Deploying Your Sentinel

Before Deployment

• Check batteries are fully charged with a battery voltage checker (4.1-4.2V). Place and strap fully-charged batteries in Sentinels. Please don't use partially charged batteries with fully charged batteries; this can damage the Sentinel and the batteries. Sentinels use 18650 lithium ion batteries (rechargeable).

• If you'd like to test the Sentinel before deployment, follow steps 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 below and ensure successful connection between the Sentinel and trail camera

• Turn off the Sentinel and trail camera, unplug the SD card cable from the Sentinel and trail camera, unscrew the antenna from the Sentinel, check batteries and wires are secure in the Sentinel, and close the doors to both devices.

During Deployment

1. Screw the satellite antenna into the top left of the Sentinel

2. Plug in the microUSB end of the Spypoint SD card cable into the side of the Sentinel, and tighten the USB panel mount until secure.

3. Using the same camera strap as the trail camera or two separate ones, mount the Sentinel and trail camera to a tree. Ensure the Sentinel is close enough to the trail camera so that the SD card cable can plug into the trail camera

4. Open the Sentinel and flick the main switch ON (the switch is at the very top middle on the circuit board). The Sentinel will flash a red LED rapidly for a couple of minutes while it boots up. Wait for all the lights to stop flashing (except for a red LED now flashing every 5-10 seconds).

5. Open the trail camera and plug in the SD card. Set any trail camera settings as needed (local time, picture mode, etc).

5. Switch the trail camera on, and a red LED will flash rapidly in the Sentinel again. This is the Sentinel 'seeing' the activation of the camera. Depending on the model, this flashing can last a few seconds to 2 minutes.

6. Carefully close the trail camera door with the SD card still plugged in (you can wait for the red flashing in step 5 to end or while it's still flashing). It’s important that the SD card does not get pulled out of the socket as the door is closed, so potentially give the cable some slack inside the trail camera so that it is less likely to be pulled out. Keep the door of the Sentinel open.

Ensure the SD card is not pulled out while closing the door of the trail camera. Give the cable some slack inside the door to help prevent this so it's not too tight and easily pulled.

7. Once both the Sentinel and trail camera are on and ready, and the trail camera door is closed, test the Sentinel device by waving/walking in front of the trail camera. The Sentinel will rapidly flash the red light on the front of the circuit board to show that the camera is activated, and after ~3 seconds, you will see a yellow light blink. These final blink(s) mean the Sentinel read the photo that was captured by the camera, and the SD card is secure inside the trail camera. Some trail camera brands will expect a single yellow blink, while others will blink yellow twice. The table below shares which models will flash 1 or 2 yellow blinks as a successful camera image read.

Trail Camera Model	1 Yellow Blink	2 Yellow Blinks	No Yellow Blinks
Bushnell Trophy Cam	SD card isn't fully inserted	Successfully read image taken	SD card isn't fully inserted
Browning	Successfully read image taken	Successfully read image taken	SD card isn't fully inserted
Reconyx	Successfully read image taken	Successfully read image taken	SD card isn't fully inserted

A demonstration of the Sentinel LED sequence to show the camera taking a photo (fast red flashing), and the Sentinel successfully reading it (two yellow blinks)

7. If no lights flash (depending on the camera model), there is most likely something wrong with the SD card being pulled out while closing the trail camera door. If the red lights flash with no final yellow blinks, the SD card is likely only PARTIALLY inserted into the trail camera and will need to be reinserted. To fix, open the trail camera door again, plug the SD card back in, and carefully close the door ensuring the SD card cable does not get pulled out. Test the Sentinel and camera again.

8. The Sentinel and trail camera are now active. Close the Sentinel door and you’re good to go.

A full demonstration of the Sentinel LED light sequence when everything is connected. 1. The lights of the Sentinel booting up; 2. the lights of the camera activating when it is switched on; 3. the light sequence when testing a photo being taken and successfully read by the Sentinel