Cuddeback's Cuddelink
- Thread starter Peplin Creek
- Start date
New to the site - and am amazed at the great info here. Overall am impressed with the concept and despite the difficulties, am very happy with the results so far. At 6 hours and 10 hours to each of the places I hunt, pulling cards 2-3 times per year is of little value. Any intel at that point is so old, it's just pretty pictures. Maybe other cameras are better in some ways, but this is the only option I have found to work for me. Not to mention the regular emails brighten my day when I can't get away from the office.
Currently running the G 5093 cell camera and 8 J series (mix of IR and BF) in one location and the 1491 cell only and 4 J series in the other. Have found the 5093 to be under significant power needs as both a camera and a cell link, and don't know if I would do a camera/cell combo again. In fact, I may swap the 1491 with the 5093 on my next trip out and just put another J series next to it for camera support. All part of working out the details for every individual set up, camera use, and level of cell service.
So the biggest difficulty for me is power. If I can't get there regularly to pull cards, then getting there monthly to replace batteries isn't a much better option. Am looking to add solar where it makes sense, but the quickest and cheapest is to add the CuddePower 3358 to all cameras. Have added it to the 5093 and its helping, but not enough (solar is on the way and I have the adapter/converter already). And I purchased several of the 3358 units before I discovered they won't work directly with the J units. But it's just a power cord connection, right?
Has anyone tried to use the 3358 on the J series? I know there is the J camera adapter 3495, but this seems counter-intuitive to me - I'm taking away the power system that I purchased with the camera (AA power pack), paying more for another power system and then I have AA power packs that I can't use? And the 3495 is twice the price of the 3358. Seems to me, leaving the J series AA power packs that came with the camera, adding more power with the 3358 and a compatible cord is the cheapest and fastest option. Should easily be able to get 90-120 days or more on that setup. Any thoughts on this? Has anyone tried it?
Currently running the G 5093 cell camera and 8 J series (mix of IR and BF) in one location and the 1491 cell only and 4 J series in the other. Have found the 5093 to be under significant power needs as both a camera and a cell link, and don't know if I would do a camera/cell combo again. In fact, I may swap the 1491 with the 5093 on my next trip out and just put another J series next to it for camera support. All part of working out the details for every individual set up, camera use, and level of cell service.
So the biggest difficulty for me is power. If I can't get there regularly to pull cards, then getting there monthly to replace batteries isn't a much better option. Am looking to add solar where it makes sense, but the quickest and cheapest is to add the CuddePower 3358 to all cameras. Have added it to the 5093 and its helping, but not enough (solar is on the way and I have the adapter/converter already). And I purchased several of the 3358 units before I discovered they won't work directly with the J units. But it's just a power cord connection, right?
Has anyone tried to use the 3358 on the J series? I know there is the J camera adapter 3495, but this seems counter-intuitive to me - I'm taking away the power system that I purchased with the camera (AA power pack), paying more for another power system and then I have AA power packs that I can't use? And the 3495 is twice the price of the 3358. Seems to me, leaving the J series AA power packs that came with the camera, adding more power with the 3358 and a compatible cord is the cheapest and fastest option. Should easily be able to get 90-120 days or more on that setup. Any thoughts on this? Has anyone tried it?
Looks like I am getting
Congratulations! Great buck!
john volkman
5 year old buck +
how many days between trips to your property do you average? give me an idea and i can give you some recommendations. also keep in mind we are working on more power options for 2019 tha may be better for some situations.
to Kansas (10 hours) its once in the early fall to set everything up and back during the rut in late October/early November and a late season hunt in December - so 60 days +/- in the fall and into winter. if i could get power from December into turkey season in late April, that would be fantastic. assume that is solar all the way.
to Alabama (6 hours) its about every 30-45 days, but not regular enough to ensure cameras work all the time - still stuck in a day job and have go when I can, not always when I want. Cuddepower and the J cameras would provide more than enough here, if I could make the 2 work together.
in the meantime i will keep adding to the Cuddelink collection. so many spots i hunt have terrible cell service with sufficient service 1/4 mile away. being able to set up cameras in bad spots and transmit to areas where images can be sent is just fantastic. am happy to work through the bugs to get this working 100% as it fits my camera and property requirements to a T.
to Alabama (6 hours) its about every 30-45 days, but not regular enough to ensure cameras work all the time - still stuck in a day job and have go when I can, not always when I want. Cuddepower and the J cameras would provide more than enough here, if I could make the 2 work together.
in the meantime i will keep adding to the Cuddelink collection. so many spots i hunt have terrible cell service with sufficient service 1/4 mile away. being able to set up cameras in bad spots and transmit to areas where images can be sent is just fantastic. am happy to work through the bugs to get this working 100% as it fits my camera and property requirements to a T.
john volkman
5 year old buck +
ok, on your cell home or cell home cameras or any g series cams you should run the 3358 6 d cell battery booster. this will give you 120 days or more.
on your remote J cameras run the 3501 solar units if in full sun , if not in the open, run the 3495 6 d cell battery accessory this will give you 90 days sometimes up to 120.
If using solar pick up a tenergy tn438 16 bay AA battery charger, these work great for topping off the batteries and show you what level they re at , well worth the $30 if you are running multiple solar units.
As i said earlier, we are working on additional options that will allow the cams to run even longer incorporating the current solar kit and battery boosters. intention is to have this ready well ahead of 2019 camera deployment season.
I dont recommend the solar on the cell home or cell cameras because they are working very hard, the battery booster is the way to go.
Wanted to follow up on the delay I was having with the cell emails on 8 J1415 cameras at my lease. Looks like the last three days things have been going smooth and I have been getting 3x emails a day with the queue at 25. For a couple days I was only getting the 4am report + pictures then.
john volkman
5 year old buck +
is it possible your cameras only took a few pics those days? It will send whatever pics it has in que after the daily report is built. otherwise if the que doesnt hit 25 it wont send any( if that is what you have your batch setting at). i know my system didnt take many tues and wed and yesterday and today they blew up , i assume the high pressure caused deer movement to spike.
Rhwd2003,
My cudde cell was doing the same thing type issues for 3 straight days. Then all of the sudden it started back emailing pictures, sometimes duplicating the same email. Also one of my G cameras disconnected no longer on the report. Guess now i have to drive back to the property again and check cameras.
Sent from my SM-G925R7 using Tapatalk
My cudde cell was doing the same thing type issues for 3 straight days. Then all of the sudden it started back emailing pictures, sometimes duplicating the same email. Also one of my G cameras disconnected no longer on the report. Guess now i have to drive back to the property again and check cameras.
Sent from my SM-G925R7 using Tapatalk
john volkman
5 year old buck +
if you arent getting a report each day its either a cell signal issue or something is wrong with the cell unit(oftentimes firmware update hasn't been performed).. If you are getting a report each day and the home images total matches the remote images totals the unit is functioning properly.
J series IR camera batteries just lasted only 18 days. ~70 in reception and 1-2 pictures per day. I put it up in a tree so it would be harder to steal but now it is a pain to deal with bc I always have to back the mule up and climb in the bed. Probably going to bring it down next year and just risk the theft.
john volkman
5 year old buck +
yes this is in the works
john volkman
5 year old buck +
Something to keep in mind when choosing or buying batteries. I had a very good dealer of mine contact me about poor battery life he was suddenly experiencing on his cameras. He has used them since the beginning and is very knowledgable regarding cuddelink. We trouble shot everything we could to try and determine the issue. This particular instance was with the J series with optional D battery pack, he was only getting 13 days or so( should have been more like 90 days). Long story short, after testing and going thru everything multiple times he found that the energizer batteries he bought from Home depot were all bad. These were alkaline and brand new out of the package. He bought in bulk a bunch of them and every camera he put them in had very short life. He switched to another brand from another retailer and the issue immediately went away.
I by no means am suggesting this is always the root of the battery life issue or that energizer or home depot are all bad just that its worth trying another brand or batch if you are experiencing issues. We all assume that new out of the box batteries by name brands are the same and should perform as expected. In some instances this isnt the case.
I by no means am suggesting this is always the root of the battery life issue or that energizer or home depot are all bad just that its worth trying another brand or batch if you are experiencing issues. We all assume that new out of the box batteries by name brands are the same and should perform as expected. In some instances this isnt the case.
Peplin Creek
5 year old buck +
What type of external battery does the cell home unit take, is it a 6v, 9v, 12 volt?
