Cuddelink general Q&A recommendations

[MercerRidge]

I tried a very similar route for about 12 cameras and eventually moved entirely to solar panels. I found that the batteries just weren't effective in colder temps. There are a couple of threads on cuddeback and camera power in general on this forum.

Yeah I’m in southern Arkansas and temps don’t get too terrible…with regular lead acid sealed some would loose off but with the new lithiums I have good results and 11 year warranty on the the Dakota brand

 

[MadMadHoosier]

yes its a new "hybrid " fresnel lens that is in between the wide angle and the centered 9004

Will that lens fit in the J or G cameras when they need replacing?

 

[MadMadHoosier]

Do you know or has cuddeback ever acknowledged how many cameras the average user runs in their Cuddelink systems? The most cameras I've had in one of our systems is 17, and we were constantly going over for data use. Granted, most cameras are set on a 5-second delay for both day and night, but most are on game trails. I wonder if more sensitive cameras would eat into data more, and end up being more expensive for the user? It's definitely the first thing that comes to mind for me when hearing about a more sensitive camera.

I have 20 cameras on each home cell with the unlimited plan for $360/year.

 

[MadMadHoosier]

Here is mount I have been working on for my cuddelink camera system…I use Dakota lithium 7ah batteries…just thought I would post to show how I keep my cameras going in dense forest for several weeks…I have not tried the new solar panels yet

As the batteries die, I've been slowly putting all my cameras on the new solar panels. Probably have 35 or 40 out already, and so far I'm impressed. Except for a few cameras, that were always hard on batteries anyway, they are running full time without intervention. I'm curious to see how they do this summer with a thicker leaf canopy.

 

[john volkman]

Will that lens fit in the J or G cameras when they need replacing?

yes once its available which should be soon.

 

[MercerRidge]

As the batteries die, I've been slowly putting all my cameras on the new solar panels. Probably have 35 or 40 out already, and so far I'm impressed. Except for a few cameras, that were always hard on batteries anyway, they are running full time without intervention. I'm curious to see how they do this summer with a thicker leaf canopy.

Yes please give me an update this summer I have two older panels that they have ran a year without any issues what so ever but most of my other cameras are in shaded areas @john volkman how many hours of sunlight do the new solar panels need?

 

[john volkman]

Yes please give me an update this summer I have two older panels that they have ran a year without any issues what so ever but most of my other cameras are in shaded areas @john volkman how many hours of sunlight do the new solar panels need?

3600 panel needs 5-6 hours of Full sun per day to keep things running for months / year etc. The new super solar designed for shade doesnt need direct sun and will work in tree canopy. I dont think i woudl face it towards the ground in a dense cedar thicket but it should run a camera in almost all whitetail cover and easily in the hardwoods all year.

 

[Mtyhunter]

As the batteries die, I've been slowly putting all my cameras on the new solar panels. Probably have 35 or 40 out already, and so far I'm impressed. Except for a few cameras, that were always hard on batteries anyway, they are running full time without intervention. I'm curious to see how they do this summer with a thicker leaf canopy.

dang, you run a crap load of cameras! I bet you're on a watch list for buying so many batteries, lol!

 

[MercerRidge]

3600 panel needs 5-6 hours of Full sun per day to keep things running for months / year etc. The new super solar designed for shade doesnt need direct sun and will work in tree canopy. I dont think i woudl face it towards the ground in a dense cedar thicket but it should run a camera in almost all whitetail cover and easily in the hardwoods all year.

3600 panel needs 5-6 hours of Full sun per day to keep things running for months / year etc. The new super solar designed for shade doesnt need direct sun and will work in tree canopy. I dont think i woudl face it towards the ground in a dense cedar thicket but it should run a camera in almost all whitetail cover and easily in the hardwoods all year.

I would like to try a couple of these out

 

[JonJ]

I would like to try a couple of these out

I've had good luck with older 3501/12AA and now 3600/4D with as little as 3 hours good sun. I have gone to swivel mounts where I can insure perpendicular to sun for Max charging. Have seen 3600 going as much as 3 days of clouds/rain without cam switching to 4Ds. Will have to see how long the panel internal rechargeable pack holds up.

 

[JonJ]

Here is mount I have been working on for my cuddelink camera system…I use Dakota lithium 7ah batteries…just thought I would post to show how I keep my cameras going in dense forest for several weeks…I have not tried the new solar panels yet

I'm playing with one lithium, think 7ah. Still not clear about charging/solar process vs SLA. Still have a few cam locations not solar friendly.
I had bought a bunch of 6v 3.5ah SLAs prior to going CuddeLink for various old school cams. I've found I can series or parallel them for use with Cuddelink with much better results than 12v SLAs since they don't get pulled down in voltage to point of damaging cells. They are 3 years old and still performing well.

 

[cbw]

Thinking about getting a couple “G” series cameras. Curious to hear from others that have them to know if they are worth the cost compared to the “J” series.

Another topic: We ran 22 cams on our network this year and the new solar panels have been fantastic! 200+ days running. Cut down on intrusion and battery costs significantly.


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[john volkman]

Thinking about getting a couple “G” series cameras. Curious to hear from others that have them to know if they are worth the cost compared to the “J” series.

Another topic: We ran 22 cams on our network this year and the new solar panels have been fantastic! 200+ days running. Cut down on intrusion and battery costs significantly.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

the new L series IR will be available in the next few weeks, they are improved in several ways over the J series. Ive been testing them for a few weeks and im very happy with them. The g Is going to be hard to find right now as virtually every retailer is sold out.

 

[T-Max]

Any idea on the quantity being released? Basically curious if I need to be checking every day for inventory or if there will be enough stock shipped that I can pick some up at pretty much any time?


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[john volkman]

Any idea on the quantity being released? Basically curious if I need to be checking every day for inventory or if there will be enough stock shipped that I can pick some up at pretty much any time?


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any dealer that chose to have some shipped when they arrive will get some in march but im guessing many will sell out fairly quick, there are some already taking pre orders to reserve them. i dont think it will be hard to find some though. PM me with you location and ill give you some places to contact

 

[JonJ]

Thinking about getting a couple “G” series cameras. Curious to hear from others that have them to know if they are worth the cost compared to the “J” series.

Another topic: We ran 22 cams on our network this year and the new solar panels have been fantastic! 200+ days running. Cut down on intrusion and battery costs significantly.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The solar are great. I do like the Gs, but got 2 Ls coming and interested in the adjustable sensitivity and improved camera.

 

[Foggy47]

oops. My bad.

 

[JonJ]

John
Have been curious with switch to dual channel setup with 8.3. Is it a duplex setup, or primary and backup channel, or one dedicated up and one dedicated down the network?

 

[john volkman]

John
Have been curious with switch to dual channel setup with 8.3. Is it a duplex setup, or primary and backup channel, or one dedicated up and one dedicated down the network?

none of the above to my knowledge, its set up to try and eliminate interference but that can still happen when neighbors all use 01 for an example.

 

[JonJ]

none of the above to my knowledge, its set up to try and eliminate interference but that can still happen when neighbors all use 01 for an example.

Another option is frequency narrowing. 20+ years ago FCC required frequencies to be tuned to additional decimal points in certain frequency bands, in essence creating more channels available for licensing. That was mainly for higher wattage transmitters and Cuddelink came along well after that, and lower power.
Seeing how CuddeLink has evolved from 16 to 250 to now 625 channel options, maybe it does relate to narrowing frequencies, which would slow down file transmission unless packet transmission is sped up or streamlined.
Even another option would be like CTCSS on a walkie talkie, telling it to ignore transmissions not including an identifier signified by the second number on single frequency set by first number. This would allow my cell to function on same frequency as another network, yet they become invisible to each other, with an exception not worth mentioning.