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Post by southerncanuck on Jun 24, 2020 21:01:46 GMT -6
Decided to do a quick review in case anybody was in the market and was thinking of buying a cell cam. The Link S is Spypoint’s high end solar cell cam. Normally these retail around $500 new, but they’ve been on sale lately for around $300 at different stores - I found mine new for $240. This was my first cell camera (I’ve since purchased a link micro as well) so I really didn’t know what to expect. I’ve had it out since early spring here at the house and I’m really happy with it. It’s been running now on solar alone and shows 100% battery life, sending sometimes hundreds of pics each day. The pic quality it sends to my phone isn’t great but you do have the option of purchasing HD photos if you want. I’ve had my link micro out in the woods now for over a month and it’s already ran through a set of lithium batteries so the solar feature on the Link S is well worth it’s extra price. This would be a great camera to setup in a bedding area or anywhere that changing cards or batteries during season wouldn’t be feasible. If you’re in the market for a cell cam, I’d recommend you check out the Link S.
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Post by southerncanuck on Jun 25, 2020 8:17:57 GMT -6
I was a bit rushed on my original post last night so I forgot to mention a few things.
I’ve played around with the detection sensitivity on this and on medium I’m picking up deer consistently at about 20 yards. On the high setting it reaches out a bit beyond that but starts picking up birds and squirrels at long distances too so if you choose a plan that has a monthly photo limit you might want to opt for the medium sensitivity setting. (The unlimited package is $10 a month if you buy it 12 months at a time.)
I have mine mounted on the side of a big cedar where it is shaded out most of the day with very little direct sun. The solar panel doesn’t seem to need much if any direct sun to keep the camera fully charged so that’s a big plus.
The Spypoint app is super easy to navigate and the setup process for this camera to link it to my account was quick and easy. In the app you can adjust your cameras sensitivity, how many pics it takes at each detection, the delay and even when it will send the pics to your phone. My only issue was when I first set it up I used a class 10 32 GB as card (that’s what they said was the biggest it would accept) but I could never get it to work with that card. I switched to a class 10 16GB and it started taking and sending pics immediately. Not a big deal to me because a 16GB card is plenty big enough to last me the season.
They recommend you put lithium batteries in this camera as backup to the solar if you intend to transmit photos instantly, but I had zero issues with battery life while I tested out that feature. I’ve since opted to have it send photos every 2 hours and the battery level has never dropped below 100%.
If you’re wanting high quality photos sent to your phone this might not be the cell cam for you, but if your main purpose is to have a no hassle camera out in the field that you can just mount and leave until the end of season - you might wanna give this one a hard look.
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Post by APAsuphan on Jun 26, 2020 15:21:43 GMT -6
Great review! I’ve been thinking this is finally the year to make the jump to some cell cams. I know Alan likes his Spartans. I like that this one is solar charged. Does this one work with all the major cellular providers?
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Post by southerncanuck on Jun 26, 2020 16:14:19 GMT -6
AT&T and Verizon. You don’t have to pick the carrier based off who you have your cell phone with. Just go with whichever one has better reception in your area.
I have a buddy that runs the Spartans. He really likes them and the pic quality is top notch. I just really like the link s for the fact I don’t have to be replacing batteries on a regular basis. I plan to move this one into the middle of a bedding area in September and then let it tell me when I should make a move and slip in for the kill.
It’s a lot of fun to get pics sent to your phone and really helps keep me from going into my spots to check cams and get the area all scented up. Only downside is I don’t have cell service at my lease so have to run the cell cams at my home place only.
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Post by APAsuphan on Jun 26, 2020 17:56:23 GMT -6
I think you have me sold lol. I see they have a lite model out that’s a little cheaper but doesn’t look like they are available yet.
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Post by southerncanuck on Jun 26, 2020 21:19:23 GMT -6
Yeah they are suppose to start selling a link micro version with the solar panel. I thought they were already released but maybe not.
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Post by brushdog on Jun 26, 2020 21:37:16 GMT -6
Damn you are making me want one now too David.
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Post by southerncanuck on Jun 26, 2020 21:43:38 GMT -6
Damn you are making me want one now too David. It’d be perfect for behind your house Chad. How’d you like to be at the house gearing up to go hunt public and then get a text of a giant in your own backyard that you can slip in and shoot! I think it’s going to be a huge asset to me in giving me intel on when I need to make my move and hunt aggressive in the bedding area. Those high risk high reward stands can pay off big time and having pics telling me when a big one is in there will let me stay out and keep the stand fresh til the time is right!
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Post by mibowhunter91 on Jun 27, 2020 5:22:30 GMT -6
Last year was the first year I played with cell cams I used them on the lease in Illinois... it was great when the phones started showing good bucks u knew when to be callin in sick!
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Post by APAsuphan on Jun 28, 2020 13:43:34 GMT -6
Our Theisens had some of the lite models so I bought one. Going to put it up on a hard to get to ridge top next week.
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Post by southerncanuck on Jun 28, 2020 13:59:46 GMT -6
Make sure you play with it some at the house before you take it out to the field. Mine were super easy to get up and running but I’d hate for you to put it out and then something is wrong and you never get any pics. The first month you get unlimited pics so use them up messing with it!
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Post by APAsuphan on Jun 28, 2020 19:48:08 GMT -6
Make sure you play with it some at the house before you take it out to the field. Mine were super easy to get up and running but I’d hate for you to put it out and then something is wrong and you never get any pics. The first month you get unlimited pics so use them up messing with it! Yup I’m going to practice with it this week and put it out next weekend!
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Post by APAsuphan on Jun 29, 2020 17:09:19 GMT -6
What delay are you running yours on? I have mine on 10 seconds and it’s definitely way longer than that.
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Post by southerncanuck on Jun 29, 2020 17:24:06 GMT -6
I have my solar S running on a 10 second delay taking multiple shots. I’ve never timed it but it’s pretty close to advertised. The link micro I have on a 1 minute delay and multi shots and it sends pics every minute when it’s being activated. I’ll switch it to the 10 second delay and do some testing next time I go down to where I’ve got it up.
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Post by APAsuphan on Jun 29, 2020 21:32:23 GMT -6
I have my solar S running on a 10 second delay taking multiple shots. I’ve never timed it but it’s pretty close to advertised. The link micro I have on a 1 minute delay and multi shots and it sends pics every minute when it’s being activated. I’ll switch it to the 10 second delay and do some testing next time I go down to where I’ve got it up. Mine seems to trigger every 2 minutes when set to 10 second delay.
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