Spypoint Trail Camera
Wisconsin
Does anyone use the new Spypoint Cellular Trail Camera? New model Link-Micro-S-LTE with built-in solar.
I just returned a Link Micro (not the solar. ) I wasted 2 days of my life on that POS. The one (of the three) support guy I dealt with was an ass. This was my 4th SPYPOINT and second one I returned. The other 2 I have are Link Ws and work pretty good.
Mike, check trailcampro.com for their reviews Of cellular cameras. The micro does not rate nearly as well as their Link S, but then the Link S is $500!
Muskybuck I am using Cuddelink at the moment and it’s been flawless but it’s so damn big and extra big with the bear proof boxes etc. SPYPOINT caught my eye with that solar panel “ambient light” and small size.
I forgot to mention a friend of mine recently got 2 micros and they're working good for him. Another buddy has a few evos and now 2 aren't working. He's sending one back in for a replacement.
I’ve been using Moultrie Mobil 7000I and it’s been Good all summer. Battery life is average for it. Real fast trigger. It will catch a crossing bird in flight almost dead center in the photo. Their monthly plans just changed and pricing is some what better. They were more on the expensive side of cam packages before.
Drop Tine-Good to hear. I've had great luck with the Moultrie cheapos, so it would be nice to try their cell camera.
Trying to get realistic information about trail cameras online is so fickle because when I read online reviews for the major players in this market, ALL the cameras have plenty of unhappy users and plenty who are very pleased?! It seems that maybe the cell cameras are a new enough technology that there are still bugs to work out. I think a lot of the problems arise when guys push their luck with weaker signal strength.
What is the reception like with these cell cameras? The spots I'd like to set them have hit or miss phone reception. Some days it works fine, other days, not so much.
Do the cameras seem to have better or worse reception than phones?
I picked up two Micro Link S (solar) LTEs when Cabelas had their trade-in deal going on in August. I got one Verizon and one Nationwide. Here in Western WI, I use Verizon on my phone and coverage is pretty good, but I wanted to see if the Nationwide was better. They both have a 90-100% signal most of the time, but do occasionally drop down to 50%, especially the Verizon one. They were working fine when I tested them at home, before doing the firmware update, but I did proceed with updating them before putting them out in the woods. Also, after doing the firmware update, do a quick format of the card to erase the firmware files. You need to make sure you're using a Class 10 micro SD card. I had put a 16 GB one in one of the cams and the pics would save, but not transmit, and found out it was a Class 4.
I then picked up 3 Cell-Link cams, on Nationwide, and they're working fine too. I have one connected to a SpyPoint Solar Dark, and two in my older Primos Truth cams.
SpyPoint recommends doing a full format, not a quick format, on the SD cards, even if they're new. Also, if you use a Cell-Link, the SD card dongle needs to be formatted as well.
There's been some bad reviews of their app as well. I think those are a few months old, because I don't have any problems with the app. I did have a day when my pics were intermixed amongst my cams in the app, but they had an update and that was fixed; they may have been doing some maintenance or something, because they didn't do that initially.
My buddy has a Stealth Fusion, he's in OH hunting and his cam stopped sending photos last Friday night. I basically had to go to him cam and power it off and back on. When I swapped his card, there were pics saved, and even in the Transmit folder, but for whatever reason they weren't being delivered. I haven't had to do that yet with any of my SpyPoints. I do have one Cell Link that occasionally says 25% cell service, but it's usually back to 50% or 90% the next time it checks in and it's never not sent photos either.
I have mine set up over a truck load of corn I dumped on my neighbors property. I can check the cam from the couch and go open the bedroom window and shoot my x-gun 90 yards to the deer. Just joking of course. My God, with all the tech, what has hunting become.
I sent my drone airborne to see if my satellite camera was still on the tree. I wasnt getting pictures to my IPad. Lone behold my son had backed into the camera with the Gator when he was placing some corn to feed all the wildlife.
With the pandemic this year, running trail cams really helped me to stay active and keep my sanity in check. I got the cell cams, primarily for hunting season, so I don't have to go in and disturb certain areas. Plus, the snowmobile bridge we use to cross the Willow river was destroyed in that late June flood, so what was typically a pretty easy/short walk through the bottoms, became a 3/4 mile hike though a swamp and around the perimeter of a bean field.
"My God, with all the tech, what has hunting become." Xtroutx, kind of sad isn't it. Sometimes it's more enjoyable to go out and rove/hunt all day stump shooting as you go. Hunting has turned into killing only.
Cams are a great tool for those of us who don't live near their hunting area. I use them year round and enjoy capturing other animals, like turkey and bears, as well as seeing when the farmers plant/harvest their crops - I have some pretty pictures of tractors that would look great blown up or made into puzzles. Man, there's a healthy population of bears in St. Croix county and on or near public land, especially in the spring and early summer. I encountered my first live bear when checking cams one day in early June, looked like a big boar out roaming for sows. Had another cam capture multiple bears, including a young chocolate bear. I'm still waiting/hoping to capture Big Foot.
Would be nice to stay on topic. Someone was looking for input. If you don't have anything constructive to add or input to help, you can always choose to not click on this thread. Or in some of your cases, start your own and bitch somewhere else.
I am sorry novice, I was awake all night with back pain. Finally around 3:30 I had to "bitch" about some thing and my wife was sleeping. Sorry to upset you. Carry on.
Knife2Sharp, small world. I was born and raised in New Richmond and president of the New Richmond snowmobile club. Sad day when that bridge was lost. The club had built that bridge many many moons ago and it will likely never get rebuilt as that trail was not a state funded trail. Now days there's way too much liability risk to rebuild it ourselves and I'm sure we would struggle to get a permit from the DNR since the trail is not state funded.
Hey, stay on topic or you will piss off Novice.
LOL - I was actually going to reply to JeffD here, but I ended up sending him a PM instead. I didn't want to get busted by the police. But in reality, if you've been on the Bowsite long enough, going off topic is more of the norm.
Put out the spypoint link s a week ago. Spotty cell coverage on the farm. When u set it, it will tell you how good the coverage is in that spot. Mine was marginal but It has been working great so far.....
Creative XP camera image
Creative XP camera image
SPYPOINT was my go-to after my bushnell cams went down. The first gen cameras were champs and lasted me several years. The Link Micro S LTE is garbage. I’ve been troubleshooting since I bought it. Come to find out it has a manufacturer defect where water leaks through the solar panel into the battery compartment. Customer service gives you the typical run around before honoring the warranty. Done with the brand.
Creative XP Glassraven 4G is AWESOME! It’s an American husband/wife founded company. I bought the first generation camera they produced which had issues but the customer service was amazing as the wife personally answered all my inquiries. They eventually replaced the original 3G camera with the new 4G and WOW! Their camera is light years ahead of the rest now. They also updated their app to control the camera settings remotely.
I have a 6 spypoints, never again would i own one. They work good then they dont. Then they will work again. My advice stay away from them. Seriously the most unreliable camera you can buy. Sim card issues, sd card issues.
My two Link Micro S LTEs, one Verizon and one Nationwide (ATT) are still going strong, and almost a year old. The V one did get replaced last fall because the IR filter was stuck. Also have 3 Cell Links and they're great too. I think WalMart had some bad Energizer lithium and Maxx batteries, and I was assuming issues were the cam. Also last November, there was a buggy firmware update released for the CLs, but was corrected with another update a few weeks later. Still one of the cheapest plans and the free 100 photos a month is a great feature. No need to buy a plan, just to test/use a cam in the off season.
Not a cell camera but fleet farm has covert camera's on sale for 70.00$ regularly 140. I bought 2 yesterday. I have 22 covert they have been good. I have 2 reconx they are the Cadillac but pricey.
Listen to the chasing giants podcast on cell camera results. Pretty interesting results
I have 3 of the LTE S Nationwide installed in my Iowa Deer lease. 2 solar, 1 battery only. I live in WI. It has saved me a couple of trips down to check on cameras. I have caught numerous trespassers on ATV's, which were moving at a pretty good clip. Not the highest resolution, but functional. The solar addition is great, as batteries can get expensive, but that cost is often overlooked. The battery only camera has been running fine since early April, and is now at 75%. Takes about 2-4 pics a day; uploads only 2x a day. My Iowa lease is also blanketed with poison ivy. Never hunted anywhere that bad. So these low maintenance cameras saves me that hassle as well. No major issues so far. After this year, the cameras will serve as security cameras around my home. If set to immediate download, my cell phone gets notification within 2 minutes; pretty good for trespass use.
