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Do you need to control valves from a distance? I can't be sure if you control it centrally or if there's more going on. The solar and complexity aspects could get big if you you need to power and operate remote valves. Each site would suddenly cost a lot more.
The radio link will be long but 4mi isn't bad for mid-grade 802.11. You don't have the FCC to worry about. Aiming will take two people and cussing. You'll experience outages with bad weather or if something gets in the way (plants, animals...) The thing that keeps coming to mind are critters messing with the antennae. You would be smart to enlist the expertise of "local" game refuge technologists, zoos, etc. The worst I've had to think about were eagles and raccoons. Eagles are heavy but otherwise don't care, raccoons screw with everything but don't like slick masts. Enclosures are readily available but someone who knows the area and its wildlife would be the one to ask. I guess that's after deciding on what goes inside.
For the rest, as long as this is just remote monitoring it shouldn't be tough. I'm picturing a single mast at each site. On top is solar, a tough yaggi or dish antenna, and a box with battery driving PoE radio and camera. Quick guess of US$300 solar/charge/battery plus $250 radio/antenna plus $250 Ethernet camera plus $200 PoE & cabling misc. All off-the-shelf stuff. Add whatever for the box and mast and install. You could save by doing parts yourself.
The hub will just be a very focused community access project. One antenna pointing to each remote (4x$50), a couple dual-radio APs (2x$200), and a switch ($cheap) connecting them to your computer. From there it looks like one little net where you can browse to each camera and monitor each radio's signal quality.
There's always maintenance: Animal "stuff", dust, plant debris... lenses have to be cleaned, antennae aimed, but that should be better than daily trips.
Anyway, back to square one: if I were really doing this I'd get more environmental information and contact a few zoologists who've had to set up tech in the that region. That'd guide how mil-spec you really need. Then I'd set up one link on trial before buying and building out the rest.
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There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195
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