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  1. wtimothyholman

    Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates

    Reflective coatings won’t help one bit against an LPR camera with white light illumination. If it is visible in the daytime, then the LPR camera will read it.
  2. wtimothyholman

    Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates

    That is correct, you leave your camera in daytime mode. However, I am constructing my illuminators with a reduced duty cycle. Furthermore, I’m using a warm, white LED color. To a person driving by, the light will look like a porch light.
  3. wtimothyholman

    Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates

    You are correct. It is not just a matter of changing the illuminators. It is a matter of changing the optics so that the different wavelength will focus correctly on the sensor. I learned this in my own experiments. Even with a very strong 740 nm illuminator, my cameras did not work in...
  4. wtimothyholman

    Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates

    It is unfortunately quite visible, although not extremely bright. So they would be quite noticeable in a residential installation, but not blinding by any means. I am taking a much different approach with my illuminator design. I'm using a soft white LED, which blends in very nicely with the...
  5. wtimothyholman

    Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates

    The printed plates have much better contrast under 730 nm light as opposed to 850 nm light. It's all a function of the reflectivity of the materials. This video shows the difference: So the future is either 730 or 740 nm illumination, or visible light. 850 nm illumination is a dead end...
  6. wtimothyholman

    RV Burglary - Rant and A Few Questions

    Yes, and he had dreams of becoming a famous musician. Everyone who knew him said he was funny and talented, and would do anything to help a friend.
  7. wtimothyholman

    RV Burglary - Rant and A Few Questions

    Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by lawyers. The reason why they won't give you the video is because of potential liability. Let's assume you get the video and figure out the identify of the perp. Then you track him down, and you wind up killing him when he pulls a...
  8. wtimothyholman

    Neighbor busts camera

    Which says to me that there's a lot of missing context to what actually happened. My guess is that this is just one incident in an ongoing dispute between these two families. There's no legitimate reason to point a camera directly at a neighbor's property unless you've made it clear that "I'm...
  9. wtimothyholman

    $199 for IPVM Calculator(not going to happen)- Any Alternatives ?

    John, your company certainly has the right to charge whatever they feel is appropriate for their services. My complaint (which I pointed out in the feedback survey when I declined renewal) was the "bait and switch" of having the resources that I thought I was paying for change after I...
  10. wtimothyholman

    $199 for IPVM Calculator(not going to happen)- Any Alternatives ?

    I purchased the $199 subscription thinking it would be a reasonable deal in return for access to different camera and equipment reviews, and then got the rug pulled out from under me when all the interesting technical material got pushed behind their $2,000 per year subscription tier. So...
  11. wtimothyholman

    An LPR success story

    I expect to have an update on the illuminator very shortly. As to the court case, I was at a Community Advisory Meeting last night at the local police precinct. One of the guest speakers was an assistant district attorney, and she talked about the long delays in getting defendants to trial. I...
  12. wtimothyholman

    Multiple Suspects Casing Neighborhood

    Both vehicles are Hyundais, and in the first video it looks as if the rear passenger window may have been broken out. Given the age of the vehicles, I assume they used the "Kia Boyz" trick to steal both cars.
  13. wtimothyholman

    UFOs, Extraterrestrials, Advanced Technology and Other Associated Weirdness

    I'll match your retired major, and raise you a retired lieutenant colonel. Here's a story from 11 years ago. As I said before, there's a new "whistleblower" every few years...
  14. wtimothyholman

    UFOs, Extraterrestrials, Advanced Technology and Other Associated Weirdness

    He can testify unless he turns purple and passes out. There won't be one iota of physical evidence to back up his claims. He's not the first former military guy to swear that the government is in possession of crashed UFOs. He's actually one in a very long line. A new whistleblower pops up...
  15. wtimothyholman

    Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates

    It's good to see that manufacturers are responding to the 3M-style printed plates that lack contrast under 850nm light. This is the way of the future, with LPR cameras switching to 730nm IR or visible light. I have become convinced that the growing number of states that are using the 3M plates...
  16. wtimothyholman

    Wanted - a car alarm for people who refuse to lock their doors

    No, I’m just trying to provide some advice to people who keep complaining about the same problem over and over again. I rarely have door checkers on my street anymore. I can’t be certain if my own camera system is responsible for that, but there does seem to be a correlation.
  17. wtimothyholman

    Wanted - a car alarm for people who refuse to lock their doors

    The problem with the Viper systems is exactly the same problem with professional security cameras - one out of 1000 people will go to the effort and expense of installing them. I've done a little reading and I'm wondering if something like this might be worth recommending to neighbors...
  18. wtimothyholman

    Wanted - a car alarm for people who refuse to lock their doors

    But is there a specific brand or model that you're aware of that advertises this feature? I'd like to point people to a specific company or product. When I mention car alarms to most people, their reply is, "The alarm won't go off until they break the window. What good does that do me?"
  19. wtimothyholman

    Wanted - a car alarm for people who refuse to lock their doors

    People will certainly ignore a car alarm in a parking lot. On a residential street in the middle of the night, not so much. At least on the videos I've watched, a loud alarm sends thieves scurrying off in an instant. If people choose to leave their doors unlocked, so be it. But a loud alarm...
  20. wtimothyholman

    Wanted - a car alarm for people who refuse to lock their doors

    Given the huge variety of third-party vehicle alarms available today, I want to save some time by inquiring with the IPcamtalk crowd. Here's the issue: a great many people in some high-crime neighborhoods near me have essentially given up on locking their car doors. In their minds, it's worth...
  21. wtimothyholman

    UFOs, Extraterrestrials, Advanced Technology and Other Associated Weirdness

    Actually, it's magic smoke, as any electrical engineer can tell you. If you hook up the power incorrectly, the smoke will come out and your PC will stop working. ;)
  22. wtimothyholman

    UFOs, Extraterrestrials, Advanced Technology and Other Associated Weirdness

    I always enjoy memes about exponential technological progress posted by people who probably think that magic fairy dust is what makes their computers run. I doubt that Shannen Michaela could multiply or divide without a calculator, much less grasp what “exponential” means.
  23. wtimothyholman

    Stranger Danger: Side-by-side captures of Ring/Arlo/Nest vs Better Cameras

    My answer to any person who asked me to stop putting up cameras would be "No" with a smile. If pressed, I would rattle off the instances of the felons who have been arrested thanks to my cameras, including the two miscreants from Kentucky who were stealing multiple catalytic converters in the...
  24. wtimothyholman

    2nd Amendment thread

    Eliminating the Electoral College would still require a constitutional amendment, so it would get no more traction than an amendment to repeal the 2nd Amendment. There is simply no way that 38 states will approve an amendment that effectively makes a minority of states the arbiter of all...
  25. wtimothyholman

    UFOs, Extraterrestrials, Advanced Technology and Other Associated Weirdness

    I haven't commented because I honestly am completely uninterested in UFO reports. After decades and decades of reports that have universally amounted to absolutely nothing in my lifetime, I have no expectations of that ever changing. Human minds and senses are notoriously easy to deceive...
  26. wtimothyholman

    UFOs, Extraterrestrials, Advanced Technology and Other Associated Weirdness

    It's laughable. They're on the phone describing these alien creatures in their backyard, and it doesn't occur to anyone to take a photo or record a video? It doesn't pass the smell test, no matter how "sincere" they may sound. My guess is that they saw the meteor or whatever it was in the...
  27. wtimothyholman

    UFOs, Extraterrestrials, Advanced Technology and Other Associated Weirdness

    Belief in alien life is not irrational. Given the size of the observable universe, there is undoubtedly life somewhere else besides Earth. How much of that life is intelligent, or capable of developing a technological civilization, is open to speculation depending on the values you plug into...
  28. wtimothyholman

    UFOs, Extraterrestrials, Advanced Technology and Other Associated Weirdness

    As a counterpoint to the Tubi documentary, I would recommend reading the following: The Selling of the Travis Walton "Abduction" Story That site contains multiple first-person accounts of peoples' interactions with Travis Walton, his brother, and the other purported witnesses. Of particular...
  29. wtimothyholman

    UFOs, Extraterrestrials, Advanced Technology and Other Associated Weirdness

    There are an infinite number of post-hoc theories one can toss out to explain illogical, contradictory, or missing evidence based on unsubstantiated stories. If the aliens can create inorganic avatars, then why bother duplicating their own bodies, instead of creating human bodies that would...
  30. wtimothyholman

    UFOs, Extraterrestrials, Advanced Technology and Other Associated Weirdness

    UFOlogy is nothing if not a pseudoscience, and one of the primary characteristics of pseudoscience is that the effect that is claimed to exist fades into the noise as better instruments are applied to attempt to measure it. The world is awash in portable high-resolution cameras, yet UFOs images...
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