It sucks that it has come to this, but its cool to see someone is taking initiative to help with the thieves!!!!
Spypoint: Thinking Outside the Blackbox: Though Spypoint offers a lot of models, they make things easier by providing a product-comparison chart that shows you all the cameras and features in one easy-to-read page… and since Spypoint is from Canada, you can flip the page over and read it in French if you like. Unfortunately for me, all of Spypoint’s cameras are infrarouge. Excuse me, that’s infrared (I was looking at the wrong side of the chart). Spypoint is among the manufacturers that do not make a white-flash trail-camera. As I’ve said before, white-flash illumination at night is best for QDM’ers like me who run baited trail-camera surveys and need to be able to “unique” every buck, which often requires studying very small details.
Spypoint offers IR cameras from 5 to 12 MP, with 35 to 48 LEDs, all with video options. Their new “Tiny” camera is an 8 MP IR camera with 38 LEDs that runs on 6 AA batteries and accepts SD or SDHC cards up to 32 GB. It features a dual set of extra PIR sensors that are aimed at about a 45 degree angle to the right and left of the main PIR sensor (you can see them on the right and left sides of the camera’s face in the photo included here). Their job is early detection of approaching animals, giving the camera time to wake up out of sleep mode (if it’s been awhile since anything passed by) and catch the animal in the primary detection zone. Neat.
Spypoint's "Tiny W" offers an optional Blackbox for remotely stashing images in case the main camera is stolen.
Here’s another neat feature. If you buy the “Tiny W,” you get a Blackbox with your camera. The Blackbox is a small canister you can bury (leaving the antenna exposed) or hide somewhere within a 100-foot radius of the main camera. Photos taken by the main camera are transmitted wirelessly to the Blackbox, where a backup copy of each image is stored on a second memory card. If your camera is stolen, you can still recover the images from the Blackbox, and with any luck it contains photos of the thief’s face or other details that may help locate the dirtbag and bring charges. If you’re having chronic problems with camera thieves, this may be worth looking into. On that note, Spypoint even offers cheap “Dummy” cameras for sale – they are real Spypoint trail-camera housings but don’t contain any electronic parts inside. Place a Dummy camera in a conspicuous location as bait, set up a real camera that is well hidden (maybe a Tiny W with a Blackbox), and catch your thief in the act.
Wouldn’t you love to see a camera that delivers an electric shock or other painful stimulus to anyone who touches it without authorization? I think of Mad Max’s Interceptor in the Road Warrior: Anyone who tried to steal Max’s gasoline would cause the car to explode. (Legal Disclaimer: I am not suggesting anyone rig a torture trap for a trail-camera thief. It’s fun to think about, but don’t really do it).
