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Cellular Game Cams #5912679 09/04/15 09:33 AM
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titan2232 Offline OP
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Where to start...

I've done roughly 3 hours of research last night on all different models and man I gotta say some of the reviews are depressing. I need to know EVERYTHING you know about these cameras. (any brand good and bad) A couple key questions are:

1.) Do these cameras receive a stronger/weaker/same signal than a cell phone? I have a few signal bars on my cell phone at my intended location, but not certain how much signal I need?

2.) Does an added antenna make much of a difference?

3.) Can the delay times be set for 1,2,5 minute intervals as normal game cameras?

4.) I'd rather not get texts/emails every single time this thing takes pictures. Do any brands have the capability to send all the captured pictures for a given period at one specified time?

5.) Can I expect 3-4 month battery life with good rechargeables and a solar panel? (I average 2K pics a month with a 2 minute delay)

Please give me any and all info you may have as one of these cameras would be quite effective being 6 hours from the ranch.

Thanks



Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: titan2232] #5912753 09/04/15 12:01 PM
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Originally Posted By: titan2232
Where to start...

I've done roughly 3 hours of research last night on all different models and man I gotta say some of the reviews are depressing. I need to know EVERYTHING you know about these cameras. (any brand good and bad) A couple key questions are:

1.) Do these cameras receive a stronger/weaker/same signal than a cell phone? I have a few signal bars on my cell phone at my intended location, but not certain how much signal I need?

The Covert has an external antenna. It will receive at least as well as your (AT&T) phone.

2.) Does an added antenna make much of a difference?

Yes. Covert offers a external antenna that can be raised a bit. Antenna height can make a difference.

3.) Can the delay times be set for 1,2,5 minute intervals as normal game cameras
Yes

4.) I'd rather not get texts/emails every single time this thing takes pictures. Do any brands have the capability to send all the captured pictures for a given period at one specified time?

The Covert will txt or email every pic or no pics. No schedule exists. Silence your phone for its messages or it'll make you crazy.

5.) Can I expect 3-4 month battery life with good rechargeables and a solar panel? (I average 2K pics a month with a 2 minute delay)

I run external battery pack and solar panel. It will run forever when set up properly. Protect it from cows.

Please give me any and all info you may have as one of these cameras would be quite effective being 6 hours from the ranch.youll end up with more than one. Use an old dumb phone to get it working.

Take phone in get working take out sim put in cam. Done. I

Thanks





Last edited by Cast; 09/04/15 12:03 PM.

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Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: titan2232] #5912795 09/04/15 12:52 PM
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I have the covert 3G and love it.

Covert runs off att so depends on your cell carrier. I have a Verizon phone and camera uses att and no problems.

I have not needed an extended camera

Covert does have different times settings as well as daily updates if you don't want the pics each and every time

I am on my 3rd year with a six volt battery and solar and it is as strong as day one

Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: titan2232] #5913381 09/04/15 07:07 PM
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I now have 3 of the Spartan cams and I have come to really like them. I was wary at first of any cell cam and all but they do a nice job. I get pics to my email or text or I can view them through the cell app. I can control all the settings from my phone and can program it to be shut off during certain hours of the day to conserve battery. It can run off solar though I haven't done so yet.

The only negative so far for me is the slow shutter speed but even then I like what I have seen and if it matters at all, it gets higher ratings than Coverts. They are more expensive than coverts though i believe.

Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: titan2232] #5913386 09/04/15 07:12 PM
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I would like to have more control of my Coverts via text message. I have very limited access via text.


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Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: titan2232] #5913390 09/04/15 07:15 PM
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To answer OP questions specific to the Spartan:

1) you need 2-3 bars of 3G service (doesn't need to be LTE)
2) Spartan comes with a nice antenna but I have never tested a covert so I can't compare.
3) yes, you can set times and a ton of other settings (sensitivity, hours on, strength of flash, etc)
4) you can set up the camera so it sends all pics to your cell phone app, or you can set it up so it does a once a day send to email/phone from what I read on the booklet. The app is nice though as you get thumbnails but can request the HD version of it, as well as delete the pic. My buddy set up a new email though as he wanted all of his pics as they happened and that seemed to work as well. Usually the pic arrived within 45 seconds of being taken.
5) so far batteries for me have last 2 months and still working. My guess is that 3 months will be maximum. I do want to set up solar eventually but have not had the time to do so.

As the other poster said, it does become addictive having them (how I ended up with 3). I live 2 hours from our place and 1 1/2 hours from my dads and it is nice to have the features.

Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: titan2232] #5913521 09/04/15 08:43 PM
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With regards to the Covert:
You can get it for Verizon or ATT.

If your cell phone can get a signal, the camera should too. You can get a booster for it, as well as a solar panel, replacement antenna, and other things. Yes the booster does make a little difference to get a reception but that really depends on terrain and location. It an antenna with a 10' cord and you just mount it higher or in a different spot to get a signal.

Yes you can set trigger delay. You can also set a time lapse. You can also set any particular time period of the day or night you want it to run. If you only wanted it to run from 5 am to noon, you could set it to do that. Just an example.

It needs about 1 minute between pictures that are taken to send it to your phone or email. The book says 30 seconds, I had better success with 1 min. It can send to either one, or both, or send one picture of the last one taken in the run time given, along with a report of how many pictures its taken in that last run period.
There is also a setting where you can have it only send you so many pics in a day. Say you wanted only 30 pictures a day. It would still continue to take pics, but only send you the first 30 that it took. The rest are saved on the card.
The camera can also be set to overwrite the card when its full.

I have two on 12 AA batteries each, and over 2800 pics in about two weeks. The batteries are still going strong.
Your battery life will be determined by what your settings are on it. I have not had to change the batteries out yet. The camera can run on less than 12 AA batteries, but running it on 12 makes it last longer. This is with NO solar panel.

The ATT trail cam comes with a sim card that is specific for use with ATT buyasession plan. It's $25 for three months per camera. I looked into getting mine set up on my ATT account, but its actually more expensive and the sim cards they send to you or that you get from the store will not work. Use the sim card that comes with the camera.


I have not recieved any run-away pics. I do get some pictures where something has walked by too fast. It's not the trigger speed more than it is the set up location of the camera. Preferably I like to have them set up facing a direction down the trail to the feeder. So when a deer walks by fast, I get a pic of its butt sometimes. I just learned to position the camera better and I have no problems.

I would recommend keeping the camera on 5mp and no higher. The pics it sends to you are highly compressed down to 60kb. This can be changed with the download tool that you get from off the covert site. I think its up to 400kb. It makes a bit of difference, but keep in mind thats more data its sending and it just uses up more of your data aloted in your plan. I changed mine up to 300kb before I saw a noticeable difference.


There is a burst setting. 1-3. The camera will send only the first one.


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Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: titan2232] #5913775 09/05/15 12:33 AM
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Some really good info guys and sounds a lot more promising compared to what I was reading online. I like the idea of having the app to just go and view pictures instead of scrolling through 1000's of texts or emails.

Just adding a line to my current AT&T plan is what I was planning on since I have unlimited texts, but it sounds like that may not be the best way.

Thanks guys



Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: titan2232] #5914337 09/05/15 04:32 PM
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Curtis,

where is this?

The ATT trail cam comes with a sim card that is specific for use with ATT buyasession plan. It's $25 for three months per camera. I looked into getting mine set up on my ATT account, but its actually more expensive and the sim cards they send to you or that you get from the store will not work. Use the sim card that comes with the camera.


I have two Covert Black Ops that have been out of commission for 6 months. Went to renew my 10/month - 999 messages and freaking ATT dumped that plan. It is like 30/month now and they throw in crap I don't need. Man I hate ATT. Now only option I can think of is to add these to my existing plan @ 15/month but that is still more than I wanted to do. At least then it is on my unlimited messaging plan.

Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: Curtis] #5914714 09/06/15 01:08 AM
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Originally Posted By: Curtis
You can get it for Verizon or ATT.


Sorry, but this is not correct. Covert uses GSM which AT&T and T-Mobile use. Sprint and Verizon are CDMA.

Charlie


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Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: titan2232] #5914726 09/06/15 01:25 AM
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Correct. You will have to get an att SIM card but your phone provider does not matter

Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: titan2232] #5914734 09/06/15 01:30 AM
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Correct me if wrong. Don't all pics. Come via individual email or text? If so how do you go through thousands of oics that way?


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Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: TXHogger] #5914876 09/06/15 03:45 AM
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Originally Posted By: TXHogger
Curtis,

where is this?

The ATT trail cam comes with a sim card that is specific for use with ATT buyasession plan. It's $25 for three months per camera. I looked into getting mine set up on my ATT account, but its actually more expensive and the sim cards they send to you or that you get from the store will not work. Use the sim card that comes with the camera.


I have two Covert Black Ops that have been out of commission for 6 months. Went to renew my 10/month - 999 messages and freaking ATT dumped that plan. It is like 30/month now and they throw in crap I don't need. Man I hate ATT. Now only option I can think of is to add these to my existing plan @ 15/month but that is still more than I wanted to do. At least then it is on my unlimited messaging plan.


Txhogger I am on the 1000 texts for 10 dollars a month with the go phone plan. they still carry the plan you just have to call them and speak to a human.
very happy with my covert.

Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: Tru2lifetaxidermy] #5914927 09/06/15 04:49 AM
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Originally Posted By: Tru2lifetaxidermy
Correct. You will have to get an att SIM card but your phone provider does not matter


Sorry, not correct... You can use either AT&T or T-Mobile.

Originally Posted By: tlk
Correct me if wrong. Don't all pics. Come via individual email or text? If so how do you go through thousands of oics that way?


They are sent via text, either individually or timed batch as mentioned before. It's key to set the time difference between pics to something longer than 5 seconds, otherwise your phone never stops vibrating when the feeder goes off. wink

Charlie

Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: titan2232] #5914972 09/06/15 10:30 AM
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i went up there twice yesterday and was online with another agent. it exists for grandfathered devices but not for new. i wish i was wrong

Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: CharlieCTx] #5914985 09/06/15 11:14 AM
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Originally Posted By: CharlieCTx
Originally Posted By: Tru2lifetaxidermy
Correct. You will have to get an att SIM card but your phone provider does not matter


Sorry, not correct... You can use either AT&T or T-Mobile.

Originally Posted By: tlk
Correct me if wrong. Don't all pics. Come via individual email or text? If so how do you go through thousands of oics that way?


They are sent via text, either individually or timed batch as mentioned before. It's key to set the time difference between pics to something longer than 5 seconds, otherwise your phone never stops vibrating when the feeder goes off. wink

Charlie
. So to look at 1000 pics for example you have to open text one at a time? Even if timed batched seems like a pain to go thru pictures


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Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: titan2232] #5914988 09/06/15 11:22 AM
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I had 26 pics on my phone from last night. showed I got one text from my camera with a small 26 in the corner. opened it up scrolled through the pics took maybe one min.

Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: titan2232] #5917743 09/08/15 05:41 AM
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According to my AT&T sales lady I cannot just get an extra SIMS card and add it to my plan as an extra line. She says the card will NOT work in any camera and that I'd have to do a "pay as you go plan" and each text is like .28 cents eeks333



Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: titan2232] #5917804 09/08/15 11:41 AM
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Originally Posted By: titan2232
According to my AT&T sales lady I cannot just get an extra SIMS card and add it to my plan as an extra line. She says the card will NOT work in any camera and that I'd have to do a "pay as you go plan" and each text is like .28 cents eeks333



holy hell. i hate att so bad. thy can't even keep a consistent lie across their salesforce. you rep is dumber than the one i dealt with. she is an idiot and does not know her product line. card will work, and you can add to your plan @ 15/month. i am on unlimited plan and have three iphones, 1 ipad, and now the two cameras (sim cards). albeit i am still going to pursue to see if i can get the old pay as you go rate i used to have.

I HATE ATT!!!!

Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: CharlieCTx] #5917827 09/08/15 12:09 PM
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Originally Posted By: CharlieCTx
Originally Posted By: Curtis
You can get it for Verizon or ATT.


Sorry, but this is not correct. Covert uses GSM which AT&T and T-Mobile use. Sprint and Verizon are CDMA.

Charlie


Correct. I looked at my choices yesterday. AT&T or T-Mobile.


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Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: titan2232] #5917829 09/08/15 12:13 PM
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Guys, the only easy way I know to do this is with a dumb phone. Cameras are just dumb phones. I've got an old flip phone that I take to Decatur AT&T and add to my family plan for 9.95 a month with unlimited text. Get home and put that sim in camera and it's working. Never say camera to them.


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Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: Cast] #5917841 09/08/15 12:22 PM
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Originally Posted By: Cast
Guys, the only easy way I know to do this is with a dumb phone. Cameras are just dumb phones. I've got an old flip phone that I take to Decatur AT&T and add to my family plan for 9.95 a month with unlimited text. Get home and put that sim in camera and it's working. Never say camera to them.


yes, correct. this is what i did a while back. i was surprised this time the girl had actually done a sim card recently for someone with a game camera. less is more with them. of course once again, i see you mention 9.95/month on your plan where it is 15 for me. what plan do you have?

Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: titan2232] #5917874 09/08/15 12:47 PM
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Old grandfathered family plan. You should see them try to get me to change it. That plan is the reason I stay AT&T.


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Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: titan2232] #5918678 09/08/15 09:09 PM
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I have been using the Bushnell for over a year now and am happy with it.

Only works on AT&T but you just pay Bushnell $10 a month which you can cancel at any time.

In addition to text and email you can manage your photos via their web site or App on your phone or iPad.

Here's a picture of the web site. It's pretty easy to manage.


Re: Cellular Game Cams [Re: titan2232] #5918981 09/09/15 12:25 AM
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titan2232 Offline OP
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Looks interesting Reata. Any idea about the price if you were getting 2500+ pictures a month?



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