Buckeye Orion review 08-30-2007

The last couple years this company has held the position of being at the top of the hill when it comes to trail cams. Orion, Aries, Artemis seemed to be strange names for a trail camera. I did a little research and found that De Ville , Fleetwood , Elder ado were taken so I guess this company had to go somewhere else to get the names. Slowly the competition has crept up on this lofty position and forced a lot of new innovative upgrades. One of the last systems they have produced is the Orion wireless PC based system. The many modes that can be selected are just plain stand alone camera, Wireless (radio) mode which sends pictures to a base unit from several miles away, Base mode is when you can have up to 30 cameras remotely (miles) and receive pictures. I could spend hours explaining this system or you could just simply watch this company's very well done video which explains things so much better than I could write it. The two camera system per camera allows for the color day through one lens and the IR night through the other lens. By doing this there is no noise with the mechanical filter seen on some other IR cameras. Resolutions run from .3 (640X480), .8 (1024X768), 1.3 (1360X1016), and 3.0 (2048X1536). Selecting the higher rez settings can slowdown the transmit time to the base. Mega amounts of great options are all selected through your PC and these include PIR sensitivity, Delay period between pictures (1 second to 2 hours) continuously, camera active scheduling (select times that cam is to be active), Battery life is in months not weeks, on low rez setting the stand alone cam will give up to 20,000 pictures per battery charge and the wireless will give 1500, Selectable information bar on each picture can be programmed to give moon phase, time, date, and temperature. With the optional PC base this system can E mail pictures to selected addresses. The solid water proof case that is beautifully camouflaged has wired external ports for the antenna, solar panel, and mounting hardware. This is not a cheap system and I would strongly advise that you purchase the security enclosure from Buckeye if you are placing this investment in a high risk area. The external battery pack that is available will give months of operation without ever having to visit the area and contamination the human sent to that area. To date, we have not seen anyone that has come close to matching the performance of this system. There is some cellular systems out there that will perform but requires some type of subscription service in order to operate. We are still the proud owners of their original wireless system with the yagi antennas and it has not failed yet. This PC based and stand alone system has us on the edge of our 4 wheeler seats, rearing to get this thing in the woods to see how well it performs. This system is being used around the world from the artic to Iraq and has been get great feedback from the users. Part of this review will be how easy it is to absorb the information written in the instruction manual and apply it to the setup and use of this system. This is a complex system and requires some knowledge of PC operations and setup. We may have cheated because prior to this cameras arrival both Anthony and myself took time to watch the instructional video from the Buckeye site, This video is very well done and puts to rest a lot of confusion that we may have had. ATSI has always taken the consumer suggestions to heart and when necessary taken corrective action to eliminate anything that would be considered a complaint. This is a first class company and the fact that they have a rep that follows our forum and is there to answer any questions that may arise is a big plus and saves us from having to do a lot of research and communications. This system is nearly $1400 and if you were in a position to have the possible 30 cameras out feeding the base, you would have a sizable investment. The daisy chain repeater function of this system may prove to be a little hard for us to test unless we get a little inventive and find secure intermediate locations to place the repeater cams. We will not be doing trigger time tests because of the speed of this camera it is not measurable with our equipment (sub ½ second). The flash range on these cams has always been past 40 feet and the sensing (very adjustable) is with out a doubt first class. Setup for this system will take some time due to the fact we are in the middle of 10 plus reviews right now and things will have to take their turn. I get a little wet spot down there just thinking about how good these cams operate. We gota get this thing deployed soon because I do not have the patients to wait.
      

Buckeye Apollo stand alone IR red flash camera review 07-17-2008


Camera purchased from The HuntinShack

The folks at Buckeye decided to take all their great engineering and stick it into a much smaller box. This cam was announced very early and they accepted pre production orders. Many folks jumped on this and were able to obtain their cams long before we were able to get one for our testing. This so far has proven to be a plus for us because we began to get immediate feedback from the field by scanning many of the outdoor forums. So far I have not read or heard a single negative about this cam other than it is expensive ($699). Of the many cameras that we have had the opportunity to review, Buckeye has always been on top of the heap in the quality and function department. Our original stand alone camera in 05 developed a problem and was recalled immediately and taken care of plus it was upgraded to wireless. Reconyx is headed in the same direction as Buckeye but they lack the wireless feature. We chose to test the standalone model because the wireless feature remains basically the same as the larger model cams that we have already tested. This camera uses two cameras so they do not have that dreaded “clunk” that is typically made by the filter movement. Battery life also has not been an issue with the Buckeye cameras, because they use the large SLA cells and have an excellent solar panel setup that will keep the cam operating for months with the battery pack and combination solar panel. Adjustable rez settings are 0.3, 0.8, 1.3, and 3.1 MP which are color day and IR images at night. The video mode is 640X480 at 1 fps and 320X240 at 3 fps which is a little jerky but acceptable. The low rez setting can store 20k images on a one gig card. The case is 8X9X4 inches and includes weather proof ports for the external battery setup and solar panel. This camera company decided to tell it like it is when it comes to delay settings. We have seen where some companies say a one second delay but that did not take into account the amount of write time to the card. So the actual delay is written to show minimum delay ranging from one second at the lowest rez setting all the way up to 15 seconds for the top rez settings. This way there should be no confusion about things after purchase. The pictures can be stamped with time, date, moon phase, and temperature. The delay can also be increased all the way up to two hours for those busy feeders. The new owner can select triggering for day only, night only, or 24 hour operation. The sensitivity is also programmable for those hot days and all the way down to -32 degrees where a minimum setting would need to be used. It would probably be wise to have a good security enclosure for this cam because it is on the expensive side and there are enclosures available from this company and some after market vendors. Other features are things like adjustable picture quality, burst mode programming, time lapse, and how you want your coffee. The nice water tight camouflaged case is a little easier to hide that the original large cameras. Programming is done by inserting the SD factory programmed (Take the card that came with the cam or one of your own and insert into the SD card slot and turn the camera on, then hit the save to card and then turn off cam and remove card. This will be your factory program card) card into your card reader on.   This cam will take up to a 2 gig card. To make changes just re insert the factory card into your card reader and make the changes in the fields and then the next time you go to the field insert it into the cam and it will be upgraded to your new specs. Date time is done manually inside the cam with the buttons.

Lets open up the case and see what is inside. In the door half of the cam is the main components like the memory card and USB connectors at the edge. Three led indicators in the center that are the ready, wait, and the error indicator. Below that is the LCD with its associated control buttons. Just to the right of the LCD is the power switch. Battery connectors and external power connectors that run to the other half of the case are also on this board. The other half of the case is for the SLA battery. There is also a reverse battery indicator that will tell you if you have somehow managed to connect the battery wrong and this also protects the camera. The indicators are the Ready indicator which will tell you that it is alright to remove the card once you have pressed the save pictures to card button. The wait indicator comes on when power is turned on and also when the do not remove card light is on. Error indicator is the alarm saying that there is a card problem and you should try another card. The USB slot is for factory use only. To set the clock just press and hold the set clock button and the appropriate numbers will flash and use the buttons to change up or down to the right military time. I might note that this company has also made it possible to use a small hand held device to change the settings which for you electronic guru’s this will be nice to do things in the field with out carrying your lap top. For grins I am going to attempt a trigger time test on this camera to see if I can capture a time. Previous tests on Buckeye products showed that the picture had already been taken before the second hand had a chance to move a quarter of an inch. We need to see if the sensor works as designed and if this cam has a flash that is worth a hoot.

07-20-2008 update:  This is a stand alone camera so it will have the possibilities of being handled a lot and moved around. Believe me, this camera for its size is a chunk and with the large SLA battery inside it could cause serious damage to the cam if dropped. Care must be taken when handling this camera. The problem comes when you are about to hang it on the tree, the latches are inside the handle and with big old stubby fingers I had to take care during this time. With the supplied bracket and strap the process is still somewhat cumbersome. Putting the bracket on the tree and then putting the thumb screws into the holes on the camera also proved a little shaky for me. Putting the bracket on the cam then putting the strap through the bracket worked better for me. Anthony needed some pictures of the inside of the cam and just prior to me taking the shot I noticed the battery was tilted a little and was not all the way on the bottom of the compartment. The task of removing the battery proved to be very difficult. This company believes in doing everything first class so they chose to use some kind of industrial type of Velcro to hold the battery. I had to get a tool to remove the battery and put it in proper alignment before taking the pictures. To solve this I just took a short piece of nylon string  and did a couple of loops around the battery and that gave me something to grab and now I can get the battery out without having any difficulties at all.

The flash range tests came out just fine with illumination past the 40 feet mark. The sensing (set to near max) for this 74 degree morning was 40 feet. I ran some initial tests on my wife's flower garden to check picture quality during the day and found it not as good as I had hoped. I went into the program and increased the quality setting to max and I will check this again a little later when I get enough sun for good sharp pictures. After the ordeal with the Bushnell camera yesterday this camera has been a pleasure so far to work with. The size and weight is a little overwhelming, this is definitely not a Scoutguard. Just finished checking the picture quality again and they are good but not great. There is a tiny degree of fuzziness that should not be there for a six hundred dollar camera.  Unofficial trigger time was very hard to do because of the speed of this camera. All I can say it is just short of a half second.

After close inspection of the lens covering I found there were many scratches which are on the inside of the lens cover.  I cleaned the outside but the scratches/smudges are still there.  These scratches likely cause fuzziness in the pictures.  Click here for a close up:

Some pictures inside the unit:

07-30-2008 update:  Well it seems that the folks at Buckeye have been watching and seen where a cam slipped past their QC folks and made it on to the market. We just happened to be the lucky recipient of this camera (the one with the smudges/scratches). They are super particular as to what leaves the factory and enters the market. They want only first class service out of their products. We did not do the trigger time tests and we were able to get a few sample pictures which turned out to be somewhat fuzzy in quality and lacking in contrast.  We attribute this to the smudges in front of the lens.  They want it back so this has been short and sweet. It will be in the mail today. We still have the black flash to do so we will just have to use it to continue our Apollo review.  When a replacement camera surfaces we will hang it on a tree and continue the review.

08-06-2008 update:  This little brown box made it to the folks with the big screwdriver and back in record time. While it was gone it got fitted with a new pair of glasses and a greater respect for color clarity and sharpness. Boy are we going to get out the magnifier and see just how good their screwdriver is verses our pencil. It is back to the hill as soon as we can clear a hole. The Leaf River IR-5 has been holding down that spot in the barracks while this cam got sent home for a short spell. We cannot express the degree of excellent service this company has with its customer relations. Very small minor deficiency’s are paid great attention. The black flash got hit with kick in the chin shortly after the red flash left on vacation for its vision problem. It also got a ride in the big brown truck to the emergency room for some minor surgery. Seems that it got the hick ups when switched into the video mode and the program headed south. Mean while the Cudde Capture has kept our attention and that lasted about 2.5 microseconds before things went hay wire.

 

Buckeye Apollo XIR stand alone IR black flash camera review 07-22-2008

The review on this camera will probably mirror the red flash model. All data on the red flash review is the same for this camera with the exception of the black flash instead of the standard red flash. A while back one of the new camera companies attempted this and failed miserably. Then the folks at Reconyx went to work and produced a very workable camera, RC60, and got it out on the market and it has been accepted very well. There are going to be two companies this year with successful black flash cameras, the Reconyx RC-60 and the Buckeye Apollo RC-5060. The only difference is the black flash from Buckeye is not being made available to the general public as of now. They are committed to taking care of our folks in uniform as their first priority. But to get the word out about this product they have sent us one to review and we feel that you will see it appearing on their web site when things slow down for them. A little public push could also probably speed things up. Read the review on the red flash Apollo and then come over here to only get the differences between the two cams. The trigger times (too fast to measure) and flash range and sensitivity range tests will be done as normal. We are really excited about this and feel everyone will also want one.

When they become available expect to experience a little sticker shock. With our fingers crossed lets get into some serious reviewing of these two Apollo’s. All the documentation remains the same and all the method of operation is the same. Physical difference is just the appearance of the IR array itself. Maybe we will get a little side by side operations going later on this week or so. I have a long dark hallway and I set up on one end with both cams looking down the hall to another room. The side by side showed very little difference in illumination between the red flash and the black flash. This afternoon I had to evaluate one of the new 08 Moultrie I 60 cams. It produced  a pretty solid trigger time of 4 seconds and I just sat back and could not believe that a camera that came in under two seconds last year has fell in the toilet. The Apollo cam will take 20 pictures while the Moultrie would be lucky if sensed take four in 5 minutes. Of course we have a small difference in the initial cost but it does set an example as far as what the capabilities are. I have tested a Bushnell camera that cost less than a hundred dollars but had a trigger time around a half second and it had pretty good pictures. This camera is fast and maybe will have a micro second amount of time quicker than the red flash model. I tried to walk across the hallway during my tests and I had a little more than my nose showing when the thing went snap. Where as the red flash model would let me get my ear into the picture. The Moultrie let me get around the block but the picture was empty. Weather permitting I will get some flash range tests in the morning and see if the sensing is any good. We will then work on the picture quality thing. We found no marks inside this cameras main lens.

10-29-2008 update:  We can say that our efforts in developing mock scrapes is a big success and we have a number of wary old bucks sneaking in. We are in the middle of the hunting season and even though the animals are on edge they have yet to notice the camera. We performed two tests by putting a red flash camera above this camera and it was seen the first evening. We did the same with a white flash cam and it also got noticed. It took about a week after those tests for the area to settle back down but they are back again and not seeing the camera. Buckeye has a real winner with this camera.  

Flash

Samples 3MP

1.3mp

.8mp

.3mp - 6 shot burst

Low res video 320x240 3fps

Mock Scrape Experiment with Tinks Power Scrape These are a small sampling of the photos we got off the XIR after only 4 days of using the Tinks Power Scrape.  The black flash combined with the tinks made for a successful experiment!

Mock Scrape Presentation Video (Please watch full screen)