ORIGINAL: ckubinski
I'm new the forum but I just wanted to put my input on the solar panel. I had purchased one not to long ago and it seems to be doing the trick. I placed it where it would get sun from about high noon(had the same concern about east/west, but stealth assured me aslong as the panel has sunlight hitting the pannel, your camera will stay charged). I do have one little gripe about the camera though. My first attempts with the camera had gotten a lot of "rump pics." I have read some of the forums saying to back the camera up and did so, but havent had a chance to return to my property to see the results. As far as batteries, I had brand new lithiums(energizer), so I now it was charged. I was curious if the cam takes to long to charge the flash, or something else I might be missing(i did move the cam back to about 13 ft from center). Curious i any of you have had similar problems and what other cams are like compared to the Stealth. Thanks again[&:]
It takes about 7-30 seconds to charge the flash, dependong on how low your batteries are. So if you're getting rumps at night, you need to set up the camera so it points down a trail/path rather than across a trail/path. In daylight, I get responses of about 3-5 seconds. Supposedly cuddeback has quicker response times than stealth-cam, but about twice the cost.
As for aiming the solar panel, set it up facing due south. Best angle (from horizontal, ie pointed stright up) depends on time of year and your lattitude -- it will vary between (mid winter) your lattitude plus 23.5 degrees and (mid sunmmer) your lattitude minus 23.5 degrees. So for 31 degrees latitude (where mine is set up), mid winter (Dec 23), the best position would be 55 degrees from horizontal. I figure if it works in mid-winter, the longer days the rest of the year will compensate for it being at a non-ideal angle, so I just leave it at 53 degrees.
http://www.homepower.com/files/pvang...arch=latitudes