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Trail Watcher 2040The Trail Watcher 2040 uses the Sony DSC-S40 digital camera and is the little brother to the 2060 model. This model of Sony cameras has proven to take great pictures in other digital game cameras and has not disappointed in this one. This trail camera takes very good pictures. You can take a look at some of the pictures it has taken here. The power up testing has shown that the Trail Watcher 2040 is just a little bit faster than the 2060 and it's real close to the Woodland SpyCam. The power up times varied some between tests. Similar to the 2060 the 2040 comes in wide angle and long range models. The detection cone is wider on the wide angle models to detect animal movement quicker while the detection zone extends farther out on the long range models to catch animals farther from the unit. The wide angle models are supposed to trigger a little quicker than the long range models since they should detect the animal sooner. I need to experiment with this capability against our other cameras to see the effect. Currently I use the same distance (about 8 to 10 feet) when testing power up time for every camera. The Trail Watcher 2040 operates on two AA batteries and one 9 volt battery to operate the electronics. This unit should get good performance from rechargeable AA’s and the 9 volt batteries similar to the 2060 and the other similar digital game cameras we have tested. Set-up is relatively easy using an LCD screen and two buttons. It doesn’t take long to understand the get the hang of the two button system. I've used the dip switches long enough that I prefer them but you may like the LCD screen better. You may need the owners manual for the Sony camera if you are not familiar with them but the camera settings are ready to use when you receive it. One thing I change is the picture resolution setting which is done using the same button that is used to delete pictures. I also change the picture quality setting to fine. I operate the camera on the 1M setting. Higher picture quality resolutions are available but this setting allows for quite a few pictures to be stored on the memory card and the quality is still very good. A rope ratchet is included to attach the unit to a tree. A Python Cable Lock is not provided but can be used and I’ve purchased one to lock mine. Trail Watcher sell two models of cameras. One model is designed to be locked to a tree using a Python Cable and the other isn’t. Mine is the one designed not to be locked, but it still is possible. The non-lockable model is smaller (4 ½ x 6 inches) and is the smallest digital game camera that I have. This model is called the micro series. This Trail Watcher 2040 has an external switch to operate the motion detector. You can turn off the motion detector while setting up or taking the camera down. This isn’t a huge thing with a large memory card but is an added plus. Similar to each of the other digital game cameras I’ve purchased a 512 MB memory card to store the pictures. There is 32 MB of internal memory if you forget your memory card or don’t have one. Fortunately, memory cards keep getting cheaper. The Trail Watcher has an LCD screen to view pictures in the field, which I usually do and a USB cable to download pictures to your computer. There are five time delays ranging from 10 seconds to 30 minutes. This isn’t the largest array of time delays offered in a game camera but is adequate. The Sony digital camera can easily be removed from the unit and used as a personal camera and it also has the capability of taking short video clips. After several years of good service the 2040 is no longer working. The camera in the unit has quit working. If I had more time I would purchase a new Sony camera on Ebay and modify it for the 2040. Maybe some time in the future I'll do this and get it back in service. The 2040 is no longer being offered but Trail Watcher is offering newer models so check them out in our current reviews.
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