Wireless Trail Camera

[Machias]

When I was at the Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg, PA last month they had the Spartan GoCam NoGlow camera on sale for $400.  So I got one and thought I would give my initial impressions and a short review.  These folks have a good breakdown of the camera at: 

http://www.trailcampro.com/collections/trail-camera-reviews/products/hco-spartan-gocam-noglow?variant=9871264133

Set up was easy, we went with HCO's Verizon plan for $19 a month. 

http://www.hcooutdoors.com/

I can receive about 5000 photos a month for that.  What I LOVE about the camera is I can change the settings at home.  I can see my photos about 60 seconds after the camera takes them.  I get a text message and e-mail of my photos.  Very cool!!  The texted and e-mailed photos are pixilated a fair bit, because they are compressed.  The crisper photos are stored on the SD card, but at least I can tell when things are in front of the camera.  I have this camera on one of my hogs baits.  So far just coons, squirrels and deer have hit my bait, no hogs yet, but I have some corn fermenting which should fire up the bait soon.

Spartan Camera has a nice App for my phone so I can actually change the settings on my camera from my phone. 


Day time Deer



Night time Deer



Night time Coon

[Wacenturion]

Machias....I also have two of the exact same camera, blackout version.  Not out at the moment since I pulled them over winter.  However ran them last summer and fall.  I really like them a lot.  I also have like seven big Verizon towers within 4-5 miles as a crow flies line of sight.  Great reception.

Couple pictures from last year on my property.  First photo of a younger buck taken September 17.  Second photo is the same buck taken by my son opening morning of general season, almost a month to the day after catching him on the cam.

Bears played with the one cam, thus the tilt.

I lightened up the last photo of the cougar a little to see it better.

Hope I'm not hijacking your thread.  Just thought I would add to it.

[Machias]

Not Hi-jacking at all, glad to hear someone else's experience with them.  Great shots.  Can you tell a big difference in photos when you pull them off your SD card?  Have you figured out what settings you like best?  Do you use any of the trigger events?

[Coasthunterjay]

What's the service like. I have been looking into the wireless also but several of the places IDE use them at are usually 1 bar or no bars(service) areas?

[heronblu]

Man that picture of the deer in the barbed wire is nuts. Do you know if he was able to walk away from that or not?

[emac]

Man that picture of the deer in the barbed wire is nuts. Do you know if he was able to walk away from that or not?

Pretty sure he was dead from a gun shot at that point

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[Machias]

What's the service like. I have been looking into the wireless also but several of the places IDE use them at are usually 1 bar or no bars(service) areas?

According to their site that would be a problem, they say you need 3 bars....but I have gotten photos when it was showing 2 bars.  But mostly I have 3 bars in the area my camera is in.

[Wacenturion]

Man that picture of the deer in the barbed wire is nuts. Do you know if he was able to walk away from that or not?

Pretty sure he was dead from a gun shot at that point

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

The deer was dead and ended up in the fence.  As I said, the second photo was the same deer on the cam picture that my son harvested one month later.

[heronblu]

Man that picture of the deer in the barbed wire is nuts. Do you know if he was able to walk away from that or not?

Pretty sure he was dead from a gun shot at that point

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

The deer was dead and ended up in the fence.  As I said, the second photo was the same deer on the cam picture that my son harvested one month later.

Got it, didn't catch that part. Nice deer!

[Wacenturion]

Not Hi-jacking at all, glad to hear someone else's experience with them.  Great shots.  Can you tell a big difference in photos when you pull them off your SD card?  Have you figured out what settings you like best?  Do you use any of the trigger events?

Unfortunately no to all of your questions.  Being as the property is 6 hours away, I felt fortunate last summer to get pictures.  First time I set one camera out and I screwed up and had to redo the next time over.  It's called old person meets technology.

Did however like the ability to change settings from home.  Getting almost instant photos was great, as well as having the same ones go to anyone else I put on the email list, i.e. my son.  On that first really nice picture of the buck, I heard my phone alert me and opened it up.  I was in a boat off Sekiu catching silvers at the time....fun.

Now that I have UTV trails in and a UTV I'll have far more time to use them as well as the different functions.  Before it was a pretty good hike to get to them.  As far as the reception question above, I have 4 bars most of the time, although my Iphone shows 5 when I'm out there.

One thing I really like is the security feeling of instant picture to my email as well as the blackout feature.  You lose a little clarity at night, but it's undetectable to anyone. If anyone is trespassing and get in range, I have a picture, although where my property is located I don't anticipate any problems.

 

[The scout]

wacenturion looks like the bear is giving you the paw after adjusting your camera for you  .

[SemperFidelis97]

I have been looking into these for job site security as well.  Can you use the data plan for multiple cameras?

Sent from my E6782 using Tapatalk

[Wacenturion]

I have been looking into these for job site security as well.  Can you use the data plan for multiple cameras?

Sent from my E6782 using Tapatalk

I don't believe you can.  Kind of a seperate type thing from your phone service.  There is a monthly fee for each camera, in addition to a nominal fee for HCO cloud storage and forwarding.  Maybe Machias can clarify somewhat.

[Wacenturion]

wacenturion looks like the bear is giving you the paw after adjusting your camera for you  .

Does look that way doesn't it.  Those darn bears just seem to know there is a cam wherever you put it.  I know of at least three maybe four different bears that I got pictures of last year.  Fun to see pictures of them, but somewhat iritating to see picture angle changes in my photos because they sit there and play with them. 

[The scout]

it can be frustrating, last year I put one up behind my house trying to get a buck I have been keeping track of for a few years on cam, its all small reprod so I didn't use one of my lock boxes, didn't check the cam for two months left it through the rut, on day three a bear tore it down and there was a rub from the big one right in front of where It was pointing

[Ridgerunner]

Is the plan with Verizon for the wireless part of it a certain number of months or can you go month to month?  I'm thinking this wuld be cool but I'd probably only need the service for 4-5 months out of the year.

[Wacenturion]

Is the plan with Verizon for the wireless part of it a certain number of months or can you go month to month?  I'm thinking this wuld be cool but I'd probably only need the service for 4-5 months out of the year.

Month to month.  The HCO cloud service is the same.  You purchase a year's worth of cloud service per cam for $36, which they put in your account as monthly credits.  I believe the first month is free.  Don't use them, they just stay there.  So if you decide to take the camera out of service, no Verizon charge and no use of you HCO monthly credits. 

[bearpaw]

Is the plan with Verizon for the wireless part of it a certain number of months or can you go month to month?  I'm thinking this wuld be cool but I'd probably only need the service for 4-5 months out of the year.

Month to month.  The HCO cloud service is the same.  You purchase a year's worth of cloud service per cam for $36, which they put in your account as monthly credits.  I believe the first month is free.  Don't use them, they just stay there.  So if you decide to take the camera out of service, no Verizon charge and no use of you HCO monthly credits.

Very cool!
You need the $36 per year plan for each camera? 10 cameras would be $360 per year?

[Wacenturion]

Is the plan with Verizon for the wireless part of it a certain number of months or can you go month to month?  I'm thinking this wuld be cool but I'd probably only need the service for 4-5 months out of the year.

Month to month.  The HCO cloud service is the same.  You purchase a year's worth of cloud service per cam for $36, which they put in your account as monthly credits.  I believe the first month is free.  Don't use them, they just stay there.  So if you decide to take the camera out of service, no Verizon charge and no use of you HCO monthly credits.

Very cool!
You need the $36 per year plan for each camera? 10 cameras would be $360 per year?

Unfortunately yes, per camera.  But even at that a whole lot cheaper than driving back and forth, walking in and pulling cards, not to mention not disturbing the area.

[Machias]

Had any issues with bears and the antennas?  I have a good security box for the camera, just worried about the antennas sticking up.

[Wacenturion]

Had any issues with bears and the antennas?  I have a good security box for the camera, just worried about the antennas sticking up.

No, not really, although one antenna has a slight improper fit to it, but more at the base where it screws in, rather than the antenna itself being bent.  Who knows though perhaps a bear was playing with it.  No reception or transmitting problem with it however.  I also have security boxes for both of them.

[quadrafire]

Hey guys
How would one of these work for a driveway monitor? We've been having some car prowlers around the neighborhood. Can you explain the "blackout"?

[Machias]

That is the only complaint I have is the owners manual gives no helpful hints or tips on the various settings and doesn't explain what all the trigger events and scheduled events are for.  Thanks again!!

[Machias]

Hey guys
How would one of these work for a driveway monitor? We've been having some car prowlers around the neighborhood. Can you explain the "blackout"?

The blackout version is PERFECT for a security camera because it emits NO light at night.  However it will most likely not give you a clear enough photo of the perps face for prosecution.  But within 60 seconds of someone triggering the camera you'll know they are there.

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

The wireless cameras seem real cool. I'm so parinoid someone will figure out where I'm hunting that I still drive 15hrs to check cards.

[luvmystang67]

Can anyone post pictures directly from the wirelessly received side?  I want to see an idea of the quality...

Thanks, Stang

[Brushcrawler]

Midway flier this week has the bushnell wireless for $299, down from 399 list. That's a pretty good deal!

[Machias]

The wireless cameras seem real cool. I'm so parinoid someone will figure out where I'm hunting that I still drive 15hrs to check cards.

  I think though if I have the technology to figure out where your wireless trail camera is, then the same technology could be used to figure out where your cellphone goes....thus I would then know where your honey hole is.....but I could be wrong.

[Machias]

Can anyone post pictures directly from the wirelessly received side?  I want to see an idea of the quality...

Thanks, Stang

They are just a little grainier, once you do pull the SD card, those photos are much clearer.  I'll see if I can post a couple of photos in the next couple of days so you can see them.

[Wacenturion]

First one sent from camera and saved to photo album.  Second from cam SD card downloaded to another album.

[Machias]

 

[Wacenturion]

Again....first one sent from camera, second one downloaded from SD card.  Night picture so not as easy to see the difference.

[Wacenturion]

Again, first sent from camera and second downloaded from SD card.  This right at daybreak, thus the greyish tone.  The sharpness is a little more evident in this comparison.

[luvmystang67]

Wow thanks, that is pretty solid.

Do you have any examples where the ones sent look very bad?  Those look like good examples of photos, do you have any examples of bad ones?

Which cell company plan do you guys all have?  Did you do any research on other costs/plans?

[Machias]

Wow thanks, that is pretty solid.

Do you have any examples where the ones sent look very bad?  Those look like good examples of photos, do you have any examples of bad ones?

Which cell company plan do you guys all have?  Did you do any research on other costs/plans?

They are not "bad" they are just a little grainier.  I'm with Verizon and GoWireless, at $8 a month I did not look for any alternative plans myself.  I'll try and post a couple of less than stellar photos tonight when I get home.