Cuddeback's Cuddelink

[No-Tox]

So what is the amount of days to get out of simply using the 6 internal batteries if only sending batch pics once a day?

On a remote or Cell?

Cell

 

[RRAB58]

I've seen this thread over the past few years or so and never clicked on it. Today I got curious as to how this thing has reached 169 pages. Not sure I want to spend the time reading the entire thread, but I am curious as to why members have been discussing these cameras for 2 years and 169 pages. Would anybody be kind enough to summarize the 2 or 3 salient points that emerge about these cameras?

While 169 pages may offend you, most is repeated information, whereas people do not search forum. They just want a quick answer. No offense, but kinda like you wanting a quick summary of “2-3 salient points”.

Salient meaning: “important or noticeable”. Notice problems? or Noticeable attributes?

Problems-some of the same problem’s discussed here apply to other camera platforms as well. Battery Life, Detection’s, Reliability and Connection issues. Some mfg issues and some human error issues.

Attributes-those are well stated on the box and their website. Why I bought? Flash size, camera lens size, battery size (no AAA’s or AA’s for me) and Networking capability.

With upper end camera’s in the $250+ea range and system’s running $2000+, we do not treat them like $50 disposables. We ask question’s and work through the problem’s.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

While 169 pages may offend you, most is repeated information, whereas people do not search forum. They just want a quick answer. No offense, but kinda like you wanting a quick summary of “2-3 salient points”.

Salient meaning: “important or noticeable”. Notice problems? or Noticeable attributes?

Problems-some of the same problem’s discussed here apply to other camera platforms as well. Battery Life, Detection’s, Reliability and Connection issues. Some mfg issues and some human error issues.


Attributes-those are well stated on the box and their website. Why I bought? Flash size, camera lens size, battery size (no AAA’s or AA’s for me) and Networking capability.

With upper end camera’s in the $250+ea range and system’s running $2000+, we do not treat them like $50 disposables. We ask question’s and work through the problem’s.

Your last sentence makes sense, and was all you needed to say. I did not realize these systems ran $2000. That makes perfect sense to me...to have a thread to share experiences and to trouble shoot these expensive systems. So, thanks for that. I would have appreciated just that alone without your arrogant and condescending snark in addition. I think I was looking for some kind of a synopsis of this system...overall, it's worth every $2k? Or overall, this system has too many faults to justify the price. This forum is a great place to share ideas and help fellow hunters and habitat enthusiasts when they show up with questions. I enjoy helping others when I can with no expectation of anything in return. Thought I could ask a simple question without getting you all bent out of shape. Enjoy your thread.

 

[Trlblzr3]

.

Your last sentence makes sense, and was all you needed to say. I did not realize these systems ran $2000. That makes perfect sense to me...to have a thread to share experiences and to trouble shoot these expensive systems. So, thanks for that. I would have appreciated just that alone without your arrogant and condescending snark in addition. I think I was looking for some kind of a synopsis of this system...overall, it's worth every $2k? Or overall, this system has too many faults to justify the price. This forum is a great place to share ideas and help fellow hunters and habitat enthusiasts when they show up with questions. I enjoy helping others when I can with no expectation of anything in return. Thought I could ask a simple question without getting you all bent out of shape. Enjoy your thread.

The price you pay depends on the number of cameras use choose to put in your network. I ran a 5 camera network this fall. It consisted of 4 - J1415 and one K5789. The only modification I did was to replace the AA battery housing with the D battery housing. (Which I think Cuddeback should offer as original equipment.) I placed this system on property 9 hrs. from home and it worked flawlessly. I read these pages and followed the recommendations for setting the cameras up. They operated 70+ days and never had a problem when I pulled them.
From my following there have been two major problems that being the battery problem and a glitch that the cameras will start taking pictures every minute or two with no subject to trigger. They continue doing this until card fills up or battery dies. These problems from my thoughts have all been in the G series cameras, which by the way are the more expensive. My total investment was less than $1200.

 

[RRAB58]

Your last sentence makes sense, and was all you needed to say. I did not realize these systems ran $2000. That makes perfect sense to me...to have a thread to share experiences and to trouble shoot these expensive systems. So, thanks for that. I would have appreciated just that alone without your arrogant and condescending snark in addition. I think I was looking for some kind of a synopsis of this system...overall, it's worth every $2k? Or overall, this system has too many faults to justify the price. This forum is a great place to share ideas and help fellow hunters and habitat enthusiasts when they show up with questions. I enjoy helping others when I can with no expectation of anything in return. Thought I could ask a simple question without getting you all bent out of shape. Enjoy your thread.

Man... after re-reading my comment, it did come out very condescending, which is against my nature and I do most humbly apologize for that.

Actually, "is it worth the $$" is a very good thought provoking question. Deer hunting in general is definitely an expensive hobby around my area. Trail camera's have become a passion (almost addictive) for some more than hunting. I also own a boat and a fish camp and umpteen rods and reels. My boat is by far a bigger money eater and frustrating than my deer hunting. But in all honesty, if a person does not like analyzing and troubleshooting trailcam's, especially cell models (all makes & models), they will soon grow frustrated and probably won't be worth it to them. But I just bought another $280 camera, so it is either worth it to me or I am a glutton for punishment or either I am addicted. lol

Apologies again, hope to see you join the addiction!

 

[willy]

I have ten cuddelink cams. One cell unit and 9 g cameras of either black flash or dual flash as well as a couple repeating units to work my terrain. All have the d battery booster packs and have been out since 3rd week in
Sept. They have taken a little over 4000 pics combined in that time. None are on bait or licks, but on trail crossings, inside corners in plots, or licking branches. I set them out in late Aug or Sept and pull in January or Feb., clean them well, make sure they are dry, pull batteries, and put in a dry climate controlled area.

They have been a lot of fun. I had a couple user errors in set up over the past 3 years but they have been solid cams. I got some new ones to add to my link coverage and one of those quit in the first 5 days. Through advice from Mr. Volkman I called cs and sent it in. They replaced it and I had the cam back out in a weeks turnaround time. Mr. Volkman has been a wealth of knowledge on this thread and if he is doing this all out of the kindness of his heart he definitely is the kind of person I would want working for my company. He truly goes above and beyond job duties. I think many camera sales have resulted because of his sharing of knowledge and help here.

One thing I have noticed is that they make an audible noise based on how the deer seek them out and really check them out. I have never had that with my brownings in the past 4 years. I don't have as many mature buck sightings with them as I normally do in the places I've set them up. I have them on my brownings considerably more times and never have they given the impression they noticed the camera. I usually set my cams close to the action as I like up close, detailed pics. Cuddes might not be able to be as close as I like them.

Next year I will place them higher in the tree and further away from the spots I am monitoring and see if that makes a difference. That's what I have done in the years prior to this year and never had this issue so I think that will cure that ailment.

To me they're worth it. One doesn't need a whole slew of cams. A well placed few can really tell the story. Buy a couple a year when on sale, take care of them and I'm sure they'll last a long time. I'm a little anal and usually go all in in whatever I do so I have more, sometimes that's a good thing sometimes not.

 

[HB_Hunter]

Quick question about the dual power bank.

If I’m connecting it to a J series camera, do I need to remove the internal batteries?

On the 1st report for the camera it said “ext 1” or something close to that. Each day since it shows “Ok”.

Camera is working fine and I’m running the latest FW (7.7).

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I have been following this thread since new. I have always had interest, being I have some dead areas on my land that a system like this would benefit me.

I have a few questions, and I don’t want it to sound like I am knocking the system, just want to know, and I am sure others would want to know as well.

Other then being able to link camera to camera, to send pictures to cell a camera from an area that don’t get cell service, are there and benefits of this system?

From my observation of this thread, the cameras may be a little cheaper, but it sounds like there are a bunch of options needed to make them useful.

I see people talking battery use being good when they are getting 90-180 days of use, with D batteries, but I get a year or more from AA batteries in my cell cams, and they send me thousands of pictures a year.

Noisy camera issues, run aways, in my opinion short battery life, and by the time you purchase all the extended battery packs, solar chargers, extra batteries it uses up, other then setting the cameras up in a spot you don’t get cell coverage, is there any other advantages?

I am not trying to knock the system, I am just trying to understand it’s benefits over running cell cams like a Spypoint, Or a Covert, etc..

I assume I am not the only one wondering, after many pages of issues. And I understand all cameras have problems, I am not knocking any of the problems, just wondering the benefit of running this system compared to a regular cell camera.

 

[willy]

Good questions 4wanderingeye. The benefit that outweighs the cost IMO is I don't have to put my stinking body into any area of my land. The cam noise may make them camera shy of that area but they still are using my land, my stench and they probably won't be for long.

Since its a want and not a need one has to make the call if its worth it to them and how they are trying to manage their property.

 

[HB_Hunter]

I am not trying to knock the system, I am just trying to understand it’s benefits over running cell cams like a Spypoint, Or a Covert, etc..

I run the system with a home camera connected to AC power in the house. The benefits for me are as follows:

1. No monthly fees - self explanatory. I pay the upfront cost for the cameras and have no expenses/data limits/coverage issues.

2. Ability to run the home camera on AC power.

3. Cameras link with each other. This allows me to get cameras in locations I want them in that I could never get a cell signal in.

4. All the pictures come to one memory card that I can access in the house. This makes picture organization a breeze. It’s also a huge time saver.

5. Cost - I can buy a camera for $200 (actually got my five J series cams for $150 each). The dual power bank is $40 and batteries for it are $12 total. Just got the dual power banks setup and expect them to be the last piece of the puzzle.

I love this system and don’t plan to buy anything else.

 

[No-Tox]

Got my first pic from my Cuddelink. I moved it off a feeder to the food plot that deer have been using.
1. I tilted the camera down a bit so the aim wasn't too high.
2. I changed up the focal point to wide instead of center.

I also changed it to black flash instead of red. For the field is that best? I went black because I don't want any glow.

 

[RRAB58]

I have been following this thread since new. I have always had interest, being I have some dead areas on my land that a system like this would benefit me.

I have a few questions, and I don’t want it to sound like I am knocking the system, just want to know, and I am sure others would want to know as well.

Other then being able to link camera to camera, to send pictures to cell a camera from an area that don’t get cell service, are there and benefits of this system?

From my observation of this thread, the cameras may be a little cheaper, but it sounds like there are a bunch of options needed to make them useful.

I see people talking battery use being good when they are getting 90-180 days of use, with D batteries, but I get a year or more from AA batteries in my cell cams, and they send me thousands of pictures a year.

Noisy camera issues, run aways, in my opinion short battery life, and by the time you purchase all the extended battery packs, solar chargers, extra batteries it uses up, other then setting the cameras up in a spot you don’t get cell coverage, is there any other advantages?

I am not trying to knock the system, I am just trying to understand it’s benefits over running cell cams like a Spypoint, Or a Covert, etc..

I assume I am not the only one wondering, after many pages of issues. And I understand all cameras have problems, I am not knocking any of the problems, just wondering the benefit of running this system compared to a regular cell camera.

In all honesty, if you have a camera that is emailing you 1000's of quality pictures and your batteries last over a year, you better stick with what you have.

One of the feature's that I think it excels at is high quality night time pictures. Quality pictures are directly related to illumination. So compare the flashes. Although... quality is subjective and the bigger flash consumes more battery. I run 5 sec delay and 3 picture burst and get literally tens of thousands of pictures. Some cards have had 6000-8000 pictures on them when I pulled them. But I can't do it on AA's. Our deer season lasts about 135 days and I can make it from pre-season to end of season on D batteries. That's good enough for me. At some point I will be hunting near most of my camera's and can change batteries if needed. Another feature is that I get pictures from all of my 9 camera's for $20/mo.vs $180/mo = about $960 savings for 6 months.

If you're happy with your pictures and having good success with the camera you own, by all means stick with what's working for you.

 

[RRAB58]

Got my first pic from my Cuddelink. I moved it off a feeder to the food plot that deer have been using.
1. I tilted the camera down a bit so the aim wasn't too high.
2. I changed up the focal point to wide instead of center.

I also changed it to black flash instead of red. For the field is that best? I went black because I don't want any glow.

Looks pretty good to me. I bet you gonna get some good morning pictures in this field. What you got planted?

 

[No-Tox]

Got my first pic from my Cuddelink. I moved it off a feeder to the food plot that deer have been using.
1. I tilted the camera down a bit so the aim wasn't too high.
2. I changed up the focal point to wide instead of center.

I also changed it to black flash instead of red. For the field is that best? I went black because I don't want any glow.

Looks pretty good to me. I bet you gonna get some good morning pictures in this field. What you got planted?

In the foreground is turnip, clover and radish. Then into the field is oats, peas, wheat and winter rye.

 

[spaniel]

I posted awhile back about a camera that was going dead unusually fast. I THINK I have it figured out.

My cell transmitter is left-center of the property high on a ridge. There are two cameras low to the west on a creek, and two to the east on the other end of the ridge and down on another creek. There is a fifth camera on a field edge closer to center, then this questionable camera near dead center on the property only 100-150 yards from the transmitter, with a 94-98 signal reading.

When I did a battery swap I left the field edge camera alone as an end-life battery test. It went dead a week after the battery swap. The questionable camera only ran 30-odd days then went dead. When it went dead, I lost the 2 cameras to the east. So the field edge camera and the questionable camera were the links to the cell. I'm guessing feeding the pics from them was what ran down the battery more quickly.

The only issue is that during the 30+ day life of that camera, the total pic output of the whole system was only about 200 pics. Even if they all went through one camera to get back to the cell, it doesn't seem this would deplete the D battery pack.

 

[Squadron]

Is there a good deal anywhere for bulk d batteries?

 

[Bpressley]

Is there a good deal anywhere for bulk d batteries?

eBay Rayovac high energy on eBay. You can get 105 batteries for $66.

 

[Bpressley]

Got my first pic from my Cuddelink. I moved it off a feeder to the food plot that deer have been using.
1. I tilted the camera down a bit so the aim wasn't too high.
2. I changed up the focal point to wide instead of center.

I also changed it to black flash instead of red. For the field is that best? I went black because I don't want any glow.

If you're on a field edge red flash will provide more distance than black flash. You're not going to get much distance with black and I bet you're going to be disappointed with the results. If you want to use black flash upgrade to the powerhouse module.

 

[Peplin Creek]

No sure if this a possible request or not for cuddeback. Is there something you can do to create a dual authentication for the network. Apparently a neighbor close to mine setup a camera and is using the same channel. This morning, all of my cameras are no longer linked to the home unit. Extremely frustrating that I have to walk all around my property today to change the channel on these things over something that’s out of my control. With other cell cams coming out with shared plans hassles like this would make someone switch pretty quick.

 

[No-Tox]

Got my first pic from my Cuddelink. I moved it off a feeder to the food plot that deer have been using.
1. I tilted the camera down a bit so the aim wasn't too high.
2. I changed up the focal point to wide instead of center.

I also changed it to black flash instead of red. For the field is that best? I went black because I don't want any glow.

If you're on a field edge red flash will provide more distance than black flash. You're not going to get much distance with black and I bet you're going to be disappointed with the results. If you want to use black flash upgrade to the powerhouse module.

I'll switch it over when I get back out there. Here's a pic from last night on the black flash.