Tactacam Reveal Sk - Worth the money?

[Tsmatherhorn]

I got rid of my moultrie base cams at the end of the season because they suck batteries in cold weather and the resolution is less than I hoped for. Anyone have experience with the new Reveal SKs they can share?

Thanks!

 

[wind gypsy]

I have one that was in a very low traffic spot this fall. It worked well. Thumbnail pics are very good (for thumbnail pics) and night pics are very good for a no glow cam. Reception with the two antennas was surprisingly good.

Because it was in a low traffic spot, I don’t have a great feel for real battery life. I don’t like how it doesn’t have AA backup like my spypoint link s dark.

Main criticism: You can’t get multi shot bursts transmitted and with no delay it ran around 20 seconds recovery time where I had it so you are prone to missing good intel while it’s recovering from the first photo triggered. The app is pretty lousy compared to others.

I don’t have a ton of faith at overall long term reliability just based on previous Tactacam research but from what I’ve seen this far it does a lot well for the $.

 

[Tsmatherhorn]

Thanks Gypsy! Is the trigger reload time you observed on an immediate upload setting? Also, what would you recommend instead?

Thanks again!

 

[HunterCL]

The SK seems to have problems and looks to be discontinued. The X and XB work great. Here is a link to the discussion https://www.archerytalk.com/threads/tactacam-reveal.5927247/page-336

 

[Silveroddo]

Is there a difference between the SK and the XB besides the solar? The SK looks to check all of my boxes and for a price point you can't seem to replicate. I've held off to see how they do in the long run, low glow solar cellular is what I'm interested in but I'm a born skeptic and I've been waiting to see how these shake out.

 

[Roadgoat]

How long is the battery life in cold weather on these units?

 

[wind gypsy]

Is there a difference between the SK and the XB besides the solar? The SK looks to check all of my boxes and for a price point you can't seem to replicate. I've held off to see how they do in the long run, low glow solar cellular is what I'm interested in but I'm a born skeptic and I've been waiting to see how these shake out.

The SK with solar only runs on the rechargeable battery. I believe you can convert it to AA's but then you lose the solar function. My primary concern with the the SK is draining the battery in high volume situations where the solar cant charge fast enough. The battery capacity is not particularly large. Otherwise I believe the Xb and SK are very similar.

 

[wind gypsy]

Thanks Gypsy! Is the trigger reload time you observed on an immediate upload setting? Also, what would you recommend instead?

Thanks again!

Sorry, just saw that I didn't respond to this. My trigger recovery time observed is based on batched transmittal (2x daily). Camera is currently at my house with full reception and is showing closer to 15 second recovery time. SK recently stopped uploading pictures to the app but I can see them via the reveal website for some reason.

I am a big fan of ridgetec cell cams, now have 7 of them. They have a superior detection circuit, good battery life, will transmit photo bursts, can send 1080 video direct to your phone, have settings that are nearly infinitely adjustable, have been very reliable, and customer service has been top notch on the one that did have a filter issue. They are at a different price point but the headaches saved are worth it to me.

 

[HuntingEd]

I've had one out for a month, so far its working well... but prefer to buy the reveal X and get a solar panel...

 

[Alta780]

First post. I've been lurking looking for options for my 4 reveals. I use them, and 2 "reolink go" year around for security, and for hunting season. Out of 4 reveals 1st gen, only one works well. Both my reolinks have been flawless. I will say that the one reveal that actually works without issue is very easy on energiser lithium. What I hate worse then farting around with the tacatams, is the ridiculous data fees. My reolinks do the exact same thing and I have them on video in areas that set them off far more then my reveals. The 2 reolinks use 4 to 5 times the data that all 4 reveals used when they worked. The big difference is the reolinks use my own cell data at a guesstimate cost of $30 +- per year for 2 based on my plan, while the 4 reveals cost me over $500 canadian bucks. One is a security camera, one is called a trail cam, both do the same thing. The deer and moose don't care which one they are posing for. Neither do the meth head thieves. I'm switching all of mine over to reolink. If the data plans were even remotely close to reasonable, I would keep the tactacams.

 

[Alta780]

I've had one out for a month, so far its working well... but prefer to buy the reveal X and get a solar panel...

reolink go has a solar panel, and a lithium battery. I bought a panel spliiter and a second panel from amazon for both of mine during low light winter hours up here. They work great year around. They state -15c, but last winter we had as low as -48, and no problem. I'm working on a home made battery pack much like tactacam for one of my reolinks to test where I don't get sun. As for AA batteries, I'm now a fan of the energiser lithium those things work. They just won't be used in my tactacams soon.

 

[NDGuy]

I like Tactacam but like Spypoint they are just a PITA.

Especially UPDATING the tactacams. I have returned a half dozen due to them not turning on/updating firmware properly.

 

[Alta780]

I like Tactacam but like Spypoint they are just a PITA.

Especially UPDATING the tactacams. I have returned a half dozen due to them not turning on/updating firmware properly.

Yup PITA, and way to expensive to run. I'm moving on to zero issues, and low cost data. As I mentioned the deer and moose won't mind.

 

[NDGuy]

Yup PITA, and way to expensive to run. I'm moving on to zero issues, and low cost data. As I mentioned the deer and moose won't mind.

The only thing I’ll say is especially on years like this with gas prices. They pay for themselves in gas money checking cams. When they work they work well.

 

[Alta780]

The only thing I’ll say is especially on years like this with gas prices. They pay for themselves in gas money checking cams. When they work they work well.

The key word is "when". Gas money aside, apples to apples, $30 is better then $500. There are many things that eat at peoples pocket books every month. This one is avoidable.

 

[Alta780]

Both alert 4 cell phones 24/7. The reolink go has never been on the fritz, causing me to have the need to spend gas money to go out and try to fix the problem. I am just trying to enlighten a few people who want a more reliable product, without spending 10+ times more for data.

 

[Alta780]

Tactacam also has a pitiful sound alert, which they promised me they were upgrading to all phone ring options that I can access in my phone. That was 2 years ago. One will wake me up at night which is what I want. One won't.

 

[NDGuy]

The key word is "when". Gas money aside, apples to apples, $30 is better then $500. There are many things that eat at peoples pocket books every month. This one is avoidable.

Yea I agree on the SK but I’m talkin $120 for the X.

 

[Alta780]

Yea I agree on the SK but I’m talkin $120 for the X.

Pay me now, or pay me a lot more later, and have the PITA grief, which I think has a lot to do with the subscription lock on the reveal and other trail cams

 

[NDGuy]

Pay me now, or pay me a lot more later, and have the PITA grief, which I think has a lot to do with the subscription lock on the reveal and other trail cams

With the spypoints going cheaper I’m almost leaning that way even if the picture is a lot worse.