess is that in very cold weather with your description, you have probably hurt those batteries. It doesn't mean they won't work, just that will lose their charge much faster.

It may not be worth it for just a couple camera, but I'm dealing with lots of cameras and 6-volt SLA batteries. I bought an Autometer RC-300 to load test my SLA batteries. When SLA batteries hit about 65%, I like to swap them out. This seems to be the sweet spot to maximize life span. I've learned to use large panels so that even with a few cloudy days in the winter when hours of sun are limited, I can replace any energy used during that period in a very short time span. This keeps my SLAs between 80% and 100% which maximizes life span of the batteries.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Red Picqua]

didn't mark from Cuddeback say they tested this stuff already and he said D batteries were the best?? I looked at my local big box store and the price on D batteries were dirt cheap for the copper tops. I personally wouldn't mess around with solar panels and charging systems. I would just use the D batteries or am I missing something?

 

[Ed Brodt]

didn't mark from Cuddeback say they tested this stuff already and he said D batteries were the best?? I looked at my local big box store and the price on D batteries were dirt cheap for the copper tops. I personally wouldn't mess around with solar panels and charging systems. I would just use the D batteries or am I missing something?

We were only getting 2-3 weeks out of our D batteries. our cameras were set up to take pics when sensing motion and time lapse. That is a lot of pictures so that and the energy to send them to the home camera was apparently using batteries faster than we were comfortable with. Duracell Coppertops were selling for $1.60 each where we live. With four cameras that added up to over $50.00 every 3 weeks or so which was going to increase since we planned on adding a few more cameras in the future. We figured in the long run we would save money by going the 6 volt solar route, plus that would give us longer time periods of not having to visit each camera. The weather I described in the original post is not something we routinely experience here so we are not too worried about this. Just reporting our experience since we know others may have this kind of weather routinely. We deployed these four cameras in early October and are satisfied with performance so far.

 

[kfab12]

Hey Ed where are you located at? Think about putting your location in your avatar because a lot of people look for the location especially when talking about weather, crops, etc. Knowing the location is a big help. Thanks.

 

[Ed Brodt]

Hey Ed where are you located at? Think about putting your location in your avatar because a lot of people look for the location especially when talking about weather, crops, etc. Knowing the location is a big help. Thanks.

Central KY. Small community called Gravel Switch

 

[john volkman]

We were only getting 2-3 weeks out of our D batteries. our cameras were set up to take pics when sensing motion and time lapse. That is a lot of pictures so that and the energy to send them to the home camera was apparently using batteries faster than we were comfortable with. Duracell Coppertops were selling for $1.60 each where we live. With four cameras that added up to over $50.00 every 3 weeks or so which was going to increase since we planned on adding a few more cameras in the future. We figured in the long run we would save money by going the 6 volt solar route, plus that would give us longer time periods of not having to visit each camera. The weather I described in the original post is not something we routinely experience here so we are not too worried about this. Just reporting our experience since we know others may have this kind of weather routinely. We deployed these four cameras in early October and are satisfied with performance so far.

Ed, Cuddeback will have an accessory solar panel that includes 12 rechargeable batteries for about $50 retail coming soon. In testing, these set ups has been running cameras for in excess of 2 years without interruption. The type of rechargeable battery is important to get best performance and its also important that they are fully charged before placing them in the field. This is why we will be including specific batteries with the solar panel.
Running time lapse depending on the frequency will put more stress on the batteries and is not something that we can guarantee a time period. Our solar panel test models were run in northern WI where there was recently several weeks of below zero temp and they are still running.
You will also be able to add 2 different auxiliary D cell packs designed for both model cameras in 2018, both hold 6 d cells. This will increase your battery life substantially. I cant speak for the set up you are using since its not something Cuddeback designed or tested(or warranty for that matter).

 

[Ed Brodt]

Thanks. Sounds promising.