TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
TheLBLman said:
I started the cell cam testing when Covert came out with their first unit a few years ago. That soured me on cell cams, as it ate thru its lithium batteries monthly, and simply didn't reliably work.
But in all fairness, part of the problem was the poorer cell service in general of that era.
Covert was ahead of the curve, by perhaps years.
When Browning came out with their 1st generation cell cam (believe was 2018) I field tested a couple, and was just truly amazed at how well they worked. Their very 1st entry was a black-flash, high-performance unit, that imo, topped everything else out there at the time. One of those original two has been running continuously ever since, and remains totally reliable. The other was as well until the sim card just recently died. I'm expected to replace that sim card and get yet more service from that unit.
My only complaint of those 1st generation Browning black-flash cell cams was they required 16 AA lithium batteries, and when set for high performance (with instant pic uploads), could only get @ 3 months battery life. Have since learned "scheduled" uploads over "instant" will greatly extend battery life, as will changing your settings to taking fewer pics at night. I'm now getting 5 to 7 months battery life from the 1st generation Brownings, and twice that from the 2nd generation.
Regardless of brand, each new "generation" will generally have greater battery life. This is truly amazing as I think back to my days using early non-cell cams with "D" sized batteries that had to be replaced at least monthly, as did the 35mm film limiting me to only 24 to 36 pics in between field servicing. My 2nd generation Browning cell cams ("Pro Scout" models), several years old now, but only need the batteries replaced about once a year (plus then only require 8 AAs!).
I started the cell cam testing when Covert came out with their first unit a few years ago. That soured me on cell cams, as it ate thru its lithium batteries monthly, and simply didn't reliably work.
Those 1st generation Covert cell cams were certainly a huge disappointment.
But in all fairness, part of the problem was the poorer cell service in general of that era.
Covert was ahead of the curve, by perhaps years.
When Browning came out with their 1st generation cell cam (believe was 2018) I field tested a couple, and was just truly amazed at how well they worked. Their very 1st entry was a black-flash, high-performance unit, that imo, topped everything else out there at the time. One of those original two has been running continuously ever since, and remains totally reliable. The other was as well until the sim card just recently died. I'm expected to replace that sim card and get yet more service from that unit.
My only complaint of those 1st generation Browning black-flash cell cams was they required 16 AA lithium batteries, and when set for high performance (with instant pic uploads), could only get @ 3 months battery life. Have since learned "scheduled" uploads over "instant" will greatly extend battery life, as will changing your settings to taking fewer pics at night. I'm now getting 5 to 7 months battery life from the 1st generation Brownings, and twice that from the 2nd generation.
Regardless of brand, each new "generation" will generally have greater battery life. This is truly amazing as I think back to my days using early non-cell cams with "D" sized batteries that had to be replaced at least monthly, as did the 35mm film limiting me to only 24 to 36 pics in between field servicing. My 2nd generation Browning cell cams ("Pro Scout" models), several years old now, but only need the batteries replaced about once a year (plus then only require 8 AAs!).
