Cuddeback's Cuddelink

[BC18]

Thanks to all who contributed and have provided helpful information in this thread! Your info and diligence is making me give Cuddeback another chance.

I must preface my post by saying about 10 years ago I swore to myself I would never put another nickel into a Cuddeback camera. I have nothing but horror stories regarding the Cuddebacks I purchased in mid-late 00's. Early 00's cams were ok. Does anyone else remember in 09 when they took their Customer Service # offline for an entire summer? Presumably to avoid having to warranty a faulty run of cameras from the previous year. Well, I still remember. 20 calls a day for 4 months with nothing but a busy signal. Come November that year their CS started answering calls again, only to be told my cam was out of warranty 2 months ago but they will exchange the dud for a new Capture for only 75$ lol. I made that mistake on 1 of them only to be disappointed 3 months later when it failed. Cabelas btw, stood by Cuddebacks warranty more than the factory itself. Couple that with their marketing tactics, which I find insulting. There is a reason the high-end cameras on the market don't have to employ similar tactics. Boasting about investing 1mil over a 4 year period in R&D is not helping your cause. Really nothing to brag about. Same in regards to replying with snotty comments to a potential end-user in Jack when he brought up legitimate concerns many of us who deploy 50+ cameras have. I do give Cuddeback credit for finally investing more $ in product development than marketing this time. You are most likely bringing back a few disgruntled ex-customers in my area with this innovative product. Kudos!

ok /end rant


Regarding battery life. I am looking at starting off with a few Blackflash Powerhouses. I cannot seem to find on the cuddeback website what type of batteries this cam uses. I know some CL's are AA and some D. I find it hard to believe that the D(non-lithiums) would hold up well in the cold months of west-central WI.

How many pics does the powerhouse black flash take before going dead? If I put cams on my plots in the fall it is not uncommon to get 4-5k pics a week. Am I going to be replacing batteries every month, 2 months, 6 months? Is there any testing info available regarding battery life and pics taken?
Also, if I am running a full 15 cams on the network and some are taking 500+ pics a day what kind of backlog and traffic-jam with that create?

Is there a safe available for the G models? I get trespassers a few times a year and they have tampered and damaged cams in the past. Plus, your security system for these is non-existent. A stolen cam could be up and running elsewhere without any issues.


Thanks again to all in this thread. Very helpful!!

 

[john volkman]

answers in red


Regarding battery life. I am looking at starting off with a few Blackflash Powerhouses. I cannot seem to find on the cuddeback website what type of batteries this cam uses. I know some CL's are AA and some D. I find it hard to believe that the D(non-lithiums) would hold up well in the cold months of west-central WI. G camera with powerhouse black flash takes d cell batteries. you can add an auxiliary 6 d cell battery pack for a total of 10 d cells or there will be a solar panel kit this summer that will also work with this camera.

How many pics does the powerhouse black flash take before going dead? If I put cams on my plots in the fall it is not uncommon to get 4-5k pics a week. Am I going to be replacing batteries every month, 2 months, 6 months? Is there any testing info available regarding battery life and pics taken? There are a lot of variables that can affect battery life, if you get 5,000 pics per week on an individual camera you will want to either use the battery booster pack or the solar kit with the camera, 5,000 pics per week you will definitely need to change batteries inside of 6 months even with the booster pack.

Also, if I am running a full 15 cams on the network and some are taking 500+ pics a day what kind of backlog and traffic-jam with that create? 15,000 images per month, per camera would potentially be 225,000 images per month on a system. The system cannot send or transmit that many images in a month. Even 100,000 images a month would not be possible. If you are getting this many images per month you will have to configure multiple systems on the property(which is possible) to get all images transmitted.
Again, there are a lot of variables.... how many links or jumps you have on the site , total images , weather/temp averages, when the images are taken all play a role.
My advice would be to get 3-4 cams and test them out in your situation before you commit to a full 15 to see how they work, it takes time to transmit images so there are limits, but again much of that depends on the individual situation you have on the site. I cant imagine having to view that many images each month! that would be a full time job!! in almost all situations, all images get home with a 5 second image delay setting and a 5 second cuddelink delay setting.

Is there a safe available for the G models? I get trespassers a few times a year and they have tampered and damaged cams in the past. Plus, your security system for these is non-existent. A stolen cam could be up and running elsewhere without any issues.
There will be a safe available for both styles of cuddelink cams this summer. They are currently in production.

you can pm me and i can give you my phone number , it may be easier to answer questions regarding your specific situation via phone rather than on the forum. or you can call Nontypical CS and they can also answer questions.


Thanks again to all in this thread. Very helpful!![/QUOTE]

 

[BC18]

Thanks a ton John!!

I followed your advice and ordered 3 powerhouse black-flash's and the home plus unit to start. I will start by putting them on on known travel corridors first before moving them to food sources late summer/early fall. Hopefully by that time I will have a grip on their functionality, and will go with solar or battery pack if needed.

I am pretty excited to try these out, they are exactly what a lot of us are looking for! I will probably hit you up via pm soon, I really appreciate that.

Thanks again

 

[12pointer]

answers in red


Regarding battery life. I am looking at starting off with a few Blackflash Powerhouses. I cannot seem to find on the cuddeback website what type of batteries this cam uses. I know some CL's are AA and some D. I find it hard to believe that the D(non-lithiums) would hold up well in the cold months of west-central WI. G camera with powerhouse black flash takes d cell batteries. you can add an auxiliary 6 d cell battery pack for a total of 10 d cells or there will be a solar panel kit this summer that will also work with this camera.

How many pics does the powerhouse black flash take before going dead? If I put cams on my plots in the fall it is not uncommon to get 4-5k pics a week. Am I going to be replacing batteries every month, 2 months, 6 months? Is there any testing info available regarding battery life and pics taken? There are a lot of variables that can affect battery life, if you get 5,000 pics per week on an individual camera you will want to either use the battery booster pack or the solar kit with the camera, 5,000 pics per week you will definitely need to change batteries inside of 6 months even with the booster pack.

Also, if I am running a full 15 cams on the network and some are taking 500+ pics a day what kind of backlog and traffic-jam with that create? 15,000 images per month, per camera would potentially be 225,000 images per month on a system. The system cannot send or transmit that many images in a month. Even 100,000 images a month would not be possible. If you are getting this many images per month you will have to configure multiple systems on the property(which is possible) to get all images transmitted.
Again, there are a lot of variables.... how many links or jumps you have on the site , total images , weather/temp averages, when the images are taken all play a role.
My advice would be to get 3-4 cams and test them out in your situation before you commit to a full 15 to see how they work, it takes time to transmit images so there are limits, but again much of that depends on the individual situation you have on the site. I cant imagine having to view that many images each month! that would be a full time job!! in almost all situations, all images get home with a 5 second image delay setting and a 5 second cuddelink delay setting.

Is there a safe available for the G models? I get trespassers a few times a year and they have tampered and damaged cams in the past. Plus, your security system for these is non-existent. A stolen cam could be up and running elsewhere without any issues.
There will be a safe available for both styles of cuddelink cams this summer. They are currently in production.

you can pm me and i can give you my phone number , it may be easier to answer questions regarding your specific situation via phone rather than on the forum. or you can call Nontypical CS and they can also answer questions.


Thanks again to all in this thread. Very helpful!!

[/QUOTE]

John,

What's the latest update on the home unit release time frame?

 

[john volkman]

John,

What's the latest update on the home unit release time frame?[/QUOTE]
cell home will come out first , home unit/repeater shortly after the cell home but if your goal is to hook up/hardwire the home unit to an existing computer that with es=xiting internet access that feature will be a while yet, there are still some things to get completed before production begins..
Keep in mind you can buy a cell home unit and still use it as a stand alone home unit and not enable it to send pics via cuddebacks cell plan so that unit can be used several ways.

 

[BC18]

John,

What's the latest update on the home unit release time frame?

cell home will come out first , home unit/repeater shortly after the cell home but if your goal is to hook up/hardwire the home unit to an existing computer that with es=xiting internet access that feature will be a while yet, there are still some things to get completed before production begins..
Keep in mind you can buy a cell home unit and still use it as a stand alone home unit and not enable it to send pics via cuddebacks cell plan so that unit can be used several ways.[/QUOTE]


Bowhunters superstore and Optics planet both had the home plus unit for sale on their websites as of Monday. A bit misleading, I placed an order expecting that it was out.

 

[john volkman]

cuddeback does not tell their retailers when or if they can list a product that isnt available yet , if an retailer lists an item they dont have in stock that is completely up to them.

 

[tlew]

John -- can you confirm that there will be an AT&T home unit? All I'm seeing so far is Verizon with the exception of some cameras which are AT&T connected (all pre-order of course).

 

[john volkman]

John -- can you confirm that there will be an AT&T home unit? All I'm seeing so far is Verizon with the exception of some cameras which are AT&T connected (all pre-order of course).

Verizon cell home will be first to be available. i would not want to promise an AT&T cell home before fall of 2018.

 

[Boone]

I would like to purchase the home plus and 3 powerhouse blackflash cams. Where are these available ?

 

[john volkman]

I would like to purchase the home plus and 3 powerhouse blackflash cams. Where are these available ?

you can order these from any existing Cuddeback dealer , the dealer will need to order the powerhouse black flash cams custom.The "G camera" and the powerhouse black flash modules are in stock now. The home plus is not in stock yet but will be soon. Keep in mind that any cuddelink camera can be used as a home unit.

 

[Peplin Creek]

Being that we are starting to come up on the middle of June.... Any information about the cell service data plans? When will the official release be?

 

[Boone]

I've called 3 dealers and none of them even know about the g series cams. I would like to order 2-3 powerhouse blackflash cams and the home plus unit. Any suggestions?

 

[john volkman]

I've called 3 dealers and none of them even know about the g series cams. I would like to order 2-3 powerhouse blackflash cams and the home plus unit. Any suggestions?

sent you a pm

 

[john volkman]

Being that we are starting to come up on the middle of June.... Any information about the cell service data plans? When will the official release be?

i think the data options will be released end of this month or early july as soon as we have the cell home units arrive, there will be options as low as $15 per month and up.

 

[SwampCat]

Is there anyway to determine, prior to buying a couple thousand dollars worth of cameras, if the system would work on a particular piece of property?

 

[eclipseman]

Is there anyway to determine, prior to buying a couple thousand dollars worth of cameras, if the system would work on a particular piece of property?

the cellular portion is the only portion you need to be concerned about. You will need to call to find the cellular availability in that area. For the linking portion from camera to camera, it will work but depending on the terrain features you may need cameras closer together than in other situations. For example, the camera's range to the next camera in an open field could be like a quarter of a mile BUT if you have a large hill/small mountain in between, then you will likely need to have several cameras going in between to make it link.

 

[john volkman]

Is there anyway to determine, prior to buying a couple thousand dollars worth of cameras, if the system would work on a particular piece of property?

you can test what kind of range you can expect in a particular area with just two of the cuddelink cameras. That said, it works everywhere that radio frequency works , the only limiting factors that change on each piece of property are terrain and distance. As a general rule , cameras cannot "link" thru the earth. As an example, one camera on the bottom of a ridge and another on the opposite side bottom of the ridge/hill may not link, this can be fixed by putting a camera on the top that links the two together. As humidity drops, leaf cover falls and the temps fall the range actually increases. midsummer is the most challenging but you can still expect 1/4 mile in wooded terrain , often times better and you can chain the cameras together.

 

[SwampCat]

you can test what kind of range you can expect in a particular area with just two of the cuddelink cameras. That said, it works everywhere that radio frequency works , the only limiting factors that change on each piece of property are terrain and distance. As a general rule , cameras cannot "link" thru the earth. As an example, one camera on the bottom of a ridge and another on the opposite side bottom of the ridge/hill may not link, this can be fixed by putting a camera on the top that links the two together. As humidity drops, leaf cover falls and the temps fall the range actually increases. midsummer is the most challenging but you can still expect 1/4 mile in wooded terrain , often times better and you can chain the cameras together.

I know I could chain the cameras - but I hate buying a camera just to use as a link in the chain. I am sure I can get them to work on at least part of my property. Guess I could buy a set for that area - but then see if I could get them to work on the other part of my property.

 

[john volkman]

I know I could chain the cameras - but I hate buying a camera just to use as a link in the chain. I am sure I can get them to work on at least part of my property. Guess I could buy a set for that area - but then see if I could get them to work on the other part of my property.

Another option you can do to save some $ is to buy a home plus unit and use it as a repeater , this would save you about $80 retail over purchasing another camera. If you know the unit in the location where you need a repeater wont get any pictures you can turn off the camera function to save battery life etc. It doesnt hurt to have another camera as they can always be configured as a home, remote or repeater. If your goal is to get by with lowest investment possible then the home plus as a link is the answer. Home plus should be available next month.