I have some land that I want to keep an eye on in real time. Has anybody here used a cellular trail camera? Pros & Cons? I have been looking at Bushnell, Spartan and Skypoint. Open to any suggestions on cameras and cellular plans too. Thanks.
Pretty lengthy thread over some of this in the Hunting and Fishing section. I wouldn't buy batteries for a Spypoint if the camera was given to me. O% faith.
Cellular game cams range from about $120-$400. Monthly subscription seems to run from $10-$40/month and vary from a limited number of pics to unlimited.
Do you have a budget in mind and a little more information on expectations for use? I have a fair amount of experience, but no use in me telling about $400 cams if you want a $100 cam or vice versa.
Cellular game cams range from about $120-$400. Monthly subscription seems to run from $10-$40/month and vary from a limited number of pics to unlimited.
Do you have a budget in mind and a little more information on expectations for use? I have a fair amount of experience, but no use in me telling about $400 cams if you want a $100 cam or vice versa.
I have two. For the first season, they worked flawlessly. I brought them in over the summer and went to set them back out early fall and neither would work. One did not turn back on at all, the other would never send pictures. I went back in forth with customer service and performed all their required steps (that I did not think would work) in attempt to get them back up and running properly. Finally, they requested I sent them back to them on their dime. They sent me two new (perhaps remanufactured) replacements and they have worked flawlessly for the past two seasons.
….I still have them up today. Here is a pic that was sent a few days ago.
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Thanks. Price isn’t an issue. Reliability is priority. It does me no good to save $300 on a camera and lose $5000 in materials.
@retrieverman can tell you more information on the Spartan cellular cameras. I have a couple friends that run them and love em. One gives the other dealer pricing which is less than retail. I haven't been extended that pricing so I haven't tried one out yet.
I have an older model cellular Bushnell that has been great. It isn't produced anymore. Monthly plans are purchased in number of picture increments.
Newer model cellular Bushnell works well but overall I am not as happy with it. Monthly plan are in data size increments instead of quantity of pictures. I am not a fan of this as it isn't as easy to know the number of pictures it is because of MP options. It does have the feature of being able to request a picture be taken remotely so you can "see" the camera view within a few minutes depending on signal strength.
Tacticam Reveal has impressed me. Unlimited data is $13 for the first camera and is cheaper with additional cameras added. It doesn't have a live snapshot option. They came out with the cameras last year and have been wildly popular with hunters. Record number of sales have made it somewhat difficult to get. A few complaints from some, but customer service is top notch. They are about a 1/3rd of the cost of a Spartan and I would rather have 3 cameras out than 1 that cost as much as 3.
I have an older model cellular Bushnell that has been great. It isn't produced anymore. Monthly plans are purchased in number of picture increments.
Newer model cellular Bushnell works well but overall I am not as happy with it. Monthly plan are in data size increments instead of quantity of pictures. I am not a fan of this as it isn't as easy to know the number of pictures it is because of MP options. It does have the feature of being able to request a picture be taken remotely so you can "see" the camera view within a few minutes depending on signal strength.
Tacticam Reveal has impressed me. Unlimited data is $13 for the first camera and is cheaper with additional cameras added. It doesn't have a live snapshot option. They came out with the cameras last year and have been wildly popular with hunters. Record number of sales have made it somewhat difficult to get. A few complaints from some, but customer service is top notch. They are about a 1/3rd of the cost of a Spartan and I would rather have 3 cameras out than 1 that cost as much as 3.
There are supposedly other cell cams that work reliably, but when I upgrade my current 3g Spartans, it will be with 4g Spartans. I’ve been using HCO/Spartan cameras for about 10 years, and I have never had a problem with any of them.
Everyone I know uses the Spartan website for service, but I use ATT Buy A Session. Each camera plan costs me $78/year for 4gig of data. I keep my cameras running all year and have never come close to running out.
If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me.
Thanks folks. I ordered the Spartan 4G LTE GoCam.
I have a couple of Retrieverman’s older Spartans that he sold me. Not sure how old they are but they still work flawlessly.
