What is the sensitivity/range? I've always wanted something like this to carry in the woods to detect game/trail cameras. Not for any nefarious purpose, but to get an idea of how surveilled the woods are.
Yes but since it's the woods and not a university computer lab the only other noise source should be your personal devices so the noise from the "sleeping" camera should be pretty easily detectable even when it's simply looking for motion.
Not really, those are using PIR motion sensors to wake up, so you'd need to be able to capture the burst of activity when the camera actually wakes up and takes a picture. PIR circuit is very low power, so not much RF energy to detect while it's sleeping..
The unshielded electronics are still going to be highly RF reflective the same way that a car headlight is still reflective when not powered. Pretty much all bug sweeping works on this premise.
Finding a game cam in the woods with basic bug sweeping equipment is like finding a headlight housing on the ground in the woods at night using a flashlight.
What do you mean, exactly? Most of what you can find in the forest is 'RF reflective' because of the water contents - the trees, the grass, the ground. What's the proposed detection method that is going to discern a reflection from a small PCB from a reflection from a large tree trunk?
edit: first, the camera isn't a retroreflector so you can't just light it up from any direction and get a strong reflection. Second, the kind of equipment that would give you good directionality with a static target is some next generation beam steering radar, that stuff is so expensive you're better off walking around with a 4K camera and then processing the footage with an image detector to find possible matches with images of trail cameras.
Oh duh, yeah you are right. I had swapped RF and IR in my head for some reason when I was scanning the project page and thought this was somehow picking up signals based off noise from the sensor. Might be time for bed for me.
Game cams with cellular modems are getting to be pretty common, and you can equip them with solar panels. Basically just set em and forget em. It wouldn't surprise me if this is making them much more common...you can get them deep into the woods and don't have to go check on them hardly at all.
Sigh, it used to be at least woods offered respite from ever-present cameras. I am starting to think I should stop trying to fight the impending 'Transmetropolitan' future.
The cameras themselves are useful for catching remote area | rural thieves on mine leases, rural properties, etc. They're great for spotting and counting rare and endangered species to better direct conservation efforts.
Quite a few people dumping their trash in the woods illegally have been caught in my area with them.
They just need to outlaw private citizens putting them on public property without a permit. Big fines could be a deterrant. Maybe USFS/BLM/NPS employees need some sniffing devices. The upshot is that if it's got a cellular modem, someone's paying a bill and they can usually be found pretty easily if you have the modem.
With fire seasons going the way they are west of the Rockies, I'd be a little concerned about a bunch of lion batteries scattered through the woods. Just takes one of them to blow up in late summer (say it gets crushed by a tree) and there's a good chance it'll be a multi-billion dollar problem that kills people.
Pretty much all the C and D rate state forests, nature preserves, etc, etc, in my state were only ever having their trails maintained by the "nominally illegal but nobody actually cares" SxS and ATV riders because the dog walkers and the hunters are much less averse to going off trail and even if they weren't they aren't packing a 15lb cordless chainsaw around to clear whatever fell on the trail.
Karens with game cams have done a lot to curtail this.
Agree, if you are talking about hunters (and I feel the same about fish-finders). To them: dude, if you're going to hunt or fish, don't just cheat, learn the craft.
For my purposes, I've found a game camera extremely useful for finding what and when various critters are eating the garden and other plants in the yard, and to figure out what discouraging and diverting measures actually work. I also get a few pretty cool wildlife pics I'd never otherwise get.
So just curious; if a hunter has a limit of 1 buck and 2 doe but he really only needs 350lbs of meat, so either 1 large buck and smaller doe or all 3 if they are smaller. Should he give up using the trail camera and the knowledge of if there is a large buck out there and just kill the first 3 deer he comes across?
Another question, do you look up salary stats on Glassdoor, etc before you consider open position or asking for a raise? Would you consider it offensive if someone told you to stop cheating and just learn to negotiate better?
Or maybe, instead of relying on yet another toy of modern technology, do it the same way it was done before game cameras?
Learn the craft so that you can tell from the signs, such as tracks, droppings, markings, etc., and spend the time doing actual scouting and sightings before hunting?
Seems to me you're either enjoying the whole process of learning and doing the sport, or just enjoying the results. If the former, do it for real, if the latter, just buy some game meat from someone who does. Doing everything with excess technology and little craft seems more like cosplaying and just cheating yourself of a real experience.
>>do you look up salary stats on Glassdoor, etc before you consider open position or asking for a raise? Would you consider it offensive if someone told you to stop cheating and just learn to negotiate better?
I'd look at Glassdoor as reading the actual signs in the wild, like reading tracks, markings, broken twigs, etc., not an artificial aid — it's one of the signs in the environment. And like signs in the environment, it's not like a camera, it is often obscured, gamed, and skewed. Similarly, a crafty employee would also contact people she knows and exploit connections to scout the potential employer.
However, putting game cameras, webcams, and/or recording devices in their management offices, HR offices, and meeting rooms would be considered a bit out of bounds, you think?
Not to be pendantic, but if we are talking white-tailed deer, it depends on the population characteristics of the area you are hunting. In many places in the US the game management departments would probably prefer multiple doe if you have more than 1 tag.
Additionally if you are hunting for sustenance, as in you really need the meat, then you take the first deer you can find. Waiting for the ideal deer is a good way to not end with a deer at all, regardless of whether you have them on camera or not.
This is dependent on the antenna. With a short 915 mhz antenna it picks up stuff 50 feet away. It auto calibrates on boot so if you’re in the woods I bet it would work really well. Just make sure you turn it on without a strong nearby signal.
