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08-05-2020, 09:41 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 338
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Tactacam Reveal Cellular Trail Cameras
Just picked up 2 of these at Cabelas, I really wanted to buy Canadian but at $169 it was a no brainer. $13/month for unlimited pictures. If these hold up during November in Alberta I will be pretty impressed. Just thought I’d let folks interested in cell cameras know about the price of these.
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08-10-2020, 08:48 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Gods Country
Posts: 682
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I will be keeping an eye on this thread in the hopes of buying one of these in the future.
I have a couple of spypoint mini's and have found them to be pretty good for the price (can usually get them on sale for the same price as the Tacticam). One thing I have noticed with the Spypoint Mini is that there are areas where I will not get service to my game cam where I do have cell service (albeit not great) so I am hoping that the Tacticam may be a little better in this regard.
DR
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08-10-2020, 09:31 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 338
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Tactacam
I’m pretty impressed with the image quality so far.
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08-11-2020, 07:09 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: ‘Berta
Posts: 87
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Any updates? I was waiting for an in-depth review from you but instead I just pulled the trigger on two of them for myself. At this price they are cheaper than what I paid for my old fairy very basic ones.
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08-11-2020, 10:35 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 338
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Quote:
Originally Posted by joshtar
Any updates? I was waiting for an in-depth review from you but instead I just pulled the trigger on two of them for myself. At this price they are cheaper than what I paid for my old fairy very basic ones.
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I’m happy with them so far but need to wait for some cold weather to really form an opinion. If they keep taking pics like they are and can run 40 + days in -20 on the batteries I will be changing out my whole fleet of cameras.
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08-15-2020, 07:55 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: ‘Berta
Posts: 87
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Well I’m impressed. Two more in the arsenal today.
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08-22-2020, 12:35 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 591
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What’s the updates on the camera and please add some pictures here. Thanks
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09-10-2020, 08:28 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Gods Country
Posts: 682
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NINJABABY
What’s the updates on the camera and please add some pictures here. Thanks
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Bump... thinking of getting one so wondering if you had an update.
thanks
DR
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09-10-2020, 08:49 AM
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Moderator
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: A bit North o' Center...
Posts: 11,238
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09-10-2020, 12:42 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 338
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NINJABABY
What’s the updates on the camera and please add some pictures here. Thanks
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Do yourself a favour and go buy one, they are really good. I am picking up my third unit today as they are on sale.
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09-10-2020, 05:49 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: ‘Berta
Posts: 87
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sportsman
Do yourself a favour and go buy one, they are really good. I am picking up my third unit today as they are on sale.
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I agree. If you’re on the fence deciding, get one. Actually get 2 so you’ll save yourself another trip in a couple days. The pricetag is great, and a few bucks a month for the season (no cancelation or setup fees) is no big deal. I run a few and noticed a few hiccups, but am highly impressed overall.
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09-10-2020, 06:21 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: GRAND PRAIRIE
Posts: 5,720
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I'm thinking of picking up another one I've got to spy points that I like these ones are a hundred bucks cheaper though
Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
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09-11-2020, 12:55 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Edmonton
Posts: 960
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I almost bought one of these last week but hesitated till I heard some first hand reviews. Can someone please post some day and night pics so we can see the picture quality?
Thanks!
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09-11-2020, 11:36 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: ‘Berta
Posts: 87
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hooter
I almost bought one of these last week but hesitated till I heard some first hand reviews. Can someone please post some day and night pics so we can see the picture quality?
Thanks!
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Let’s see if I can do this from my phone...
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09-12-2020, 06:16 AM
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Join Date: May 2017
Location: Rocky Mtn House,AB
Posts: 2,239
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Interesting...I posted a thread on cellular cameras yesterday.
After reading this post, and seeing pic quality by some helpful people, and other positive reviews online, I bought one these this morning on sale at Cabela's.
FYI...limited online stock left. Not sure on store inventories.
Thanx...
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09-12-2020, 09:33 AM
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Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: BowIsland
Posts: 450
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Know nothing about cameras but just to let people know UFA has the Spypoint Link Micro LTE on sale for $159.99 and the Cell link adapter for $69.99 until end of month.
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09-12-2020, 12:31 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Communist Capital of Alberta
Posts: 3,805
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Ever since I started using video mode on my ridgetec Lookouts, I can't go without. And having an expandable battery port is really important to me.
If you don't care about either of those (which many don't) then they'd be worth a shot.
The gamble with all of these small outfits jumping on the cloud-based cell cam market is - how long will they be around?
If they go belly up, you have another regular trail camera.
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09-12-2020, 03:51 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Edmonton
Posts: 960
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Quote:
Originally Posted by joshtar
Let’s see if I can do this from my phone...
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Thanks! Picture quality is excellent. Might have to makes purchase today!
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09-13-2020, 10:25 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 94
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CBintheNorth
Ever since I started using video mode on my ridgetec Lookouts, I can't go without. And having an expandable battery port is really important to me.
If you don't care about either of those (which many don't) then they'd be worth a shot.
The gamble with all of these small outfits jumping on the cloud-based cell cam market is - how long will they be around?
If they go belly up, you have another regular trail camera.
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I was wondering how long your batteries last sending video. I was thinking about getting one.
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09-14-2020, 07:17 AM
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Communist Capital of Alberta
Posts: 3,805
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stevens
I was wondering how long your batteries last sending video. I was thinking about getting one.
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I built steel security boxes for mine which hold a Rechargeable 12v 5ah battery, that I plug into the external port. The same size as most home security systems.
I also install the 12 AA batteries in the camera. This is a huge advantage that the Lookout has over the Summit 4.
It'll feed off of the external until it's dead, then move onto the internals.
From the middle of May to the middle of July it took
326 pictures, 290- 15 second videos, and 62- 30 second videos. I changed the settings a couple times during the run.
Plus a "heartbeat", or status report as I call it, every half hour.
At that, the battery level was reading 25% when I changed it, so almost dead.
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09-14-2020, 07:21 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Gods Country
Posts: 682
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sportsman
Do yourself a favour and go buy one, they are really good. I am picking up my third unit today as they are on sale.
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You talked me into it... bought 2 last week. Looking forward to giving them a try. I certainly hope that they work more consistently than my 3 spypoint link micro. Always a crapshoot as to whether you will get pictures at the designated daily time i have mine set to send.
DR
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09-14-2020, 01:16 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2020
Posts: 21
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Tactacam first photo
Bought a couple Tactacam Reveal cameras last week at Cabelas, went and set them up yesterday. First photo just came in today. Thumbnail should be attached.
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09-16-2020, 10:59 AM
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Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 81
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Just bought one online, I feel like Cabela's owes this site a commission off all the promo's for this.
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10-05-2020, 07:56 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Gods Country
Posts: 682
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Just thought I would provide an update on the early trials of my Tactacams
I have been really impressed so far, but as sportsman said, the proof will be battery life over the next couple of months.
Pros:
- really impressed with the signal of these cameras. I have 3 Spypoint link micros, set them up in areas where there are 2-3 bars of service on my phone and the micros will hardly transmit a picture (even with the extended wire and antenna up further in the tree). Set up the Tactacam and I am getting full bars 4g service. Unreal difference!
- quality of pictures is really good, see both day and night pics above. Very little blur in the night pics which really impressed me.
- customer service, have had a few questions issues( see below) and they have been quick to get back to me
Cons:
- probably my biggest issue is the photo plans. I set my first camera up in an area where i will leave it out all year, so got a full year plan. When I went to set up my second camera, it automatically signed me up for a full year plan. I sent tactacam a message and unfortunately that’s the way it is for now, cannot set up different plans for different cams.
- second issue I have had is the ability to change settings through the app. I would prefer to get pictures twice daily to save battery life. No matter how many times I try to change this setting in the app, it still sends me pictures at every trigger. This is pretty minor, but still wish it worked.
Will try to update over the next 6-8 months as we go through fall and winter and cold weather on battery life and camera performance.
DR
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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11-16-2020, 09:57 PM
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 43
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Is the Tactacam compatible with Telus as a service provider?
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11-16-2020, 10:48 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Look behind you :)
Posts: 27,790
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bubs11
Is the Tactacam compatible with Telus as a service provider?
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I think they are only a single dedicated provider. Cannot switch SIM or plans with them.
LC
__________________
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11-16-2020, 11:12 PM
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 43
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Forgive my ignorance but I’m not familiar with the term single dedicated provider
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11-16-2020, 11:18 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Look behind you :)
Posts: 27,790
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bubs11
Forgive my ignorance but I’m not familiar with the term single dedicated provider
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You are bound to AT&T only I believe.
LC
__________________
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11-17-2020, 02:31 AM
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Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 69
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I've had mine for 3 months now.
Same batteries since and I get at least 3 pictures every night.
I put it on a known deer and coyote trail.
Performance is awesome for the price.
The reception is spotty and I'm just outside if the city limits in Calgary so I had to walk around with the camera on to show me what signal strength I was getting at certain spots.
I'd buy another one without thinking. If the cell signal isn't good, remember that it's still a trail cam with a very decent trigger speed and resolution.
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11-17-2020, 06:56 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 7,514
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Ok cell cams have my interest but have not taken the leap yet. I have experience with basic trail cams and have learned they are far from equal. I learned many of the brands that are recommended provided great pics but miss animals by either no pic at all or slow trigger giving a pic without an animal. I did not realize how bad some were till I started mounting 2 different brands on the same tree to compare. This makes me hesitant to try new brands because capturing a pic of the animal is what matters to me not getting pretty pics of half the animals that pass through
Reports from a friend I trust regarding the spy points are less then stellar compared to what some are saying. But he actually did comparison tests and I know most don’t. I have written these off as an option
So 2 questions
Have you tested the tactacam against against other cams to be sure it is not missing pics of animals from being too slow or not sensing them at all? They all miss the odd animal but some cams are worse then other
What is the min cell service needed? Most my locations run from 2bars LTE to 1bar 3g
Pic quality is low on my list of needs and it seems most focus on this and battery life but talk little about other issues important to cam use
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