Cognisys SCOUT User manual

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Owner’s Manual
Revision 1.0
Copyright 2021 Cognisys, Inc.

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Table of Contents
1. SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS .................................................................................................................................. 3
2. GETTING STARTED ......................................................................................................................................... 3
2.1 WHAT IS THE SCOUT REMOTE?............................................................................................................................4
2.2 WHAT IS INCLUDED ...........................................................................................................................................4
2.3 BATTERY INSTALLATION ......................................................................................................................................5
2.4 QUICK START GUIDE ..........................................................................................................................................6
2.5 CLEANING AND CARE .........................................................................................................................................7
2.5.1 Cleaning ...................................................................................................................................................7
2.5.2 Care and storage......................................................................................................................................7
2.6 USB CONNECTOR .............................................................................................................................................8
2.7 MODE BUTTON ................................................................................................................................................8
2.8 RECORD BUTTON ..............................................................................................................................................9
2.9STOP BUTTON ..................................................................................................................................................9
2.10 LED INDICATORS...............................................................................................................................................9
2.11 “PAIRING”TO YOUR CAMERA BOX .....................................................................................................................10
2.12 TURNING ON THE REMOTE ................................................................................................................................10
3. EXAMPLE ..................................................................................................................................................... 11
3.1 VIDEO RECORDING USING SONY CAMERAS...........................................................................................................11
3.2 VIDEO RECORDING AND STILLS FOR OTHER CAMERAS ............................................................................................11
3.3 THE CAMERA TRAPPING CARDINAL RULE .............................................................................................................13
4. INSTALLING THE REFLASH SOFTWARE (OPTIONAL)...................................................................................... 14
4.1 WINDOWS INSTALLATION .................................................................................................................................14
4.2 OS XINSTALLATION.........................................................................................................................................14
5. TROUBLESHOOTING .................................................................................................................................... 15
6. SPECIFICATIONS .......................................................................................................................................... 16
7. WARRANTY ................................................................................................................................................. 17
8. REVISION HISTORY ...................................................................................................................................... 18

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1. Safety Instructions
WARNING indicates a potentially hazardous situation which, if not avoided, could result in death
or serious injury.
Follow all CAUTION notices to reduce the risk of personal injury, prevent damage to the Scout
equipment, accessories, and devices (computers, cameras, flashes, etc). Failure to follow all
CAUTION notices may void your warranty. CAUTION may also indicate a potentially hazardous
situation which, if not avoided, may result in personal injury.
The safety alert symbol precedes a general CAUTION or WARNING statement.
The electrical hazard symbol precedes an electric shock hazard CAUTION or WARNING
statement.
CAUTION: Only use approved power sources for Scout equipment. Use of other power
adapters or batteries may damage the controller and/or attached equipment.
CAUTION: Misuse of Scout equipment could potentially damage your equipment. Cognisys, Inc.
will not be held liable for damage to your equipment. If you have questions about safety please
contact us!
2. Getting Started
The latest version of this manual is available on our website at:
Scout Remote Manual
Not big on reading manuals? (What? No thumbs-up? We worked hard on this you know!) We
have a few real world setups in the “3 - Example” section. You can always come back to the
technical details if you get stuck. You really should finish reading this section though – it goes
through battery replacement and the basic care of your Remote.

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2.1 What is the Scout Remote?
The Scout Remote is an accessory for the Scout Camera Box. It allows you to manually activate
the camera inside the Scout Camera Box.
The Scout Remote has several features:
•Wireless communication to the Camera Box
•Bi-directional communication to confirm a picture or video was taken
•Perfect for manual activation while hunkered down in a blind
•Can be used in combination with sensors
•Easy setup (Plug and Play)
•200+ days battery life
•Wide operating temperature range: -40C – 105C (-40F – 221F)
The Scout Remote requires that the Camera Box is running software version 1.0.05 or greater.
Note: Unlike other Scout equipment, the Remote is not weatherproof – so try and keep it dry!
2.2 What is Included
The Scout Remote includes:
•Scout Remote
•Quick-start guide insert
If you purchased the Scout Remote as a kit it may include additional accessories.

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2.3 Battery Installation
Battery installation is a simple process and because the Remote has excellent battery life – you
won’t have to do it often!
The Remote is designed to use AA/R6 batteries of any chemistry.
To install the battery:
1. Remove the back cover.
2. Install the batteries as shown.
3. Re-install the back cover.
You should remove the batteries if the Remote will not be used for an extended period.

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2.4 Quick Start Guide
Want to be up and running in two minutes or less? Here’s the quick-start guide in case you
misplaced it:

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2.5 Cleaning and Care
We want your Scout equipment to last – so here are some brief steps to keep it happy!
2.5.1 Cleaning
For cleaning we recommend a slightly dampened (not wet) micro-fiber cloth. Do not spray
water directly into the inside of the equipment. Any liquid that goes into the remote may
cause an electrical failure of the device. Do not use a flammable liquid/solvents or cleaning
agents on the controller – just a micro-fiber cloth (dampened if needed).
2.5.2 Care and storage
Scout equipment is designed to handle normal wear and tear but there are some things to
avoid:
Do not get the unit wet internally.
Do not drop the unit (the housing is made of a thick walled plastic so it can take
some reasonable abuse but it DOES have its limits)
Remove the batteries prior to long term storage.
The product warranty does not cover water damage resulting from user error.

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2.6 USB Connector
There is one internal USB-B connector on the Scout Remote for updating software. The four
Philips screws holding the remote together can be removed to get access to this USB port. Your
remote shipped with the latest available software.
2.7 Mode Button
The Mode button changes the behavior of the Scout Camera Box and Remote. There are three
modes:
Mode 1: Pressing the record button will leave the camera boxes shutter press active.
Pressing the stop button will turn off the shutter press. This is useful for recording video with
cameras that need to have the record button held (like Sony, when using our Sony Video
Switch).
Mode 2: Follow the Camera Box parameters for delay and pulse length – video duration will be
left up to the remote operator. The first time the record button is pressed (camera sleeping)
the remote will wake up the camera and wait the specified delay and then assert and de-assert
the shutter signal according to the pulse one timing. Recording will be started. Then pressing

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the stop button will send the pulse programmed in the Camera Box to stop recording. Use
this mode for recording video on Canon or Nikon cameras.
Mode 3: Follow the Camera Box internal programming. If the camera box is set for “# pics: 2”
then you’ll get two pictures every time you press the record button. You do not need to
press the stop button in this case unless you want to abort the programming.
Press the mode button to change the mode and you’ll get one green LED flash for Mode 1,
and two flashes for Mode 2. Each mode button press will change the mode button. It ships with
Mode 1 as the default.
2.8 Record Button
Depending on the current mode, this button will either set the camera’s shutter active or follow
the camera box’s programming. The Remote’s LED will indicate what the camera box is
currently doing (half-press: green, recording: red). If you get a fast flashing red LED that
indicates that communication wasn’t successful with the camera box.
2.9 Stop Button
This button will turn off the camera’s shutter or stop the currently running program.
2.10 LED Indicators
The LED will follow what the camera box’s camera settings are. If it is recording, the light will
turn Red. If it is waiting for the “Delay” time to expire, it will turn green. Just exactly like the
camera box.
If the LED flashes red that means that there was no communication with the camera box, or you
did something that didn’t make sense – like pressing the stop button without first pressing
the record button.

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2.11 “Pairing” to your Camera Box
The Scout Remote needs to know which Camera Box you would like to use it with. This pairing
process only needs to be done once. The process is easy:
1. Turn on your camera box (it’s okay if it goes back to sleep).
2. Make sure only one Camera Box is turned on and within wireless range.
3. Press the record button on the Remote.
4. The Remote will scan all available wireless channels looking for the Camera Box. Once it
finds one the process is complete!
Note: This process is very quick – less than a quarter of a second! If you see your Remote LED
indicator ramping up and down slowly in intensity that means it can’t find the Camera Box.
Double-check that you’ve turned the Camera Box on!
If you ever change the “Wireless Channel” of your Camera Box or you want to change the
Remote to use a different Camera Box on another “Wireless Channel” you’ll need to start the
pairing process over. To do this:
1. Start with the Remote turned off.
2. Press and hold the mode button until the red LED flashes (about 5 seconds).
3. Release the mode button.
4. Repeat the “Pairing” process above.
2.12 Turning on the Remote
To turn on the Remote simply press any button. It will say on long enough to get its job done
and turn off automatically. Upon power-up, the Remote will attempt to connect to the Camera
Box. If the Camera Box is out of range or turned off, the Remote will flash (on/off) the red LED
indicator a few times to let you know it can’t communicate. The flashing LED is just to help you
know that maybesomething isn’t quite right with the camera trap setup.
Note: You don’t have to turn on the Scout equipment in any order – the indicator is just a
helpful reminder.

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3. Example
In the following section we will walk you through a real-world setup/example using your Scout
Camera Box and Remote. Be sure to check out our website and follow us on YouTube
(http://www.youtube.com/user/CognisysInc/) for video examples. Sometimes watching a video
makes the whole process much easier to understand!
3.1 Video Recording using Sony Cameras
In this example we’ll walk through the Remote’s behavior and camera box settings to record
video. Please refer to this page for the camera box settings.
If you use our Sony Video Switch this process is incredibly easy! What makes this so easy is that
the video switch handles the magic of recording. It will keep the camera recording as long as
the full-press shutter is active. After completing pairing:
1. Plug in the video switch.
2. Make sure the video switch selection is set to “video”.
3. Press the record button on the Remote. The red LED on the remote will light indicating
that recording has started.
4. When you’re happy with the video duration press the stop button.
This mode also works for using GoPro cameras when using the Camera Controller Lite’s
Bluetooth feature.
3.2 Video Recording and Stills for Other Cameras
Some (most) cameras require two shutter activations to record video. The first on/off starts
recording and the second on/off stops recording. Please refer to this page for the camera box
settings.
There are three ways you can use the remote for these types of cameras.
With the Remote in Mode 1:
1. Press the record button followed by the stop button. The camera is now recording.
2. When happy with the video length, press the record button followed by the stop
button.
3. Video done – but that’s a lot of button presses. Mode 2 might be better suited.

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With the Remote in Mode 2:
1. Press the record button to start recording.
2. When happy with the video length, press the stop button.
In “Mode 2” the Remote will tell the camera box to follow its programming for the first picture
when you press the record button (delay time and the on time). When you press the stop
button the camera box will again follow its programming for the first picture (on time only).
With the Remote in Mode 3:
1. On the camera box, change the “# pics” to 1.
2. Press the record button to start recording.
3. When happy with the video length, press the record button again.
The way this works is that when you’re in “Mode 3”, the Remote will tell the camera box to
follow its programming when you press the record button. Since the only programming is to
turn on/off the shutter, it will start or stop recording with each record button press. The
stop button does nothing in this case.
The reason you may not want to use this mode with sensors is that your camera box likely has
its settings as “# pics: 2” with the “off-time” between the two being your record duration. So
each record button will only record for the duration you have programmed in the camera box
– making it less flexible if you want to take a longer recording because you can physically see
the animal is where you want it to be.

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3.3 The Camera Trapping Cardinal Rule
The final step as with all camera trapping is to test-test-TEST. Make sure that the Remote’s
range is acceptable. Try getting some fantastic video of yourself (pretending to be an animal)
before you consider everything done.

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4. Installing the Reflash software (optional)
What is “reflash”? It’s a small program that allows you to update the firmware on your Scout
Products. You do not need this program to use your Scout equipment.Rest assured if you just
purchased your Scout it ships with the latest software available. If, however, new firmware
becomes available you may want to upgrade your controller. Do you have to upgrade your
firmware? No. Should I upgrade your firmware? Maybe. We say “maybe” because as new
firmware is released we are adding and improving features. This means changes to the user
interface and things might not look exactly how they did before you updated the firmware. So if
you discover that a new feature is available that you absolutely have to have, then by all means
go ahead and reflash your controller. Just keep in mind that things might look and behave a
little different! The other consequence to reflashing your controller is that you may lose any
stored settings.
Scout products can only be updated over USB. The reflash process takes a few seconds.
Reflash requires a firmware package (instructions included). You can find the package here:
Scout Remote Firmware
Whether you use Windows or OS X, you will need Oracle’s Java installed for Reflash to load. You
can download it here: http://java.com/download
4.1 Windows Installation
Windows installations should automatically detect and download the USB drivers required.
Once the installation is complete you will have a “Start Menu” folder called Cognisys.
Underneath that you will find the Reflash icon.
4.2 OS X Installation
Reflash requires Java 1.7 or later from Oracle. This version of Java requires that your OS X
version be 10.7.3 (Lion) or above. It has not been tested with older versions of Java or earlier
versions of OS X and is not supported.
Use the above link in section “4 - Installing the Reflash software”.
Once installation completes you will have a “Reflash” icon on your Launch Pad:

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5. Troubleshooting
Problem
Cause
Solution
Does not turn on when power
button is pressed.
Batteries not installed.
Install batteries.
Battery discharged.
Attach battery to charger and re-
install.
Battery polarity incorrect.
Check battery polarity.
LED ramps up/down at
power-up.
Not paired.
See section “2.11” for details.
LED flashes at power-up.
Camera box not turned on.
See section “2.12” for details.
Need to restore factory
settings
You just want to start over!
With the Remote turned off, press
and hold the “mode” button until
you see the red LED flash. Release
the mode button.
If you cannot resolve a problem with your Scout Remote, please contact us at
[e-mail]. We want to make sure that you are completely satisfied!

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6. Specifications
Specifications are intended for reference only. The design may be modified to improve features or functionality
without notice.
Specifications
MIN
NOM
MAX
UNITS
Dimensions (including cover flange)
146 x 46 x 33
mm
Dimensions (including cover flange)
4.7 x 1.8 x 1.3
inches
Input Voltage
2
3
5
Vdc
Battery Style
-
AA/LR6
-
-
Battery life1
-
200
days
Wireless Range 2
15
30
m
50
100
feet
Operating Temperature
-40
25
105
C
-40
77
221
F
•32-bit high performance low current ARM Processor
•Wireless connectivity: Proprietary 2.4GHz
•USB for reprogramming
1Based off of idle time.Use will affect battery life.
2Several factors can affect the wireless range. Congestion, terrain, etc.

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7. Warranty
Limited Warranty
The Scout Remote, Repeater, Aux Box, Receiver, Transmitter, Base Transmitter, Flash, and
Camera Controller (hereby referred to as “Scout Equipment”), software, and related equipment is
provided by Cognisys, Inc. "as is" and "with all faults." Cognisys, Inc. makes no representations
or warranties of any kind concerning the safety, suitability, lack of viruses, inaccuracies,
typographical errors, or other harmful components of Scout Equipment and its related software.
There are inherent dangers in the use of any product, and you are solely responsible for
determining whether Scout Equipment is compatible with your equipment and other software
installed on your equipment. You are also solely responsible for the protection of your
equipment and backup of your data, and Cognisys, Inc. will not be liable for any damages you
may suffer in connection with using or modifying Scout Equipment and/or its related software.
All electronic products are warranted to be free from defects in materials or workmanship for
two (2) years from the date of purchase. Within this period, Cognisys Inc. will, at its sole option,
repair or replace any components which fail in normal use. Such repairs or replacement will be
made at no charge to the customer for parts or labor, provided that the customer shall be
responsible for any transportation cost. This warranty does not cover failures due to abuse,
misuse, accident or unauthorized alterations or repairs.
THE WARRANTIES AND REMEDIES CONTAINED HEREIN ARE EXCLUSIVE AND IN
LIEU OF ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY,
INCLUDING ANY LIABILITY ARISING UNDER ANY WARRANTY OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, STATUTORY OR
OTHERWISE. THIS WARRANTY GIVES YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS, WHICH MAY
VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.
IN NO EVENT SHALL COGNISYS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL,
INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, WHETHER RESULTING FROM THE USE,
MISUSE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PRODUCT OR FROM DEFECTS IN THE
PRODUCT. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF INCIDENTAL OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO
YOU.
Cognisys, Inc. retains the exclusive right to repair or replace the product or offer a full refund of
the purchase price at its sole discretion. SUCH REMEDY SHALL BE YOUR SOLE AND
EXCLUSIVE REMEDY FOR ANY BREACH OF WARRANTY.

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8. Revision History
Revision
Date
Change
1.0
6/24/2021
Initial Release