Hello. First post, so be gentle 
I have a remote off-grid mountain cabin (no power or phone line, limited 12V DC from solar) that I do not visit for months at a time. I have a basic Moultrie trail cam trained on the deck & front door. It monitors game (deer, bear, etc.) and uninvited visitors. For several years I have been pulling the SD card when I arrive and reviewing the photos on my laptop. This works, but is useless for checking cabin conditions before a physical visit. I am currently looking at upgrading my cell phone service there. The only provider is US Cellular. I currently have an old style flip phone dedicated to this site, but I plan to upgrade to 4G coverage (which USC didn't have there until fairly recently) on an Android device. I'd like to examine whether I could potentially put some technology in place to be able to access my photos from my regular residence. I do understand that there are cameras with built-in internet connectivity that will store the photos on a cloud server, but I don't want to do that. I'm a retired IT Security pro, and I'm concerned about someone hacking into my photos to decide on a good day to rob or ransack my cabin because they can see that nobody is there. It has happened to Wyze (security cams), and breaches have occurred for the major cloud providers: my working assumption is that encryption/security for a smaller outfit like a trail cam maker is going to be iffy. I'm also skeptical that any of those internet-connected cameras could use US Cellular. I would like to have my laptop (Windows or Linux OS) in the cabin, the US Cellular smart phone tethered to it as a cell modem, and a trail cam with a connection to the laptop (or possibly the phone) via WIFI or Bluetooth. The laptop and phone would be in sleep mode to conserve electrical power. A software timer in the laptop would cause it to wake on schedule, download photos from the camera, compress/encrypt those photos, wake up the cell phone, and transmit them to my home computer, or another virtual location of my choosing (could be a cloud server, as long as I control the initial encryption of my photos). I'm also open to this being a demand process triggered from my permanent residence. I have the skills to do most or all of the required scripting on the cabin laptop side for this project. However, I'm almost completely bereft of knowledge about what communication capabilities are available in trail cams in between the very basic one I have and the super expensive top-of-the-line models (I'm a bit of a cheapskate). I'm also no expert on Android smart phone and apps. My needs in terms of photo size and quality are modest. I also don't require video - my current cam is set up for a three shot burst, and that would be fine. Distance from current cam to deck is about 30 feet. Anyone here done a similar set-up, have thoughts on accomplishing this, or good reasons to offer why it cannot be done? Thanks.
I have a remote off-grid mountain cabin (no power or phone line, limited 12V DC from solar) that I do not visit for months at a time. I have a basic Moultrie trail cam trained on the deck & front door. It monitors game (deer, bear, etc.) and uninvited visitors. For several years I have been pulling the SD card when I arrive and reviewing the photos on my laptop. This works, but is useless for checking cabin conditions before a physical visit. I am currently looking at upgrading my cell phone service there. The only provider is US Cellular. I currently have an old style flip phone dedicated to this site, but I plan to upgrade to 4G coverage (which USC didn't have there until fairly recently) on an Android device. I'd like to examine whether I could potentially put some technology in place to be able to access my photos from my regular residence. I do understand that there are cameras with built-in internet connectivity that will store the photos on a cloud server, but I don't want to do that. I'm a retired IT Security pro, and I'm concerned about someone hacking into my photos to decide on a good day to rob or ransack my cabin because they can see that nobody is there. It has happened to Wyze (security cams), and breaches have occurred for the major cloud providers: my working assumption is that encryption/security for a smaller outfit like a trail cam maker is going to be iffy. I'm also skeptical that any of those internet-connected cameras could use US Cellular. I would like to have my laptop (Windows or Linux OS) in the cabin, the US Cellular smart phone tethered to it as a cell modem, and a trail cam with a connection to the laptop (or possibly the phone) via WIFI or Bluetooth. The laptop and phone would be in sleep mode to conserve electrical power. A software timer in the laptop would cause it to wake on schedule, download photos from the camera, compress/encrypt those photos, wake up the cell phone, and transmit them to my home computer, or another virtual location of my choosing (could be a cloud server, as long as I control the initial encryption of my photos). I'm also open to this being a demand process triggered from my permanent residence. I have the skills to do most or all of the required scripting on the cabin laptop side for this project. However, I'm almost completely bereft of knowledge about what communication capabilities are available in trail cams in between the very basic one I have and the super expensive top-of-the-line models (I'm a bit of a cheapskate). I'm also no expert on Android smart phone and apps. My needs in terms of photo size and quality are modest. I also don't require video - my current cam is set up for a three shot burst, and that would be fine. Distance from current cam to deck is about 30 feet. Anyone here done a similar set-up, have thoughts on accomplishing this, or good reasons to offer why it cannot be done? Thanks.
Last edited:
