New Solar Panel; Now no pictures

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Andrew Russell

Installed a direct solar panel to my Ghost Cam and I'm no longer receiving pictures.  Was receiving pics and status reports every 3 hours per my settings before installing but now nothing.  Installed on 9/19/2021 along with AA batteries that were already in the camera and nothing is working.  

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  • John Lockburner

    What's the internal and external voltage on the last status report? What is the time and date of that report? Is it a Spartan panel?

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  • Andrew Russell

    Yes, it is a Spartan solar panel.  It is the 15W panel as well.

     

    Here are my last status report readings that I took screenshots of.

    Installed Solar Panel; 9/19, 4:35 pm; Int - 3.82v; Ext - 20.01v

    9/20, 09:24; Int - 3.88v; Ext - 20.55v

    9/20, 20:30; Int - 4.01v; Ext - 8.53v

    9/21, 00:02: Int - 4.01v; Ext - 8.53v

     

    As I mentioned, I have scheduled photo events to happen every 3 hours but haven't gotten one since 09:00 on 9/20.

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  • John Lockburner

    Are you getting random status reports without getting pictures?

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  • Andrew Russell

    For the most part.  I have my camera set up to send status reports with pictures every 3 hours starting at 00:00. 

     

    The last pictures I got:

    Motion - 9/19 16:34 P0 (Me leaving my camera)

    Event - 9/20 06:00 P3

    Event - 9/20 09:00 P0

    Motion - 9/20 09:04 P0

    Motion - 9/20 09:23 P0

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  • John Lockburner

    Can you post a screen shot of the status report from the app please, the very top all the way to the SD card info at the bottom might be helpful.

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  • Andrew Russell

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  • John Lockburner

    What is the camera model and are you getting your data through Spartan or the carrier directly?

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  • Andrew Russell

    Spartan Ghost (GST-ALTEb) and getting data through Spartan

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  • John Lockburner

    Everything looks ok, hopefully the SD card will format and that will get it going again. Any chance the antenna got damaged?

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  • Andrew Russell

     

    As you can see, I submitted that SD card Format yesterday and still hasn't gone though.  I also asked for 2 more actions and nothing happened.  The antenna is fine.  All I did was plug it in and leave.  Everything was fine before this solar panel.  How long do I wait?

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  • John Lockburner

    I would wait over night and hopefully the SD card formats at the midnight status report. How far away is the camera?

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  • John Lockburner
    • Edited

    Is your SD card to spec, 32gb or smaller, class 10, 80 mbs or faster and a full sized card, not a micro in an adapter? Did you format the card in the camera?

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  • Andrew Russell

    The SD card is perfectly fine.  I used it last year with no problems and then all of August up until the solar panel installation.  The camera took pictures of me at the camera and leaving the camera after the solar panel.  Then things started going haywire after the solar panel.  Now nothing is working.  The camera is about 2 hours away.

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  • Andrew Russell

    What is the warranty on the Ghost camera?

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  • John Lockburner

    Two year warranty. Maybe the camera just needs an off/on or possibly it needs to be defaulted in it's menu

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  • Andrew Russell

    It's back to receiving no photos again and only giving status reports at 00:00.  Camera is currently set up to get status reports and picture every 3 hours.  Haven't gotten a picture since motion on 10/5 at 00:57.  I requested DB format on 10/5 at 15:03 and it went through at 10/6 01:01.  Still no pictures over night or every 3 hours.  This camera seems to work about 50% of the time and becoming extremely frustrating.

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  • John Lockburner

    What is the internal battery voltage on the last report?

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  • Andrew Russell

    Internal - 3.94v

    External - 8.56v

     

    Still powered by the solar panel

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  • John Lockburner

    Still the same SD card correct?

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  • Andrew Russell

    Correct.  Formatted it last night with no change.  Still not getting status reports every 3 hours as well.

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  • John Lockburner

    I would change that card, good chance it's causing your issues. In the meantime maybe request a format every other couple of days before it stops and see if that makes a difference.

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  • Andrew Russell

    I put in a SD Format at 03:09 and is still Pending.  Missed the 06:00 and 09:00 status reports.  Would the SD card cause the camera to not send status reports or cause it not to connect to server?

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  • John Lockburner

    Absolutely, I have seen a bad SD card keep a camera from even turning on.

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  • Andrew Russell

    Ok.  And what are the specs that are desired for the SD Card?

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  • John Lockburner

    32gb or smaller, class 10, 80mbs or faster and a full sized card, no micros in adapters. I also like name brand cards. Sandisk is my choice when I don't have a Spartan card on hand.

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  • Elizabeth Swoope

    https://support.spartancamera.com/hc/en-us/articles/360040555453-SD-card-information-and-recommendations

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  • Andrew Russell

    I am going to be taking yet another trip this afternoon to the camera to see if I can get it working.  Is there anything else I need to know before I leave?  I plan on installing a new SD Card and putting in batteries as a backup for the solar panel.  I also plan on doing a test pic before I leave.  How do I know if the camera is bad or if the solar panel is bad?

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  • John Lockburner

    If it's not working and you unplug the panel and it starts working then most likely the panel is the cause. Hopefully it's just the SD card.

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  • Jim Ringley

    Do you have to use rechargeable lithium batteries?

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  • John Lockburner

    Jim, no you do not. Which model camera do you have?

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