Even the pros keep learning….
We have previously shared our Jager Pro trap maintenance routine. It is a mental checklist of the details we make certain to complete before leaving an active trap. Things like changing batteries, checking the latch seating and removing the safety pin can be overlooked if you do not have a consistent routine.
You would think a crew that is operating 12 systems in 3 counties, and maintaining 23 cameras would have all the kinks worked out, right? Well most of the time we do. Just not 2 nights ago.
The crew was watching a sounder enter a trap that we are eager to drop on. The photos requested were not arriving, and the app and MINE camera did not seem to be communicating. Unfortunately, the photos that came in were not consistent enough to allow us to comfortably drop the gate. To say Josey was frustrated is putting it quite mildly.
Thankfully when questions about the cameras arise, we have a superstar at Jager Pro HQ that can decipher things for us. Even when what he tells us is an inconvenient truth. Somehow, during our initial education and subsequent training events, we overlooked something.
The Jager Pro MINE and ICE cameras work with an SD card to collect data for transfer to the Jager Pro server. This server stores the photos to your camera management account temporarily and disseminates them to the app on your phone. After activity is recorded as data, it remains on the SD card until the card is erased by a process called re-formatting.
On the Jager pro app, parallel with the name assigned to your trap you will find three dots, or bars. Tapping that icon will open your menu to the camera. Under status report,(tapping on the battery icon will open this page as well, easier) a graphic shows information such as cell signal, power, temperature etc. (If you read the ‘Status As Of’ date-time period and it is recent (the daily scheduled event is set to send at midnight every night), yet the last photo was from an earlier time, then you will know that the camera is communicating but not sending photos).
Toward the lower part of the screen you will see a section called SD CARD. In that section you will see a lovely black (or red depending on your cell phone operating system) button that screams FORMAT. (Older model cameras may not have this feature on the app, and may need to be manually reformatted at the camera) and a bar showing how much of your SD card is used. When the little orange bar gets toward the right side of the screen, its time to reformat your card.
Tapping the little FORMAT button will prompt you through a process of re-setting your SD card to continue collecting data. You will know this is complete when you receive a photo with an “F” code at the bottom. If it doesn’t happen within 2-3 minutes, request a status report by tapping the 3 lines in the top right of the status report page, then tap on ‘Request Report’. If this option isn’t available on your version of the app, you will need to manually format the SD card following these steps.
- Move the selector switch to Setup. Press Menu, right arrow two times to System, down arrow four times to Format, press OK, left arrow to Yes and press OK. This will clear all the photos off the SD card.
- Press Menu two times back to the live preview screen. Ensure the camera has a good signal and the carrier is populated in the top center.
- Press OK to take a test picture & press OK again to send it. Watch the screen to be sure the sending process completes. The camera should show “Setting”, then “Sending”, then “Sent”. Ensure you receive a photo; it will have an ‘E’ code next to JAGER PRO on the information strip at the bottom of the photo.
- Once the picture has sent, turn the camera on and move in front of it or wave your hand for a motion photo. Ensure you receive a photo with an ‘M’ code.
- Then command the camera to take a photo from the app. Ensure you receive a photo with an ‘S’ code.
This is what we (Hog Cutters) should have been doing all along. We missed the memo on re-formatting. Which in turn cost us a gate drop.
Therefore, Hog Cutters will always ask questions. This is why we encourage others to ask questions of us. Even professionals make mistakes, and even professionals can continue to learn. Josey always says everything he has learned in his 15 years of wild hog trapping he has learned from making mistakes….. so we are just going to keep learning. 
