Save a few $ on trailcams

[jlh42581]

 

[blzn04]

I have yet to run Lithiums because of cost, but I will do it when season kicks off. One thing that I have realized with using alkaline batteries is to go ahead and change them out when they get below 50%. The flash distance will only be like 10 feet in front of the camera, the trigger speed slows and the sensor becomes weak. I have watched deer walk and stand right in front of one of my cameras and pulled the card after the hunt and nothing on it. battery level around 45%. Put in new batteries and starts working great again. I do use name brand alkalines like Duracell/ Energizer but I wait for a sale and buy them in crazy big bulk packs from Sams or Costco. I have had cheaper batteries leak and corrode the leads on my cameras before. Thanks for the vid

 

[kbetts]

I run lithium’s in a half dozen cameras. The only time th3 cameras are hammering pics is over minerals. I don’t bait during the season so there is only a few months of knocking down 300 pics a week plus. Besides that, they run all year and often into the second. The lithium’s just die....they don’t seem to get weak and miss shots....they just give up. I feel like it’s been worth it to me.

 

[Aeds151]

Or run browning cameras. I use the cheapest batteries i can find and rarely change them. Even after 100’s of branch pics


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[blzn04]

Or run browning cameras. I use the cheapest batteries i can find and rarely change them. Even after 100’s of branch pics


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I run 4 Browning Cameras. Doesnt matter the brand. Once Alkaline batteries get below 60% or so they are not putting out enough Amps to run the functions of the camera properly. They will still take pictures but they are missing a bunch as well as losing flash distance for night pics

 

[basehorhonda]

I bit the bullet last year and purchase a pair of HME solar battery packs. I was burning thru AA's over the past 2 years since I have my cameras set to take 30-second videos with a 1-minute delay. Ive almost made my money back in what I was spending on AA's and time spent. Now my only limitation is how fast will a 64 gig card fill up. Ill be adding more of these packs to my inventory when my local box store has them on sale again. I think normally they are around $50.

 

[blzn04]

I bit the bullet last year and purchase a pair of HME solar battery packs. I was burning thru AA's over the past 2 years since I have my cameras set to take 30-second videos with a 1-minute delay. Ive almost made my money back in what I was spending on AA's and time spent. Now my only limitation is how fast will a 64 gig card fill up. Ill be adding more of these packs to my inventory when my local box store has them on sale again. I think normally they are around $50.

Nice! yea i just have these set to take pictures since im leaving them for 2-2.5 months. They arent at feeding sites so i imagine i wont get a ton of pics. But the pics I get should tell me a lot. I wish i had the problem of filling up a 64 gig card lol. Im normally struggling to get 2-300 pics in a month. On public land anyway.

 

[basehorhonda]

Nice! yea i just have these set to take pictures since im leaving them for 2-2.5 months. They arent at feeding sites so i imagine i wont get a ton of pics. But the pics I get should tell me a lot. I wish i had the problem of filling up a 64 gig card lol. Im normally struggling to get 2-300 pics in a month. On public land anyway.

Like I said, Im doing 30 second videos, so it tends to add up more so than photos. Its just nice to have the peace of mind that I can leave my stuff out there for really as long as Id like and not have to worry about battery life or your card filling up.

 

[blzn04]

Like I said, Im doing 30 second videos, so it tends to add up more so than photos. Its just nice to have the peace of mind that I can leave my stuff out there for really as long as Id like and not have to worry about battery life or your card filling up.

Yea i will switch mine to video mode during season. You can get a lot better idea of where they are coming and going. Which is important when you dont really know an area that well yet. I had mine on video mode last year and could deduce where they were coming from their beds. I went in post season and found them.

 

[jlh42581]

I run lithium’s in a half dozen cameras. The only time th3 cameras are hammering pics is over minerals. I don’t bait during the season so there is only a few months of knocking down 300 pics a week plus. Besides that, they run all year and often into the second. The lithium’s just die....they don’t seem to get weak and miss shots....they just give up. I feel like it’s been worth it to me.

10 cams of lithium can get salty. I back off to 2-3 cams in season running lithiums when its cold. Basically I take that big cam spread and cast a huge net but I am also dealing with hundreds of thousands of acres of public land. One of your downfalls in lithuim too is that your battery pack does not show a percentage at all. Like you said, its 100% or dead, so you can put out dead batteries unless youre paying attention to the number of shots or videos its taken.

In addition to my 10 cams we run them at camp too and those cameras still for the most part do an entire season on just standard alkaline.

 

[basehorhonda]

10 cams of lithium can get salty. I back off to 2-3 cams in season running lithiums when its cold. Basically I take that big cam spread and cast a huge net but I am also dealing with hundreds of thousands of acres of public land. One of your downfalls in lithuim too is that your battery pack does not show a percentage at all. Like you said, its 100% or dead, so you can put out dead batteries unless youre paying attention to the number of shots or videos its taken.

In addition to my 10 cams we run them at camp too and those cameras still for the most part do an entire season on just standard alkaline.

Take a multimeter with you to check your batteries if your worried about the life charge on them.

 

[IkemanTX]

I posted this before, so I’ll just copy and paste here as well.


I run exclusively Energizer Lithium batteries in my trail cameras. I do this for a few reasons.

1. They stay at max charge voltages SIGNIFICANTLY longer throughout their discharge cycle, dropping off sharply at the end.
2. They tend to be made to tighter standards and I have never had one leak.
4. They have a much less caustic chemistry composition, so if they were to leak it should do less damage to the camera.

Number 1. listed above is by far my biggest reason for running Lithium batteries. Computers are designed to work optimally at very specific voltages and amperages. The drop in supplied voltage from nickel-cadmium and nickel metal hydride can have unpredictable and negative effects on the function of the camera. As voltages drop motion sensors may lower in sensitivity or get buggy, read/write protocols may get corrupted, the chip that controls white balance and exposure may not be able to process fast enough to properly expose the picture... all kinds of issues occur more frequently with sub-optimal voltages.

With Lithium’s, I can run THOUSANDS of pictures and still be reading near peak voltages. I had a camera I checked a couple weeks ago that had a native grass seed head grow up right in front of it at the end of May. It had 13,800+ pictures on it, and the camera still read it as 98%. Now the capacity is definitely not at 90%, but it is running at voltages equivalent to what a NiMH or NiCd battery runs ONLY while it is still virtually full. (Update: The same camera has now added over 300 ultra quality videos to the same batteries)

One downside to lithiums is that the motion sensor stays MUCH more sensitive throughout the entire life cycle. This means more false triggers on moving objects in frame. But, I’d rather filter through a bunch of needless bird and mice pics (from a camera 15’ up and 18 yards away, pretty impressive) than miss even a single picture of a deer that might give me necessary information.





................................................................................All climbing methods, platforms, saddle designs, and/or use of materials possibly mentioned in the post above are not peer reviewed for safety, and should only be used as an example of my own method. Do your own research and testing before becoming confident in any DIY solution to support your life.
-IkemanTx

 

[IkemanTX]

Take a multimeter with you to check your batteries if your worried about the life charge on them.

That’s a great idea. Then, you would just have to figure out key voltages that correspond with full, 75%, 50%, 25%, and empty. Looks like a decent digital one is $8

D-FantiX Digital Battery Tester for AAA AA C D 9V 1.5V, Household Battery Checker Tester for Small Batteries Button Cell (Model: BT-168D) - - Amazon.com

D-FantiX Digital Battery Tester for AAA AA C D 9V 1.5V, Household Battery Checker Tester for Small Batteries Button Cell (Model: BT-168D) - - Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

................................................................................All climbing methods, platforms, saddle designs, and/or use of materials possibly mentioned in the post above are not peer reviewed for safety, and should only be used as an example of my own method. Do your own research and testing before becoming confident in any DIY solution to support your life.
-IkemanTx