Anxious to hear more on this. I admit I get anxious and want to pull cards so BADLY need something where I could pull a camera at edge of woods and see all pics from all cameras. I run 5 cameras now and have shown just enough patience to only switch cards on good wind days (e.g. pull cards from south side of property with north winds blowing to the south). But last year found I was chewing my fingernails after 2 weeks (during season) of wind that cut me off from my two fav cameras.
Love the concept but have heard much less favorable feedback than read here. Specifically, the batteries. During the summer I have heard 60-80 days. Of course I can pull cards that time of year. In oct/nov and with high density I heard 20-25 days if lucky. A good friend who uses them said he was really disappointed in cameras not even lasting 3 weeks in the middle of the season.
Second. you can't lock these cameras up without a box. Knock on wood, I have never had a camera picked, but also keep them all locked with Pythons. I am sure if I didn't (even on my pvt land) they would walk away. I called Cuddeback and they told me... not planning to put a hole through them to put a lock and they want you to buy box.
Which leads to First and Second together....I also asked about the solar addition and of course if you use that... you can't use the security box. So, I am also feeling a bit like there are bugs that need to be worked out. Funny thing was cuddeback didn't sound real interested in my (customer) pov. I told them going in to the woods to change batteries has the same impact we are all trying to avoid when we pull cards. The woman seemed to think it was different for some reason. I tried to explain to her that I don't want to enter the woods from labor day to xmas unless I am in a stand. And she replied you won't have to it sends pics to the base... and I said, it doesn't when the batteries die and she said, "oh right, but you can change them when they die". I almost laughed out loud that somehow she thinks changing batteries doesn't disturb the woods but pulling sd cards will. ha!
Really want a 3-4 month battery life (like my Recoynx) and an ability to lock the bad boys to the tree!
Keep the reviews coming though as I really like this concept. Would be so great to arrive at my camp Friday night and pull the card from the driveway camera (base) and review all of the cameras before I pick my stand for the next morning. Wow! So cool! Just need to not arrive and find dead batteries or the cameras gone. Ha!
The cameras, I have read, could potentially last seasons when using the solar power add on to recharge the system. I am hoping this holds true, though I have yet to find the solar unit available. When looking at the Cuddeback site it lists for $50 with 12 rechargeable batteries. This I feel is a fair price once they have them in stock.
Not sure on your property setup but during the summer and preseason I do not let the wind determine when I want to change my cards. My walking back on the property has little to no impact on the deer. Most times I will drive the golf cart back. Even further, my summer bucks rarely stick around for fall and new ones move in. I will limit my presence around end of August. However, during season I only would check my cams when I would hunt the property. In that aspect this setup will be a HUGE benefit for me to determine day/time and stand before hunting the morning.
As for theft, I do not have any worries about this as I am surrounded by large chunks of private. However, I thought there was a spot on the mount that comes with it to run a locking cable through. I don't have cams with me currently but will look to verify next time I pull the card.
I did set out in the heat and bug filled woods yesterday and set up my two cams. The forest is dense now with two hills between them at a distance of 250 yards or so. The cudde level, or connection strength, between the two was about 23%. This is more of a test so I am sure they are efficient, build confidence and to help me determine the max range/cudde level I am comfortable with running before I set them in their final place deep on the property.
