Day 6 Plotwatcher Game Surveillance System

A Detailed & Lengthy review for the Plotwatcher Pro … These are NOT Trail Cameras that give you detailed high Megapixel (MP) images of critters, but they are THE BEST at what they do IMO and an absolute must-have for land management and hunting purposes!We’ve operated 8 PWPs on our place year-round (along with 20some Moultrie, Primos & Browning trail cameras) for the last 4 years, using either Tenergy Premium AA (a must with this many cameras) or Energizer Max batteries.PWPs take limited Megapixel daytime pictures only, settings are simple to adjust manually or on-screen, and battery replacement couldn’t be easier! We’ve settled on the 10Sec interval, operated from SR-SS, for our needs. Read below to learn about how we use them …FYI – Because we’ve had the interest and time … We’ll typically sort thru the .TLV files created by the PWP using the free Gamefinder software and export 50, 100 or 200 picture Video Clips of the activity sequences we find on our Trail/Plot PWPs in the .TLV format (and I personally find that it is actually helpful for my vision and ability to pick up movement when afield), then we delete that days file. Even though the MP are limited, you can still capture usable single frames in .JPG too!We’ll normally search at 5X speed (1-5) and once we’ve gone thru about a month of files (depending on whether I’m using 32 or 64GB SDHC cards) and exported the activity, we’ll sort them by date, change all .TLV file extensions at the Windows Command Prompt (ren *.TLV *.AVI) for that particular PWP Folder to .AVI and then (in our case, using Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate) convert the .AVI files to a .MP4 Video and Merge all .MP4 files into a month-long video of activity for that Trail or Plot using Wondershare.Note: If you Merge the files, we recommend you save buffer frames (5-10) on either side of the activity you locate and export, just to make your videos flow better. I’ll attempt to attach a 200 Frame .TLV Video Clip viewable in the Gamefinder software and a .JPG single Frame screen capture to this review. If you are considering this device, you can download the Gamefinder software Day6Outdoors provides for free and try it for yourself.This fun, but tedious process, is excellent for learning about your property and how your critters use/transit certain areas, and it provides historical activity you can refer to for hunting purposes, is usable on an iPad while afield and ports well to our TV for discussions! Recommend you refer to the Day6Outdoors website for FAQ and software updates related to the PWP.Finally, it’s very simple to use the PWP, just replace the batteries and cards … but what issues have we encountered? We’ve had all three screen versions A-C over time and only had one fail (believe it was an original A screen). Day6Outdoors Customer Support assisted us in obtaining a replacement PWP for minimal cost, but we thought we were getting a “C” and ended up with a “B” screen … so far so good on that one! They also offer a Wide-Angle Lens for the PWP and we bought a couple, but I would not recommend them, as they both have tended to develop a cloudy film and present that onto each frame generated. The image is still usable, but not what I would have expected, considering we had this issue and customer support exchanged ours for a lens with a “new” coating, but the same problem developed within a short time. Other than those two things, we’ve been completely happy with all our PWPs!

This camera is for hunters. Not for taking pictures of wildlife. The resolution is not on par with your Iphone as one person suggested...but try fitting a picture taken every second , 12 hours a day, for several weeks on your phone. Several 1 star ratings completely missed the point of this camera let me highlight the upsides....1) Its the only camera I found that will take constant pictures regardless of motion trigger. There is no motion capture so you get picture coverage as wide as a football field and just as deep. You will see everything in that view, and things closer up you will get pretty good pics. The reviewer that was annoyed that you could not tell between a buck and a doe was referring to pics that are a good distance away. Other motion triggered cams would never even picked it up in the first place.2) Doubles as a security camera. Can be used as a security cam during the off season. I have had a decoy stolen so I was just as concerned about capturing thieves and trespassersWith pics at a rate up to 1 a second there is no way you will miss any action. There is something that makes me feel better when I have confirmed video that no one has been bothering the hunting site.3) Battery life is incredible! I have used this camera for two months at a time and it still had 60% battery life. I am away from the property for weeks at a time so this is a must. And only 8 AA batteries. No lugging around one of those ridiculous huge batteries that other cams require.4) Software does work well for detecting movement. Very simple to use. Without this it would take hours to go through a week of footage.5) Simple to use. The only thing you need the lcd screen is for setting up the shot.Cons or improvements:1) Camera needs to be set up in a proper location. I recommend trying a few spots prior to hunting season. The sunrise or sunset, along with wind blowing leaves can drastically effect the search of the sofware for movement. You will know what I mean after trying different places. This can be minimized by good placement. Dont put it in line with the sunrise or sunset. A better lens filter, liked a polarized lens might improve it.2) LCD does not preview images except for setting up. It would have been nice to review the pics while I was hunting. An android ap with software would be awesome so you could swap the cards and review out in the field. Without a motion capture ap you would need to sort through a crazy amount of pics.3) No night mode, not good at low light pics. It is what it is. I don't care what the deer are doing at night. This could be a must for people looking for Yeti...4) Price is high at $200+. But hunting is not something most people do to save money. I have not seen any other camera that does what this cam does for the same money though....