cell camera battery life?

Tennessee Deer Sporting & Deer Hunting Community Forum

Help Support TNDeer | Tennessee Deer:

C

chebuck

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2013
Messages
764
City & State/Province
mid Tennessee
Thinking of getting a cell camera to put on a property that is over an hour away? My thoughts is it would save me money and time if not going to check the camera every week or two. But I'm worried about battery life. If the batteries go dead in 2 weeks I won't be saving anything. So those of you that have them how do they last?
 
If you have decent sunlight in the location, you can use a SLA battery and a solar panel to address that concern. Here is one of my cell cam setups.

c9fb5cd64016ff5d221921dd20d83aba.jpg
 
Covert Code Black 3G.

I ran it on 12 Duracell AA's one time and it lasted about 6 weeks, but picture volume in that spot was not very high. It really depends on how many pictures it has to transmit. If you put it over a mineral site or feeder, it will chew up the batteries much quicker than if you put it on a trail or over a less frequently used site. Also, cellular signal strength makes a difference. If the cellular signal strength is poor, it will have to use more battery power to transmit each picture than it would in a location with a good cellular signal.
 
chebuck":2uwo07od said:
So those of you that have them how do they last?
Click to expand...
My advise is to listen most to Vermin, as he's had better results than most regarding cellular cams. :)

I would not recommend your starting out using one far away for the purpose you stated. LEARN to use it closer to home, and after you've used it a while, then it might meet more of your expectations. One of the "issues" I had (I stopped using) was I could not utilize them (to my satisfaction) in burst mode or to take more than 1 pic every 1 minute. I'm sure different models will vary, but I could only transmit about 1 pic per 2 minutes, meaning that if you set the cam to take more than 1 pic a minute (or in a 2 or 3-shot "burst" mode per triggering), only a minority of the pics taken would get transmitted, and, your batteries would go down even quicker.

I like the idea, but I have not had as "pleasant" an experience as some have had. I believe the technology is improving, and I can see myself giving them another try in the future. Also, you can disable (or not use) the cellular aspect of these cams, and simply use them as a "normal" cell cam, then at any time, re-engage the cellular aspect.
 
One of the "issues" I had (I stopped using) was I could not utilize them (to my satisfaction) in burst mode or to take more than 1 pic every 1 minute. I'm sure different models will vary said:
You wouldn't happen to have your old one for sale? The cost of a new one is another thing that is holding me up.
Click to expand...
 
chebuck":3urr9r94 said:
You wouldn't happen to have your old one for sale? The cost of a new one is another thing that is holding me up.
Click to expand...
What is your budget? I have a 2014 Covert 3G that I am contemplating selling. If I do not sell it, I will use it as a regular trail camera this fall and not utilize the cellular feature. I was not overly impressed with getting "one picture" per trigger event sent to me (oftentimes blurry or half of the animal) while still having to access your camera to get the 3 full resolution pictures from burst mode. My .02
 
Vermin93":b2zwrv7w said:
If you put it over a mineral site or feeder, it will chew up the batteries much quicker than if you put it on a trail or over a less frequently used site. Also, cellular signal strength makes a difference. If the cellular signal strength is poor, it will have to use more battery power to transmit each picture than it would in a location with a good cellular signal.
Click to expand...
^This. I ran NiMH rechargeables (2 sets so I could cycle them) and they lasted 3-6 weeks depending on cellular signal strength and the amount of activity at the site. I am too mobile with my cameras to employ solar power.
 
I got maybe a couple of weeks with regular batteries in mine. The set up that Vermin has is the only way to go. I bought rechargeable batteries and a solar panel. Mine has been in the field for over 2 months and still going - 1000's of pictures over that time. BUT...THERE WILL BE GLITCHES with these cameras. Just saying. Overall, I am becoming more satisfied with my experience of late - BUT, I was ready to sell mine a month ago -mostly because of cell phone company glitches.
 
Why not just go with Covert Extreme 60 or MP8 black.
My MP8 Blacks take 8 AAs that take 5 to 7 hundred pics every week.
I ran em July through September last year and never replaced batteries.

New Extreme 60 takes 12 AAs. Hope to get months of service out of them also. We will see.

All my farms are over an hour away. Gives me a good reason to make the trip every 2-3 weeks.
 
Mr.Bro":fpad5b5s said:
Why not just go with Covert Extreme 60 or MP8 black.
Click to expand...
Because they were wanting the benefits of cellular cams? :)

pastorbmp":fpad5b5s said:
I got maybe a couple of weeks with regular batteries in mine. The set up that Vermin has is the only way to go.
Click to expand...
x 2
pastorbmp":fpad5b5s said:
BUT...THERE WILL BE GLITCHES with these cameras. Just saying.
Click to expand...
OH, BOY, YOU GOT THAT RIGHT!

My experiences have been that the glitches defeated the intended advantages. I consider one of those "glitches" to be the very poor battery life when using the cellular feature. In part because of poor battery life, in part because of other glitches, I ended up having to visit the cams (for servicing) more often than I had to visit non-cellular cams.

For me, the "appeal" of the celluar cams is mainly not having to visit the immediate area of the cam so often, maybe this more than getting some pics in "real time". At present, I believe the wireless cams (radio, not cell) are better serving for my purposes. If I can get the pics from 150 yards away (not having to disturb the actual cam site), that's typically the main reason I'd want cellular (to less disturb the spot). Also, if you have a cam 15 or 20 feet up in a tree, you really want to "service" it as infrequently as possible.

My hope is the technology will continue to improve, and I'm open to trying it again once they get a few more bugs worked out. But it's not practical for me to use the solar panels with most of my set-ups. I place over half my cams in very untraditional manners, so they are not so easily noticed by humans, often using 2 or more cams per set-up, one being more traditionally placed, while the better (and maybe cellular or radio version) is 15 feet up in a different tree 50 yards away and pointed back towards the other.

Meanwhile, imo, and particularly considering they are not working "as advertised", cellular cams are very over-priced.
But, suffice is to say, trail cams are getting better, and prices are becoming less. :)
 

Latest posts

Back
Top