Spartan wireless

[ihuntcatahoula]

Ok I just got a Spartan Wireless trail cam from HCO Outdoors. I believe this is the best investment you can make. No more driving to deer camp just to pull cards or even having to pull cards at all. I have only had it a few days but I can tell it is going to help a lot with my scouting. I can put it in those places that I never put one in before because I don't have to worry about disturbing the area. Just take the camera in the initial time and never go back till you want to hunt the area or retrieve the camera. It has an auto overwrite feature so you don't have to worry about the card getting full. It sends small pics that don't use much data as opposed to the older wireless cameras. Don't worry about overwriting the picture of that big buck because you can request the full size image from the app or web portal. It cost about $25 for 3 months with 1 Gig of data on ATT and it is available through Verizon also but more expensive. This way in case you don't have service with one you can use the other where you hunt. It is a standalone service that you can cancel or renew at any time and doesn't tie to your existing service. HCO Outdoors offer a premium account and a free account for the actual camera. The premium is $4 a month per camera or $3 if you buy 12 or more months and lets you use the android/ios app to change settings and take a picture in real time. If you don't want to pay the $4 for premium it will send the pictures through your email or mms. You can still change settings in real time with the free service but the camera will stay connected and use battery faster. If you don't use real time changes will not take effect until a picture is taken or a scheduled event which you can setup 10. I have 3 setup at 9, 12 , and 5 everyday. Think of it like this the camera only connects to the server when it takes a picture or during a schedule event. When it does connect to the server it checks to see if there are any changes that need to be made to the settings and changes them accordingly. Of coarse if you have the premium and set it to real time you can change the settings instantly. I will have to do a review after deer season but for now I really like it.

this is the service site

this is the store

Here are a few pictures from yesterday. These are the actual pictures the app received in the small format. they pixelate if you zoom but look good if you don't. You can always request a full image if it is a nice picture with the premium account. Or go pull the card before it overwrites although the camera can hold up to a 32 gig card. That's a lot of pictures. yeah and it does 720p video but wont send them to your phone.

 

[rbureau]

Did you get the red glow or the no glow model?

 

[ihuntcatahoula]

I got the red glow, it takes better night shots. I have a black out model in the regular camera and it works fine but I wanted the extra flash range.

 

[rbureau]

I read the reviews, looks like a good cam.

 

[ihuntcatahoula]

Yeah I am loving it. Just got a picture a few minutes ago of a doeven in my food plot while it is raining.

 

[rbureau]

I'm curious how long the batteries actually hold up

 

[ihuntcatahoula]

Well I didn't put new ones in or I would let you know.

 

[Hairtrigger]

I have one negative complaint on this camera. It might cause a divorce or firing from your place of employment. I decided to go home early this weekend due to deer movement I was seeing on it. Well, now every morning and every evening the biggest buck I have ever had a chance to shoot in my 30 years of hunting is feeding at my stand. At a time when no other deer are feeding...

In regards to the batteries and how long they last depends on the cell service in your area. I have my camera in a two bar Verizon signal area and it drains the battery pretty quick because that's lower than what they recommend. So the camera spends a lot of battery power searching out for a signal to send you the pictures. We did install a solar panel to help with this and that seems to be the ticket.

 

[ihuntcatahoula]

It also depends on the setup. If you have it on the instant setting where you can change setting instantly from your phone or the portal it will kill them pretty quick. So far it looks like mine is working pretty good. But I have full bars on mine so hopefully I will get good battery life.

 

[ilovemycam]

Also:
1. Even you can choose 640*480 or 1280*960 as your thumbnail size, choose 1280*960 will definitely shorten the battery life. Since you have the option to download the original size (2560*1920), so leave the thumbnail at 640*480 and request 2560*1920 if needed.
2. Picture burst. At 2 or 3 picture burst mode, the camera will only send the last one so you may want to just keep the burst mode at 1.
3. Real time control. Just like what ihuntcatahoula mentioned, turn it on will lower the battery life for sure.

 

[ihuntcatahoula]

Yep that's the truth. I do use the burst because I can pull the cards to get the other pictures and sometimes you don't get a good picture with just single shots. Not that they are bad but the you may not be able to see all his antlers in the first but can in the second.