I am looking for actual stand alone system that can transmit pictures or video of 1-2 spots on some rural land. There is not power available but a small solar panel and 12volt battery would be an easy task to keep the system working.

I don't need live video streaming 24 hours a day but having hourly snapshots of buildings, or video while I am checking on it would be helpful.

Currently I am using game cameras but it could be days before I could check them and since they have the SD cards in them if someone were to find them and take them then the pictures would be gone also. Removing any evidence of them being there. My main concern is theft and damage to property. So remote pictures of the thieves would be very helpful.

Is there anything in the say under $500 range? Under $1000? If it gets above that cost then it would almost be cheaper to add more insurance and just replace or fix anything the thieves took.

Details:

Cell Signal on property - Very Good
60 miles from a Large City
80 miles from my current office
Power- Currently none
Phone or cable lines - Currently none

Ideas??

There are game cameras that will send pictures via the cell network (MMS), so that's one option.

Here's one model on Amazon

Depending on the cell service you might need something other than GSM, but with a GSM camera you can get some super
cheap plans (if t-mobile is in area) that only charge you on days something is sent.

It's not turnkey but I know a couple of us here (self included) have done setups using little linux computers
and wireless internet via cell. It takes a little doing but definitely will do anything you'd want it to.

Here's an old thread post about my setup.

Here's something similar another use (gcw) did

First, is there any internet service you can make a deal with a neighbor or someone, that is line of sight [I go almost 20 miles] that you can manage to get access to?

If so, that makes your project SOOO much easier ---pretty much turnkey, ---and has other benefits.

I run multiple cameras and the Axis 213 [obsolete, ebay] is my favorite, with zoom to 28x or so. Really amazing cam outside in a dome.

Then there are the 231 and 232 series. Or you can buy current models and spend way more.

As far as power source, I expect 2 or 4 golf cart batteries and 2 Sharp 240 watt panels or the equivalent with a decent charge controller will do the trick.

With an internet connection, you can do all sorts of remote control and power managing.


The two pix below were from an Axis 231 cam, and you can see it zoomed in to the thermometers, and it can look at all the Outbacks charger controllers and monitor the solar system data.






I just looked at the dirt road in the distance for any tracks and the traps I have set outside the barn for pack-rats and mice.

I use a system like your asking about multiple times daily and if you do it, you will really enjoy it!

Wow, that looks really cool, but expensive.

I will be living on the land in the next few months and out on it at least weekly until then. Just needed something cheap and easy to catch any 2 legged animals if they walked off with some of my stuff. The most expensive items would be some tools and camping gear for now.

Guess maybe a few extra game cameras will be the best I can do.

Thanks for the details though. It might be needed in the future.

Expensive???

That's my POINT, with some careful planning and shopping it can be done rather INEXPENSIVELY!

But some budget is required and maybe game cams are the best way to go for now...

Seek, do you have any idea re the cost to subscribe to cell service for that game cam?

Caveat, I don't have this exact camera, but obviously I play with this stuff.

It's using GSM -- and the amazon reviews indicate it's standard GSM, meaning you can drop in a
standard SIM card. The reviews are using AT&T's Go prepay, but I've recently (with another device) been playing
with T-mobile's pre-pay, which lets you do 3G at $3 per day used. With the device I'm using, as long
as I don't let it touch the network (ie it doesn't do any actual data transmission, but is on the cell net)
there's no charges on days with no traffic.

So best case, cost is close to zero and worst case get a "real" 3G plan from AT&T/T-mo for $30-$80/mo.
You definitely should be able to get something workable at $30/mo or even less.

The linux setup I described is via the evil empire (Verizon) and I'm paying about $50/mo, it'd be more expensive
now but I'm grandfathered in and I send a ton of data from my BOL, seriously on the order of 3-5 GB/mo
(dozen cameras sending updates if very fex pixels change.) Obviously if you can WiFi it through a neighbor
or something, that'd be ideal -- not an option without some really iffy antenna/link work for me.

Thanks Seek.

If you describe the antenna/distance/obstruction issue for a point to point bridge, maybe I can help...

It's worth the effort if possible IMO... Radios and antennas are cheap now.

Maybe I misread your post. But between the golf cart batteries and solar  panels I'm up to $4-500 hundred? And with no internet would I need a phone plan? That is going to be $300-500 a year. And then I'm still needing the camera equipment. Which to be completely honest I have no clue what or how they work. I can build you about anything that isn't electronic, but add wires and I'm like rain man.

I was really hoping to find a turn key plug and play system but besides the game cameras I am not seeing something I can just buy and install.