Set-up Tutorial

Setting up your OcuTrap has two parts: assembling the hardware and connecting it to the app. This page walks the whole path in order — follow the steps top to bottom, and open the linked guides when you want more detail or photos.

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Step 1: Charge the battery

Do this first so the battery charges while you assemble the trap.

1. Open the small white box and find the charger.
2. Charge the blue battery until the charger light turns green — a full charge takes about 5–6 hours.

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Step 2: Assemble the trap

Assembly covers the door, the handle, and the POD (the module that holds the camera, sensor, and electronics). Two guides cover the same build — written steps with photos, or follow-along videos:

Hardware Set Up

Video Assembly

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Step 3: Create your account and add your trap

You manage your OcuTrap from the web portal at app.ocutrap.com — or from the mobile app, which has the same features.

1. Create an account (or log in) at app.ocutrap.com. Verify your email — the app asks for this before you can activate a trap.
2. Open Add trap and follow the wizard: enter your Trap ID and Device ID (both are on labels on/inside the trap), choose a cellular plan, name the trap and set its location, then tap Activate trap.
3. When activation completes, the app opens the new trap's console page, with a Waiting for first check-in note that clears once the trap connects. Finish billing from the trap's Billing tab.

Full walkthrough with screenshots: Adding a trap to your account.

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Step 4: Power on and confirm it's connected

1. Insert the charged battery and power on the trap.
2. Watch the status LED — breathing cyan means the trap is connected to the cloud and ready. Other colors: LED Guide.
3. Confirm the trap shows as online in the app.

If it won't connect, give it a minute, then see Connectivity & Coverage.

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Step 5: Place, set your capture distance, and test

Where you put the trap and how you set the capture distance matter more than anything else — the camera and sensor are fixed inside the POD, so there's nothing to aim.

The essentials:

• Put bait behind the sensor, near the back of the cage.
• Set the trap on level, stable ground.
• Pick a capture distance in the app (presets from 6 in to 18 in; default 8 in).
• Test before you walk away: arm the trap, wave your hand slowly through the detection zone, and confirm the door closes and you get a capture alert.

The full field guide — placement, capture-distance tuning, the pre-departure checklist, and validating with Scouting Mode:

Deploying Your Trap in the Field

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Step 6: Arm it and turn on notifications

1. Manually open the door — for safety, arming requires the door to already be open.
2. Tap Arm in the app. See Arm & Un-arm Button for what each state means.
3. Choose how you want to be alerted (push, email, or both) in Notification Settings.

While armed, the trap checks in on a low-power cycle and can briefly show offline between check-ins — that's normal. You'll be alerted if it stays disconnected for more than an hour.

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You're set — what happens next

• When your trap takes photos: When Your Trap Takes Photos
• When you get a capture: the door closes and locks, and you get an alert — see After a Capture and Handling & Releasing a Captured Animal
• Getting the most out of your trap: Tips and Tricks