The Encounter also takes a 6V external input instead of the 12V of most cameras. The external power jack is totally inaccessible as the product is shipped. The plastic case is made too far out away from the internal connector and the hole is too small as well. To make it usable, you have to break the seal (void the warranty) and remove the case to drill out an appropriately sized hole for the 6V connector. And since the hole is on the side of the camera, you don't want to go too big or water entry would become an issue.
I eventually had all of them powered by 12V external batteries with a 6V converter. None of them ever ran out of power. But that is mostly because they didn't take a whole lot of photos. In an area where they should take a few photos daily, these cameras didn't. One camera only took one photo in December and one in January in an area where it should have averaged more than a photo per day. So the sensor is below average in my opinion. And since you can't adjust the sensitivity, well, they just aren't a very useful camera. If the camera took a picture, the cellular portion did work and it got uploaded as long as it had an antenna.
The photo quality is average at best.
Sunday afternoon I took down all of my cameras except one, the RMA replacement which is a StealthCam Fusion X. I'll be leaving it up for about a month to gauge whether it will be worth redeploying in the fall. The Encounter cameras were a total bust to me. They are a cheaper, but it appears this is one of those cases where you get what you pay for. My only positive is that I got 6+ months of free service for deploying multiple cameras. So at least I didn't have to pay $1/photo for the few I did receive.
If you want a decent cellular camera, try the Tactacam Reveal SK. So far they've impressed me. But in comparison, I guess wouldn't take much to impress me.
