Strange Topguard trail cam issue.

[Jelster]

I got the camera out yesterday for the first time this year. I checked my hedgehog feeder and it was completely empty of food after only 2 nights out, so thought I would get some video to see who & how many we're getting.

The only files I have are shot during daylight (a wood pigeon walking around the box). Yet food has been taken, though none of it captured on camera.Could this be an issue with the IR sensor, so it's not seeing in the dark?

Anybody else have a similar issue?

 

[Tringa]

I got the camera out yesterday for the first time this year. I checked my hedgehog feeder and it was completely empty of food after only 2 nights out, so thought I would get some video to see who & how many we're getting.

The only files I have are shot during daylight (a wood pigeon walking around the box). Yet food has been taken, though none of it captured on camera.Could this be an issue with the IR sensor, so it's not seeing in the dark?

Anybody else have a similar issue?

I don't know your particular camera, Steve but I have a similar issue with our trail camera(an old Bushnell).

We have a hedgehog feeder and frequently the food disappears overnight without any video showing an animal going into it.

I think either
the sensor is a bit slow in reacting to the presence of animal, or
there is a delay between the sensor picking up an animal and the camera starting to record a video.

We often have videos that start with an animal, usually hedgehog or fox, in the middle of the field of view. It must walk into the area but the camera has missed the first few seconds.

The first six or so metres from our back door is quite open but our dog can easily cover that distance without triggering the camera.

I think the disappearance of the food from our feeder is either a hedgehog getting in an out quickly or the mice we have in the garden. I think they would be easily quick enough to get in and out of the feeder without triggering the camera.

When you say - " though none of it captured on camera " do you mean just that there are no videos of the food being taken or there are no videos at all during the night?


Dave

 

[Jelster]

There are no night time videos at all (I've turned off the JPG's). I have the camera set to start 1 second after it's triggered, which normally means that something is in full view at the start of the video, It was working fine last year, it was last out in October, but now it seems to be playing up. More investigations needed I think.

I have just noticed that the files are dated June 2020, but I know they were from last night as the feeder is in a different place than last year, so that's pretty obvious... Maybe a full reset and reconfig for this evening....

 

[gramps]

files are dated June 2020, but I know they were from last night as the feeder is in a different place than last year, so that's pretty obvious... Maybe a full reset and reconfig for this evening....

Definitely needs that I would suggest.

 

[Solo man]

We often have videos that start with an animal, usually hedgehog or fox, in the middle of the field of view. It must walk into the area but the camera has missed the first few seconds.




Dave

I have this problem with both of my Apeman cameras... it is really annoying that it misses the 'bigger stuff' but catches every rabbit and squirrel no matter where they are in the field of view. I have tried siting the camera lower down too, but then it misses even more stuff as I get videos with nothing in.

 

[Tringa]

There are no night time videos at all (I've turned off the JPG's). I have the camera set to start 1 second after it's triggered, which normally means that something is in full view at the start of the video, It was working fine last year, it was last out in October, but now it seems to be playing up. More investigations needed I think.

I have just noticed that the files are dated June 2020, but I know they were from last night as the feeder is in a different place than last year, so that's pretty obvious... Maybe a full reset and reconfig for this evening....

If the camera is recording either videos or still photos during the day then the sensor is working but if you are getting no videos at all during the night it does not appear to be working then.

Does your camera have the IR lights that glow red when they are on? If so, you could test it at night to see if they come on.

Just a thought, are the batteries OK? I use rechargeables in our camera and if their charge drops too low I get a load of videos but all are zero bytes in size. Until I spotted the low battery indicator I thought the camera had packed up.

As you say, some more investigation needed.

Dave

 

[Jelster]

I did a factory reset last night before I put it out. Seems we have about 5 hogs visiting the feeder, no wonder it was being emptied. All seems fine now, apart from when the dew frosted over it at around 02.30 this morning!

DSCF0030 by Steve Jelly, on Flickr

DSCF0040 by Steve Jelly, on Flickr

 

[Tringa]

Glad you sorted it, Steve.

You have 5 hogs! I thought we were doing well with 2.

Dave