Table of Contents
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Table of Contents
Summary of Contents for DAY 6 PlotWatcher Pro
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Page 1: Introduction
www.Day6Outdoors.com Page 1... - Page 2 PlotWatcher, and 40 to 100 times more frames than trail cameras. The PlotWatcher Pro includes a large, easy to read LCD status screen that tells you exactly what you need to know about the camera and allows you to take a preview picture for aiming.
- Page 3 The PlotWatcher Pro gives you more flexibility, with time intervals as short as 1 second or as long as 60 minutes. You also have the option of using interchangeable Day6 accessory lenses for greater zoom or wide angle capabilities. These are available at the www.day6outdoors.com...
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Page 4: Table Of Contents
Checking Your First Video .....................7 GameFinder Software....................9 PC Installation......................9 Apple computer Installation..................9 Using the GameFinder Software ................10 Mounting the PlotWatcher Pro ..................12 Collecting Video......................12 Preview Image for Aiming ....................13 User Interface .......................14 Screen –Based Setting Pages ..................16 Start / Stop Options....................17 Light Based ......................17... -
Page 5: Package Contents
What You Will Need 4 or 8 AA batteries PlotWatcher Pro supports two banks of four batteries. You can fill one or both. Alkalines are recommended if average daily temperatures are above freezing. Lithiums are recommended if average daily temperatures are below freezing. -
Page 6: Camera Quick Start
Camera Quick Start 1. Unpack your PlotWatcher Pro and remove all protective film. 2. Insert 4 or 8 AA batteries into the upper, lower, or both compartments. Do not mix battery types in a given compartment. 3. Insert your SDHC memory card into the memory card slot. -
Page 7: Checking Your First Video
Camera Interface: Status Screen, Navigation Buttons, and Selector Switches 5. Power on the camera by sliding the Power switch to the center position. 6. Set the Time and Date. Press the PAGE button to step through the settings pages to “Set Time and Date.”... - Page 8 You should then see the file name of the sample video. Double click on this file. This will launch the GameFinder time-lapse video player software. 3. When you finish watching the test video, delete the test video files from the memory card and return it to the PlotWatcher camera.
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Page 9: Gamefinder Software
GameFinder Software PC Installation 1. Insert the PlotWatcher TLV CD into your computer. 2. If Windows does not auto-open the CD to reveal the “GameFinder_Setup” icon, then browse to the CD drive using “My Computer.” Once you see “GameFinder_Setup” in the Explorer window, proceed to the next step. 3. -
Page 10: Using The Gamefinder Software
Using the GameFinder Software The GameFinder player is an easy, fast, and fun way to view time-lapse video files. To open a file, navigate to the \DCIM\100D6OPR folder on your memory card and double click on the file of interest. You will see one file per day and note that files are named based on the camera date on which they were created. - Page 11 When you see an interesting portion of the file, stop dragging the Position Arrow and use the scroll wheel on your mouse to move forward or backward one frame at a time. If you don’t have a scroll wheel on your mouse, you can use the arrow keys or just click on the back or forward STEP button.
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Page 12: Mounting The Plotwatcher Pro
¼-20 thread to mount into the base of the camera. If theft is a concern, note that you can place the PlotWatcher Pro high into a tree, generally out of sight, because it does not rely on motion triggering. You... -
Page 13: Preview Image For Aiming
Preview Image for Aiming To inspect the aim of the camera, slide the POWER switch from ON to PREVIEW. You will see the following screen: Close the door and hold it shut for 5 seconds while an image is taken. Then open the door to preview your image on the screen. -
Page 14: User Interface
User Interface When you power on your PlotWatcher Pro, you will notice the Day6 logo and a version number displays while the camera is starting. The status page screen indicates the settings of the camera. Status page screen The top line of the status page indicates that the camera is ready to begin, (“Close to Start”) and instructs you to close the camera to start operation. - Page 15 If the camera is not ready to record, the status line will give one of the following messages: Message Condition Start on MM/DD/YYYY Camera is waiting on a user specified “start delay” to expire, and will begin recording on the date shown. Skip until HH:MM AM/PM Camera is in a Mid-day Skip period and indicates the time of day it will restart...
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Page 16: Screen-Based Setting Pages
Screen–Based Setting Pages The screen-based setting pages are where you can set the time and date, special features, and custom setting values. ress PAGE button to cycle to the next page. Press SELECT button to cycle to the next field on a page. Press UP or DOWN button to change values in a field. -
Page 17: Start / Stop Options
Start / Stop Options Light Based In “Light based” start /stop mode, the camera will come on as soon as there is enough light for an image to be captured, and will cut off when there is no longer enough light to do so. During darkness, the camera is in “night mode” and takes a picture every 5 minutes to determine if it is bright enough to resume capturing time-lapse video. -
Page 18: Midday Skip Options
Mid-day Skip Options None The camera will run for dawn until dusk (in Light based mode) or from Start Time until Stop Time (in Time based mode). 10am – 2pm The camera will shut down from 10am until 2pm in the middle of the day to conserve batteries and storage space. -
Page 19: Interval Options
Interval Options 5 Sec The interval between video frames will be 5 seconds. This is a good setting for small areas where the game may pass through the field of view more quickly than in larger areas. This will consume more memory storage space and battery power than the 10 second setting, with a 12 hour video file using .8 to 1.2 Gb, depending on scene detail. -
Page 20: Start Delay
If you are departing from a hunting site for an extended period of time, you may want to schedule your PlotWatcher Pro to begin capturing video only 1 or 2 weeks before you return in order to conserve memory storage space and batteries. -
Page 21: Display Preferences
The “Site” field is an 8 character string that you can use to identify the site where you are placing your PlotWatcher Pro. You can change each letter by using the “Up” and “Down” buttons to scroll through the alphabet. Once you find the letter you are looking for, move to the next letter by pressing the “Select”... -
Page 22: About Tlv Files
About TLV Files The PlotWatcher Pro normally records one video file per day. Anytime the camera door is opened, the current file will be closed, and a new one will be created. The new file will have an incremented “letter code” (last two characters) as described in the naming convention below. -
Page 23: Batteries
Low Self-Discharge NiMh batteries after you have benchmarked the operating life in your preferred mode, on regular alkaline batteries. The PlotWatcher Pro utilizes two battery banks: an upper bank of 4 batteries, and a lower bank of 4 batteries. You can populate one or both banks with batteries. -
Page 24: Memory Cards
You can expect to get about 50% to 70% of the runtime you would get with alkaline batteries, but with the very long battery life of the PlotWatcher Pro, they can be an effective, economical choice. -
Page 25: Using External Power
Using External Power The PlotWatcher Pro has exceptionally long battery life - up to 120 days when using both battery banks and capturing 8 hours per day on a 10 second interval. Service time will be shorter with shorter time intervals or more hours of video per day. - Page 26 PlotWatcher Pro. If your solar panel is not used in conjunction with an integrated or external battery, it can still prolong the life of your camera by providing the operating power during sunlight hours.
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Page 27: Specifications
Specifications: Image Detector: 720P HD Video (1280 x 720) File Format: AVI format with TLV extension Per Frame Storage: 100k – 200k (depending on scene detail) Batteries: Dual banks of (4) AA each Operating Temperature: -20 F to 110 F (limited display below 15 F) External Power Voltage: 10v –... - Page 28 Typical Memory Card Capacity, expressed in DAYS The camera will not stop recording when the card is full, but will delete the oldest file and resume recording. The range of days expected varies with the per frame storage size, which is affected by scene detail.
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