Academy is advertising two Cellular game cameras (Moultrie and Muddy) for less than $100.00. They operate on AT&T or Verizon. I have an AT&T cell phone that works perfectly from my ranch to home.
My question is "How do I know the cell camera is transmitting pictures O.K.? Can the set up be accomplished and tested ON SITE?? If not, can the camera be tested from home and returned if it does not function correctly??
The uninformed need to know!

Thanks.

Pretty easy to test it on site. Set it up and stand in front of it. If it sends pics it’s working, if not try again.

I would set up and test it from your home and then take it to the ranch. Nothing more frustrating then getting out to the ranch and the camera not working. Good luck I love me cell cameras!

x2

Go online to the store site and read the review on each of the cams you are interested in. Here is one place to start: https://www.trailcampro.com/collections/trail-camera-reviews

Where are you seeing these cameras? I cannot find anything on Academy's website under $100.

It's going to be either the SpyPoint Micro or the Moultrie...of the two Moultrie is better...all the SpyPoints I've been exposed to (close to 6) have been junk.

I would be interested to know if anyone has found a cell camera that doesn't need a solar charger to keep the batteries from quickly losing their charge. The challenge with a cell camera is keeping the radio active so that it can quickly transmit images. Traditional game cameras use a "sleep mode" where the camera mechanism uses less power until motion is detected, at which time the camera "wakes" to take one or more photos. Just think about how long it takes for your smartphone to go active once you turn it on and you get the idea of why it's important to keep the radio active. There's quite a bit of authentication "hand shaking" between phones and the network before the network allows them to send and receive voice or data.

Or, I could see someone designing a camera so that it records images and then transmits them later, perhaps even in groups in order to minimize the load the radio puts on the batteries.

I doubt a cell camera exists that will transmit for months without a solar panel, but it doesn't really matter. Just buy a camera with a built in solar panel or get the Cell-Link adaption camera that turns any traditional camera into a cell camera. The Cell-Link has it's own solar panel as well

if your cell phone is AT&T and gets good signal at your land, then an AT&T cell camera will work. The Muddy camera is made by Stealth. I have been running Stealth Cell Cameras since they came out 4 years ago. I still have my first one and it works flawlessly.

I run all my cellular cameras off a 12 volt external battery box that has a solar charger on it. I have some of these 12v box/batteries that have been working for over 6 years and still going strong.

There are lots of things to learn about cell cameras and how to keep them going.

Saw an ad for the Cell-Link that said it connects to the SD-card slot in a traditional camera but will not allow moisture to get inside. That leaves me scratching head as to how they can make such a claim given how tight the doors fit on many if not most cameras. Perhaps it uses a flat ribbon cable. Still, I question how it would hold up over time.

Covert wireless allows you to upload in batches at a predetermined interval up to 1x a day. Honestly the solar panels are worth their weight in gold so I have solar panels that charge rechargeable AA's on my 5 cell cameras. Some have been out for 5 years now and other than the solar panel a squirrel destroyed and 1 or 2 sets of batteries going bad I've had no issues with them.

The other thing that Covert has supposedly come out with is a base unit that can transmit up to 1100 yards and connect to 9 other cameras.
What is very appealing to us is that we have basically no cell signals except in one location so we can put that base unit at that location and
then get other cameras that will transmit to that base unit then uploads through At&t or Verizon. I said supposedly because when I check
it seems they are out of stock so not sure what is going on. Maybe COVID has affected them too.