Trail Cam (Fingers crossed) | Wild About the British Isles (WABI)

rowanberry
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Trail Cam (Fingers crossed) Dec 18, 2017 20:37:33 GMT

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Post by rowanberry on Dec 18, 2017 20:37:33 GMT

Snowlynx and I decided to treat ourselves and get a trail cam for Christmas... but being on a budget, we had to opt for an auction on Ebay. We kept getting outbid, but today managed to have the highest bid on one that will hopefully arrived sometime in the new year.

It's coming from China, so we're hopeful that the thing will work, (I don't fancy trying to send it back for a refund) and before it gets here I'll need to find the right sort of memory card to go in it.

We're looking forward to seeing what the foxes get up to at night- and probably get lots of footage of neighbourhood cats. Still, it will be exciting setting it up and trying it out! I'll probably be on here asking for lots of tips and advice on how to use it.

Tringa
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Trail Cam (Fingers crossed) Dec 19, 2017 10:17:30 GMT NellyDee likes this

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Post by Tringa on Dec 19, 2017 10:17:30 GMT

They are great fun, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

I never found the strap that comes with many trail cameras very useful - there was never a convenient place to strap it to get the view I wanted, so suggest getting a tripod for it.

I've used one that cost about £7 from 7dayshop but also one similar to this, which works well -

www.studiospares.com/Accessories/Stands-Other/Studiospares-Mini-Tripod_256030.htm?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIpbG57OmV2AIV55PtCh35cwCzEAAYAiAAEgIXL_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Along with the memory card, a set of recharageable batteries and a charger are useful too. Normal alkaline batteries will be be very expensive in the long run.

I don't know if all trail cameras are similar but on ours the eight batteries it uses are not installed in what I think is the normal way. The first four go + -, - +, + -, - + however, the second four batteries do not follow this pattern. They go - +, + -, - +, + -. Hope this makes sense

Viewing the videos in the morning becomes addictive.

Dave

rowanberry
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Trail Cam (Fingers crossed) Dec 20, 2017 10:24:01 GMT

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Post by rowanberry on Dec 20, 2017 10:24:01 GMT

I've been doing searches for a memory card for it, but I'm going to hold off buying one until it arrives and we can make sure it works, (we've got a memory card that can temporarily be taken out of another gadget just to test it.)
I use rechargeable batteries in my two cameras and a motion detector light in the bathroom, but I'm not sure I've got eight... will have to invest in a few more, it looks like. I've found Eneloops hold a charge really well, but they're not the cheapest!

I do like that mini-tripod... it's the sort of thing that would be useful to take on holiday, too.

The trail cam we've got coming is this one..

reviewfinch.com/p/AUCEE-Hunting-Camera-12MP-1080P-Full-HD-Trail-Camera-Infrared-Wildlife-Camera-with-Night-Vision-up-to-65FT-2-4-inch-LCD-Screen-and-IP56-Waterproof-Game-Cam-for-Wildlife-Monitoring/338173/

Can't wait! and of course Snowlynx is excited at the prospect of a new gadget of any sort to tinker with.

rowanberry
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Posts: 3,177

Trail Cam (Fingers crossed) Dec 26, 2017 22:06:37 GMT

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Post by rowanberry on Dec 26, 2017 22:06:37 GMT

It actually arrived the Saturday before Christmas... and as far as we can tell, it actually works!

Bit of a challenge, because the instruction manual is rather hopeless... no information at all about how to open the battery compartment, but fortunately a reviewer on Amazon included photos with their review showing it open so we were able to figure it out from that. (Who writes these manuals, anyway??)

We've taken some photos and a video with it, and if the weather permits tomorrow we're going to have a go at positioning it outside.