Cuddeback's Cuddelink

[FredG]

You may want to re-read my post. The J series cameras already have the optional 3495 D battery pack on them. In addition to the 3495 D battery pack, I'm wanting to add an external battery / solar panel to this system and want to know if it can handle a 12v input or if I need a 12v-9v regulator.

If you go with an external 12v battery and solar charger you should probably step it down to 9v and run your J cam without internal batteries. Alternatively, you could step down your solar charger to 9v and put good quality NiMH D cells in your camera and ditch the 12v battery. I would personally prefer the latter because you wouldn't have an instant kill if a squirrel chewed through the cable.

I know of one report concerning a direct 12v feed into a J camera without internal batteries as follows:

"I had a hiccup with a J series camera and it was being fed 12 volts and within 2 hours the IR started flashing repeatedly and it was taking a picture every 1 minute and 30 seconds."

 

[john volkman]

john, did Cuddeback announce their new 2019 models at SHOT? Is that information available to the public now?

i hope to have some new info to post on the site this week !

 

[crenshawco]

i hope to have some new info to post on the site this week !

Looking forward to it.

 

[12point]

Cell home battery update. Duracell D's lasted 11 to 17 days while energizers had only lasted 2 days.
Before this fall i'll be getting a boaster for the Cell homes.

 

[swat1018]

My cell home is on 88 days. Still says "Ext OK". Hasn't switched over to internal power yet. But, all of my J-series cams except 1, running on D power, have dropped off at around 45-50 days.

 

[Bkenned6]

Cell home battery update. Duracell D's lasted 11 to 17 days while energizers had only lasted 2 days.
Before this fall i'll be getting a boaster for the Cell homes.

I’d say something isn’t right. I’d call support and send them in to be looked at. Well worth the shipping. I had two J series that were lasting less than 15 days no matter what batteries, or how many pictures. I sent them in. They looked at them, said they were defective, and Then sent me brand new cameras to replace them, all within a weeks time. I wish I had just done that sooner as I’d probably wasted 30-40 dollars on batteries.

If you’re only getting 2-10 days, an external battery pack isn’t going to help. Send it in to be checked out.

 

[BuffaloBucks]

I’d say something isn’t right. I’d call support and send them in to be looked at. Well worth the shipping. I had two J series that were lasting less than 15 days no matter what batteries, or how many pictures. I sent them in. They looked at them, said they were defective, and Then sent me brand new cameras to replace them, all within a weeks time. I wish I had just done that sooner as I’d probably wasted 30-40 dollars on batteries.

If you’re only getting 2-10 days, an external battery pack isn’t going to help. Send it in to be checked out.

I would agree, send it in to get fixed first. Then get the external battery pack for next fall as well. My cell home ran for 90 days from 9/7 - 12/9 before it showed ext low. I then replaced the 6 Ds in the external pack and it is still going strong on the external, even in -37 degree air temps! I changed batteries in my J’s with the D battery packs at the same time, they got 36-44 days in the cold weather. My G series Dual Flash made it 144 days on the exterior pack before finally switching to the internal D’s yesterday when it got into the -30s. I’m amazed they are even working at all in these extreme temps!

 

[tlew]

Agreed -- send it in. I hit 122 days or so on my cell home before it showed Ext. Low and I'm still going at 133. I posted a battery status before, but my J's with solar are still showing ok at 187 days

 

[BuffaloBucks]

Agreed -- send it in. I hit 122 days or so on my cell home before it showed Ext. Low and I'm still going at 133. I posted a battery status before, but my J's with solar are still showing ok at 187 days

Wow! That’s great on the solar with the J’s. Are the J’s getting full sun or partial? I just started trying out a solar on a J in the last week. I have a few spots I’d like to use solar this year, but I know they won’t get full sun until after the leaves fall off and am wondering how many hours of good sun are needed to keep them going.

 

[swat1018]

I'm happy with the cell home with the D battery pack, but hope to be able to just plug it into the cabin soon. My J's not so much. I am running the D pack and gained some, hard to say how much, not fair to compare this weather with fall, but it's not good enough. I have some of mine in full sun, but before pulling the trigger on the solar I'm waiting to see what the new power management options about to be released are. Are buddy John will be coming along with the info soon!

 

[tlew]

Wow! That’s great on the solar with the J’s. Are the J’s getting full sun or partial? I just started trying out a solar on a J in the last week. I have a few spots I’d like to use solar this year, but I know they won’t get full sun until after the leaves fall off and am wondering how many hours of good sun are needed to keep them going.

I only have one in full sun, the other three are in partial sun ranging from 20/30%-70%. All are performing similar in regards to battery life via reports although I have not tested actual battery percentages for more detailed results. At the end of the day, I don't care if one's batteries are 40% and the other's are 80%, as long as they stay charged enough to capture pics.

I'm getting 100 pictures or so a day from one of mine in partial sun (probably around 50-60% sun) with no issues.

 

[flyingtexan86]

@john volkman, thanks for all your help on the forum! Any word concerning when the USB port on the Home unit will be enabled via a firmware update? I placed my first Home unit on pre-order 11 months ago solely due to the ability to use the USB port to automatically transfer photos to the computer via Trophy Room and upload them to the cloud. One year later and still no ETA on this vital feature. I've invested $1,000's on multiple Cuddelink networks and still don't have the very feature which caused me to purchase and switch over to Cuddelink. Purchasing a cell home unit for each network is not an acceptable solution due to several of my locations not having Verizon cell signal, not to mention having to spend another $200 per location plus monthly cell phone fee.
I do like the Cuddelink system and have been looking into the wifi sd card hack mentioned earlier on this forum, I'm just disappointed in Cuddeback for falsely advertising a feature on the Home unit that has yet to be released.

 

[john volkman]

@john volkman, thanks for all your help on the forum! Any word concerning when the USB port on the Home unit will be enabled via a firmware update? I placed my first Home unit on pre-order 11 months ago solely due to the ability to use the USB port to automatically transfer photos to the computer via Trophy Room and upload them to the cloud. One year later and still no ETA on this vital feature. I've invested $1,000's on multiple Cuddelink networks and still don't have the very feature which caused me to purchase and switch over to Cuddelink. Purchasing a cell home unit for each network is not an acceptable solution due to several of my locations not having Verizon cell signal, not to mention having to spend another $200 per location plus monthly cell phone fee.
I do like the Cuddelink system and have been looking into the wifi sd card hack mentioned earlier on this forum, I'm just disappointed in Cuddeback for falsely advertising a feature on the Home unit that has yet to be released.

i think i have addressed this multiple times already but here goes one more... i will not give an ETA on this product. When the time comes that it is ready to ship it will be announced. It wont be announced until it is ready to ship and available. The fact of the matter is that it should not have been announced as a feature, but it was and there isnt anything at this point that can change that. All reference to this has been removed for our site and all the dealers were notified of what the status was. I understand the frustration, if the only reason you bought the system was because of that feature and you are not able to use yours my suggestion is to call cuddeback directly and discuss what your options are to get out of your product. Without knowing if you bought it from a retailer (or which one) that is the best i can offer. Again, i really dont want this thread to turn into a customer service thread or a place to air grievances, thats not why it was started and it doesnt serve a purpose. Again you can PM me or call Cuddeback CS and ask for the CS supervisor to discuss this issue further.

 

[flyingtexan86]

i think i have addressed this multiple times already but here goes one more... i will not give an ETA on this product. When the time comes that it is ready to ship it will be announced. It wont be announced until it is ready to ship and available. The fact of the matter is that it should not have been announced as a feature, but it was and there isnt anything at this point that can change that. All reference to this has been removed for our site and all the dealers were notified of what the status was. I understand the frustration, if the only reason you bought the system was because of that feature and you are not able to use yours my suggestion is to call cuddeback directly and discuss what your options are to get out of your product. Without knowing if you bought it from a retailer (or which one) that is the best i can offer. Again, i really dont want this thread to turn into a customer service thread or a place to air grievances, thats not why it was started and it doesnt serve a purpose. Again you can PM me or call Cuddeback CS and ask for the CS supervisor to discuss this issue further.

PM sent.

 

[BuffaloBucks]

I only have one in full sun, the other three are in partial sun ranging from 20/30%-70%. All are performing similar in regards to battery life via reports although I have not tested actual battery percentages for more detailed results. At the end of the day, I don't care if one's batteries are 40% and the other's are 80%, as long as they stay charged enough to capture pics.

I'm getting 100 pictures or so a day from one of mine in partial sun (probably around 50-60% sun) with no issues.

Excellent information. That is very helpful. Thank you.

My Cell Home that switched to the internals when it got into the -30s has now switched back to the external power pack again when the temps made back into the single digits. We’ll see how long it makes it for now.

 

[aa961jester]

Question about clicking coming from J camera

I just received another J cam and thought I would try it out to make sure it was good to go before bringing it to the farm. I set it up in my livingroom on my fireplace mantle and sometimes, not all the time I hear the camera clicking when it takes pictures. Anyone else experience this and any idea why?

Joe

 

[john volkman]

Question about clicking coming from J camera

I just received another J cam and thought I would try it out to make sure it was good to go before bringing it to the farm. I set it up in my livingroom on my fireplace mantle and sometimes, not all the time I hear the camera clicking when it takes pictures. Anyone else experience this and any idea why?

Joe

It’s the ir filter, when it’s inside it has a hard time determining if it’s day or night so it will go back and forth . When you set it outside it should only do this once or twice per day depending on when it’s triggered .

 

[Peplin Creek]

Question about clicking coming from J camera

I just received another J cam and thought I would try it out to make sure it was good to go before bringing it to the farm. I set it up in my livingroom on my fireplace mantle and sometimes, not all the time I hear the camera clicking when it takes pictures. Anyone else experience this and any idea why?

Joe

Ditto on what John said, I think everyone that try’s out cuddeback cameras comes away with this question. I know I did. I was skeptical of it spooking game and I haven’t noticed anything along those lines either. It should be fine.

 

[Booner21]

With our g series there has been quite a bit of back and forth it seems at the day and night transition with the IR filter . Had a lot of deer pick then up this year during that time.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[FredG]

With our g series there has been quite a bit of back and forth it seems at the day and night transition with the IR filter . Had a lot of deer pick then up this year during that time.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Drop a double barrel strobe in your G and you can say goodbye to that problem.