Tacticam Reveal X Question

[sghoghunter]

Whether you agree or not it is a common issue with these cameras and almost always is the fix for problems customers are having who believe the same way you do.
What is sooooo difficult about using the card the camera manufacturer says is needed??? Do you want your camera to work properly or do you just want to be stubborn and prove them wrong? You chose your solution but I run the correct cards in all 13 of mine and have NO issues with any of them...

Seeing you seem to know about Tactacams why don’t ya help me out cause their customer support seem to be running out of ideas. I have one particular Reveal that use to work very well but now you can change batteries,swap the sd card and format it and it might take a few pictures a day then not check in. The last time I done all that was November 20th and it has taken 69 pictures and hasn’t checked in in 3 days. Give me something to try when I go back next week. This is the card that’s in this camera and here is a screenshot of a message with a Tactacam support.

 

[basshappy]

Whether you agree or not it is a common issue with these cameras and almost always is the fix for problems customers are having who believe the same way you do.
What is sooooo difficult about using the card the camera manufacturer says is needed??? Do you want your camera to work properly or do you just want to be stubborn and prove them wrong? You chose your solution but I run the correct cards in all 13 of mine and have NO issues with any of them...

Me? As stated I don't run Tactacam. I was simply putting out my thought on the matter - it is an issue with the camera and not the card. If the problem exists across different branded SD cards of the fast class 32 GB and smaller, the problem lies in the camera and not the card.

There can't be any magic Tactacam is putting on a SD card because formatting would remove it and yer back to the problem others are experiencing. If someone has a Tactacam supplied card they want to share I will be happy to analyze it and give it back.

 

[basshappy]

Seeing you seem to know about Tactacams why don’t ya help me out cause their customer support seem to be running out of ideas. I have one particular Reveal that use to work very well but now you can change batteries,swap the sd card and format it and it might take a few pictures a day then not check in. The last time I done all that was November 20th and it has taken 69 pictures and hasn’t checked in in 3 days. Give me something to try when I go back next week. This is the card that’s in this camera and here is a screenshot of a message with a Tactacam support.

I don't think at all your issue is card related. It is camera related - be it:
- dropping cell signal and it reconnects and starts back at zero attempting to upload first pic

- hopping cell towers (are you near a border with AL?)

- overloaded. And what I mean by this is if your camera has snapped 69 pics but uploaded none of them then it is likely the cell signal is not high and I wouldn't be surprised if Tactacam code keeps trying to connect and upload the first pic, but it has commands to upload 68 other pics, and it is overwhelmed so the first never uploads and the subsequent 68 also fail to upload. To much bandwidth for the signal it sounds like to me.

IE it is stuck in a cycle of retracing but overloaded failure again, and again, and again.

Caveat - I don't have a Tactacam so I am merely speculating based on experience with other similar technology devices.

 

[dawg]

I have 7 Tactacams! They are the real deal

I have 1 Spartan that is reallly bad.

 

[cowhornedspike]

Seeing you seem to know about Tactacams why don’t ya help me out cause their customer support seem to be running out of ideas. I have one particular Reveal that use to work very well but now you can change batteries,swap the sd card and format it and it might take a few pictures a day then not check in. The last time I done all that was November 20th and it has taken 69 pictures and hasn’t checked in in 3 days. Give me something to try when I go back next week. This is the card that’s in this camera and here is a screenshot of a message with a Tactacam support.

Just from my own experience and following along on several tactacam FB pages it seems that even all Sandisk cards are not made the same and there are even a bunch of counterfits out there.

Which of those 3 cards are you using? I run the bottom one 95mbps in all of my cams (from amazon) with no failures yet. Been running these since the first gen camera was released. The top card 100mbps has seemed to give some folks problems for some reason. I don't know why.

I'd replace it with the other when I went to check on the camera.

As far as Basshappy's thoughts. Yes it would be nice if these cams worked with any card and I have no idea why that isn't the way, BUT I want my cams to work properly so I do what Tactacam suggests.
Yes there can be other issues that can cause them to not send pics properly, and you could simply have a failed or failing camera but MOST of the issues with these are due to SD cards. That is a fact. The problem you are having seems to be fairly common among the complaints on FB and cards are usually the fault.

Two other things I would do when there is be sure to format the card IN the camera rather than prior to putting it in and remove the sim card and clean the contacts.

Hope this helps.

PS, although I haven't needed them, it seems that those who send a pm to revealbytactacam on facebook get technical help quite quickly.

 

[sghoghunter]

Just from my own experience and following along on several tactacam FB pages it seems that even all Sandisk cards are not made the same and there are even a bunch of counterfits out there.

Which of those 3 cards are you using? I run the bottom one 95mbps in all of my cams (from amazon) with no failures yet. Been running these since the first gen camera was released. The top card 100mbps has seemed to give some folks problems for some reason. I don't know why.

I'd replace it with the other when I went to check on the camera.

As far as Basshappy's thoughts. Yes it would be nice if these cams worked with any card and I have no idea why that isn't the way, BUT I want my cams to work properly so I do what Tactacam suggests.
Yes there can be other issues that can cause them to not send pics properly, and you could simply have a failed or failing camera but MOST of the issues with these are due to SD cards. That is a fact. The problem you are having seems to be fairly common among the complaints on FB and cards are usually the fault.

Two other things I would do when there is be sure to format the card IN the camera rather than prior to putting it in and remove the sim card and clean the contacts.

Hope this helps.

PS, although I haven't needed them, it seems that those who send a pm to revealbytactacam on facebook get technical help quite quickly.

Ya want me to show ya how good Tactacams technical help is. The past few days I’ve been getting text messages showing that my SD card was almost full. It’s set on the loop so I wasn’t really worried about it right then. Well when I woke up this morning I had a text message showing the SD card and that the battery level was down to 10% and batteries needed changed. I just happened to be at camp last night so I went this morning and changed the SD and formated it and also swapped out the 12 volt external battery and left the AA’s alone cause I didn’t have any with me. Well according to Tactacam the battery level on app shows internal battery level not the external 12 volt. Well when I changed the external battery it should still show 10% but should be working since the external battery is full charged. Well guess what it’s showing 100% and only thing technical support can do is read off the paperwork in front of them and say they recommend

1. Energizer Lithium-ion Batteries
2. Duracell Max Alkaline Batteries
3. Rayovac UltraPro Alkaline Batteries but not energizer max’s like I use in everything. Tactacam is nothing more than the newer Spyjunk’s

 

[bigchiefchoctaw]

@sghoghunter . Here is what I do. The camera will not read the external battery percentage only the internal. Which you know. I keep alkaline in the camera also. Then I plug the external battery box in. As you know the external now takes over. Once I see my battery percentage start to drop I know the external battery is dead and go change it. Which usually last around 6 months depending on temps settings and amount of pictures taken and sent. That’s how I do mine. Are the better setups out there ? Yep sure are. Not for the price point. Will there be small issues with any electronic device from time to time ? yep sure will.. I have a heap of tactacams going on two years now. Zero issues out of any. I do not update any cameras at all. The way they come is the way will they stay. Only time an update will be used if there becomes an issue. Cell cameras and sending pictures to your apps are based on as you know cell coverage. When the signals is low you will miss pictures. Remember those are electronic devises and just because it says strong moderate signal doesn’t always mean it’s gonna send your pictures. Once it misses the picture it doesn’t go back and resend them. They are stored on the card.. some others may do a resend or Hold on to them until there is signal.. this doesn’t bother me. I will still get the data I need. I also do not swap out memory cards just leave the card in the camera. The more you mess with them update them etc the more you run the risk of a corrupt file virus or whatever else can happen. I am a firm believer if it ain’t broke don’t fix it kinda man. Also less is better. You know all these high dollar cell phones and all that we all have ? Yeah they fail to send pictures and messages loose service etc. they are far superior to a trail camera. surely we Can understand a 100$ trail camera is gonna do the same . Good day lady and gents

 

[sghoghunter]

@sghoghunter . Here is what I do. The camera will not read the external battery percentage only the internal. Which you know. I keep alkaline in the camera also. Then I plug the external battery box in. As you know the external now takes over. Once I see my battery percentage start to drop I know the external battery is dead and go change it. Which usually last around 6 months depending on temps settings and amount of pictures taken and sent. That’s how I do mine. Are the better setups out there ? Yep sure are. Not for the price point. Will there be small issues with any electronic device from time to time ? yep sure will.. I have a heap of tactacams going on two years now. Zero issues out of any. I do not update any cameras at all. The way they come is the way will they stay. Only time an update will be used if there becomes an issue. Cell cameras and sending pictures to your apps are based on as you know cell coverage. When the signals is low you will miss pictures. Remember those are electronic devises and just because it says strong moderate signal doesn’t always mean it’s gonna send your pictures. Once it misses the picture it doesn’t go back and resend them. They are stored on the card.. some others may do a resend or Hold on to them until there is signal.. this doesn’t bother me. I will still get the data I need. I also do not swap out memory cards just leave the card in the camera. The more you mess with them update them etc the more you run the risk of a corrupt file virus or whatever else can happen. I am a firm believer if it ain’t broke don’t fix it kinda man. Also less is better. You know all these high dollar cell phones and all that we all have ? Yeah they fail to send pictures and messages loose service etc. they are far superior to a trail camera. surely we Can understand a 100$ trail camera is gonna do the same . Good day lady and gents

I pretty much do the same as you mentioned except I do swap SD cards with one that has been formatted on a laptop whenever I change the batteries. This camera went from 100% to 10% in one check in. Have you used any cellular cameras besides Tactacam?

 

[bigchiefchoctaw]

I pretty much do the same as you mentioned except I do swap SD cards with one that has been formatted on a laptop whenever I change the batteries. This camera went from 100% to 10% in one check in. Have you used any cellular cameras besides Tactacam?

No sir I have not. I don’t wanna spend no more money per camera than I am spending now. These had good reviews and have worked well for me. I haven’t seen a need or reason to swap to anything else yet.. I have a couple buddies that have different brands. One is a spartan. He swapped it out for a tactacam as it wasn’t sending pics he said due to signal. It’s in north Alabama. The tactacam sends pictures there no problem. He has another spartan that is doing the same he is gonna swap with a tactacam. He said he will use the Spartans in areas with better signal..
The battery deal you mentioned I have not experienced as of yet. Hard to say on that one. Darn electronics seem to have a mind of there own at times for unknown reasons

 

[sghoghunter]

No sir I have not. I don’t wanna spend no more money per camera than I am spending now. These had good reviews and have worked well for me. I haven’t seen a need or reason to swap to anything else yet.. I have a couple buddies that have different brands. One is a spartan. He swapped it out for a tactacam as it wasn’t sending pics he said due to signal. It’s in north Alabama. The tactacam sends pictures there no problem. He has another spartan that is doing the same he is gonna swap with a tactacam. He said he will use the Spartans in areas with better signal..
The battery deal you mentioned I have not experienced as of yet. Hard to say on that one. Darn electronics seem to have a mind of there own at times for unknown reasons

I bought my first one which was a covert around 9 to 10 yrs ago. Those were top of the line cameras back then till they sold a few yrs ago and they are junk now. On those there wasn’t a such thing as a certain SD card or they didn’t have to be aimed a certain way either. Do you pay extra for HD pics or for videos?

 

[cowhornedspike]

Ya want me to show ya how good Tactacams technical help is. The past few days I’ve been getting text messages showing that my SD card was almost full. It’s set on the loop so I wasn’t really worried about it right then. Well when I woke up this morning I had a text message showing the SD card and that the battery level was down to 10% and batteries needed changed. I just happened to be at camp last night so I went this morning and changed the SD and formated it and also swapped out the 12 volt external battery and left the AA’s alone cause I didn’t have any with me. Well according to Tactacam the battery level on app shows internal battery level not the external 12 volt. Well when I changed the external battery it should still show 10% but should be working since the external battery is full charged. Well guess what it’s showing 100% and only thing technical support can do is read off the paperwork in front of them and say they recommend

1. Energizer Lithium-ion Batteries
2. Duracell Max Alkaline Batteries
3. Rayovac UltraPro Alkaline Batteries but not energizer max’s like I use in everything. Tactacam is nothing more than the newer Spyjunk’s

Just because you don't understand the way it works, doesn't make it wrong.
If you have an external battery connected to the camera it will ALWAYS show 100% until the external battery gets below a preset voltage where it will then switch over to the internal AA batts and at that time the battery meter will show the charge left in them...and ONLY then will it do that.

 

[cowhornedspike]

I pretty much do the same as you mentioned except I do swap SD cards with one that has been formatted on a laptop whenever I change the batteries. This camera went from 100% to 10% in one check in. Have you used any cellular cameras besides Tactacam?

Tactacam and common sense says to always format the card IN the camera and not in a laptop. Same thing goes for almost any electronic device when possible.
Everything else you are saying seems to be working properly. You internal batteries are almost dead and once the external battery fell below the threshold allowed it switched to the internal and showed you that there are almost dead...what is it doing wrong there????

 

[sghoghunter]

Tactacam and common sense says to always format the card IN the camera and not in a laptop. Same thing goes for almost any electronic device when possible.
Everything else you are saying seems to be working properly. You internal batteries are almost dead and once the external battery fell below the threshold allowed it switched to the internal and showed you that there are almost dead...what is it doing wrong there????

It doesn’t matter what you format the card on as long as it’s on the right setting which happens to be FAT32 for all trail cameras. Some cameras don’t have the format feature so you do what ya have to do

 

[cowhornedspike]

It doesn’t matter what you format the card on as long as it’s on the right setting which happens to be FAT32 for all trail cameras. Some cameras don’t have the format feature so you do what ya have to do

There are things that work and things that work best...but you do you.

 

[bigchiefchoctaw]

I bought my first one which was a covert around 9 to 10 yrs ago. Those were top of the line cameras back then till they sold a few yrs ago and they are junk now. On those there wasn’t a such thing as a certain SD card or they didn’t have to be aimed a certain way either. Do you pay extra for HD pics or for videos?

Yes sir I do. I can see enough detail with the hd video and pictures to see enough on bucks etc. as you and others know they are not perfect and not high end photography. I know it’s just a thumb nail picture.. they look 10 times better on a computer for sure. That’s the other thing too. I don’t have a computer so this way works real good for me. I did get the high end San disk memory cards. My first trail camera was a 35 mm film camera. Man have these things have changed since those days. To be able to have a picture come straight to my cell phone is just impressive. I guess it’s easy to get caught up and everything being so high tech and perfect we don’t much like failures of any kind. I’m thankful that I have a camera I can see pictures in almost real time. I don’t have to go in and out of my hunting areas to change cards batteries or heck even change out a roll of film. Could you imagine if we had to run to the woods every 3 hours to put in a roll of film ?? lol. We have a lot to be thankful for on that front.. come to think of it man these things just work really good for the amount of money they cost.
I’m sure if a fella did had unlimited resource having a whole fleet of recoynx or something like that.

 

[sghoghunter]

Yes sir I do. I can see enough detail with the hd video and pictures to see enough on bucks etc. as you and others know they are not perfect and not high end photography. I know it’s just a thumb nail picture.. they look 10 times better on a computer for sure. That’s the other thing too. I don’t have a computer so this way works real good for me. I did get the high end San disk memory cards. My first trail camera was a 35 mm film camera. Man have these things have changed since those days. To be able to have a picture come straight to my cell phone is just impressive. I guess it’s easy to get caught up and everything being so high tech and perfect we don’t much like failures of any kind. I’m thankful that I have a camera I can see pictures in almost real time. I don’t have to go in and out of my hunting areas to change cards batteries or heck even change out a roll of film. Could you imagine if we had to run to the woods every 3 hours to put in a roll of film ?? lol. We have a lot to be thankful for on that front.. come to think of it man these things just work really good for the amount of money they cost.
I’m sure if a fella did had unlimited resource having a whole fleet of recoynx or something like that.

Oh I remember those one hour photo days very well. You mentioned earlier that your buddy was going to buy another camera tell him to buy a wiseeye and try it. No extra for HD or video plus it shows on each pic the voltage on camera and external battery if using one. I’ve been using one for bout 5 months and not one complaint yet.

 

[bigchiefchoctaw]

Oh I remember those one hour photo days very well. You mentioned earlier that your buddy was going to buy another camera tell him to buy a wiseeye and try it. No extra for HD or video plus it shows on each pic the voltage on camera and external battery if using one. I’ve been using one for bout 5 months and not one complaint yet.

I will have to let him know that. Thanks for insight

 

[sghoghunter]

I will have to let him know that. Thanks for insight

No HD needed

 

[bigchiefchoctaw]

Those do look good !

 

[bigchiefchoctaw]

One thing that would make it hard for us to switch is. We have 4 different folks totaling 25 tactacams. We have all of ours linked together where we can all share pictures on our clubs we share. It would be very difficult to get everyone to buy in to switch to a different brand. So I doubt we will anytime soon. I appreciate the plug on those wise eye. Thank you