Cuddeback's Cuddelink

[Catscratch]

Someone give me the rundown on these. I paid attention to this thread for a while but I didn't keep up (it's a huge thread for a camera!). I got a single Cuddelink camera last yr for Christmas. I've been sitting on it and just using it like a normal trailcam to see if I like the camera itself before buying a home unit or another cam to run a home base.

Questions:
1 - Which is the better way to go; homebase or another camera?
2 - Do these send pics to your email in realtime, or is it a once a day type of thing?
3 - Are there any reliability issues happening?
4 - They've been out long enough to get a good review. What's your guys's thoughts? Great system? Would you do it again? Basically I have a spot near my house that I would like to put a camera and would like realtime pics (or reasonably close to realtime). Is this the system for me?

Thanks!

 

[john volkman]

Someone give me the rundown on these. I paid attention to this thread for a while but I didn't keep up (it's a huge thread for a camera!). I got a single Cuddelink camera last yr for Christmas. I've been sitting on it and just using it like a normal trailcam to see if I like the camera itself before buying a home unit or another cam to run a home base.

Questions:
1 - Which is the better way to go; homebase or another camera? if you want images emailed you will need a cell home camera or a cell home
2 - Do these send pics to your email in realtime, or is it a once a day type of thing? you can adjust settings to send based on number of images or time.
3 - Are there any reliability issues happening? be sure to look into the battery management options, the number #1 complaint is that battery life is reduced when running this system compared to regular camera deployment. lots of info in this thread.
4 - They've been out long enough to get a good review. What's your guys's thoughts? Great system? Would you do it again? Basically I have a spot near my house that I would like to put a camera and would like realtime pics (or reasonably close to realtime). Is this the system for me? if you are only planning on running 1-3 cameras its easy to get the close to realtime. if you get more cameras in the system you will need to set the batch number higher which will delay it some. it really depends on how many cameras you will use and how many pictures you plan on getting. i average about 200 pics per day running 6 cameras on one system and 120-150 on another system.

Thanks!

answers in red.

 

[Catscratch]

answers in red.

Thanks for the reply.
I would like more clarification on #1. I thought the system sent pics via radio to a home unit which was usb attached to a computer. Then images were downloaded to email and sent to the selected address. Is this not the case? I was under the impression that a cell plan was not needed.

 

[john volkman]

Thanks for the reply.
I would like more clarification on #1. I thought the system sent pics via radio to a home unit which was usb attached to a computer. Then images were downloaded to email and sent to the selected address. Is this not the case? I was under the impression that a cell plan was not needed.

that option is coming but the usb option is not available yet. the system can be used several ways. a forum member did hack his own system with a wireless SD card, look for his post earlier in the thread. when the usb option is ready you will get them in realtime but they will be loaded to a onedirive/dropbox type of set up, which you can set for notification and get your images in real time. to do what you are looking for you will need our base home unit and then once the usb cord is available you will need that and an update to your firmware and it will do what you described.

 

[PartsGuy]

you run the risk of the external charging(or attempting to) your internals which would cause issues.

How is this different than the cuddepower 3358 piggybacking on the G style camera? Same concept, right?

 

[john volkman]

How is this different than the cuddepower 3358 piggybacking on the G style camera? Same concept, right?

g cameras run on d's the Js with standard battery pack are set up for aa- im passing on what our electrical engineer stated. I dont claim to be that, I just dont want you to damage your camera when experimenting. if it damages your camera as a result of a modification they wont warranty it

 

[Catscratch]

that option is coming but the usb option is not available yet. the system can be used several ways. a forum member did hack his own system with a wireless SD card, look for his post earlier in the thread. when the usb option is ready you will get them in realtime but they will be loaded to a onedirive/dropbox type of set up, which you can set for notification and get your images in real time. to do what you are looking for you will need our base home unit and then once the usb cord is available you will need that and an update to your firmware and it will do what you described.

Do you know when the usb base home unit will be available?
I'll look for the posts about wireless SD cards. You don't remember the member's name or about what page the posts are on do ya?
Thanks again!

 

[PartsGuy]

g cameras run on d's the Js with standard battery pack are set up for aa- im passing on what our electrical engineer stated. I dont claim to be that, I just dont want you to damage your camera when experimenting. if it damages your camera as a result of a modification they wont warranty it

so it's a D vs AA compatibility? was concerned about that, but both are 1.5V systems run in series (depending on how they are wired internally). surprised this hasn't been attempted there is no documentation on it from cuddeback. can't wait to see what comes out at ATA.

having read this forum from front to back, most everyone here is willing to work out the variability of setting up and linking up the cameras, but the power issues are a problem. i'm getting between 20 and 70 days on AA batteries in the J series cameras. while i can even handle the low number of days, it's the variability that's killing me too. if i know just to swap every 20, 25 or 30 days even, but we are all over the shop. will keep working on this until i can get a consistent time for each setup.

 

[Catscratch]

^^^ Nevermind that request. A search for "wireless SD" got me in the right spot. I'll do my reading and get back with you.

I would still like to know when this system can be used without cell service though.

 

[Booner21]

Rayovac here and days are between 30 and 40 on most cams.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

booner, you are getting 30-40 days with the 6 d cell pack on the j camera?

Sorry g 5079 with powerhouse black flash no extender. Was hoping to not add extender packs x30 cams. I can live with 60 30 is a no go.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[Catscratch]

Or maybe I just buy the current home version and put one of these wireless sd cards in it to link to a computer......

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Toshiba-...09927&wl11=online&wl12=46436615&wl13=&veh=sem

I sent you a PM about this. I'm curious if you got it to work...

 

[Booner21]

Or maybe I just buy the current home version and put one of these wireless sd cards in it to link to a computer......

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Toshiba-...09927&wl11=online&wl12=46436615&wl13=&veh=sem

I sent you a PM about this. I'm curious if you got it to work...

You can but you have to attach constant power to the wifisd card I have one set up with a Dropbox account. Brother in law is a computer programmer and I sent the details from this thread he had it going in no time

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[john volkman]

Sorry g 5079 with powerhouse black flash no extender. Was hoping to not add extender packs x30 cams. I can live with 60 30 is a no go.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

you will get 120 days or more with them and they are relatively inexpensive , one trip to swap batteries in gas and they are probably paid for if you are any distance from the property. Couple that with the fact that the report will give you a 30 day+ window to get to the property and change the batteries they are well worth it. I suggest these to all that buy the system.

 

[digau56]

Is FW 070300 the current FW for the G series AND the J series?

 

[swat1018]

^^^ Nevermind that request. A search for "wireless SD" got me in the right spot. I'll do my reading and get back with you.

I would still like to know when this system can be used without cell service though.

I have 5 J cameras and a cell home, since I live hours from my farm. When I am at the farm, I just pull the SD card out of the home unit whenever I want to see what's on cameras. I am assuming you want to use them on your home farm. You could deploy cameras as you wish, and have them delivered to the "Home" camera of your choice. The "home" can even be another camera designated as the home unit. You could pull one card and view everything. I'm not real certain on the difference between the cell home and the other home unit, since I knew I needed a cell home for my use. The cameras in the field have been running about 50 days on a set of batteries. The cell home lasted about 30 with just internal batteries, I have since added the 6 "D" cell booster. I am very impressed with the network ability of the system. I have 2 of the cameras as far from my cabin as I can put them on 220 acres, and they still transmit home without issue. I am less impressed with night picture quality, and sensing ability of the cameras. I'm hoping for some improvements in the future, but, all in all, I am pleased.

 

[FredG]

... I am less impressed with night picture quality, and sensing ability of the cameras. I'm hoping for some improvements in the future, but, all in all, I am pleased.

Do you have the IR Mode set to the default of "FAR"? If so, you might be happier with the image quality if you set it to "CLOSE". You will give up a little bit of motion blur control when set to "CLOSE", but many would consider the IQ to be better.

 

[tlew]

I'm set to field and close. What distance for the subject are you anticipating for "FAR"?

 

[PartsGuy]

Is FW 070300 the current FW for the G series AND the J series?

yes. installed on the G series cell camera, the cell home (no camera) and all J series.

 

[Catscratch]

I have 5 J cameras and a cell home, since I live hours from my farm. When I am at the farm, I just pull the SD card out of the home unit whenever I want to see what's on cameras. I am assuming you want to use them on your home farm. You could deploy cameras as you wish, and have them delivered to the "Home" camera of your choice. The "home" can even be another camera designated as the home unit. You could pull one card and view everything. I'm not real certain on the difference between the cell home and the other home unit, since I knew I needed a cell home for my use. The cameras in the field have been running about 50 days on a set of batteries. The cell home lasted about 30 with just internal batteries, I have since added the 6 "D" cell booster. I am very impressed with the network ability of the system. I have 2 of the cameras as far from my cabin as I can put them on 220 acres, and they still transmit home without issue. I am less impressed with night picture quality, and sensing ability of the cameras. I'm hoping for some improvements in the future, but, all in all, I am pleased.

Thanks for the reply. It sounds like you are really pleased with your set-up.
You are 100% correct that I want it on our place and could set camera's around the house and have a home unit plugged into a PC within range of all of them. The thing is I can pull cards on any of my current camera's within 15 minutes so I don't really think it would be much of an advantage to have an SD card in the house. I don't need a cell to check pictures as everything is so close, but would like to have real time pics. I do not see daylight a lot in the winter, it would be great to have pics texted to me while I'm not home. But it's hard to think about paying for cell service on a camera that is sitting in the house.

 

[PartsGuy]

you will get 120 days or more with them and they are relatively inexpensive , one trip to swap batteries in gas and they are probably paid for if you are any distance from the property. Couple that with the fact that the report will give you a 30 day+ window to get to the property and change the batteries they are well worth it. I suggest these to all that buy the system.

John - this is why I am hoping the externals (3358) will work with the J series as well. Its inexpensive and will give me a better indication on when to change batteries. If I have 2 weeks to a month from the time the externals go down and the internals are working in the meantime, I can make arrangements with the farmer. Right now, I am replacing batteries in 3 cameras and within a few days 2 more go down before they should - and I'm asking for too many favors. Understand temp, rf power requirements and all that, but until I can plot that out, I need to know I can schedule this in the next week or so. Will post what I find in my search for consistent power.

In the meantime, I am testing solar power in 2 locations, 3358 in 2 locations and 3495 in 2 locations. Will map out the most consistent program and plan from there.