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Covert Special Ops - Code Black - Wireless Trail Cam Review

Gladiator

PMA Member
So, this is a long time in the making. Some have been wanting to try the Code Black - Special Ops Wireless, and we've had the opportunity to try it out for the past season. I'll give my best/unbiased review of the product as possible for those looking to buy. Feel free to PM/reply to this thread if questions or if you've had a different experience.

Background
The landowner and I thought it might be a good idea to be able to monitor his property from home. He wanted to purchase the camera for trespassing and I wanted one to monitor the deer in specific locations while saving lots of gas money, and without having to go into those areas with my scent. Also, my purpose would be to see when deer were moving at all times of the day. Now, let me be clear. My purpose was not to get a giant buck on camera and then call in sick from school and immediately go after that buck. That was NOT the intent. Although, my personal opinion is that it is no different from a person hunting a stand that night because he got a giant buck on his camera that morning - the reason he knows this is because he has the luxury of checking a cam everyday at noon (similar to what Bill Winke did with the G4 buck - which I DO NOT disagree with). In my mind, this is no different than using a wireless cam to inform your decision on where to hunt that particular hunt. My hunting partner and I checked cams several times at dark to inform us on where to hunt in the mornings...

Anyway, on to the cam! ;)

Code Black Review
What I will speak to is the actual running of the cams and the positives/negatives I came up with.

Setup
First of all, when you get the camera, it is very compact and camo is a good thing. It does have an antenna that can be unscrewed for a larger antenna should you need a boosting signal (I'll discuss later). Here is what it looks like - sharp camera that models the Bushnell trophy cam:

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Our camera was bought online for just under $300.00 and you should be able to find one for around that price or cheaper.

You will need a universal prepaid SIM card (free) from ATT or T-Mobile along with a good SD card (I would recommend 8 GB if you aren't going into the area for awhile). Make sure to buy the $0.10/min plan with the number of text messages you want. I bought the $10.00/month plan for 1000 text messages. $5.00 will get you 200 messages, and $20.00 will get you unlimited if you have it in front of a mineral lick or something like that. Make sure you call to place money in the account and tell them you want the same package you had last month to make sure camera retains the ability to send the pics. *****Please check a coverage map for the area you will be placing the camera. You may not receive signal where you place the cam. Where I placed the cam is 2 miles from the nearest "green area" on a map and I still receive a bar or two in a low OPEN area. I've noticed that if it is placed in a thick 'canopy thick' area, it will not transmit as well in low signal areas. I've also had it on higher hills and had it not connect due to the cover. Keep in mind, I'm still 2 miles from the 'green area,' where I should be receiving no signal. I've also had it 10 miles from the 'green area' and received zero to one bar, but it is not consistent and would not transmit pictures well, if at all (this was my preferred area to put it).

This is supposed to be fixed by the booster antenna, but I bought and tried one and it did not seem to boost the bars/signal at all.

**I mention all of this before setup so this can help you double check your areas before buying the cam.

As far as setting the camera up, this is what took the most time. The following video is an EXCELLENT resource:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oxeVUWTCuo

It walks you through exactly how to set up. However, I followed the simple instructions, but my camera failed to operate and kept giving me a LOGIN FAILURE notice even though I had plenty of bars in my hometown. I'm sure it's fixed in the newest cams, but I had to call Covert and they immediately send me an UPDATE. Simple instructions allowed me to update the camera, and I was running in no time. **This would have saved me ample time should I'd have known this right away. Anyway, follow the instructions and you're good to go.

**If you get a login failure notice, it is most likely because you don't have enough signal. Although I did turn it off and on 2-3 times and then sometimes it works in low signal areas...

One setting I would recommend is double/triple burst with LOW sensitivity settings. The camera is VERY, VERY fast and will sometimes take the pic before a meandering deer gets there. Like this:
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or this:
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I have to set the camera on 2 minute delay because it takes about 1.5 minutes to send a photo. When reading online, I found that if the camera tries to send another photo while it is transmitting one photo, sometimes it doesn't send the first one (however both will be on the SD card). **this could be bad if trespassers see the camera, grab it, and turn it off before it sends...then no pic is sent. However, in well signaled areas, it sends MUCH faster.

Pros and Cons - the pictures
Once set up and in place, again, make sure you are on low-sensitivity. Having it on double/triple burst will still allow you to capture the animal a few moments later on your SD card (those photos won't be sent, but you'll still have them on the card).

The camera takes beautiful photos on the card when you pull the card - I believe around 8MP in very good quality, but obviously, it can't transmit a photo that large so it does send 640x480 - which is large enough to see..this is the reason we bought this camera. For the low signal that I receive, as I mentioned, I have to set the camera on 2 minutes delay.

Know that if you place it facing the sun, it will overexpose the image a little, but not too bad (but isn't that the case with any camera???):
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Or sometimes a little tough to see...but again, same with my other cameras too:
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If the image is too far away, it still gets very good distance, but obviously, with the limited image size being sent, it is bound to be a little grainy (by the way, these pics turned out great on the card):
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And here is one far away in a low light setting:
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Another low light:
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Once in awhile the cam doesn't know if it's light or dark (like other cameras as well):
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Some night photos are a little blurry depending on how fast they are moving. Obviously this guy was moving on a quicker walk:
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But many came back like this:
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Buck I was at full draw on last year...still alive and well! :)
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And daylight photos seem to be rather good even through my email:
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All in all, I would say now that I know how to set up the cam, I get photos that tell me exactly what I want to know and when I want to know it. And it's fun to stop class when I get an email and open it up in front of the class and see what just passed in front of the camera...very fun.

I will say I was VERY frustrated in the beginning, but now that the bugs are worked out, it is working very well. And the 12 AA batteries were supposed to last only 3 months (sending pics eats up batteries), and they are still going strong since sending the first photo on 8/24/12 (today is 11/29/12).

I would say the photos are more than enough to tell you what you want them to tell you. I think if you understand where you can put the camera and where you cannot put it, it will serve you very well. I know I cannot put it on certain farms and in the bottom areas with a heavy canopy, so I put it in a travel area that gets bucks during the rut and it is pretty fun. I imagine it would work very well on field edges where there is an open sky - and I can imagine the fun it would have over a mineral lick.

In closing, I would recommend this camera to have fun and to use to further your knowledge of deer movement without disrupting that area, albeit you understand your ATT coverage area. Should US Cellular or Verizon take over these cameras, they would be a no-brainer!!

Please PM me or reply to this thread with any questions - I'll do my best to answer them.

I'll leave you with the photos I received last night - I'm hiding nothing. Here are all of them (5/6 had deer in them):
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Very cool and thanks for the in depth review. I've always thought this would be the way to go for me being an hour away from my ground, but still I still like the Christmas morning feel I get when I pull a full card and go through them all at once. When technology/cost/coverage gets better I revisit these but I really like putting the camera where I want to and not only where it's limited to. Thanks again!
 
Can you give us a few more details on where you got the SIm card and where to purchase the plan at that price - I've looked around and not seen any near that cheap. Extremely interested in these!
 
Can you give us a few more details on where you got the SIm card and where to purchase the plan at that price - I've looked around and not seen any near that cheap. Extremely interested in these!

You bet Boyd...

I walked into an ATT store in the mall in Iowa City. I asked for a universal prepaid SIM card (for a GoPhone). Although there's something weird asking a guy that looks like he wants to be the farthest thing from the timber about a trail camera, they can help if you ask them.... :D

He went and got me a SIM card and I told him I wanted to prepay for the plan that was 10 cents/min (then tell them you won't be using the phone), but want the 1000 texts for $10. Pay the man and then put your SIM card in your camera. From here, I would watch the above YouTube video...it is very, very good...

This is where I got mine, but it looks like they are all out!! Dang :thrwrck:

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/3-2027177

Looks like prices have gone up??? Sorry....

Hope this helps...
 
About 90% of the time I hunt, I put my cell phone in airplane mode because there is no signal and it sits there draining the battery.

Thus I fear these trailcams would not have signal where I really wanted to place them.
 
Again, want to make sure that I'm not saying you should/shouldn't get this camera...just want to provide info for those interested to make their own decision.

Here are my photos from last night and this morning - every photo I received, not just good ones. I really need to get this thing away from facing a rising sun...

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Gladiator- just wanted to say, I loved reading your review on this camera, I do not run the this Covert camera, but I do have all of thier other new 2012 models, Covert is a sponsor's of our's on another site, but I have always loved the covert cam's, and have made many testimonal's on other hunting site's -long before becoming a prostaff member and having DLC Covert as one of our sponsors
Sponsorship or not, Honest review's are a must!
? for you would you care if I shared your review , I would never do so with out your permission, But by all mean's , if you do not care, I would love to share this information , not only with our forum member's, but I think if you have not done so, it should also be seen on Covert's home page as well,
 
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Bowgal - feel free to use and send where you think it will help others... :way: send me a pm when/if you use it elsewhere...I have lots more pics I can add to help out.. ;)
 
Putting mine out in the woods today!
Got my sim card and got it set up yesterday - went very smooth and quick.
Test run in the yard has pics showing up in both my email and cell phone in under two minutes. Awesome!

Gladiator - Thanks so much for the awesome review - priceless!

I ordered two of these and still have one available at $299 Christmas Special if anyone wants one.
 
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Boyd - I'm still not getting pics to email and cell phone for some reason - only to one of them...did you have any problems with that?
 
Gladiator if your getting alot of blank pics before the deer get there you could place a piece of tape partly over the pir. It must be sensing wider than the lens is seeing. Good review.
 
Gladiator if your getting alot of blank pics before the deer get there you could place a piece of tape partly over the pir. It must be sensing wider than the lens is seeing. Good review.

Excellent idea...I may grab some electrical/duct tape and try that!

Thanks goat!

:way:
 
Great review. Where do you find out if your hunting area is covered in the green area you were discussing?

Great question - and from what I found, you can look online all you want, but the best (and only true way) I've found is to get a map at a local ATT store....they will tell you how close you are to a tower or in the tower range.
 
I have one of these cameras available yet - new in box - $289 shipping included

I have one out myself and it is working great.
 
I have a quetion if you don't use all your texts/pictures per mo. do you get to carry them over or if you buy a 1000 do you use them until they are gone?
 
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