NATURESPY WI-FI Garden Wildlife Camera Instruction Manual

NATURESPY WI-FI Garden Wildlife Camera

Thank you for purchasing the NatureSpy® WiFi WildCam 2!

• NatureSpy® is a social enterprise and all profits from each sale go to wildlife conservation projects worldwide. We aim to provide the very best equipment, expertise and support to help people and animals live a wild life®.
• We’ve developed the WiFi WildCam 2 based on feedback from our first edition of the camera, and out of our love for wildlife – as well as our mission to make wildlife watching easy and fun.
• We sincerely hope you enjoy using your new WiFi WildCam 2!

NOTES BEFORE USE

When you first unpack the camera, as tempting as it is to get started, be sure to place it on charge until the LED status turns green – this will maximise your camera’s battery life. You can continue with the camera setup whilst it is charging.

• Turn the camera on/off: Hold the On/Off button for more than 5 seconds, but less than 10 seconds. The camera will notify you that it is on or off.
• Reset device: Hold the on/off button for more than 10 seconds. The camera will confirm it has been reset
• LED status: Red when charging, green when fully charged. White when detection is made. The status light can be turned on/off in the app settings.
• Motion Detection: Motion-triggered recording is automatically disabled when the NatureSpy app is open, but once you close/come out of the app this will be re-enabled after a few minutes.

SETTING UP YOUR WIFI WILDCAM 2

1. Download the NatureSpy App from the App Store or Google Play Store.

2. Launch the app.

3. Create a new account or log in to your existing account.

4. Tap the ‘+’ symbol in the top right corner and select ‘Add Device’.

5. Select the NatureSpy WiFi WildCam 2 camera.

6. Turn on your device. After a few seconds, the LED status will flash quickly blue and red. (If it is not, press and hold the on/off button on the base of the camera for 10 seconds. This will reset the device. Wait a few seconds for the camera to reset and confirm.)

7. Tap to continue on the app. Enter your WiFi network name and password. (Note: only 2.4GHz WiFi is supported, as this gives a greater range).

8. The app will prompt you to scan a QR code that the camera needs to read to initiate pairing. Follow the animation and move your smartphone or tablet slowly back and forward in front of the WildCam lens. The camera will confirm the information is received.
   Tap ‘I heard a prompt’ in the app to initiate the pairing.

9. The pairing can take up to 2 minutes. Keep the app open and your WildCam close.

10. Once paired, you can edit the device name if you wish. Once finished, tap ‘Done’. The camera is now ready to use.

CONNECTING THE SOLAR PANEL

If you’re pairing the WiFi WildCam 2 with the optional solar panel, follow these steps:

1. Remove the central rubber tab located at the base of the camera, identifiable by an electric bolt symbol (refer to the diagram below).
2. Connect the solar panel to the camera.
3. Ideally, position the solar panel facing south with a 45-degree tilt. This ensures optimal charging.

Once set up, the solar panel provides a trickle charge to the WildCam. During this time, the battery icon shows a charging symbol rather than a percentage.
Please note in winter, due to limited sunlight, you might need additional mains charging for the WildCam.

POSITIONING YOUR CAMERA

The placement of your camera will have a strong influence on its performance. It’s worthwhile to carefully choose an optimal position and make adjustments based on its performance as you use it.

• Height: Ideally, place your camera 1-2ft off the ground to maximise the sensitivity of the PIR sensor. Setting it higher might result in fewer triggers.
• Distance: We recommend placing the camera around 3-15ft away from the area you want to monitor. For smaller garden species such as hedgehogs, a shorter distance of 3-6ft works best.
• Centring: The camera is most sensitive to motion at the centre of the screen. Thus, we recommend positioning it so that the focal point, like a food bowl, is squarely in the middle of your recordings.

CAMERA SETTINGS EXPLAINED

To access your camera’s settings, tap the three dots (…) symbol at the top right corner of the live view screen.
Device information

• IP: This is a unique identifier for your camera, used to connect it to your network.
• Device ID: This is a number that uniquely identifies your camera. It changes each time you pair the camera.
• Signal strength: This indicates the quality of the WiFi connection between the camera and your router. A stronger signal ensures smoother functioning.
• Time Zone: The time zone is based on the time zone configuration of your phone/tablet.

Sleep mode
This slider enables or disables the sleep mode. In sleep mode, the camera won’t react to motion, meaning no videos will be automatically taken.

Basic Function Settings

Camera Status LED: Use this slider to toggle the status LEDs on or off. Refer to page 1 for details on the status lights.
Flip Screen: Use this slider to flip the screen in case the camera is mounted upside down. If the live view appears upside down, check this setting.
Time Watermark: Use this slider to add or remove a time watermark from the live view and your recordings. When enabled, the time and date are displayed in the top left corner of the image.
Talk mode: This setting allows you to talk via the camera’s speaker e.g. to deter unwanted visitors. Both one-way communication and two-way talk options are available. Once an option is selected, simply hold the microphone icon under the live feed to speak.

Nightvision mode
IR mode: When turned on, the camera will use IR LEDs to illuminate videos recorded at night. These videos will appear in Black and white.
Colour mode: When turned on, the camera will use colour LEDs to illuminate videos recorded at night. These videos will appear in full colour.

Sounds
Device volume: This slider controls how loud your voice will sound when using the Talk mode on the camera. It does not control the volume of your recordings.

Motion Detection Settings
Motion detection: This setting, when turned on, allows the camera to automatically record a video if it detects any motion. When turned off, the camera won’t record any videos. Automatic recording is disabled when the NatureSpy app is open, but once you close your app this will be re-enabled. The icon will appear red when motion detection is turned on and grey when it is turned off.
Video Recording Length: This setting lets you choose the length of the videos your camera records, anywhere from 15 to 120 seconds. Be mindful that setting it to record longer videos will drain the battery more quickly.
Alarm interval: This setting adjusts the time between motion detection notifications, ranging from 0 to 60 seconds. A longer interval means the camera will wait more time before alerting you again about the detected motion.
Sensitivity level: This setting adjusts the camera’s sensitivity to motion: low, medium, or high. A higher sensitivity is ideal for recording as much activity as possible, however, if you are getting a lot of false alarms you can try reducing this to the medium and low settings.
Active Schedule: This setting allows you to determine when your camera is active and able to record.

• All-Day: The camera remains active throughout the day, ready to record at any time.
• Schedule: You can set a specific start and end time, defining a period during which the camera is active and can record. Outside this period, the camera enters sleep mode.
• Please note that only a one-time block can be set within 24 hours. Overnight recordings aren’t possible as this would span across two days.

Power Management Settings

• Battery Remaining: This indicates the amount of charge left on the camera’s internal battery.
• Power Source: This informs you of the camera’s current power source; whether it’s running on the internal battery or if it’s being powered through a charging cable.
• Set the low battery alarm threshold: This setting allows you to set a low battery alarm threshold anywhere between 10% to 50%. Once the battery level falls below the chosen percentage, you will receive a notification, reminding you to recharge the camera.

Storage Settings

• Total capacity: This refers to the total storage space available on the SD card inserted into the camera.
• Used: This setting shows the amount of space that has already been used up by recordings on the camera’s SD card.
• Remaining capacity: This indicates the amount of free space left on the SD card, helping you to gauge when you need to clear space.
• ‘Format’ button: This function allows you to erase all data on the SD card and restore this to factory settings. Formatting will permanently delete all of your stored recordings.

Recording Settings

• Save Motion Clips to WildCam SD card: When turned on this enables the camera to save recordings to the SD card. It needs to be left on to allow the camera to record and save any footage.
• Schedule: This setting can be ignored on the WiFi WildCam 2. It does not affect the camera’s operation.

Offline notification

• Use this slider to control whether or not you receive a notification if the camera goes offline.

FAQ & Feedback

• In this section, you will find helpful information for using or troubleshooting the camera. For any feedback or issues, we recommend sending an email to [email protected] to ensure prompt assistance and response.

Share Device

• This feature allows you to share access to your camera with another person, facilitating joint monitoring. To do this, the other person must have or create an account on the NatureSpy app.

Add to Home Screen

• This option allows you to add a shortcut from your phone home screen directly to this camera.
• This can be helpful if you have multiple cameras set up on the same account.

Device Update

• This section allows you to update your camera with the latest firmware, ensuring optimal performance and access to new features.
• The app will display the current firmware version of your camera and confirm if there is an update available.

Remove Device

• This will unpair your camera from your account and network. This is a necessary step if you intend to re-pair the camera with a new network or if you need to reset and re-pair your camera for any reason.

HOW-TO’S

How do I update my camera’s firmware?
You can check for any new firmware updates in your camera’s settings menu. To do this:

1. Open the camera on the NatureSpy app
2. Open settings and scroll to the bottom of the page
3. Select “Device Update”
4. Update your camera if new firmware is available

After updating your camera’s firmware, we recommend fully re-pairing it to ensure optimal functionality.

How do I re-pair my camera?
To address specific issues or to finalise certain firmware updates, you may need to fully reset and re-pair your camera with your account. There’s no need to uninstall the app for this. To do this:

1. Open the camera on the NatureSpy app
2. Open settings and scroll to the bottom of the page
3. Select ‘Remove Device’
4. Select ‘Me’ at the bottom of the app
5. Select the ‘bolt’ icon in the top right corner
6. Select ‘Clear cache’, and confirm
7. Wait until you hear the camera prompt “Camera reset” and then “Ready to Pair”
8. Press and hold the power button on the base for at least 10 seconds
9. Again wait until you hear the “Camera reset” and “Ready to Pair” prompts
10. Follow the pairing process as normal

Please be aware that after resetting your camera, you won’t have access to any videos previously recorded onto the camera’s SD card or saved in the gallery. We recommend saving these to your smartphone or tablet before doing a reset.

How do I find and save my videos to the gallery?
Your motion-triggered recordings are stored in your camera’s timeline under playback. From here you can find your desired clip and use the record function to save a video to the gallery. To do this:

1. Open the camera on the NatureSpy app
2. Open Playback and scroll to the video you want to save
3. Press the record button to start a recording
4. Press the record button again to end your recording

You can jump to your desired clip more quickly using the motion detection alert:

1. Open the camera on the NatureSpy app
2. Select the “Messages” tab at the bottom
3. Select the “All” button on the right-hand side
4. Scroll to your desired clip and then press “View”

Your recording will appear in the gallery, where you can either share it or save it to your device.

How do I save my videos to my smartphone/tablet?
You can use the share function to save recordings from the gallery directly to your device. To do this:

1. Open the camera on the NatureSpy app
2. Open the Gallery and select the video you want to save
3. Press the share button in the bottom right
4. Press ‘Save Video’

How do I share my videos?
You can share videos directly from the gallery with other social media or messaging apps. To do this:

1. Open the camera on the NatureSpy app
2. Open the Gallery and select the video you want to save
3. Press the share button in the bottom right
4. Select the app you wish to use to share your clip

Please note that sharing directly from the NatureSpy app may compress and reduce video quality. To maintain the best quality, first, save the clip to your device and then share it from there.

How do I share my camera with another person?
To share your camera’s live feed with someone else, they’ll need to download the NatureSpy app and create an account. After that, you can directly share your camera with them. To do this:

1. Open the camera on the NatureSpy app
2. Open settings
3. Scroll down and select “Share Device”
4. Press “Add” and then input the email address of the other user

For other users to access settings and additional features, they can log into the NatureSpy app using your credentials instead. This allows them to modify settings and view footage in playback.

TROUBLESHOOTING

• My camera’s motion detection is not working
• Make sure that motion detection is turned on in the NatureSpy app. The icon in the ‘Features’ drawer will appear red when motion detection is turned on and grey when it is turned off.
• If you are viewing the live feed from your camera, you’ll need to close the app on all devices to enable motion detection recording. The WiFi Wildcam 2 automatically turns off motion recording when you are watching the live feed. However, after closing the app, motion detection will reactivate within 30-60 seconds.
• If your motion detection is still not working we would advise fully resetting and re-pairing your camera.

My camera no longer recognises the SD card
If you encounter a message stating “your device has no memory”, it indicates a problem with the microSD card in the camera. This issue sometimes occurs with cards being used for the first time. To fix this:

1. Remove the SD card from the camera’s base (you need to peel back the rubber cover)
2. Insert it into your computer (you may need a USB SD card reader)
3. Format the card (if you need to specify the type, select FAT32)
4. Re-insert into your camera

This action should resolve the issue, allowing you to use the SD card in the camera without further problems.
Please note that formatting the card will erase any existing recordings on it.

My camera will not let me set my Active Schedule

• If your camera displays an “ipc save fail” error while setting an active schedule, you need to update your camera’s firmware.
• If your camera displays ‘Start time is later than the end time’ it means you’re attempting to select a time frame that exceeds 24 hours, such as an overnight period.
• Only a one-time block can be set within 24 hours, and overnight recordings technically span across two days and are therefore not currently possible.
• If your time settings are correct and you still receive the “ipc save fail” error, we recommend fully re-pairing your camera.

My camera will not let me adjust the Video Recording Length
If your camera shows an “ipc save fail” error while adjusting video recording length, please update the camera’s firmware and then fully reset and re-pair it.

My camera keeps going offline

• If your camera frequently loses connection or takes a long time to connect to the NatureSpy app, the WiFi connection might be weak in its current location. Your current signal strength is visible as a percentage on the live view screen.
• Consider moving the camera closer to your router where the signal is stronger, or use a WiFi extender to boost your WiFi’s range.

My camera is draining the batteries very quickly

• Increasing your video recording length may deplete the camera’s batteries faster. For longer battery life, we suggest sticking to the standard 15-second recording.
• Watching the live stream for extended periods will also use significant battery power. Ensure you leave the live view screen when you are finished watching.
• Alternatively, using a solar panel can recharge your camera in situ, reducing the need to retrieve your camera for charging.

Need Support?
If you have any questions regarding your WiFi WildCam 2, get in touch with us by emailing: [email protected].

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