Best Option for Cell Camera System?

[wannabemtnman]

Looking for advice on cellular trail cameras. Have a family friend who just purchased a ranch in the TX hill country and he's looking for me to set up his cell cam network. We had a place down there a couple years ago and I ran the Cuddeback system with ~8 cameras and it worked well. Curious from a cost and ease of use perspective if there are any other cell cam "systems" out there or if you're better off running individual cameras?

I like the Cuddeback option because some of the deeper draws don't have service but the cameras can still communicate with the home camera if you have your network of cameras set up within range to parlay the pictures back to home base.

Any recommendations are appreciated, looking to run ~10 cameras on this ranch to start.

 

[silasbowhunter]

Looking for advice on cellular trail cameras. Have a family friend who just purchased a ranch in the TX hill country and he's looking for me to set up his cell cam network. We had a place down there a couple years ago and I ran the Cuddeback system with ~8 cameras and it worked well. Curious from a cost and ease of use perspective if there are any other cell cam "systems" out there or if you're better off running individual cameras?

I like the Cuddeback option because some of the deeper draws don't have service but the cameras can still communicate with the home camera if you have your network of cameras set up within range to parlay the pictures back to home base.

Any recommendations are appreciated, looking to run ~10 cameras on this ranch to start.

Check out the Blackgate cameras! Cheapest cell data plans out there, and really high quality pictures.


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[wannabemtnman]

Thanks, I've never heard of black gate, will check them out. Can you link them or individual cameras and individual plans?

 

[silasbowhunter]

Thanks, I've never heard of black gate, will check them out. Can you link them or individual cameras and individual plans?

The plan encompasses all cameras. So it averages out pretty cheap compared to the competitors!

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[Robate]

Following along, hopefully some other people can weigh in here. It seems like no matter what camera brand I try, it ends up being a 1-2 year then replace deal.

Would love to know what level of success people have had with various cell camera brands.

 

[wannabemtnman]

For my friends needs, I haven’t found anything better than the cuddeback system. That’s primarily driven by the fact that you don’t have cell service in the deep draws, but can still relay it to the home camera. Still looking for other options as the cuddeback emails are not very quick to send, instead it’s a cluster of emails.

 

[rbljack]

following this one.

 

[BradySC05]

If they don’t have service, do they piggy ba k off of each other or rather “jump” from one to another until they reach one that does have service? Asking to see how many a guy would need to buy.

 

[wannabemtnman]

If they don’t have service, do they piggy ba k off of each other or rather “jump” from one to another until they reach one that does have service? Asking to see how many a guy would need to buy.

Yes, the cuddeback with the cuddelink
System will jump to the home camera and just have to make sure they’re writhing range of each other and it wagons a signal strength to the closest camera when you set it up. I believe you can do up to 24 cameras within that leap style system on one cell plan.

 

[208sasquatch]

I currently run 3 different options.

I have the spypoint Cell Link that turns any trail camera into a cell camera. I have only had a few pictures come across so far but they were ok. I like that you get the picture almost instantly. Also first 100 pictures a month are free.

I have the Spypoint Link Micro-s. Been awesome with the solar panel. They have been out for about 45 days and sent well over 1,000 pictures. First 100 pictures a month are free. The picture quality is a little poor but you get things instant. We check it before we walk into the bear bait to make sure we aren't walking in on them. Now with that said I have one that is currently giving me problems. We think it has a bad sim card. I have to retrieve it for further diagnosing.

On this same bait I put up a Moultry Delta_Base It takes 12 AA batteries. If you do any video it chews through them. First day it used 12% of my batteries. Getting pictures is terrible. It sends them hours after the Spypoint. Then you have to request the video. That takes sometimes 2-3 hours to come through. The super frustrating part is they basically force you to buy a year subscription. where the spypoint is month to month and the first 100 pictures are free which is awesome for camera's just on a trail.

 

[longhorn8011]

Cuddeback is the way to go. My company, Ag Innovations, is a Cuddeback dealer and we install camera systems for farmers and ranchers all over the U.S. We have hundreds of cameras in operation and rarely have to touch them. Many have been in the field for over 3.5 years and have never needed servicing (when solar panels are used). There are three general downsides to the system.

1) The CuddeLink network can be complicated to manage (this is the reason we offer an install/configuration package).​

2) If you utilize the CuddeLink network, you cannot receive images real-time since the images have to "jump" from camera to camera in order to reach the singular cellular camera. The slight delay is not an issue for most ag producers, but might be for someone that is using them for hunting only.​

3) Their app is not the best. We fixed that by integrating the cameras with our mobile app, Pasture Pro. It's a more user friendly interface that allows users to easily see the most recent image from each camera or filter to see all images by camera & date.​

In my opinion, Cuddeback is the most durable trail camera on the market, and the only cellular based system I know of that works in places where there is no cell service. It's a steep up-front investment, but the more cameras you run, the more economical it is long-term. For agriculture producers, it has been a game changer for checking water, monitoring remote buildings, keeping tabs on entry/exit points, etc.

 

[Revolting Peasant]

Following. We use Tactacam in the Hill Country and had nothing but good luck. Have to have a cell signal.

 

[Migrator]

+1 for Tacticam. They've been the most reliable I've used, best battery life, and good service. It's a little thing, but I don't run cell service all year and they send an email reminder before they charge every month and make it easy to turn off. That's not been my experience with other companies.

 

[budmen]

I'm running spypoint and up until last year flex g36 I was a huge spypoint advocate. That said after the g36 model came out (purchased 2) I am changing camera systems the old cell links and original flex were great. The newer g36 have been nothing but problems draining batteries in 2 days never sending pictures and not connecting to the cell signal. I've ever rum a original flex on the same tree as the g36 get a ton of decent pics from flex nothing from g36. Since the newest update now the flex are not even working I walk past and stop to dance still no pictures come through. Someone please tell me what I can upgrade with I've heard good things about wise eye but not enough to buy

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[Archery22]

Hard to beat a Tactacam

 

[huntermiwi]

Tactacam - like the unlimited plan as well. I hook up a solar panel, buy the unlimited plan and it runs for months. It can work off ATT and Verizon if that helps.

 

[Qholum37]

I also use Tactacam. I haven’t tried other cellular cameras but did a bunch of research a couple years ago before I got them. They have worked great so far, no reason for me to change!

 

[Indewoods]

Following this.

 

[Tclawson]

ive had good luck with spy point but know people who haven’t so it’s a toss up

 

[mobohunter]

I think this totally depends on what you are using the camera for and what service you have in the area you will put the cameras.

Based on what OP mentioned, Cuddeback is the way to go, especially if you have experience with them. I basically use them in the same fashion in Oklahoma, where I have draws and areas of the farm that do not have coverage, plus putting them in front of a feeder or high traffic area with no limit on pictures.