Cuddelink general Q&A recommendations

[Mtyhunter]

Foggy, the download to a card takes less time than going on the web and ordering it, and costs nothing.
I don't disagree rolling out an update right before hunting season was poor timing, hate it that youre having issues!
Man, I'd just download it and get it done

 

[West_Fork]

Similar story, but I am not feeling frustrated anymore. I was hesitant to do the 3.2 update because it seemed to be working fine, but reached out to cudde and they emailed it to me the next day. I found one opening in the hunting scheduled and got 20 cameras updated over 500 acres. It took about four hours.

The only reason I experienced a problem is because I did not run cell tests and confirm links before leaving the property. The system does seem to be working better, I was not getting anything on certain cameras with 3.1, all L series.

One thing I noted when I started my 3.2 update is that the signal test was not showing any connections when I started. I updated and shutdown my home unit before updating the cameras, that could have been part of my problem.

 

[Foggy47]

Similar story, but I am not feeling frustrated anymore. I was hesitant to do the 3.2 update because it seemed to be working fine, but reached out to cudde and they emailed it to me the next day. I found one opening in the hunting scheduled and got 20 cameras updated over 500 acres. It took about four hours.

The only reason I experienced a problem is because I did not run cell tests and confirm links before leaving the property. The system does seem to be working better, I was not getting anything on certain cameras with 3.1, all L series.

One thing I noted when I started my 3.2 update is that the signal test was not showing any connections when I started. I updated and shutdown my home unit before updating the cameras, that could have been part of my problem.

Is there a set strategy to go through when doing this firmware update. Card just came in the mail.

 

[SwampCat]

If I read this report right, in the last three days the camera has taken 54 pictures and I have received ten - including a “test” notification. I have another home camera doing about the same. How do you make the home cameras send all the pictures?

 

[Mtyhunter]

Is there a set strategy to go through when doing this firmware update. Card just came in the mail.

go to the cuddeback website, and click on the gen 3 tab. scroll down to the bottom and you'll see a link that says something like "instructions for downloading the firmware" just review that and it's really not difficult. Like westfork said above, it still takes some time to do them all, but once you get started, it's not too bad.

 

[Mtyhunter]

View attachment 83260

If I read this report right, in the last three days the camera has taken 54 pictures and I have received ten - including a “test” notification. I have another home camera doing about the same. How do you make the home cameras send all the pictures?

i see what you're saying, don't know how to make it send all pics. go to the cuddelink app, and look at the detailed reports for the cell unit.
you'll see metric that says "cell reception", and it gives you a %, which i take to mean that when the cell unit attempts to make a connection to the cell service to send the pics, it logs whether or not it was successful. just looked at mine, and it says 100%, so I'm assuming that I have good cell reception and nothing dropped out. Curious to know what % yours says. Maybe it's poor reception...

 

[john volkman]

anyone that wants the latest beta firmware just PM me you email and ill send it , i have had zero issues with it. In regards to testing , it was tested for months by many of our staff and users, including me and it was working flawlessly - the issue didnt surface until 10's of thousands of users started using it , there is no way we can have that many beta testers , its unfortunate but the reality is, it happens, and i dont think there is a perfect time to release it since most users dont deploy cameras until late summer anyways.

 

[West_Fork]

Is there a set strategy to go through when doing this firmware update. Card just came in the mail.

I was asking myself the same and I think I recall John saying to do home first, the shutdown was something from my half assed thinking. I would recommend a couple cell tests and power cycles on the home unit from my experience.
On 3.1 I did it the opposite with home running and updating the furthest camera first, and over two days, no issues.

 

[Turkey Creek]

I did my home camera first and then the remote cameras. Followed the instruction on the Cuddeback site for uploading new firmware. I am not sure its a tip that most folks would not think of, but after changing batteries or doing the firmware updates in the field I arm the camera, wait for coutdown to complete and then trigger the camera by moving in front of it to take a picture. Then I know that it is working the next time the remote camera sends to the home unit and then on to my email. While its not recommended to necessarily have your cameras send pictures to the home unit more than 4 times a day, you can change that to as frequently as every hour I believe. Then if your cameras are quite aways from home you should be able to see if they are all functioning in under 2 hours from when you trigger them. Saving you a long drive back to recheck something.

 

[356]

Updating to 3.2/9.2 took down my whole system. Several cameras that were in the field for two years on solar and never touched are showing dead batteries on board and on solar....something is not right, as its been good weather. Here is the response from Cuddeback:

The Remotes show they have dropped off the report. The links looked a tad concerning due to cameras linking through one remote and if that remote would go down it can knock down the whole network. If they don't come back online you would need to go to the cameras to verify they have a link level.

Gee that was less than helpful. Since nothing has come back on line and the whole system is dead, I am going into the field this morning and trying to figure this out before work.

 

[T-Max]

Updating to 3.2/9.2 took down my whole system. Several cameras that were in the field for two years on solar and never touched are showing dead batteries on board and on solar....something is not right, as its been good weather. Here is the response from Cuddeback:

The Remotes show they have dropped off the report. The links looked a tad concerning due to cameras linking through one remote and if that remote would go down it can knock down the whole network. If they don't come back online you would need to go to the cameras to verify they have a link level.

Gee that was less than helpful. Since nothing has come back on line and the whole system is dead, I am going into the field this morning and trying to figure this out before work.

Lessons to be learned for sure. I think April/May would have been a good time to roll this out to give plenty of time to work out bugs before season. Lots of folks like you and I having to venture into the field to make repairs when we would rather limit intrusion. I feel your frustration. Hopefully you can get it sorted today.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[356]

I feel for companies like Cuddeback--the are small by industry standards, have a great project and are trying to provide great services while keeping up with the industry. Last year's software updated is what bankrupted Exodus cameras.

The current update is a big step along that path, and I am sure the timing is understood by the leadership. So often things work great on beta, but not so great in the field. So, where I am in this process:

This morning I checked all cameras. All are showing 3.2 or 9.2 firmware--so the updates took. One camera showed "LINK 10-14" which is my channel when I opened the case, all others were taking pictures when I opened the camera. I turned all cameras off and on. I am getting pictures, and the updated report shows seven of nine cameras are working.

The report on the app shows two cameras have not checked in, but I already have one picture from one of those cams.
I am still showing one J-camera as not have the 9.2 software, but it does. I've learned to give the system 24-48 hours to settle in.

 

[Mtyhunter]

I also had some minor glitches after updating everything, but same as you, it seemed to all settle out after a few days, and now everythings working properly.
My career has taken me deep in the technical side of the car world (GM and Ford mainly), and of course have been using computers everyday since they came out. I don't even have to mention software/firmware update issues with windows, as everyone has experienced that.
I always give the auto manufacturers mucho credit for building some incredible technology, but even they consistently stumble with their software updates. I could tell you stories that would be hard to believe, but true. So many issues, that I guarantee you if you own a new truck, and you took it in once a month to your dealer, there would be another software update every month. Biggest problem with the auto world is that all updates have to be submitted to the EPA for their approval before being rolled out to the public. That's why the wheels of progress are really slow with auto manufacturers in regards to computer network/software issues.
Knowing all this, I try not to sweat these issues when they happen to me, but dammit, when my hunting camera network doesn't work right, my anxiety level goes up a notch for sure, and I can't rest until its fixed!

 

[356]

As of 12:49 pm, all cameras are reporting and showing 3.2 or 9.2 on the firmware. I had to clear one camera's queue (several hundred pics) but hopefully all is working well now.

 

[West_Fork]

Updating to 3.2/9.2 took down my whole system. Several cameras that were in the field for two years on solar and never touched are showing dead batteries on board and on solar....something is not right, as its been good weather. Here is the response from Cuddeback:

The Remotes show they have dropped off the report. The links looked a tad concerning due to cameras linking through one remote and if that remote would go down it can knock down the whole network. If they don't come back online you would need to go to the cameras to verify they have a link level.

Gee that was less than helpful. Since nothing has come back on line and the whole system is dead, I am going into the field this morning and trying to figure this out before work.

Nevermind, I see your follow up. Run a cell test first and see what happens. Mine came right back once I did that

 

[Foggy47]

After my rant on Cudde the other day....I finally found a few hours to get to my land and do the Gen 3 firmware update. I took my time.....and I am getting pics from some of the cameras now. I bet all will be good by tomorrow. Kinda stoked to learn more on this upgrade....it just came at such a poor time for me. Through the whitewater time now.

My latest L camera was knocked off the Cudde stake....and the stake was bent. Found the camera about 10 yards away....and it said to check the SD Card. The card was GONE. Petty sure some idiot ran over my camera and post....then realized what happened and stole the SD Card out of the camera to avoid detection. Damn trespassers. I dont get many anymore....but one is too many. Now I cannot reload a different SD card in the camera....not sure how they buggered up this cam. I never saw a single picture from this camera. Grrrrrrrr.

 

[Mtyhunter]

man, just figured something out, kinda embarrassed I didn't see this before now...I was out doing some work at the lease this weekend, and noticed I didn't get any pics of me in front of several cams i was in front of. I've been complaining a little that I've some glitches this year after the update.
mainly i wasn't getting the daily report to my email sometimes, and, not seeing some pics I know should be there, like me in front of the cams.
I've been viewing my pics thru my gmail account for years now, and only use the app to change camera settings.
Pulled up my gmail acct, and while dicking with it, scrolled down on the main screen and noticed I had about 50 spam mails. Since I only use this mail for the cuddelink system, I get very few ads, and no other emails on this account. And there's all the pics and reports, in spam. It's random which mails were hitting the spam folder, which makes no sense, but there they are. unfortunately, no muy grande buck on the spam pics, dammit!

 

[Foggy47]

man, just figured something out, kinda embarrassed I didn't see this before now...I was out doing some work at the lease this weekend, and noticed I didn't get any pics of me in front of several cams i was in front of. I've been complaining a little that I've some glitches this year after the update.
mainly i wasn't getting the daily report to my email sometimes, and, not seeing some pics I know should be there, like me in front of the cams.
I've been viewing my pics thru my gmail account for years now, and only use the app to change camera settings.
Pulled up my gmail acct, and while dicking with it, scrolled down on the main screen and noticed I had about 50 spam mails. Since I only use this mail for the cuddelink system, I get very few ads, and no other emails on this account. And there's all the pics and reports, in spam. It's random which mails were hitting the spam folder, which makes no sense, but there they are. unfortunately, no muy grande buck on the spam pics, dammit!

Upon reading this....I immediately checked my spam files too....and that is where my reports are going. Still have gotten very few pics from my cameras after doing the firmware update a few days ago. Not sure what to think or what to do? The report shows all the cameras have the new FW installed and lots of pics in the sue....but I dont get em.

 

[john volkman]

Upon reading this....I immediately checked my spam files too....and that is where my reports are going. Still have gotten very few pics from my cameras after doing the firmware update a few days ago. Not sure what to think or what to do? The report shows all the cameras have the new FW installed and lots of pics in the sue....but I dont get em.

your on 9.1 which isnt the latest, i sent you an email with the firmware to load on all your cameras, it will fix your issue

 

[Foggy47]

your on 9.1 which isnt the latest, i sent you an email with the firmware to load on all your cameras, it will fix your issue

I paid $15 plus shipping and tax for the most recent firmware from Cuddeback and loaded this same chip into all my cameras. Waited a week for this to show up. How is it possible that I am on the wrong firmware? Not funny now.