Cellular Trail Camera | More Bars!!! DIY Tool!
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- Опубліковано 10 гру 2018
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Cellular trail cameras are changing the hunting industry. The introduction of the Spypoint Link Evo, the Spartan GoCam, the Covert wireless, and BigFoot wireless systems have changed how hunters hunt. Cellular game cameras give hunters the opportunity to check on their favorite hunting spots from the comfort of their home, work, or play. Throughout the day or night you can receive an exciting text or email alerting you to activity in front of your camera! Cellular trail cameras, combined with an extended battery or solar panel, allows hunters the ability to stay out of their prime hunting area for extended periods of time while being totally informed through pictures!
Along with the introduction of cellular game cameras came challenges. These challenges can range from short battery life (battery hogs), low cellular reception, inconsistent performance, confusing setups, carrier dead spots, and SIM card mania. Every cellular trail camera company is doing something different with the setup process, mobile app controls and the picture payment plans (some are transparent and some are not-BEWARE!).
Cellular trail camera companies have met their match with this market! There are a lot of places off the beaten path, way back in the woods, across the hills, and through the swamp where a hunter wants to put his camera. But guess what? His secret spot only has 1 bar of reception (which generally means no picture transmission). The other challenge he has is that his batteries won't last very long without an external battery setup or solar/battery backup.
A hunter is wise to enter this market with caution, patience, and diligence. The Spypoint Link Evo, the Spartan GoCam, the Covert Wireless, and the BigFoot (least expensive) wireless cell cameras are a very expensive initial investments and will continue to cost a hunter on an ongoing bases (monthly or yearly). Doing your homework can save you a lot of money and headache in the end.
Here's a few important things to think about before making a cellular trail camera purchase:
1. What is the best cell coverage in your hunting area?
2. Do you know how to google cell coverage strength and tower
locations (for all carriers) in your hunting area?
3. What network does the camera you're eyeing work on the best?
Have you researched it?
4. Your cellular game camera says 4G/LTE but does your closest
tower support that where you hunt?
5. You might have a Verizon service plan on your personal cell but
your hunting area's best cell signal is with a different carrier
(say AT&T). Did you know you don't have to pick a camera with
Verizon in this case?
6. Is the strongest carrier in your area a GSM (AT&T, Sprint, US
Cellular) or CDMA (Verizon & T-Mobile)
Do your research!!! A lot of cellular game camera companies have slick marketing campaigns and payment/picture plan gimmicks but their product performance is not worth the enormous investment. They also sponsor a bunch of people on UA-cam to say positive things about how quick and easy their setup is without ever showing you their downside.
After gaining some experience in the field with the Spypoint Link Evo I have learned several things about this specific camera and the cellular camera market. From my experience, one bar equals no pictures. Two bars equals average performance and picture transmission. In an effort to increase reception I installed the Spypoint CA-01 Long Range Cell Antenna. It boosted both of my cameras from 1 bar to 2 bars of reception and I now get more normal transmission of pictures. I now have other issues with my Spypoint Link Evo cameras such as malfunctioning motion detection, app issues, and picture plan complaints but I'll save that for another day.
Thanks for watching!
God Bless,
Steve
Contact me at: HHSteve@protonmail.com - Спорт
Your ingenuity never ceases to amaze me. Good to see that all your hard work payed off. I think these cameras are awesome, especially if you have a lease that's far away or you can't make a trip out to check on it. That's a lot to think about thank you for putting all that good information in the description. Great video brother.
Thanks my friend! Glad you enjoyed and found it helpful! Take care!
Yeah!! The storm knocked down some really big oak trees on my property!! Happy Holidays!! I am going to check out those covert cameras!!
Take a look at Bigfoot cameras too. Much cheaper with a very reasonable picture plan. I’ve got two on order right now. I’m trying them out and will let you know how they work out. Stay tuned.
For the external cell antennas to really work more effectively turn over the antenna mount and make sure your metal strapping is below the antenna. Anytime you have metal obstructing microwaves it weakens the signal. Wood also obstructs your signal as well when it is very close to the antenna. To really raise the signal get away from an omni type and use a directional type if you know the cell tower location.
Great idea!
Awesome content ... thanks for putting this up.
You are welcome brother! Appreciate the feedback!
Okay! Thank you for the info on big foot!!
Merry Christmas! Hope your hunting is going well!
Awesome! Make a limb saw adapter to the pole for clearing lanes!
That’s a dang good idea!!! Thank you brother!
Great video.
Thank you brother! Appreciate you watching!
Great video! I built something similar using a lightweight Extendo stick for electrical utility lineworkers. My question is how do you get them down from the tree? Do you have a reverse “J” hook to free it?
I get them down by sliding the tip of the extended pole into the larger base of the hanging pipe. When it slides in it hits a cross bolt and locks so I can turn it with the pole and lift it off the limb. Hope that helps. Good luck!
I had the same issues with my Spypoint working and sending pictures sporadically. I have since switched to the Covert Blackhawk and haven't had any issues. Great video. Love the channel
Awesome! Thank you! I’ve heard great things about Covert. I’ve recently switched to BigFoot cell cams and LOVE them. Cheap picture plans and they transmit pics fast. We will be using them for our upcoming night hunts to alert us when the hogs show up at our bait stations. They are a game changer for us. Throwing my Spypoints away. Thanks for commenting. Keep in touch!
The Handy Hunter I hope you didn’t throw them away. I’ll take them haha. Mine work fine with one-two bars. The antenna doesn’t always make a difference bar wise but it does make it work in areas it wouldn’t otherwise. Many variables. One bar can have great speeds on your phone in some place and be unusable in others for example.
@bowhuntingforlife. Totally agree! I have a swamp where I have no cell signal. I installed an antenna on a bigfoot and it still had one bar but it began transmitting pictures. It seems that antennas don’t always increase bars but increase transmission. I still have my Spypoints cause I just can’t seem to give up trying to get $600 worth of cameras and antennas to work. I keep moving them hoping I’ll find the magical spot. I recently moved them and they transmitted a couple pictures from the day before and then stopped again...darn it!
The Handy Hunter have you talked with their customer service? They have been amazing and actually offered to send me a link dark no charge because they told me the non Verizon evo picked up us cellular but only the LTE models do so they did that without me even asking or even complaining.
bowhuntingforlife yeah, I spoke with them and they were very nice but told me I should buy the unlimited package. I said that won’t fix the transmission problem. They then suggested I do a firmware update but one camera already had it and it was worse than the older firmware. I think I may hold on to them until they get it right with the firmware. I can’t be the only one having these problems so hopefully they’ll finally get it fixed.
Great idea! Wish there was a way to use that antenna on my phone while in stand. Every where I hunt has spotty service. What can I say sometimes a guy get bored lol
I hear ya brother! My service is spotty too! No telling how many deer I missed because I was looking at my phone! Good luck!
great video!! i hope the hurricane did not damage your property!! I took a bad hit!!
Thanks Barry! The eye went right over our farm and blew down a bunch of trees and made a mess. Couple tower stands blew over but no damage at camp thank goodness. Its funny, I’m having to worry more about hurricanes in Georgia more than I am in Florida! It’s crazy how central georgia seems like a magnet for hurricanes! Thanks for watching!
Good video - thank you. I like the mounting bracket for the cam on tower. Just ordered a few
They work great! You will be pleased! Thank for commenting and good luck!
The Handy Hunter the SPYPOINT in my experience is only good with 4-5 bars- I’m running one right now with 2 bars and only get pictures 75% of the time. I found my moultrie cell cams to be better but you have to add the separate modem. Not optimal. I think I’ll try covert. Seems like the way to go have you tried spartan?
I haven’t tried Spartan or Covert but I’ve heard good things about Covert. I haven’t needed to keep searching since I found the Bigfoots. I run 4 and they work flawlessly with very little signal. The are now $199 on Amazon and you can buy 2 for what you spend on one of the big name brands. Good luck with your search. Cell cams in general are the coolest thing ever...love getting those text!
The Handy Hunter thanks I’ll check those out! Agreed love the notifications!
I've had all the major cameras Steve, I finally went with Covert.
Thanks Matt! I’ve recently been hearing good feedback about Covert from some serious hunters. I’m taking note. Thanks for the info!
@@TheHandyHunter My pleasure sir.
This rig works great. I need to replace the wire on the antenna (an animal chewed through it). What do I look for? I assume its coax, what gauge is it and what connector? Thanks
Not sure which antenna you have. Typically its coax but the connector to the camera varies. May be cheaper to purchase whole new antenna vs buying coax and needing the pliers and ends to make it work. Hope that helps! Good luck. 👍
Have you tried using the spypoint antenna on a Mountie delta? I feel like the strong 3g in my area messes with my weak 4g signal.
I have not. Wish I had more info for you.
Quick question what solar setup do you use for the link evo?
I build my own but I also use the bigfoot solar panels on my bigfoot cams and they work great. I haven’t tried them on the Evo’s but don’t see why they wouldnt work. Check out my trail cam solar pack video to see the ones I build. Hope that helps!
A rock, a length of paradors, and you can get a high as you want. lol
This is a really awesome video. My only issue so far with my spypoint cell link is only having one bar. Hopefully this helps. Thanks👍
Good luck! Hope you find success!
👍🏻👍🏻
How do you come up with this stuff? I wish I was half as creative as you are.
Appreciate the comment! My mind is just always spinning trying to figure stuff out! LOL
What was the distance?? That's what we needed to know!!
Did you find another cell camera that you recommend more than the Spypoint? Your video said stay tuned, but that was a year ago. Just curious as to what you would recommend.
Yep, I switched to Bigfoot and it’s a night and day difference over my Spypoints. My Spypoints were junk...a total waste of $600 bucks. If you watch our cell cam raid night hunts you’ll see how quickly and consistently the Bigfoots transmit. Best thing is...I buy refurbished Bigfoots for $75 and they work just like new!!!!!!! What a deal!!! Beats the heck out of paying $400 for a big name brand.
The Handy Hunter
Wow, that is good info! Thanks for sharing. Do you mind telling where you buy the refurbished ones at?
You can buy them here: wribiz.net/default.aspx?itemcode=8712-R&Page=item+detail
You can see the quantity that they have in stock.
It's a first come first serve basis and they may run out from time to time. Make sure you read their website about AT&T because something changed with AT&T that only allows alerts by email and not text. Due to this issue I think Bigfoot Cam's are allowing trade-in's on the 3G for an upgrade to the 4G cam (for a decent cost). This is why they have refurbs. They come in a box just like brand new! Good luck!
Why don’t you recommend spypoint I just purchased one now I’m worried lol
Hi Pike, I only have experience with the Link Evo’s and it wasn’t good. I spent nearly $600 on two cams with $80 antennas for each and they still performed horribly. They wouldn’t transfer pictures regularly or when they finally did they would send 100 pics in a row of nothing (no animals). I called customer service and did the firmware update and it got worse. The other thing that ticked me off was that after you hit 100 pics (on the free plan) you stop getting pics (which I understand) but your camera is still taking pictures which goes against your next month. On day 1 of the new month, whalla, you are out of pictures on the free plan because you get all the old pictures first from last month (which defeats the purpose of having a cell cam). I never wanted to pay for an upgraded plan because my cams never worked right from the start so why would I give them more money? The app doesn’t allow you to turn the camera off to prevent picture taking but it allows you to set a schedule and reduce pic frequency but guess what...they (or the app) resets your choices back to default every day because they don’t want you turning the picture taking off because they want you to buy a plan. Not sure which model you have but I hope you get lucky. If I were you and still had the box I would return it and buy a Bigfoot or Covert. I run 4 Bigfoots and they work flawlessly for me on very little signal. They have a very straightforward and reasonable picture plan (no games/gimmicks). They also have almost no false triggers which is amazing to me. Sometimes they pick up animals so far away that it’s like “finding Waldo” in the picture. We kill a lot of hogs with our Bigfoots because they work so well (proof in our hog cell cam raid videos). Never killed one hog with a Spypoint! I wish you the best! On the bright side at least you only bought 1...I bought two! Keep me updated on what you decide to do. If it turns out ok that would be good to know for other subscribers. Take care!
Did adding the antenna make them send pictures anymore regularly?
It made both my Spypoints go from 2 bars to 3 bars and for about a week they transmitted pictures. Then one started taking a bunch of pictures (false triggers) randomly with no pictures of animals and then it stopped taking pictures altogether. My 2nd camera took pictures for about a week and then stopped transmitting altogether. The antennas worked great I just think the cameras are junk. I've since switched to BigFoot and they work flawlessly. I get two bars on my Bigfoot with normal antenna and they transmit great. I did hook up one of the extended antennas to the Bigfoot and it didn't increase bars but the camera still worked fine (so I left it alone). Hope that helps!
The Handy Hunter ya I know they aren’t the best cameras but I got this one new for $60 so I want to make it work. I get one to two bars right now and it sends pictures but not at each detection like it’s supposed to. It also makes me wonder if I get all of the pictures. If the antenna would get it to send all the pictures semi regularly I’d be happy.
@@bowhuntingforlife I hear ya...I'm all about trying to make a good deal work out! What cell carrier do you have? I have Verizon and Spypoint kept saying that Verizon was giving them problems with communicating pics, etc. If you have Verizon you may want to call Spypoint to get a status update before sinking any more money into the camera. I got $600 into these cams (w/antennas) before realizing I was wasting my time. Now I couldn't sell them for $30 bucks (and I wouldn't anyway). I think you may up your chances of better picture communication but the risk is a $70 antenna. Like I said, the antenna did increase my bars from 2 to 3. Good luck and let me know how it works out.
The Handy Hunter I started with the Verizon model because that was the one i found for $60. I sent spypoint a message because Verizon doesn’t show coverage at my place and they told me to try it and if it didn’t have coverage they would swap it for the non Verizon model no charge. It ended up not having coverage so I sent it to them and they sent me the other model. Now I’m trying to find out if I would be able to return the antenna after opening if it doesn’t help. So that will be my next step. If the antenna doesn’t work I’ll most likely turn off the cellular function and use it as a regular camera.
GREAT VIDEO, U said Spypoint u didn't recommend, why ? Thanks William
I had a lot of trouble with my two Link Evo’s. They wouldn’t communicate the pictures and when they would it would be days later. Then sometimes they would take constant pictures of nothing as though the motion sensor was stuck or defective. Then I found out that if the cam takes more pics than the free plan allows then they are deducted from the next month automatically. I never wanted to buy a picture plan because I could never get them to work right. I spent over $600 on two cams with extended antennas and they never worked. I then tried Bigfoots and Boom! Exactly what I was looking for. Much cheaper too! Hope that helps.
The Handy Hunter what size pipe was attached to the 3/8 inch bolt ? Same as the pipe ?sizes ?
My first SPYPOINT had a bad front door seal... took that one back. What the box doesn’t tell you is how you have to format a brand new sd card with SPYPOINT s software. The thing is cellular , yet you need a laptop to format the sad card. That’s bologna! If there’s an update, bring your laptop out again. Now my 2nd Link S will not turn on. Company is from Canada too... I’m going to switch to American made.
We had the sd card update issue as well. Buy a bigfoot and your troubles will be over. I have four and wouldn’t chance anything else. I love them and they are one of the least expensive on the market
While the cost of these cameras have dropped the accessories are outrageous. That antenna cost 75.00. Crazy
I hear ya! I sunk close to $600 in two Spypoints with two antennas and they are both worthless. Makes me sick to my stomach for the money lost! Totally happy with my Bigfoots...I’ve moved on.
I like the way you think. My idea is similar but maybe easier and higher in the sky. The trouble is I have one of those Moultrie cameras that has no external antenna. I took the camera apart and I'm not impressed. Looks like a China third grader might have made the circuit board. Made as cheaply as possible. The antennas are closed in with hard plastic and they are not going to be easy to solder a cable for external fitting. Looks like I'm going to have to find some electronics repair person to help me find the right parts before I cut some wires. Let me know if you want to hear about my technique of getting antenna high into the tree.
I would love to hear!!! Always open to new and creative ideas!
I have my bow
My bow and arrow is setup for fishing
@@TheHandyHunter my bow and arrow is setup for fishing so the string is attached to the arrow. I'm going to shoot the arrow to the top of the tree. With the string pull up extension cord for external antenna. I'll get the antenna and coax from Amazon and pull that antenna too the top of the 40 ft tall tree. What camera should I buy I want to spend $100
Great idea!! Do you stick the arrow into the tree or hang it over a limb? I’ve used Bigfoot cell cams for years with great success. I don’t think theres a lot if options around $100 but i may be wrong. Good luck!!
$80ea or ebays for $6ea
All of that for just one more bar?
Yep, and although it helped...the cams are junk so finally trashed them for better ones and they transmit great on few bars. Good luck!
I live in Southern New Hampshire where it's most populated and where I live I only get two to three bars I got 40 acres in Central Maine and both my cameras get 100% signal up there go figure trail cams work great with full signal I don't know why you say you wouldn't recommend to buy these spy points any LTE cam needs a good signal if you don't have good signal don't buy them
It wasnt the signal that was the problem because even when I had enough signal they never worked right. They did all kinds of weird things plus the battery indicator was always wrong when I used an external battery source. I didnt like their gimmickie picture plan either. Glad to hear they are working for you…definitely stick with what works! Good luck this season!
Spypoint has the worse RMA service. I sent in my cam over 6 months and they have not sent it back yet.
I try to warn people about Spypoint but most people have already bought them before they ask my opinion. I wasted nearly $700 on two cell cams...never again!
SpyPoint are the absolute worst cell cameras I've ever tried to use. Absolutely horrible quality pictures and they are very unreliable.
No kidding! I found this out after wasting $600! I had nothing but trouble with mine! Bigfoots work great. I run four and they work flawlessly. At $199ea you can get two for the price of one big brand name. I’m hooked.