Cuddeback Cuddelink

[tcook8296]

I'm thinking about trying the Cuddelink system. 

I like the idea of only 1 cell fee for multiple cameras. 

I know a few guys use them here so looking for their opinions on the cameras before I make the investment. 

I want to know typical distance between cameras , pic quality, battery life and opinions on the solar panels and battery packs, cell providers, web portals or apps   set up, video clips etc

Thanks

[roy381]

subscribed

[electric10162]

I have been using Cuddeback cameras since 2008. In 2017, I purchased the Cuddelink system for my farm. I set my "Home" cam near the house where it is easy to change batteries etc. I was running up to 24 cams this way. This year I added another home cam which uses the latest version of the cameras which are a definite step up. Battery life on the new cams is better too.  At some point I will upgrade all of the old cams to the latest software.

Since they work on a mesh type system, battery life depends on distance, terrain, and amount of pictures transferred. Some of my remote cams have the solar/battery combo. If you have relatively flat ground, battery life and performance should be better. The remote cameras have a meter on display that shows you what the signal strength is. I run most of my cams all year round, only pulling ones that are remote and don't have solar. They are capable of video, but I do not use that function.

I still run around 10 Spartans all year as well.

The cost for unlimited service and pictures is direct from Cuddeback at $360 a year.

Edited November 28, 2024 by electric10162

[KBfishing]

I use them but the picture quality and battery life is subpar for the price. I have gone to mostly solar spypoints. I like the picture quality better. I also like the fact that I can turn off the motion sensor from for mid afternoon on some of the cameras. Most of the time it is squirrel or bird activity and wastes thousands of pictures. 

[electric10162]

5 minutes ago, KBfishing said:

I use them but the picture quality and battery life is subpar for the price. I have gone to mostly solar spypoints. I like the picture quality better. I also like the fact that I can turn off the motion sensor from for mid afternoon on some of the cameras. Most of the time it is squirrel or bird activity and wastes thousands of pictures. 

The sensitivity is adjustable as well as picture quality. The newer version is much better.

[tcook8296]

no one else using these?

[tcook8296]

I bought 3 of the Cuddebacks and got them set up.

Set up on  51 acres. One on each end of the farm and one in the middle.

So far, they seem to be working well. Didnt set them up on the cell plan yet, but have one designated as the base and the other 2 as remotes and they seem to get some good distance. Both remote cameras are transmitting back to the base camera.

These things should work well where you cant get a cell cam to work.

Only need to check one camera card now.

Will be adding a few more soon.

Edited December 4, 2024 by tcook8296

[MS22]

We use the cuddeback system on our 114 acre property upstate NY where cell service is spotty at best. I wish the pic quality was better….but to run a large number of cameras (think we had 13-14 last go around with 1 home cam) in an area with no cell service, this is our only option really. We haven’t had much of an issue linking cams as long as the distance is reasonable between cams. Thick hemlock groves haven’t affected this much. The new model  (are they L’s now?) is defintiely better than the old and we’re in process of upgrading. We use the extended battery packs and get decent life out of them. That said, get wires with metal coating as squirrels have liked to chew them. We aren’t getting the number of pics others are getting as our deer density isn’t very high. So if you’re getting more pics daily, that could lower battery life. I feel we’ve had some sensing issues at times where we’ve seen deer we felt should have triggered cam but didn’t. So who knows what we could actually be missing. I also think deer pick up on them. The older cams had shutter noise and were pretty large so they didn’t blend in well. 
 

I think we’ve had them out for 6 months at times with the extended battery packs. 
 

if you’re in area with a lack of cell service, or are dead set on lowering costs by going through 1 plan, then cuddebacks are an ok fit. The newer cans are smaller and seem to function better. My hunting buddy handles the software portion of things so I can’t really comment on user experience in that regard. I just get the text messages on my phone. lol 

[tcook8296]

I have the newer L series cams. 

Definitely a smaller camera

[electric10162]

15 hours ago, tcook8296 said:

I bought 3 of the Cuddebacks and got them set up.

Set up on  51 acres. One on each end of the farm and one in the middle.

So far, they seem to be working well. Didnt set them up on the cell plan yet, but have one designated as the base and the other 2 as remotes and they seem to get some good distance. Both remote cameras are transmitting back to the base camera.

These things should work well where you cant get a cell cam to work.

Only need to check one camera card now.

Will be adding a few more soon.

Get the cell service. Game changer