Motion sensor isn't working
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What is your trigger interval set to? Any start/stop times set? Did you check the SD card to see if it's taking the pics and saving them and just not sending them? Can you post a picture of the status report from the app and maybe one photo that the camera took? You may have to change your phone to desktop view to see the insert image icon on this page. I would also leave the sensitivity at normal setting for now.
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Trigger interval was at 25 now its at 5. I changed the sd card and reformated. I do understand trail cams. I've been using them since you had to supply your own camera in the box strapped to the tree.It would sound like it was chewing the info when it took a pic. From what I can tell with this Spartan GoCam its a motion detector problem. It'll take a pick of me at 6 feet but no farther. I put a call in to service they said: It's taking pictures and sending them and is showing it's up to date. Again the other cam took 55 picks of wildlife. This one activated 4 times on me only and only at 6 feet. They told me to change the sd card and reformat that it could possibly be a motion detector problem. That they would have to make an RMA order if that was the case.. I did that now radio silence. I get it stuff comes up but come on complete radio silence. It's my only day off. I hope their not gonna try to stick me with a bad camera. I wanted to like this company, I wanted to love these cameras. I've been waiting for the funds to make this purchase for a long time.I'll give them till the end of the week for a response I hope something came up and all will be well. Its too bad really. I've heard great things. We'll see. Thanks for the response John.
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Please post some pics from your camera. The “sweet spot” for aiming cameras differs from brand to brand and even from model to model. It’s possible that we will see something that you don’t.
Is the other camera a cell camera or a non-cell camera?
You can set the trigger to 0 but pics are still going to be 35 seconds apart or more because the camera has to send the pic before it can take another.
I’m not good with distances but this deer is much farther away than 6 ft. Detection distance is 80 ft.
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Patsy, I just want to clarify, you did get the RMA or you are still waiting on it? The cameras have a two year warranty and if there is an issue it will be taken care of. As Liz suggested can you post some pictures that the camera took please. Have you checked to see if the photos are on the SD card and just not being sent?
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Update I set up another Spartan GoCam just below the one that I thought wasn't working. Both set to high sensitivity both set to 5 second delay, along with the Browning cam. All on the same tree facing the same way like a totem pole of cams. The browning took 36 pics from last night till this morning 6 pics of a racoon at midnight 4 of a coyote at 1:15 4 of crows at first light and 20 picks of the 2 deer on the lawn at 6:30. The Spartan GoCams set up on the same tree facing the same way took 7 pics of 2 deer on the lawn. No picks during dark of any of the other critters in the yard, only the same 7 daytime pics of the deer close to the camera. We walked zig zag patterns from 70 yards out to the cam back and forth. The Spartan GoCam never picked up movement till we were within 6 feet from the cam. Apparently I'm just used to better quality motion detection. I saved up and spent the money for less.
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- Sensitivity should be NORMAL, not high.
- Detection is 80 ft (just under 30 yards).
- Your camera does not appear to be level. That matters.
- Your camera needs to be aimed lower. The whole top half of the frame is wasted. You want the area of interest to be roughly in the middle 2/3 of the frame top to bottom.
- Cameras on a tree like a totem pole are NOT aimed identically because they are at different heights. You can tweak the aim a bit with shims to try to get them aimed at the same spot, but some will be level back to front, some won’t be. It does matter. (I’m a tester for Spartan, I’ve run multiple cameras on the same tree. It is challenging to get them aimed as close as possible to the same but it is impossible to aim them identically, especially with antennas involved.) (Is your Browning a cell camera or not?)
Please post screen shots of your settings from the app, preferably from top to bottom. There may be a setting that isn’t right.
Info on settings (it appears you are using normal thumbnails, maybe that’s what you meant to do):
Info on mounting positions:
https://support.spartancamera.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043951874-Camera-positioning-suggestionshttps://support.spartancamera.com/hc/en-us/articles/360044431193
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First thing the GoCams and most cellular cameras won't take another picture until it's done sending the previous one so if it takes the Spartan 30 seconds to transmit the picture the browning will have taken 5 or 6 pictures in that same time period set on a 5 second delay. Also seeing pictures from the cameras I would suggest lowering the cameras down and aiming them up to be parallel with the ground or slightly higher. I would also set the sensitivity to normal, depending on the season high can actually cause the camera to detect less. If you set the camera to the setup position the green light will blink when the camera detects movement, you can use this to learn the sweet spots of detection for the camera and also to help aim the camera.
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Thank you ll for your help. With deer and other wary game it is best to put the cams at 6 feet or higher as shown in the set up portion of the setup guide. One bad encounter could cause a big buck to forever change his path.You are absolutely correct about sending time and amount of pictures taken. Thank you for that. It makes perfect sense. And angle may be why its only picking up larger animals. Had a whole flock of turkeys in the yard yesterday with their poults. Oh and this really cool pic of a hummingbird in flight. Got some beautiful picks on the browning that is mounted between both of the Spartan cams. Not one pic of them on either of the Spartan cams. I wonder what your missing? Yesterday the one Spartan was taking picks all the way out but the original problem one was still only picking up large objects at close range. This morning both cams were picking me up when I walked out the door and sending Just fine. Don't know that I'd suggest purchasing these to anyone or buy anymore. I will definitely tell them about the issues and the lack of customer service. I still haven't heard back from them at Spartan. But thank you again for your help. I truly appreciate your time. I will be more mindful of the poor quality motion detector system and having to have the cam perfectly level. You too should probably put out another manufacturers cam next to your Spartan, and see what you're missing. Chances are it's a whole lot of Mother Nature's dance of life and death. Be well & enjoy every moment.
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Patsy, every manufacturer uses different fresnel lenses in front of the sensors so the detection areas differ from brand to brand. My personal preference is knee high with the cameras and angled up slightly. This gives you the best coverage area and most distance in my opinion and allows the flash to carry further out. Of course I do mount at different heights when the terrain isn't flat.I think if you tested the camera out on level ground you'd see just how well the cameras detect animals and could adjust your setups from there. There is a chance you got one with a bad sensor and if that is the case there's a 2 year warranty and the camera would be fixed or replaced. Have you changed the sensitivity back to normal?
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Most of my cameras are mounted 3' off the ground or less. Even when the deer spot the camera and check it out, they don't run off. These shots are from a white flash camera with a very visible, very bright flash.
Having the camera level has nothing to do with a "poor" motion detector, it has to do with sensor zones and animals moving from one zone to another to trigger the sensor. I'll post an illustration from another camera company in a different post because I'm not sure where the photo is located on the computer I'm using now.
My goal is not to document every animal that comes around. I know that cameras are not perfect (and I'm pretty sure that my Spartan cameras aren't missing "a whole lot of Mother Nature's dance of life and death", got a coyote trotting off with a fawn hindquarter in its jaws a few days ago).
I have two cell cameras and two license plate cameras set up on a road (one of each facing north and one of each facing south, mounted on four different trees that are close to each other). Most of the time, I get two photos from each cell cam (one of the vehicle going to the turnaround, one of the vehicle coming back from the turnaround. I also get a sequence of photos from each of the license plate (non-cell) cameras from the vehicle going to the turnaround and another of it coming out.
However, there are times when one or more cameras miss. Sometimes it's both cell cams (my guess is that it's when the vehicles have been sitting for hours in the cold at the lease near our property so the engines aren't warm when they pass our camp), sometimes it's both license plate cameras, sometimes it's just one camera, sometimes it's only one direction that's missed. The bottom line is that cameras are not perfect.
It sounds like you're not willing to recognize that different cameras have different "sweet spots" and try to learn how to optimize the setting for your Spartan cameras. They may not be the camera for you.
BTW, what name/email did you use when you contacted support? One of us can check to see what the status of your support ticket is. -
I don’t know if you’ve seen this. It is for a different brand of camera, for one of their models. I’ve seen a similar illustration for a different model of their camera and the zones are different, so there is variation from model to model within a brand, and much more variation from brand to brand. Spartan camera detection zones aren’t identical to this illustration, but as I said earlier, the concept is the same.
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Wow sweet! Thank you. The second cam I put out is working great. Took 15 pics tday and sent perfectly. Even got pics of crows like 50 yrds away. The first cam still nothing. well not nothing it did take 2 pics of nothing today.Nothing in the frame at least. It's cool that the cams see in much the same way a deer sees. very linear. I'm gonna put them out this weekend in the woods. I'll pay close attention to them being level and pointing directly at where I think the deer will be standing close to the camera like at your feeder. I am not allowed to feed deer in my state. I'm sure they're much more willing to put themselves in harms way for tasty kibble then the mountain deer I have up here. Up here they have no reason to come back and will avoid questionable areas all together. I'm not not willing. It's just I spent a ton on this order. 4 cams, boxes locks and service. I do my research before purchasing products and thought I was dealing with a different kind of company. I pride myself on only doing business with companies that conduct themselves with the same pride that I do with my own company. I give them my money instead of the cheap box stores to support good business practices. But post covid lockdown things have changed in the work force, I see it with many businesses. I see it with my own business. I am a small business owner for the last 20+ years. Thank you again for your time and this definitely is a knowledge base, I'm glad this/you were available I would have felt completely left out to dry. I hope they do something about the faulty cam. I of course will try what you have both suggested with it and see if it makes a difference. Thank you again.
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You have not provided the email or name under which your support ticket is so that we can check on the status of your case.
Did you request video from the photos that apparently show nothing? There may be something moving in the frame.I chose those photos because you claim that cameras shouldn’t be set below 6’ because it scares the deer. Here are several more photos from cameras set well below 6’ and no tasty kibble anywhere in sight. I can post pics of the deer right up on cameras to show that they aren’t scared of them but there’s no point because you will make snide comments about how close they are, never mind that the pics would show the deer aren’t scared of the cameras.
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