HATE the covert wireless trail cam!!!! :)

[Jason]

I just took the plunge and ordered a 2nd. One over each big food plot. This is great. I have it set to send me a picture every 10 minutes in the morning and evening for a couple hours. anyone else using these? I have the covert black ops 3g.

here's what i saw this morning. nothing special but fun to see:

 

[Jason]

I had crappy coverage with the old model, it wouldn't send any pictures even with the extended antenna. I recently sent it in and paid $50 to upgrade to the 3g. now it works great, and my cell coverage is horrible at my land. i'm really surprised it works as good as it does. the camera is good on batteries too. when it works, it works great.

my att store is good about it because it's 2 blocks from a store that sells these cameras. they had me in and out in 10 minutes.

it seems like this camera is only capable of taking pictures of small bucks and does though. that's my only complaint. :D

 

[Jordan Selsor]

If I had better service I would be all over this but my plots are in bottoms an have no service. Got spotty service on ridge tops but that's not what I would like to monitor 24/7!

 

[chummer]

What is the total cost on this set up?

 

[Jason]

What is the total cost on this set up?

299 for the camera and then 10/month for the text plan from att. No yearly contract, you can turn it off and on any month you want. And you do not need att for your regular cell plan, this is separate.

It's a pretty good trail cam on its own so I think of it as 150 more than the moultrie I normally buy.

 

[Jason]

i got both of mine off amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Covert-Specia...837844&sr=8-1&keywords=covert+3g+trail+camera

most other places want about 350.

 

[swat1018]

I love my 3G, only had it a couple weeks, but it's nice when your farm is 5 hours away. With the 3G I get good coverge in NE MO now, without an auxillary antenna even. The last one was hit/miss, even with the extra antenna. If you get one, run an external battery & panel, or at least lithiums. They use a lot of juice transmitting pics, etc.

 

[Jason]

I just received my 2nd cam. my wife wasn't impressed.

 

[swat1018]

If he is just running alkaline batteries, and it's transmitting lots of pics, sometimes you only get pics for a week or 2 before the batteries are too weak to send pics. The cam will still work like a regular cam, but quits texting. I just called Covert about my older cell cam, and upgraded to the new 3G model for $50. Thought that was a great deal, since the bad one was out of warranty anyway.

 

[Jason]

i've noticed the same thing about alkalines. literally, about 2 weeks and they are done. i would get random pictures every once in a while. better luck w/ rechargeable, they lasted about 4 weeks before i replaced them (they were still running). I'm going to try lithiums too. guys seem to recommend solar panels and sla batteries for this setup.

i also had a problem when the sim card quit working after 30 days. had to call att which is never fun. i just can't handle roaming around menu's that make you talk into them and then never recognize what you say anyway. i just get insane...

 

[foggy]

Sounds like the kinda gear that needs to be re-engineered by the first owners.....changes made.....then after the bugs are out.....and the price drops by 1/2......I just may take the "plunge" :D Good luck guys!

 

[Jason]

Sounds like the kinda gear that needs to be re-engineered by the first owners.....changes made.....then after the bugs are out.....and the price drops by 1/2......I just may take the "plunge" :D Good luck guys!

that pretty much sums up what's going on. it's been frustrating at times.

i see bushnell has a camera out now with similar capabilities. however, instead of $300 they are charging $600. I think that includes the monthly fee for a while though. not sure. once i saw the price i quit reading.

 

[Jason]

so now, after buying a second covert wireless both are on the fritz. instead of sending me a text every ten minutes in the morning and afternoon i just get texts at random times. sometimes i'll get 10 different texts in 10 minutes (all with nothing in them). I'm seriously getting burned for being on the bleeding edge. lol. the first camera worked flawlessly for weeks then completely went haywire. I'm guessing it has to do with service/reception and not the camera. will try covert today though. anyone have similar issues? or am i the only goofball to drop that kind of money on a wireless cam?