Trail camera issue.....

[WIMUSKY]

Been hunting for 50yrs and bought my 1st one. Granted, they haven't been available for most of that time, but I digress.....

Tactacam Reveal Pro 3.0. Love the cam, cell cam. Takes great pix. I decided instead of using 12AAs, I bought an HME Solar Powered battery. I'd like to keep the cam powered up year round. The problem I'm having is the solar panel will not keep the battery charged. It goes dead after 4 days. I fully charge it b4 putting out in the field. It sez it will trickle/maintain charge even in cloudy weather. Maybe that's only if I have 3 sunny days to 1 cloudy, idk. This time of year it's mainly cloudy. The whole unit is 1mth old. I suppose it's possibly a bad batt....
I'm just taking pix no video....
So what do you guys think? Have experience with solar powered?
Thx

 

[alldodge]

Probably the solor cell, just doesn't produce enough power. Either that or it doesn't work. Put it in the sun and measure

 

[FLATHEAD]

Got to be that battery. I use the tactacam reveal cams with AA copper top batteries. Have had two of them out since end of September and both cams have taken hundreds of pictures each and I’m still looking at 70% battery life.
The only other thing it might be but doubtful, is a super bad cell reception and the cam searching for signal is eating up the battery.

 

[aspeck]

I would check your cell reception first. Then if that is okay, go to the solar output. If that is good, then you know you got a bad battery ... but even with a bad battery is should be enough to power it throughout the daylight hours.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Been doing some research. I redid the camera settings so it uses the least amount of battery possible. Even if the solar portion isn't working a fully charged battery should last a few months. It's quite large compared to AAs.
Who knew a lack of signal and the camera constantly searching will eat the battery. That is very possible. My phone bounces between 1 - 2 bars at the camera and the camera is showing 2 - 3 bars. We do have crappy service right here.
I recharged the battery with their charger and unhooked it last nite. Last nite it read 14.4v today 13.4v. I hooked the battery back up to the camera and will see what happens. If it dies again I'll fully charge it and set it at a southern exposure with nothing hooked to it and see if it self drains. Bought it from Sportsman's Guide and appears to have a 90day warranty....
Thanks for the replies...

 

[FLATHEAD]

Throw some decent double AA in it and see how it does for a couple days

 

[WIMUSKY]

Throw some decent double AA in it and see how it does for a couple days

Interesting. Your signal strength varies a little between cameras. Mine phone display stays at 3 bars. Even when there is no battery power of any kind.... That lead me to believe it wasn't an active icon.
Why was it showing signal strength w/o power?

 

[WIMUSKY]

As we speak it's showing 2 bars. So it has changed.... 1st time I've seen it under 3.......

 

[FLATHEAD]

As we speak it's showing 2 bars. So it has changed.... 1st time I've seen it under 3.......
View attachment 403798

Both my tactacams display varying bars at varying times. Doesn’t seem to affect the performance at all. Having used almost all brands of trail cameras the tactacams are by far the most quirky when it comes to the quality of SD card used. I’ve had a few issues using cheap or used cards. Wish I could remember exactly what I have in them now. I know they met camera specs are quality cards.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Both my tactacams display varying bars at varying times. Doesn’t seem to affect the performance at all. Having used almost all brands of trail cameras the tactacams are by far the most quirky when it comes to the quality of SD card used. I’ve had a few issues using cheap or used cards. Wish I could remember exactly what I have in them now. I know they met camera specs are quality cards.

I c tactacam sells their own 32GB card. I went with SanDisk 64GB. Do you know what the 3 means in the U? Mine is 1 but has the 10.... Maybe I should buy the tactacam version....

 

[WIMUSKY]

Just caught a little spike in the cam....

 

[WIMUSKY]

I c Sandisk does make a comparable card..... Maybe a tad quicker...

 

[FLATHEAD]

I c Sandisk does make a comparable card..... Maybe a tad quicker...View attachment 403804

I believe that Sandisk is what I’m using. Won’t know for sure till I pull them. Don’t know what the 3 stands for.
Your pic is pretty typical of my nighttime pics. They blur a bit a night if the animal is on the move. I get nice daytime pics.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Great pix! Ya, I've noticed it too that nighttime pix can be fuzzy. I think for $9 a guy can get 50 HD pix that sharpen them up. I also turned my flash down to low. Went down to the camera a few minutes ago and it's still fully charged.
Does the app show battery charge?

 

[WIMUSKY]

The ladies are watching the young buck....❤

 

[FLATHEAD]

Great pix! Ya, I've noticed it too that nighttime pix can be fuzzy. I think for $9 a guy can get 50 HD pix that sharpen them up. I also turned my flash down to low. Went down to the camera a few minutes ago and it's still fully charged.
Does the app show battery charge?

Yes look at my pic above. You’ll see a battery icon with a percentage.

 

[WIMUSKY]

I c the icon. As of now I still have 4 bars so it should be fully, or close to full charge. I think I'm in good shape..... A few more days I should know for sure...