Search results

  1. wtimothyholman

    Settings

    Do you mean that your ALPR camera is now somehow working with the new TN plates? Or that you're starting to see them in your area, and you want to see how your ALPR camera is performing?
  2. wtimothyholman

    Settings

    Yep, they'll be replacing drywall and baseboards in my workshop and the laundry room. Fortunately no carpet was affected, but they may have to rip up some tile.
  3. wtimothyholman

    Settings

    It has truly sucked. I've been waiting weeks for the repairs to be scheduled. Every company that does this type of flooding repair / recovery has a backlog of at least two months.
  4. wtimothyholman

    Settings

    Case in point: here's an image from my cameras with 850nm illumination. This was one of the rare plates that Rekor Scout was able to capture, but the plate still wasn't read correctly.
  5. wtimothyholman

    Settings

    Unfortunately, except for the lack of zoom, those plate images are about as good as you're going to get. The contrast between the letters and the background is terrible under 850nm infrared light with the new TN plates. The solution is to switch to white light LEDs using custom illuminators...
  6. wtimothyholman

    Daylight saving hour change, all OK for you?

    We are back to standard time now. And personally I hate getting up at 6 a.m. with it being pitch black outside, and having to wait more than an hour until the sun rises. For every person who wants permanent DST, you'll find another who wants permanent standard time. I get a lot of work done...
  7. wtimothyholman

    Daylight saving hour change, all OK for you?

    The problem is that the Senate bill puts us on permanent Daylight Savings Time, which won't last more than a couple of years before we switch back again. Permanent DST seems like a great idea in the summer. In the winter, people up north are going to be commuting to work and sending their kids...
  8. wtimothyholman

    Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates

    Not yet. I've got all the components, but my office and workspace are still a disaster from the broken water pipe. It'll be at least another month before the drywall and baseboards are replaced, and I can put everything back together. It is very difficult to get skilled craftsmen for any...
  9. wtimothyholman

    An LPR success story

    The latest update: I've been subpoenaed to appear in court again on Dec. 14. The court docket says "Trial" for both defendants.
  10. wtimothyholman

    Dahua Thermal Cams showing up All over

    The local hospital near me had thermal cameras at every entrance, along with people enforcing mask protocol. The mask protocol is still being enforced, but the cameras are long gone. I was told that they were too unreliable to be useful, and were mothballed. Someone spent a lot of money on a...
  11. wtimothyholman

    Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates

    I've received the parts, but haven't had a chance to experiment due to a water leak in my office that forced me to disassemble my work benches and move my equipment out of the way. I'm hoping to take a stab at it sometime next week once the area has been dried out and I can move one of my...
  12. wtimothyholman

    Really Bad Car Accident Caught On Camera

    The web site at nicolelintonstory.com is worth perusing. The gist of it is that she has had at least four other episodes where she went manic or "zoned out", and that the accident was one of those episodes. The family is trying to get her bailed out of jail so they can get her diagnosed with a...
  13. wtimothyholman

    Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates

    It could be that a greater distance from the camera is possible. I found it easiest to brace the flashlight against the camera body to ensure that it was parallel, but very careful aiming from several feet away may still provide good results. I will leave that to someone else to try.
  14. wtimothyholman

    Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates

    The LED lamp kit arrives this Saturday. After that I'll start some tests, beginning at full duty cycle with various beam widths and lens types, and see how it performs. I'll keep everyone updated as my testing progresses.
  15. wtimothyholman

    Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates

    In my experiments, it was absolutely essential that the LED be placed parallel to the camera lens, and very close to the camera. In my case I plan to mount the illuminator directly beneath the camera. It should be small and lightweight.
  16. wtimothyholman

    Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates

    Latest update: I am purchasing an LED kit from LEDsupply.com with the goal of modifying it for LPR nighttime color capture. I'll use an NE555 timer board to experiment with different duty cycles for the LED. I won't be certain until I have the kit in hand, but I think that I should be able to...
  17. wtimothyholman

    Really Bad Car Accident Caught On Camera

    I am still going with my original supposition: she was in a manic phase and somehow thought she could thread the needle and steer between the other cars through the intersection, i.e. "If I go fast enough, I'll dodge between those cars!" This latest information would tend to reinforce that.
  18. wtimothyholman

    An LPR success story

    Until this mess happened, it never once occurred to the TN Dept. of Revenue to even talk to law enforcement officers or camera manufacturers about Tennessee plates. Nor did it occur to them to submit sample TN plates for evaluation by the AAMVA. Hopefully that will change in the future, but...
  19. wtimothyholman

    An LPR success story

    I think what it will take is for some company to start selling a competitively priced camera with 740nm or white light illumination sometime in the next six months. Every Flock Safety customer will terminate their contracts and switch over in order to get reliable nighttime LPR again, at which...
  20. wtimothyholman

    An LPR success story

    A police officer I know has talked to a Flock Safety representative and basically told them, "You had the opportunity to fix this problem early on when the new plates were first being deployed, and you blew it. Now you have to deal with the consequences." Flock Safety could have cut a check to...
  21. wtimothyholman

    An LPR success story

    The problem is that Amcrest does not sell LPR cameras. What is their motivation to pressure Dahua to design a 740nm camera? For all of our activity on IPCT, do-it-yourself LPR is a niche business. We're not a big enough market to matter. The ones who should be pressuring Dahua are Flock...
  22. wtimothyholman

    An LPR success story

    The reporter I met did. He got a local police department to bring out their mobile Flock Safety camera and showed that that it was not picking up the blue plates. Flock Safety responded that they were still making software improvements and that everything would be fixed. That was months ago...
  23. wtimothyholman

    An LPR success story

    I have had extensive and ongoing discussions about this matter with a local investigative reporter who has already done several stories about it. Here is the problem: Camera vendors: "There's nothing wrong with our cameras. We'll fix it in software!" Tennessee: "In that case, we're don't...
  24. wtimothyholman

    Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates

    I performed some more experiments tonight, using a cheap LED flashlight I picked up at a trade show giveaway. You can purchase similar LED flashlights on Amazon for less than $5. I set the intensity to maximum and the beam width to the narrowest setting, which gave me a beam that covered the...
  25. wtimothyholman

    An LPR success story

    They might very well have had a bond reduction hearing that my neighbor heard nothing about. But if so, it was done very quickly. They were incarcerated early Tuesday morning, and were apparently out on bail by Friday. Unfortunately the Labor Day weekend did not help with the communication...
  26. wtimothyholman

    An LPR success story

    I just got back from court. Mr. Homeister and Mr. Rizzo both made bond. Mr. Homeister failed to appear in court this morning (surprise!). We were told that no deal had been made with either, and that the intention was to try them as co-defendants. They will probably be scheduled together for...
  27. wtimothyholman

    An LPR success story

    Let's hope Mr. Rizzo does flip and give them up. Nashville has had more than 1000 catalytic converter thefts in 2022 alone. With luck this arrest will at least make a dent.
  28. wtimothyholman

    An LPR success story

    Latest update: unless my neighbor and I hear something different today, it looks like we'll be in court tomorrow morning for the trial of Austin Homeister (the felon caught with the handgun). Larry Rizzo has been moved to an Oct. 14 date, and his court appearance is now listed as "Settlement"...
  29. wtimothyholman

    An LPR success story

    I had a feeling Mr. Williams wasn't going to last here very long after that initial post. :)
  30. wtimothyholman

    Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates

    Unless you line up the LED light so that it is parallel to the direction of the camera, you'll see nothing. That might be your problem. I learned through trial and error just how sensitive the alignment was.
Top Bottom