Cuddeback's Cuddelink

[RRAB58]

I am running J's with IR. I don't mean the flash is bad, just difficult to get without IR burn or dark. The Brownings adjust exposure and make things easy. I probably should try the centered, most of my cams are at close range, and often on minerals.

If we just knew exactly where deer would be, it would be a lot easier. Lol

 

[Bpressley]

I just wanted to give an update, not sure if I mentioned it yet. I got 159 days with the 3358 external pack on all my G cams. I probably could've had a few more but I pulled my cams. They had been on ext low for about a week or so. The internals still rated at or about 1.5v which is not too bad imo. Now I did run 3358 packs with all my J cams, along with the 3495 add on as well ( 12 D's total). My shortest life was 74 days and the longest was 135 days before it was pulled (still had power left). I'm curious if Cuddeback will release the new 4 D battery pack for the older J's or if they can even operate at that low of a voltage. Could a firmware update change that? I would much rather run the 9v 3358 external pack on a 6v cam and have them separate sources. It was obvious to me that that is the way to maximize battery life as opposed to running them in parallel. Using the 9v 3495 and 9v 3358 together didn't produce the results I wanted.

 

[Jrozzi16]

I just wanted to give an update, not sure if I mentioned it yet. I got 159 days with the 3358 external pack on all my G cams. I probably could've had a few more but I pulled my cams. They had been on ext low for about a week or so. The internals still rated at or about 1.5v which is not too bad imo. Now I did run 3358 packs with all my J cams, along with the 3495 add on as well ( 12 D's total). My shortest life was 74 days and the longest was 135 days before it was pulled (still had power left). I'm curious if Cuddeback will release the new 4 D battery pack for the older J's or if they can even operate at that low of a voltage. Could a firmware update change that? I would much rather run the 9v 3358 external pack on a 6v cam and have them separate sources. It was obvious to me that that is the way to maximize battery life as opposed to running them in parallel. Using the 9v 3495 and 9v 3358 together didn't produce the results I wanted.

Good Info thank you, I had similar results. I thought the 12 D's in the J's would last the longest with mine however the G cameras outlasted them. Also, 12 AA lithiums combined with 6 D batteries out lasted the J cameras with all D batteries as well.

One thing I found odd... I started out one of my G cameras on just 4 D batteries no booster pack and it only lasted 15 days before it died. I added a booster pack and it was at 100 when I took it down still running on the EXT. You think this was a case of bad batteries ? The initial 15 days the cam only took maybe 30 pictures.


I also ran 4 J series cams on Solar panels. The cams in direct sunlight were on 93 days when I took them down. One cam that only got partial sunlight died after 34 days

 

[Trlblzr3]

Good Info thank you, I had similar results. I thought the 12 D's in the J's would last the longest with mine however the G cameras outlasted them. Also, 12 AA lithiums combined with 6 D batteries out lasted the J cameras with all D batteries as well.

One thing I found odd... I started out one of my G cameras on just 4 D batteries no booster pack and it only lasted 15 days before it died. I added a booster pack and it was at 100 when I took it down still running on the EXT. You think this was a case of bad batteries ? The initial 15 days the cam only took maybe 30 pictures.


I also ran 4 J series cams on Solar panels. The cams in direct sunlight were on 93 days when I took them down. One cam that only got partial sunlight died after 34 days

Just wondering if the short battery life with 4 Ds could be the same problem as the new J1521 w/ 4Ds and if the 7.9 Firmware would correct?

 

[john volkman]

I just wanted to give an update, not sure if I mentioned it yet. I got 159 days with the 3358 external pack on all my G cams. I probably could've had a few more but I pulled my cams. They had been on ext low for about a week or so. The internals still rated at or about 1.5v which is not too bad imo. Now I did run 3358 packs with all my J cams, along with the 3495 add on as well ( 12 D's total). My shortest life was 74 days and the longest was 135 days before it was pulled (still had power left). I'm curious if Cuddeback will release the new 4 D battery pack for the older J's or if they can even operate at that low of a voltage. Could a firmware update change that? I would much rather run the 9v 3358 external pack on a 6v cam and have them separate sources. It was obvious to me that that is the way to maximize battery life as opposed to running them in parallel. Using the 9v 3495 and 9v 3358 together didn't produce the results I wanted.

i belive at some point we will have the 4 d pack available for the J as an accessory if you want to run them this way. Im not sure when. At some point in 2020, all J's that are shipping will have the 4 d battery pack installed on them.

 

[Jrozzi16]

I have had cameras out on my property for 51 days now. I love this concept, but starting to lose faith. One camera dead out of box. Cuddeback replaced and down on property to install this weekend. My base cell unit is at my gate and pull in last night and don’t get pics of a truck five yards in front of camera. One camera has went off line once for three days and back on and now off since 12/30/19. Find out what the deal is with it this morning. Meanwhile a buddy’s SPYPOINT is picking up deer at crazy distances. At this point I am glad I only purchased six cameras. I was set to load up enough for a full network, but going to have to see some drastic improvement to get me to shell out more money.

I think you will learn to love them. These cams are quality cameras, check out the distance on these. I had an issue where I’d lose a cam on the report due to the neighbor being on the same channel it reported to his home cam one day and mine the next.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bpressley]

Good Info thank you, I had similar results. I thought the 12 D's in the J's would last the longest with mine however the G cameras outlasted them. Also, 12 AA lithiums combined with 6 D batteries out lasted the J cameras with all D batteries as well.

One thing I found odd... I started out one of my G cameras on just 4 D batteries no booster pack and it only lasted 15 days before it died. I added a booster pack and it was at 100 when I took it down still running on the EXT. You think this was a case of bad batteries ? The initial 15 days the cam only took maybe 30 pictures.


I also ran 4 J series cams on Solar panels. The cams in direct sunlight were on 93 days when I took them down. One cam that only got partial sunlight died after 34 days

Last year I ran G's with no 3358 booster and got around 60 days. Probably a bad battery or several bad batteries.

 

[Booner21]

Good Info thank you, I had similar results. I thought the 12 D's in the J's would last the longest with mine however the G cameras outlasted them. Also, 12 AA lithiums combined with 6 D batteries out lasted the J cameras with all D batteries as well.

One thing I found odd... I started out one of my G cameras on just 4 D batteries no booster pack and it only lasted 15 days before it died. I added a booster pack and it was at 100 when I took it down still running on the EXT. You think this was a case of bad batteries ? The initial 15 days the cam only took maybe 30 pictures.


I also ran 4 J series cams on Solar panels. The cams in direct sunlight were on 93 days when I took them down. One cam that only got partial sunlight died after 34 days

Just wondering if the short battery life with 4 Ds could be the same problem as the new J1521 w/ 4Ds and if the 7.9 Firmware would correct?

I also found this to be the case, internals would die between 15 and 60 days most around the 30 day mark with no indicator of a battery low. I added external packs which were in theory only 1.5 amp hours more. I am getting 140 plus days on all of them now before they switch to internals. That doesn’t make any sense to me but I stopped questioning it and just went and bought external packs for all my cams. Problem solved moved on to worrying about something else


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bpressley]

I just found some D cell dummy batteries online. I'm going to give them a shot on a couple J cams to move them to 6v. I'll be sure to update to 7.9 and have fresh externals in the 3358. If this works and I can get similar battery life like the G's I will be ecstatic and I will move all my J's in this direction. I'll post pics and updates as needed.

 

[Denny_Y]

Is there a FW explanation somewhere describing the fixes/enhancements by revision?

 

[BWHunter]

Yes, that is the "internal" D cell replacement for the AA cell pack. I installed those on all my cameras at setup. You can also get the #3358 6-cell external, or the dual power bank external, to extend your run time longer.

With just the #3495 on my J cameras I was getting 32-90+ days on a camera, depending upon whether it was being used as a repeater. I did not have 3358s on my J cameras this year as at the time I deployed them the cable to connect the J cameras to the 3358 had not yet been released. I did, however, have a 3358 on my cell transmitter. IIRC the system went up in early/mid June and I pulled the cameras on Jan 1. The transmitter had been on internals for some time, but made it that entire duration without touching it. I'm eager to put dual power banks on my cameras next year and run the whole season.

ok..just ordered one to tryout, thanks

 

[Bpressley]

Is there a FW explanation somewhere describing the fixes/enhancements by revision?

No

 

[RRAB58]

I just found some D cell dummy batteries online. I'm going to give them a shot on a couple J cams to move them to 6v. I'll be sure to update to 7.9 and have fresh externals in the 3358. If this works and I can get similar battery life like the G's I will be ecstatic and I will move all my J's in this direction. I'll post pics and updates as needed.

Fill me in on what you’re doing.

 

[cspot]

Fill me in on what you’re doing.

I am guessing here, but if he puts in 2 dummy batteries in the J so that it is then running off of 6V instead of the 9 (this is what the new J's will do anyway) He is hoping that he gets the same battery life out of the J that he would the G. I think he believes that the 6V is far more battery efficient? Then I would think that if running an external pack then you would get be able to tell when it switches from external to internal. Interesting idea. No clue if it will work, but I like the idea. LOL.

 

[Trlblzr3]

I am guessing here, but if he puts in 2 dummy batteries in the J so that it is then running off of 6V instead of the 9 (this is what the new J's will do anyway) He is hoping that he gets the same battery life out of the J that he would the G. I think he believes that the 6V is far more battery efficient? Then I would think that if running an external pack then you would get be able to tell when it switches from external to internal. Interesting idea. No clue if it will work, but I like the idea. LOL.

The question I would think, would be if the 7.9 or 8 FW would allow the camera to operate down to a lower voltage. If that’s the case why not leave the six batteries and let them drain further. The only savings would be cost of two batteries and the capability to view ext ok.

 

[Bpressley]

I'm just experimenting. I believe having 2 separate battery sources will outlast 1 battery source. Even though that 1 source has double the capacity in MaH. I had zero issues with my G cams and battery life this past year, same goes for my G cell home units. Both had 4 D internals (6v) and 6 D externals (9v). I did run into shorter than expected life on a couple J cams and a K cam. Both having 6 D's internal and external (9v in parallel). So even with double the capacity a few tanked early. So I'm playing with dropping the internal voltage down to 6v by adding 2 dummy batteries. I'm also hoping this allows the cams to recognize externals on the report and I'm curious to see if I will get similar results as my G cams as far as life expectancy.

 

[Peplin Creek]

I'm just experimenting. I believe having 2 separate battery sources will outlast 1 battery source. Even though that 1 source has double the capacity in MaH. I had zero issues with my G cams and battery life this past year, same goes for my G cell home units. Both had 4 D internals (6v) and 6 D externals (9v). I did run into shorter than expected life on a couple J cams and a K cam. Both having 6 D's internal and external (9v in parallel). So even with double the capacity a few tanked early. So I'm playing with dropping the internal voltage down to 6v by adding 2 dummy batteries. I'm also hoping this allows the cams to recognize externals on the report and I'm curious to see if I will get similar results as my G cams as far as life expectancy.

So the thought process here is that the camera is jumping back and forth between internals and externals at 9v thus draining faster?

It’s an interesting theory that dropping to 6v will be better. I’m wondering if once it drops to 6v if you’ll get any length of runtime off of it and are able to extend overall life.

 

[RRAB58]

So the thought process here is that the camera is jumping back and forth between internals and externals at 9v thus draining faster?

It’s an interesting theory that dropping to 6v will be better. I’m wondering if once it drops to 6v if you’ll get any length of runtime off of it and are able to extend overall life.

Nothing wrong with experimenting.

I’m pretty sure the battery banks do not switch back an forth or if it did it would not stay on internals when you change out ext booster. Once it’s on internals, camera will go dead even if you have new batteries in the booster.

If you have a voltage regulator set to reduce 9v input and output 6v and in turn you input 6v and want a 6v output you might run into strange happenings. Some regulators will actually drop out & shutdown until input voltage is higher than output voltage.

Looking at the energy of a battery in Watts. If you have 9v x 16000 Mah= 144 Wah vs 6v x 16000 Mah= 96Wah. That’s 33% difference in Wah. That a lot of efficiency to gain.

 

[No-Tox]

I think the cuddelink concept is awesome, and the mesh network is plenty powerful in my application. I have cameras covering all of my 210 acre farm with all making 1 link. The most disappointing part is the camera itself, detection and flash mainly. I don't plan on giving up on cuddelink, but I wish they would focus future efforts on improvements in this area. I have better than a dozen Browning Strike Force Elites from 2016, that you hang and forget. Nothing gets by them, and I get 20,000 +/- images from 6 AA batteries. Cuddelink needs to figure out the sensor issue ASAP. If Browning would come up with a mesh network system, I have to be honest and say I'd be gone.

I for one am glad it doesn't pick up every little motion. I have a couple of my other game cams on video on the same setup as my Cuddelinks and they pick up a lot more images.....but these images are of birds, raccoons, twigs blowing in the wind, etc.
I at least know when I get pics sent to me that it is going to be a deer or pig.
All I'm looking for as a hunter is pattern and shootability of the deer on my land.

 

[Bpressley]

So the thought process here is that the camera is jumping back and forth between internals and externals at 9v thus draining faster?

It’s an interesting theory that dropping to 6v will be better. I’m wondering if once it drops to 6v if you’ll get any length of runtime off of it and are able to extend overall life.

No they don't jump back and forth. It is viewed as 1 source at 9v but since they are in parallel the voltage doesn't increase, only the capacity. All 12 of the batteries drain equally.