Remote video monitoring of a site without broadband or electricity

I am a member of a fly fishing club and we lease a private lake stocked with trout and a number of very large carp. Unfortunately, the predation of poachers is becoming a real problem. We try to patrol the lake in the evening and at night but some of our members are elderly or live some distance from the lake so our patrols tend to be rather patchy. Is there any way we could monitor the lake from a distance?

The main problem is that there is no mains electricity. I wondered about the feasibility of mounting a motorised web cam on a small island in the middle of the lake and monitor it wirelessly from a distance of a few miles. If so, what equipment would be needed?
Gerald B. Gill, by email

It can be done but it is going to be a challenge. Your options are limited by the lack of power and, presumably, a phone line. Without those two essential ingredients the only way to send live images to a remote location over a distance of more than a few hundred metres is via a 3G/4G mobile broadband connection, assuming that the site isn’t too remote and a good phone signal is available.

Professional kit is available but this can be very expensive. There are a handful of simple consumer remote surveillance cameras, with built-in 3G connectivity. Just pop in a pay-as-you-go SIM card and dial up the camera on your smartphone or PC to view the image. They’re not that expensive either and prices start at under £150.

The downside is that they are fairly basic fixed cameras with limited alarm and low light capabilities. You will also have to provide a source of power, though a car battery, with a simple solar charging system should suffice.