Trail camera with remote viewing recommendation
- Thread starter Spur
- Start date
Cuddelink - but you would need two cameras or one camera and a home unit. You could pull the card out of one unit and access the pictures from the other unit.
So, Cuddelink is my only choice?
There's Wildgame's Insiite Air but I didn't get anywhere near 150yds- they do say "up to". I was told it could depend on your phone and which Bluetooth is in it etc.
I ended up getting a Tactacam Reveal for that spot..I think cell cams make more sense especially if it's just a cam or 2 and you're not having to pay so much on plans. I also have 2 Cuddebacks linked together...and a Spypoint cell link- any of their cams you don't pay a thing for the first 100 pics, but more people seem to have problems with them. Maybe more are just sold..who knows.
I ended up getting a Tactacam Reveal for that spot..I think cell cams make more sense especially if it's just a cam or 2 and you're not having to pay so much on plans. I also have 2 Cuddebacks linked together...and a Spypoint cell link- any of their cams you don't pay a thing for the first 100 pics, but more people seem to have problems with them. Maybe more are just sold..who knows.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Nope. You can see pictures remotely with any cell cam but they are thumbnails. BuckeyeCam was the first in the private network market. Much more reliable and robust than cuddelink with a much longer life expectancy, but also much more expensive. I have a camera network of BEC Orion cams. I got the first cams when the were released to the public. They have been running 24/7/365 since. I collect the full resolution pic from a PC base receiver at camp, but you can use another camera as a base. The Orion cams have been out of production for years now. The new version is called the X80 and has a shorter range than the Orion but longer than cuddeback. It is less expensive than the Orion was but more than the cuddeback. I only have one of these. I got it for testing assuming eventually my Orion cams will die, but no sign of that yet.
Regardless of what non-cell RF camera you get (BEC or cuddeback) they transmit in the 900 mhz band. The practical transmission distance is much less than the theoretical maximum they advertise. You might get that on a good day over a lake. Vegetation, especially pines, reduce transmission distances significantly. I'm on a pine farm and with large antennas my X80 transmits about 300 yards max. So, your transmission distances will vary greatly depending on vegetation and topography. You can't transmit over a hill at 900 mhz.
There is another thread on here that references a camera that is supposedly using bluetooth to transmit pictures short distances. (I just saw Tamarack's post that references the camera). I'd be very skeptical of the distance claims of these cameras and read that thread and chat with Tamarack before going that route.
Good luck,
Jack
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Thick green foilage is not the same as pines. If thumbnails are sufficient, Cuddelink will cover Spur's 100-150 yards in most conditions. They are certainly cheaper.
The radios in the Orion are 5-mile radios (spec in pristine conditions). In practical terms on the pine farm with high gain antennas was about a half mile. As pines grew, I began to lose signal during wet periods when they sucked up water. I eventually put in a repeater camera. That is probably the the best way to get distance is to use an intermediate camera as a repeater. Goes both for BEC and Cuddelink.
Thanks,
Jack
The radios in the Orion are 5-mile radios (spec in pristine conditions). In practical terms on the pine farm with high gain antennas was about a half mile. As pines grew, I began to lose signal during wet periods when they sucked up water. I eventually put in a repeater camera. That is probably the the best way to get distance is to use an intermediate camera as a repeater. Goes both for BEC and Cuddelink.
Thanks,
Jack
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
The water density of a pine canopy is much higher than a hardwood canopy. Water is the big factor in attenuating a signal at 900 mhz. If you compare transmitting through a pine canopy and a hardwood canopy you will get much further distances through the hardwood canopy all other factors held equal. If you are in flat country and comparing transmitting through trunks at ground level there is no difference between pines and hardwoods. At that point it is only how much undergrowth you are transmitting through that matters regardless if the overstory is pines or hardwoods.
Thanks,
Jack
bigbendmarine
5 year old buck +
Piggybacking on Spur's post, I'm in somewhat of a similar situation in that I live on the land I hunt and regularly have sounders of hogs come within 150 yards of my house and it's fairly easy to get them to come to corn if / when I put it out. I'd love to setup a cam about 50 yards away from the house that would alert me when hogs visit any bait pile I setup.
Likely differing from Spur's goal, I don't even care if pictures are recorded as much as that I just be alerted / be able to look at my phone or computer screen to verify if hogs are actively eating the bait or other species I can't shoot.
I fully appreciate that I could use a cell cam, but just hate the thought of having to pay a subscription for something SOOOO darn close to the house. Heck, I'd even consider digging a line to run wire if that's solve the issue of paying monthly fees forever versus a bit of one time sweat investment.
Likely differing from Spur's goal, I don't even care if pictures are recorded as much as that I just be alerted / be able to look at my phone or computer screen to verify if hogs are actively eating the bait or other species I can't shoot.
I fully appreciate that I could use a cell cam, but just hate the thought of having to pay a subscription for something SOOOO darn close to the house. Heck, I'd even consider digging a line to run wire if that's solve the issue of paying monthly fees forever versus a bit of one time sweat investment.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Both cuddelink and BEC can do that. No cell bill. Both have a PC base option. I don't know the details of the Cuddelink base. With the BEC, you can connect the base PC to the internet and have pictures emailed to your phone when they are received or just have a notification pop up on the PC.
I'm not sure if they are still making it, but I recall BEC had some kind of gate activator control you could add to close the gate on a hog trap.
Thanks,
Jack
