cuddelink vs spypoint micro

[bjseiler]

I know I was curious about the comparison of the cuddelink (I mostly have J-1415) vs spypoint micro. Basspro recently had the spypoint micro's at $119 + $20 for a trade in so I went ahead and bought a couple. I've attached a couple pictures from this morning that look to be relatively similar in distance.

Spypoint pros -
1. Super easy setup. Basically just download the app, take a picture of the bar code in the camera, turn it on. No old school interface in the camera to click through.
2. Very small.
3. Cheaper.
4. I can make camera changes from the app remotely.
5. I can see battery level as well as card space and cell signal from the app.
6. Battery seems way better.
Spypoint cons -
1. I'd say picture quality is not as good. I can see that there are deer present but I sure can't tell which ones I'm looking at unless they are within a really short distance.
2. Unsure on long term cost as I have not picked a plan (free first 30 days).
3. Photos only delivered to app instead of email.
4. micro sd card instead of regular sd like the other cameras I've used.

Cuddelink pros -
1. Better pictures.
2. Email pictures.
3. Regular SD.
4. One plan to pay for.

Cuddlink cons -
1. Battery life. I finally sent one in for repair this week because I was only getting 7 days of battery life no matter what I changed (batteries, location, sd, settings and this was only at like 20-30 pictures in that time period).
2. More expensive.
3. Relies on the network so if you are linking or the one home unit goes down, you have the fix it.
4. Battery life. Yeah, I said it twice and I admit that I haven't bought the D boosters yet but I probably will.

I'm going to move the spypoints around a little so they are in places that normally get closer pictures. That may shed some more light on things. I'll probably go ahead and put both cameras on the exact same tree actually just to see how they match up that way.

 

[Peplin Creek]

Keep posting more pics side by side. I find that the j series pics seem better than the g dual flash cams from cuddeback. To me, it looks like the images between the two brands look pretty similar. The deer in the cudde pictures seems closer to the camera. I’m not a fan of the low Rez cell cams because, after 20 feet, you can’t make out antler points. Just that there is a good set of antlers on them. But I love cell cams because of the real time data they provide. I’ve been thinking of grabbing a micro as well simply because of the dataplan and price. Seems like maybe a good cam to have on scrapes, waterholes, etc. I currently run the cudde’s, stealth cams and Spartans. All have their advantages and disadvantages. Super impressed with image quality from stealth cam, setup is a bear though and that could turn others off. Spartans, super reliable, can request full images. Easy to setup but expensive. Cuddelink system is great because I stick cams in areas with crappy cell coverage, one data plan but like you said... batteries can be an issue, image quality is average at best. I actually view emailed images as a con though. But purely my opinion and I can understand why others like it. As each app evolves companies are adding analytics and other data to hopefully help provide the user for more information.

 

[Trlblzr3]

The Cuddelink cell sends thumbnails in the email and you have to go to the camera to retrieve the true images. What does the Spypoint send?

 

[BenAllgood]

The Cuddelink cell sends thumbnails in the email and you have to go to the camera to retrieve the true images. What does the Spypoint send?

The Link-Micro sends lower res pictures too. The higher res pics are on the card. I've enjoyed mine. I set mine up on a mineral block in April. It's still going strong. I'll move it to a foodplot and/or scrape in a couple of weeks. I've always tried to place cameras in close proximity so I could determine deer identity.

 

[bjseiler]

Are those pics you pulled from the app or from the card?

 

[BenAllgood]

Are those pics you pulled from the app or from the card?

Those are screenshots from the app.

 

[SwampCat]

On my place, i would have to out out extra cuddebacks just to get enough service between cameras

 

[yoderjac]

The Cuddelink cell sends thumbnails in the email and you have to go to the camera to retrieve the true images. What does the Spypoint send?

BEC is the only system I know of that is sending full res pics across the cell network. Cuddelink does not even send full res pics across the local private network as far as I can tell. (Correct me if I'm wrong about this Cuddelink guys...)

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Bill]

I agree with Jack. Buckeye is the only camera sending full res pics. And I’ll add, doing so seamlessly for years on end. I can update cams, change settings, change routing, everything from 1000 miles away. The only thing I can’t do is replace a battery from that far away.

Not downing cudde at all. I have 4 cudde cams in a box at the farm I’m planning on deploying soon.

I bought them to put close to the house so I could move some buckeye cams further out. 4 cameras were not much more $ then 1 fully loaded buckeye/battery/solar panel. That’s where I hope to find some value in the cudde system.

Time will tell the story. Some of my buckeyes are 7 years or more old and churning out pics daily. It’s a proven platform.

If my cudde cams do that for 5 it’s a good deal. If not I should have bought more buckeyes.

One thing I like is that cudde is leading all manufacturers to RF linkable cameras. I hope the get really rich doing it. We all win in the end.

 

[yoderjac]

Yes. I wasn't trying to diminish the potential value of cuddelink. I don't know the status of reliability and effectiveness and distance of their radio system, but it is discussed in detail on the cuddelink thread which I only follow on occasion. If the reliability/battery life/radio distance work out, they could be a great value for folks that are just trying to figure out what is out there for hunting purposes. The BEC Orions I'm using are probably out of the cost profile for many hunters, but for folks who need reliability and longevity for QDM management decisions or research projects, where data loss is important, they are great.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Peplin Creek]

BEC is the only system I know of that is sending full res pics across the cell network. Cuddelink does not even send full res pics across the local private network as far as I can tell. (Correct me if I'm wrong about this Cuddelink guys...)

Thanks,

Jack

Spartans send thumbnails first, but you can request a Full Rez image and it will send it. Not the same as buckeye. But they do send full images.

 

[Peplin Creek]

I will say... stealth cam might be the first camera where I feel like I don’t need Full Rez pic in a cell cam.

 

[SwampCat]

To be honest, if it weren't for the Cuddelink thread on this forum, I would have probably already tried the Cuddelink system. It just seems like there are a lot of problems - I don't want that - I want to deploy and it work without me having to mess with it - just like my Browning game cams. I also wish the cuddelink system had some way to determine if cameras would link properly. I would not want to have to buy five extra units just to fill in so the other cameras could transmit to each other. But, on the cell cam side - half my property has No Service. I don't see any advantage that a Buckeye type system would provide to me. I live on my property. I am not one who tries to stay out of my hunting area for ten months out of the year. If I had to stay off my land - I would not own it. I have about six or seven miles of trails, and picking up the camera cards is excuse to get out and ride around - year round. I typically deploy about 25 cameras - I don't know what that would cost in a Buckeye system - but I have proven - that more less expensive cameras provides ME more data than fewer expensive cameras. I am a wildlife biologist, and do QDM work on my own place - and never thought I wasn't receiving satisfactory data with my current system of mostly Browning cameras. I currently do have a couple of cell cams - but they are only used for hog hunting and monitoring hog traps - I don't really use them for deer pictures. I do understand problems that absentee landowners could experience - not having current information on their herd. While I cant fathom the concept of trying to stay off your land other than during season - I can see, if you feel that way - that some type of picture transmitting system would be valuable. A picture transmitting system would provide some value to me - strictly for providing information on where to hunt that morning or evening.

 

[bjseiler]

There is quite a bit of negativity in that thread but I think if push came to shove, most would buy the cuddelink's again. I would.

 

[yoderjac]

Spartans send thumbnails first, but you can request a Full Rez image and it will send it. Not the same as buckeye. But they do send full images.

With BEC you pic the resolution for the pictures you want for each camera. Whatever resolution the pictures are is transmitted across the 900mhz network back to the base. So, I'm setup so ever picture is full resolution which is what I need for my application. I don't use a BEC Cell base for my application, so I'm not sure if the cell base has an option to decimate or not, but I know they send the full res pics by default.

It makes sense to decimate pics for most applications, especially when sent over the cell network where there is a cost. The last I checked the Cuddelink thread, they did not offer a setting which sends full res pics over the free 900mhz network. Has that changed Pep?

Thanks,

Jack

 

[4wanderingeyes]

On Covert, I just click on the low res picture and request a hi res picture, I think they charge an additional $.03 per hi res picture, but I rarely need to have a hi res picture, but having the option is well worth the $.03 per picture when I do want to see more.

 

[Peplin Creek]

With BEC you pic the resolution for the pictures you want for each camera. Whatever resolution the pictures are is transmitted across the 900mhz network back to the base. So, I'm setup so ever picture is full resolution which is what I need for my application. I don't use a BEC Cell base for my application, so I'm not sure if the cell base has an option to decimate or not, but I know they send the full res pics by default.

It makes sense to decimate pics for most applications, especially when sent over the cell network where there is a cost. The last I checked the Cuddelink thread, they did not offer a setting which sends full res pics over the free 900mhz network. Has that changed Pep?

Thanks,

Jack

That’s correct, cuddelink does not. I really wish they would allow Users to transmit larger images even if that means slowing down the network. I would like to see and choose if it fits my property needs. I don’t max out the network as is. To me, I find the cuddelink system valuable from two points. Bad cell reception areas and cost for one data plan. Those are big factors for a lot of people on a budget. Everything else is average unfortunately and battery life remains an issue. If money wasn’t an issue, I think I’d go buckeye cams if given the choice too.

 

[yoderjac]

That’s correct, cuddelink does not. I really wish they would allow Users to transmit larger images even if that means slowing down the network. I would like to see and choose if it fits my property needs. I don’t max out the network as is. To me, I find the cuddelink system valuable from two points. Bad cell reception areas and cost for one data plan. Those are big factors for a lot of people on a budget. Everything else is average unfortunately and battery life remains an issue. If money wasn’t an issue, I think I’d go buckeye cams if given the choice too.

Pep,

Yep, that would be enough for me to consider them for some applications down the road. I'm running about 15 cameras now, and I'm not close to having an issue as long as I have sufficient signal strength. For my primary app, I have cameras set for 5 minutes between pics for each camera. This keeps the number of pictures down to a manageable level. For me, it is important that settings and up time doesn't change from year to year for trending.

Running the camera takes a very small percentage of the power consumption. Most is RF transmission and if signal levels are low, there are lost packets and re-transmits which consume even more power. The one thing that BEC has that I find important is manual routing. They considered a mesh approach and actually ask my opinion years ago when they were first looking to design the X7D (which is now the X80). My opinion was that it was a bad idea unless the cameras could share power level information across the network. Most mesh systems have continuous power to each element. When you can't control the routing manually, you don't know how it will affect battery management.

With manual routing, I can tell each camera which is the next camera in the path to the base. I rarely use more than 1 hop. The key is that I can watch the power loading on routing cameras and adjust accordingly. For example, one of my two main routing cameras has a 36 amp hour battery and a 60 watt solar panel with great sun access. In a mesh network, the network may send a picture back through a different camera that has a better signal level at the time, but does not have sufficient power to avoid battery swaps. This routing camera has run for several years on the same battery. Only recently did I have a problem when the pines grew tall enough to break the connection. The resolution was to raise the antenna (details on the Failed Erection thread). One I got the signal reestablished, everything began working fine.

The old Orion systems were very expensive. The new X80s are still expensive but not as expensive. I have one for testing purposes. I like it and it has been running a few years with no issues. The radio is not as powerful so it does not have the range of the Orion.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[bwoods11]

Spypoint is affordable and easy. I would not say it’s the best picture quality. Good trigger though!

 

[Kooch]

I am pleased with my spypoint. It's going on 4 months and about 500 photos transmitted on a single set of Lithium batteries. I do get some pictures of nothing when it's windy. But that's just the way it goes.