Cuddeback's Cuddelink

[john volkman]

I just ordered 8 g series, 2 with solar panels based on set location, and the rest with the d battery boosters. I live on property(110 acres), and although mostly wooded, we are flat. Assuming I won't run into any issues with the network part. For setup, what are you all having the best luck with? I have the dual flash models coming. What seems to work best without spooking game? Also, reading through here it seems as if a way to set the cameras to send pics to the home unit at certain intervals. Is it possible to have them set to do that like twice a day, or once at like 4 am? Looking forward to getting them set up and running. Should be here tomorrow so any other hints are welcome.

lots of options on when it sends pics via network - you set this in the menu, you would not want it to do this once a day, you would most likely want them sent shortly after they are taken .
Cell transmission can be set at many intervals as well, it will automatically send anytime 30 images are in que and also once a day when i builds the report. You an also set it to send at your desired time or pic count.

 

[BuffaloBucks]

to clarify, the Dual Cell is a cellular camera and or home unit. The Dual power bank is the new battery accessory coming out.

My bad and on not being as precise as I should have been. How will the battery life in days on a J series with a D battery pack and a 3358 power pack compare with a J series with just a Dual power bank loaded with 12 Ds?

 

[john volkman]

My bad and on not being as precise as I should have been. How will the battery life in days on a J series with a D battery pack and a 3358 power pack compare with a J series with just a Dual power bank loaded with 12 Ds?

each bank runs on 6 D's in both set ups so it will be similar for each bank in both set ups. The dual power bank will give the option of running solar on one bank which is an advantage.

 

[r49740]

lots of options on when it sends pics via network - you set this in the menu, you would not want it to do this once a day, you would most likely want them sent shortly after they are taken .
Cell transmission can be set at many intervals as well, it will automatically send anytime 30 images are in que and also once a day when i builds the report. You an also set it to send at your desired time or pic count.

Sounds great. You mention not wanting to it do send once per day. What is the reason for that? Does each camera get set individually, or set once off of the home unit? If i understand, i can have it send once say 25 pics come through, or at a certain time of day. If set in that fashion, will it follow both commands? so send once 25 pics come through, or if less pics will still send at like 4:00 am? Can you let me know the commands to follow to set accordingly?

 

[john volkman]

Everything is in the manual , if you are asking when you can set to send pics via cellular you can send once per day or by image count . If you are asking when to set the remote cams to send to home you want those to be sent shortly after they are taken. I apologize but I don’t want to type out instructions on the forum that can be found in the manual. If you have specific questions I have no problem answering .

 

[john volkman]

Sounds great. You mention not wanting to it do send once per day. What is the reason for that? Does each camera get set individually, or set once off of the home unit? If i understand, i can have it send once say 25 pics come through, or at a certain time of day. If set in that fashion, will it follow both commands? so send once 25 pics come through, or if less pics will still send at like 4:00 am? Can you let me know the commands to follow to set accordingly?

The cell home unit will send a report each day approx 4 am and also send whatever pics are in que regardless of what the settings are. This is built into the default settings and can’t be changed

 

[john volkman]

You can set cell home unit to send based on image count or time , the remote cams you set them to send their respective pics based on a delay time , I suggest 5 seconds or longer for the setting on the remote cams

 

[corygoehl]

Are the batteries that come with the solar setup 1.2 volts like most rechargeable AAs? If so what is the solar panel putting out. Would 9 volts coming in from the panel over charge the internals or is it set to less than 9 volts.

 

[r49740]

ok.. got my shipment and playing with initial setup to learn a bit. set 1 camera with the home unit in my office. First, i noticed as i walked, the cl level went from 99 to 60 within about 20 feet. is that normal? It was reading 22 when I set it, and it is set at .14 miles(250 yards) from the home unit. Is that about right? We are flat here but it is in trees. It also seems it sticks out quite a bit with booster pack on. Stupid question but could i run the booster pack to the side of the camera on the same strap, or does the camera have to be on the booster pack? Seems like that would give a more stable set up if i run side by side instead.

 

[john volkman]

ok.. got my shipment and playing with initial setup to learn a bit. set 1 camera with the home unit in my office. First, i noticed as i walked, the cl level went from 99 to 60 within about 20 feet. is that normal? yes, the CL level can change without even moving based on a multitude of factors, always try to have a signal of 20 or higher when setting cameras. It was reading 22 when I set it, and it is set at .14 miles(250 yards) from the home unit. Is that about right? We are flat here but it is in trees.again this all depends on many factors it may go up and down, at times you can have a strong signal at extended distance and in other situations the signal can be weaker in a shorter distance. It also seems it sticks out quite a bit with booster pack on. Stupid question but could i run the booster pack to the side of the camera on the same strap, or does the camera have to be on the booster pack? Seems like that would give a more stable set up if i run side by side instead. yes you can do this

 

[crenshawco]

Hey John, any update on the availability date of the High Gain antennas?

 

[john volkman]

Eta on these being available for sale as an accessory is mid July

 

[spaniel]

Just wanted to say "thank you" for all who contributed to this thread. As I will be setting up my cell transmitter and initial 4 cameras this weekend I activated the cell service and did the initial setup. When updating the firmware the cell transmitter did fine but all cameras gave the dreaded "Check SD Card" error. Searching this thread informed me to unzip the file on the SD card, fixed the issue, and saved me a few hours of needless frustration and cursing.

 

[SwampCat]

Dont have time to read all the past posts, but what became of the home unit that was going to interface directly with a computer?

Is there any method or device that will give an indication of feasibility on your property to find out if it will work or not? Dont want to spend $400 on a pair of cameras only to find out I am going to need a bunch of units to act as repeaters to get the distance I need between camera locations.

 

[r49740]

I cant speak for anyone else or the product beyond my short experience thus far, but I seem to be able to get 250-300 yards with my RF levels staying no less than 20. that was at least when they were set. My status reports will show signals as low as 12 or 14 now depending on the day or time for whatever reason. I have still gotten pics sent to the home unit. I will have it up for a week come this friday. I have already gotten around 750 pics send to the house ,and I havent left my desk yet. Really liking that. Just now sure on how long the batteries will keep up with that. All cams on the battery booster packs, and two with solar panels. We'll see. Liking the units a lot so far, and a couple decent bucks already.

 

[john volkman]

Dont have time to read all the past posts, but what became of the home unit that was going to interface directly with a computer?

Is there any method or device that will give an indication of feasibility on your property to find out if it will work or not? Dont want to spend $400 on a pair of cameras only to find out I am going to need a bunch of units to act as repeaters to get the distance I need between camera locations.

there isnt a method to determine how far the cameras will chain on a specific property, each property is different but in normal situations 1/4 mile in wooded terrain is expected, if terrain is steep or heavy canopied like thick cedars this can be restricted some. Time of year also plays a factor as high humidity and leaf cover will not allow transmission as easily as low humidity after leaf fall. There are many instances where range exceeds 1/4 mile even up to 1 mile or more between cameras.
home unit that will interface with a computer is still in the works but an eta is not available yet.

 

[JLemon]

My furthest camera from my home unit is about 350 yards through thick vegetation and hills. I've never had a signal less than 60. Last year I had a J series at 500 yards and signals still stayed in the mid 30s.

 

[spaniel]

I got my transmitter deployed 8-10 feet up a tree on top of a 50 ft. ridge on my property to ensure got cell signal and getting over terrain on other cameras. Deployed first four cameras on the 58 acres. Lowest signal at deployment was 32, highest 68. Heavy tree cover and stone terrain I was afraid would block signals. Got the first report, lowest signal 20 but pics from all cameras. So far so good. Not all that hard to deploy. Mine are all in the safes, easy to screw on.

 

[SwampCat]

I got my transmitter deployed 8-10 feet up a tree on top of a 50 ft. ridge on my property to ensure got cell signal and getting over terrain on other cameras. Deployed first four cameras on the 58 acres. Lowest signal at deployment was 32, highest 68. Heavy tree cover and stone terrain I was afraid would block signals. Got the first report, lowest signal 20 but pics from all cameras. So far so good. Not all that hard to deploy. Mine are all in the safes, easy to screw on.

So how far apart are your cameras - on 58 acres - probably not much over 400 yds?

 

[spaniel]

So how far apart are your cameras - on 58 acres - probably not much over 400 yds?

The camera which reported "20" signal today, according to Google Earth, is approximately 360 yards from the Home transmitter. This is through heavy woods though I don't believe there is any terrain in the way. A couple of the other cameras with higher signals are much closer to the Home (150-200 yards) and likely have some degree of terrain in the way.

All in all I'm pretty happy with the result. As funds allow I plan to add another 2-3 cameras, and one of them would cut the range between the Home and the lowest signal camera in half to increase signal.