Have cell cams gotten better?

[phade]

4 hours ago, Lucky118 said:

I have a few of the older ones that have to be close to 10 yrs old now

Bushnell’s first cell cam Isn’t close to 10 years old.

In 2011 the only notable cell models were the Covert Gen 1 spec Ops and Moultrie with their external pack which was a failure. The Covert truly being the only standalone in the regular consumer base. I know this because I helped release it. Reconyx had one in their pro line - which was exorbitant and geared to the scientific community.

The first Bushnell cell cam was their trophy HD line and that was several years later. That was around 2015.

Edited September 22, 2021 by phade

[Lucky118]

6 hours ago, phade said:

Bushnell’s first cell cam Isn’t close to 10 years old.

In 2011 the only notable cell models were the Covert Gen 1 spec Ops and Moultrie with their external pack which was a failure. The Covert truly being the only standalone in the regular consumer base. I know this because I helped release it. Reconyx had one in their pro line - which was exorbitant and geared to the scientific community.

The first Bushnell cell cam was their trophy HD line and that was several years later. That was around 2015.

Ok 6 yrs old

[Lucky118]

6 hours ago, phade said:

Bushnell’s first cell cam Isn’t close to 10 years old.

In 2011 the only notable cell models were the Covert Gen 1 spec Ops and Moultrie with their external pack which was a failure. The Covert truly being the only standalone in the regular consumer base. I know this because I helped release it. Reconyx had one in their pro line - which was exorbitant and geared to the scientific community.

The first Bushnell cell cam was their trophy HD line and that was several years later. That was around 2015.

Should have also said not cell.  Regular cams from bushnell so might be 10 yrs old now. Ill have to look at the receipts.  All i know is ive been putting them out for a long time untill recently and they just keep going. 

[knehrke]

9 hours ago, phade said:

Bushnell’s first cell cam Isn’t close to 10 years old.

In 2011 the only notable cell models were the Covert Gen 1 spec Ops and Moultrie with their external pack which was a failure. The Covert truly being the only standalone in the regular consumer base. I know this because I helped release it. Reconyx had one in their pro line - which was exorbitant and geared to the scientific community.

The first Bushnell cell cam was their trophy HD line and that was several years later. That was around 2015.

Phade, here's a question for you that I just spent 20 minutes researching and couldn't find the answer to. 

With the Tactacam, do all of the cameras have to be on the same data plan? And is there an option to purchase more photos or upgrade one of the plans when a camera reaches it's limit without having to upgrade every camera's plan? 

I realize that the simple option is to go the unlimited route, but this seems like a waste of money for cameras that are in low traffic areas. Thanks.

[Rack Attack]

All of Tactacams plans are per camera, so you could have the basic on one cam and the ultimate on another depending on how many pictures you are getting.  You can also instantaneously upgrade or downgrade your plan on any camera via the tactacam app.

[phade]

3 hours ago, knehrke said:

Phade, here's a question for you that I just spent 20 minutes researching and couldn't find the answer to. 

With the Tactacam, do all of the cameras have to be on the same data plan? And is there an option to purchase more photos or upgrade one of the plans when a camera reaches it's limit without having to upgrade every camera's plan? 

I realize that the simple option is to go the unlimited route, but this seems like a waste of money for cameras that are in low traffic areas. Thanks.

 

2 hours ago, Rack Attack said:

All of Tactacams plans are per camera, so you could have the basic on one cam and the ultimate on another depending on how many pictures you are getting.  You can also instantaneously upgrade or downgrade your plan on any camera via the tactacam app.

With all due respect, this is why who you buy from matters. What Rack Attack described is not quite accurate.

On one account, you cannot mix different plan levels. You can plan share on fixed pic count plans, but you cannot have one cam on unlimited and two on the 1,000 pic per month plan on the same account for ongoing billing. Tactacam does not allow this. If you absolutely need this, I would suggest to set up a separate account for each plan level you intend to run. in the prior example, you would need two accounts. One to run two cams at 1,000 pics each, and one to run the unlimited. You'll need to login and logout to see each and would not get push notifications for the one not logged in - which will be very annoying. But that is how you do that to control cost.

You can plan share. For example, you have three 1,000 pic plans for three cams. You can have cam 1 send 750, cam 2 send 1,250, and cam 3 send 1,000. All will send - sharing the total pic count.

Unless something has changed as of yesterday, if you have to add a second (or third or fourth, etc) cam to an account, that cam is set up and charged for the same level as the first cam. You must have all cams on the same account on the same plan level for ongoing billing.

I am trying to limit answering Qs for people here as a request from my clients who choose me due to ongoing post sale support. Offering support here for free to the general public has frustrated some of my larger clients - some who are also on this site. I answered this one out of fairness to provide clarity on misinformation being supplied so that someone doesn't get into a false expectation after a purchase. Best of luck.

Edited September 22, 2021 by phade

[Five Seasons]

19 hours ago, phade said:

You'd be surprised who my customers are - heads of IT no less, lol. It's less about understanding the tech (although still applicable) and more about staying current with the companies, their tech, the carriers, industry, etc. Since I deal with Browning, I was aware of the firmware scenario and understand why it's not on their site. It's because it doesn't impact all chipsets and SIM profiles. Only the ones impacted. They call in.

In the auto industry, it's like a TSB vs a recall. That is a good comp.

makes sense and I appreciate your insight. I still think it's their issue and shame on them. Imagine if I just bought one and it was a dud? They could have lost me for life to a competitor. Easy peasy to return shit on amazon.

What I really feel for is the guy who has this issue and put his cams up out of state or in some crazy out of the way place. Luckily for me it was just a 15 minute drive. 

Edited September 22, 2021 by Belo

[phade]

11 minutes ago, Belo said:

makes sense and I appreciate your insight. I still think it's their issue and shame on them. Imagine if I just bought one and it was a dud? They could have lost me for life to a competitor. Easy peasy to return shit on amazon.

What I really feel for is the guy who has this issue and put his cams up out of state or in some crazy out of the way place. Luckily for me it was just a 15 minute drive. 

That is the life of cell cams.

I know of three manufacturers who have or are requiring physical cams visits since Aug 1 through end of September. Alot of people are unhappy about it. I would say it has happened more this year than in years past for sure - it's a sign of growth problems. Servers, capacities, infrastructures are getting overwhelmed due to the growth of cell cams. More cell cams sold than regular cams in 2020 for the first time. I have a cam in Ohio that is not sending now due to this, and another that will be dead at the end of Sept, but I am visiting before the update is out, so I have to pull the cam and swap it.

The growth rate is just atmospheric.

[knehrke]

9 hours ago, phade said:

 

With all due respect, this is why who you buy from matters. What Rack Attack described is not quite accurate.

On one account, you cannot mix different plan levels. You can plan share on fixed pic count plans, but you cannot have one cam on unlimited and two on the 1,000 pic per month plan on the same account for ongoing billing. Tactacam does not allow this. If you absolutely need this, I would suggest to set up a separate account for each plan level you intend to run. in the prior example, you would need two accounts. One to run two cams at 1,000 pics each, and one to run the unlimited. You'll need to login and logout to see each and would not get push notifications for the one not logged in - which will be very annoying. But that is how you do that to control cost.

You can plan share. For example, you have three 1,000 pic plans for three cams. You can have cam 1 send 750, cam 2 send 1,250, and cam 3 send 1,000. All will send - sharing the total pic count.

Unless something has changed as of yesterday, if you have to add a second (or third or fourth, etc) cam to an account, that cam is set up and charged for the same level as the first cam. You must have all cams on the same account on the same plan level for ongoing billing.

I am trying to limit answering Qs for people here as a request from my clients who choose me due to ongoing post sale support. Offering support here for free to the general public has frustrated some of my larger clients - some who are also on this site. I answered this one out of fairness to provide clarity on misinformation being supplied so that someone doesn't get into a false expectation after a purchase. Best of luck.

Thank you for making the exception and taking the time to provide a detailed explanation. I am in the process of transitioning, and I can assure you that I will be in touch as my network grows. Right now, I am running several different brands in order to find that sweet spot that is right for me. But good advice is always valuable! I will reach out to you as I narrow down the field. Again, much appreciated.

[Trial153]

Phade is good dude to buy cams from, can’t go wrong with his input and the nice thing is that he is there for you post sale.

[BizCT]

Phade is good dude to buy cams from, can’t go wrong with his input and the nice thing is that he is there for you post sale.

+1


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Marion]

Phade is good dude to buy cams from, can’t go wrong with his input and the nice thing is that he is there for you post sale.

Despite our forum squabbles (me and Phade) there is no one else I plan on buying my Cuddelink cams from other than Brad. He knows his shit like it's been burnt into his brain. Hopefully next spring/summer is the time I finally pull the trigger on a sick cam setup

https://www.instagram.com/thejerkman

#JerkmanCustoms
#WeDemandUnlimitedLikes

[sbuff]

Must have jinxed my spoint point , it has stopped communicating as of 9/10. Bad part camp is two hours away and tech support said can't help unless its communicating.  First issues I've had in a year and a half .

Edited September 23, 2021 by sbuff

[mlammerhirt]

Batteries or needs a firmware update. The 2hr away part stinks but I'm guessing the cam still works just needs a tweaking.

Sent from my SM-A716V using Tapatalk

[sbuff]

Its the solar version so I'm thinking not batteries, last communication on the 10th it was at 67%.

Its still got 10 months left on warranty too.

Edited September 23, 2021 by sbuff

[mlammerhirt]

That battery indicator has absolutely no value.....I think @phade mentioned its just a snapshot in time. I had a spypoint showing 60% battery and when I got out to it last Sunday it was dead as a doornail. Swapped out for some lithium and it's sending pics like crazy.

Sent from my SM-A716V using Tapatalk

[sbuff]

Will have to look ,it uses a lithium ion 10 battery pack not your everyday double A's . Ill keep ya posted .

[sbuff]

Quick update. Cousin was at camp, gave pin point directions to cell cam. Shut off, pulled out lithium 10 battery pack, replaced, turned back on now communicating and reading 61% battery . Seems to be game on again 

[sbuff]

Deleted double post 

Edited September 25, 2021 by sbuff

[moog5050]

35 minutes ago, sbuff said:

Quick update. Cousin was at camp, gave pin point directions to cell cam. Shut off, pulled out lithium 10 battery pack, replaced, turned back on now communicating and reading 61% battery . Seems to be game on again 

I thought lithium always showed 100% until dead.  

[sbuff]

I can't speak for standard lithium, but this battery pack I've watched go from 100% down to about 50% before being charged back up with built in solar panel . Been about a year and a half of this now 

 

[phade]

On 9/25/2021 at 11:43 AM, moog5050 said:

I thought lithium always showed 100% until dead.  

The battery was dead - that is why it quit sending. 61% is measured in terms of voltage (when being measured by the cam), and it essentially dead.

Similar to how you recharge an AA battery, sometimes you need to jumpstart the charging with a more aggressive charger. Essentially the cam couldn't detect the battery so it was no longer charging. Pulling and replacing allowed the cam to "find" the battery again and hopefully begin charging. The battery draws down over time because the solar panel isn't big enough to supply the power feed for infinity. Hence his issue. Seeing a lithium below 60% is indicating that it's in a negative trend. It's why Spypoint now offers these as replacements - otherwise they really wouldn't be needed.

[XGX7PM]

Anyone have experience with the "Covert AW1-A" ?

 

ł have 2 Bushnell HD Trophy Cams that have given up. Circa 2014...

 

Need at least 1 replacement. ł like having one at the mouth of my driveway to catch license plates.

The covert app is intriguing. 

 

[Five Seasons]

On 9/23/2021 at 10:43 AM, sbuff said:

Must have jinxed my spoint point , it has stopped communicating as of 9/10. Bad part camp is two hours away and tech support said can't help unless its communicating.  First issues I've had in a year and a half .

of all the 3 or 4 makes and models of spy points I've owned, only 1 didn't give me troubles and the reviews of their cell cams didn't help, I stayed away. Their id software does sound like it's cool... if it works.

[Five Seasons]

I have a bin, yes a bin of the cams I've owned over the years. I don't know why I keep them other than I thought if I ever needed dummy cams. Anyhow I needed to make some room and found this beauty at the bottom of the pile. Oh man the good ole days haha.