That is nicely done.  

Taking your questions in order:

1.  Probably would depend on what band you're operating in.  I'm a HAM myself, and have never noticed any problem.  Then again, I don't get up into HF much... mostly down in VHF/UHF range.  

2.  Yes... a centralized 12VDC PSU could probably run all of your equipment... just ensure it has enough amperage (you may have to combine channels if you're using a CCTV PSU to power a ham rig... you'll blow those little 1A fuses if you don't).  You could also centralize a UPS.

You need something with more IR output for the yard... it's simply a question of insufficient power, and a narrow beam.  I have a couple of those supercircuits puck illuminators, and it would be like attempting to illuminate your whole front yard with a surefire.  You get one lit area, and the rest is dark.  

You want something wide-angle, and something that puts out more light.  Something like this would probably do a better job.

Don't do that.  You're going to have the same problem.  That illuminator will spotlight badly, and even if you aim it at a distant target, your camera can't see jack 200+ feet away.

You want dispersed, even illumination.  You want a floodlight... not a spotlight.

ETA:  here are two images to illustrate the point





Which would you rather have?

That's one I don't really recommend any more (it had an unacceptable failure rate)... I was just using it to illustrate the concept.





Here's what happened when those failed... note the two on the right?  See how the IR element is brown and burnt compared to the  illuminator on the left?  Yeah... avoid those.









I've gone to using dome illuminators...  they seem to provide a much more even pool of light, without the hot-spotting you get with narrow-beam sources... and the longevity has proven to be much better:

A decent primer on IP cameras, and how to set them up.

Six videos... well worth it if you're not already a geek.

Link

Here's something I'm trialing... a new, wide-angle IR panel illuminator.  This one is made by Axton Tech.   The illuminators themselves are designed/manufactured in Salt Lake City, and I like to keep as much business on this side of the pond as possible, given a reasonable price-point and performance.  These are available at a more-reasonable price-point than some of the higher-end Axis/Raymax/Raytec/Rainbow/Extreme stuff, so I thought I'd pick one up to see how it works.

I've also run into the problem of my favored "dome" illuminators becoming both more-expensive, and harder to find... and I'm only willing to pay so much for Chinese stuff.  If I can get American-built/made, and the price isn't 10x what I'm paying for Chicom stuff, I'm willing to give it a shot.  This one runs about $300, which is several hundred dollars cheaper than the Raymax/Axis models.  

The box:





The device:






The connections... note the various colored wires.  Depending on which wires you jumper together (with that skinny black wire on the right/lower side), you can get constant-on, day/night switching, and camera-triggered switching.  The black-and-white wires are strictly for power.







Here is what we're replacing.  This is one of the dome illuminators that I've been unable to find for about a year.  They work well, but get a bit warm... note the central brown discoloration on the white disc.  I've had one fail due to capacitor plague, but other than that (and the occasional burnt-out LED), these have served me well for several years.  Not bad for $40-50 each.  

By way of comparison, the Axton Tech illuminators boast a LIFETIME warranty, with advance replacement.  







And let's face it... the Axton Tech illuminators are lower-profile, and look cooler.  The general build quality is also head-and-shoulders above the Chicom illuminator.






Here it is energized.  The camera sees the IR easily... and there are obviously three high-powered LEDs behind that faceplate.  I'm left wondering whether those three LEDs will be able to throw out sufficient light to fulfill Axton Tech's range claim of 18 meters.  Also, the harder you drive a few LEDs, the shorter their lifespan (in general).  Hopefully we won't need that extended warranty.






The dome was still functional, so it was moved in place of this old illuminator.  This is a supercircuits puck that has been outdoors for several years.

It's rusted, and corroded, but still weatherproof (as the casing claims)... and still works.  I included an extra Supercircuits illuminator that's been stored in a drawer in my toolbox... identical model.  Other than weathering, they both still work.  Taiwan manufacture.







I will post comparison night-shots when I can grab some screenshots this coming week.

Just get a Foscam, and the app that goes to the iphone.  Or you can use IP Cam Viewer... I use the latter to control a wireless Foscam, and it works great over a wireless LAN.

OK.  Pictures acquired, cropped, and uploaded.

First, the old dome illuminator.  Note that it provides pretty fair area coverage as far as its light throw-pattern.  Also note all the "snow" you see in darker sections of the image... that's digital noise that enters into the picture when the scene becomes too dark.  The camera's internal software will use "noise reduction" to clear some of that up, but that often involves slowing the shutter speed to increase the usefulness of the available light.

Of course, this turns moving persons/objects into smeared blurs on your recorded video... so that sucks.    








Now for the new Axton Tech illuminator.  This IR source is definitely stronger than the dome... and the additional IR light allows the camera to clean up some of the digital noise.  The IR is also fairly wide-angle, as was advertised in the panel's specs (130-degrees).  The 18-meter range is typically optimistic, but not as much as you usually see with illuminators.  The fence that's visible on the back side of the play structure is about 13 meters away, and the light is getting dim (though still usable) that far out.







Here I've made a GIF, which superimposes the images on one another, along with some details about them.  The Axton tech illuminator has better performance, but is also 6x the price of the no-brand Chicom dome.  Even so, that extra money doesn't exactly go down a rathole.  It buys you better performance, US-made, lower-profile, higher quality, an actual warranty, better aesthetics, I/O and connection options, etc.  It's a much higher quality unit compared to the Chinese dome... but you can buy five Chicom models (of slightly lower performance) for the same money.  

I will leave it up to the readers to decide what works best for their own installations and budgets.  

More illuminators.  







Here's another dome illuminator that's going to be replaced:






Here's why... some of the LEDs have burnt out.







Replaced with one of the Axton Tech illuminators:

Then pair them with a set of NODs... ... daylight for thee, but not for them.

The extra output from that new illuminator allowed me to double my shutter speed, and still get a fairly equivalent picture.  Much better motion shots this way.


Before:






After:





A little darker (you lose a bit of the background, but you can't ID anybody that far away anyway), but I can still easily see the area I want to cover.  

The Panasonic IP domes can run closer to a grand each.  Great cameras...  but not cheap.

What would you consider "good?"  

You can put the occasional wireless camera or two on your home wifi... but any more than that, and you start to run into bandwidth problems.  Conventional wifi just doesn't have enough pipe to carry too many streams... even wireless "N"

Quite a change from what you had before, Kwai...  nice work.  

I'm using this one in the house, and I recommended the same to a friend whose wife just had a baby.  It's worked well for them, and they can access it with their Ipad over their home wifi.

Saves having to get up and walk to the baby's room when you hear her making noise at night.  Great peace of mind.

+1

You can get maybe one decent camera on that electric-outlet broadband.

Not enough pipe.

If you get cameras, maybe you can post video/interview gold like this:

Woman repeatedly pooping in man's yard... caught on tape




ETA:

The cheapest Axis outdoor dome camera will be close to $500.  

Acti has some bargain-level domes with a FOV about 85-degrees wide, and you can get those for under $300... but going with a true panoramic camera from the same company will put you out almost $900.

Here's three megapixels, outdoor dome, PoE... and you can get them for your price range:  Link

That's the first thing I'd try.  It takes 12VDC through one of those little green connector blocks.  

I don't know how/why the PoE blows, yet the rest of the circuitry is fine.  I've had that happen from a nearby lightning hit.

I'd definitely do baluns... no question.  It will also allow you to change those cable runs to IP-based cameras later, should you choose to do so.

As for brand, you can probably use whatever... just make sure your baluns also do power.  They're a fairly cheap part, so get a few extras while you're buying, just in case you get a bad one.  You should be able to get a pair for 15 bucks or so.  Here are some brand-name ones on Amazon.

Dead link.