Setup Guide

Setup takes about ten minutes when the WiFi cooperates. Almost every problem people run into is one of three things, and all three are easier to sort out before you mount anything.

Before you start

1. Check your WiFi band

The camera connects to 2.4GHz. It does not support 5GHz.

Most modern routers broadcast both. If yours combines them under one network name, your phone may connect to the 5GHz band and the camera will not be able to join. You have two options: temporarily split the bands in your router settings during setup, or connect your phone to the 2.4GHz network specifically.

This is the single most common setup problem. Sorting it first saves an evening.

2. Check the signal where the feeder will go

Stand at the spot with your phone and look at the signal. Exterior walls cut WiFi hard, and a camera streaming video needs more than a phone checking email.

If the signal is already weak there, it will not improve once the camera is mounted.

3. Charge it fully first

Charge indoors before mounting, even though it is solar. Solar keeps a charged battery topped up; it is slow at filling an empty one.

Choosing the spot

Ten feet from cover

Birds will not feed in the open with nowhere to escape to. A shrub, hedge or low tree within roughly ten feet gives them a line of retreat.

Closer than that and cats have an ambush point. Much further and they feel exposed.

Mind the windows

Either within three feet of a window or more than thirty feet away.

Very close means a startled bird cannot build up enough speed to be hurt. Far away means it is unlikely to mistake the reflection for sky. The dangerous zone is the middle, which is unfortunately where most people hang feeders.

Sun versus safety

Here is the real tension. The spot birds like is usually shaded, and shade is bad for solar.

Aim for a position that gets several hours of direct sun, ideally morning. If your only good spot is properly shaded, use the Solar Panel and Battery Kit \u2014 the 10ft cable lets the panel sit in sun while the feeder stays in cover.

Squirrel clearance

Squirrels rarely climb a pole. They climb something nearby and jump across, up to about ten feet horizontally and further from above.

Stand where the feeder will go and turn slowly in a full circle. Anything a cat could get onto, a squirrel can jump from. Fence rails, shed roofs, low branches, deck railings, walls.

Height

Five to six feet. High enough to be awkward for cats, low enough that you can refill it without a ladder. The feeder you can reach easily is the one that stays full.

Mounting

Use the supplied hardware. If mounting on a pole, get it properly vertical and firmly anchored \u2014 wet ground and wind will lean anything that is not.

Angle the camera slightly downward toward the feeding area. Avoid pointing it directly at bright sky, which will silhouette every bird.

Think about the background. A hedge or fence gives clean footage; a neighbour's window does not.

Connecting

Download the app, create an account, and follow the pairing steps. Keep the camera close to your phone and router during pairing \u2014 you can move it outside once connected.

If pairing fails, it is almost always the 2.4GHz issue above.

Filling it

Feeders: black oil sunflower is the most effective single seed. Safflower is the quiet alternative that most squirrels and grackles refuse. Skip cheap mixes heavy with milo and cracked corn.

Hummingbird feeders: one part white sugar to four parts water. No dye, no honey, no brown sugar. Change it every four to five days in cool weather, every two days around 80\u00b0F, daily above 90\u00b0F.

Then wait

This is the part people get wrong.

Allow two to three weeks before birds treat a new feeder as reliable. They build feeding routes, and a new object in the garden takes time to become part of one.

Moving the feeder because nothing has come in five days resets that clock entirely. Leave it, keep it filled, and let them find it.

Ongoing

Clean feeders every couple of weeks \u2014 more often in warm weather. Disease spreads fastest at crowded feeders.

Check the solar panel for leaves, snow and bird droppings. A dirty panel charges poorly.

In winter, expect shorter battery runtime. Cold reduces capacity in every battery.

Nest boxes

Mount in late winter \u2014 February in most of the US. Birds scout sites weeks before they build.

Five to ten feet up, entrance facing away from prevailing wind, on a post rather than a tree trunk where possible. Keep boxes well apart; most cavity nesters are territorial.

Once the season starts, do not open it. Every inspection risks the pair abandoning the nest \u2014 which is exactly why the camera is there.

Clean it out in late autumn with a stiff brush and no chemicals.

If something is not working

Call +1 929 604 7180, weekdays 9am\u20135pm Eastern, or email hello@perchmont.com.

Please try us before sending anything back. Most issues turn out to be WiFi band or panel placement, and both take about five minutes to fix over the phone.