Search results

  1. wtimothyholman

    Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates

    I would much rather see a 730nm or warm white light version of the -Z12E camera. A friend of mine has tested the built-in ANPR function in the Dahua ITC413-PW4D-Z3, and found that external LPR software (i.e. Rekor Scout) did a much better job of reading plates. He was completely unimpressed...
  2. wtimothyholman

    Ring no longer allows unrestriced Police access

    I think the reason Amazon stopped this program was because it wasn't working. Residents had to agree to allow the police access. I'll bet only a very tiny fraction of Ring users ever bothered to grant that permission. Plus, as a cop I spoke to explained to me, there was no point. He'd just...
  3. wtimothyholman

    UFOs, Extraterrestrials, Advanced Technology and Other Associated Weirdness

    And of course, who you go hunting, it has to be in person. :)
  4. wtimothyholman

    UFOs, Extraterrestrials, Advanced Technology and Other Associated Weirdness

    He's a professor at Harvard. It goes with the territory. :) Most of his colleagues in astrophysics completely disagree with his opinions, but they can't outright dismiss someone from Harvard. Loeb absolutely believes that earth is at least being surveilled by extraterrestrials, and his...
  5. wtimothyholman

    Mailbox Jacked, Camera Disguise Questions

    The last thing you should be concerned about is being thought of as "that guy". First of all, most people won't even notice the cameras in the trees. Second, the people who may think you are a bit weird are also the same people who will come to you for help when they are victimized. Embrace...
  6. wtimothyholman

    Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates

    "Yet" being the operative word. I think the use of 3M printed plates is a growing trend in a lot of states. Even if Texas plates are still readable at 850nm, you'll still find yourself missing plates from other states. I think that 730/740nm IR, or warm white light illumination, is the wave...
  7. wtimothyholman

    Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates

    As it turns out, a fellow resident here in Nashville has purchased two -Z3 cameras to set up a custom LPR system for his neighborhood. He has the budget and know-how to install them, and I've been providing some advice to him. He has promised to provide me with some images once they're up and...
  8. wtimothyholman

    Is Rekor Scout still the best option?

    Then I can only assume that he has his own internal web server running, and Rekor Scout doesn't phone home otherwise.
  9. wtimothyholman

    Is Rekor Scout still the best option?

    You may fool the agent into working on a PC, but the agent uploads license and thumbnail metadata from your cameras into Rekor's servers. They would know in an instant if you have an unauthorized camera running. Of course, you could run your own web server and point your agent at that server...
  10. wtimothyholman

    An LPR success story

    I contacted the Assistant DA who prosecuted the case to find out exactly why the gun charge was dropped, and why the felonies were reduced to misdemeanors. Here's what he told me: (1) The "Felon in Possession of a Gun" charge was dropped because his felony charge in Kentucky was resolved as a...
  11. wtimothyholman

    An LPR success story

    What is particularly frustrating is that that one of them was a convicted felon carrying a gun when they were arrested with my neighbor's catalytic converter. That should have resulted in a mandatory prison sentence. What happened instead was that the gun charge was dropped, and the felony...
  12. wtimothyholman

    An LPR success story

    A final report on this crime: today the District Attorney's office allowed the two catalytic converter thieves to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of theft and vandalism. Both received a one-year suspended sentence, with restitution for my neighbor's out of pocket expenses. My neighbor...
  13. wtimothyholman

    Is Rekor Scout still the best option?

    I've been using Rekor Scout for a few years. The original developer of OpenALPR (Matt Hill) left Rekor last year, and seems to be semi-retired and working on open source projects. Despite that, Rekor has been upgrading Scout. The latest client (4.1.7) definitely has improved accuracy...
  14. wtimothyholman

    Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates

    Not only would this feature save power, it would also provide much better nighttime images with reduced (or eliminated) motion blurring. Even discrete LEDs can easily be strobed at tens of kilohertz, well beyond what would be needed for a security camera. It would be a very simple and obvious...
  15. wtimothyholman

    Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates

    You are correct, but it's a self-defeating tactic. Any type of cover over a license plate is strictly illegal where I live. So these people who think they're being clever, and outwitting the "man" by obscuring their plates, are doing nothing more than giving the police all the justification...
  16. wtimothyholman

    Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates

    That I don't know yet. Tennessee only has rear plates, so I'll have to wait until I can record a front plate from another state.
  17. wtimothyholman

    Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates

    There's not much I can do about that. However, I've always had bugs swarming around my porch lights in the summer, and they rarely have caused problems with my cameras.
  18. wtimothyholman

    Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates

    To give everyone an idea of how it will work, below is a photo made tonight from the illuminator mounted below my camera, with the camera operating in daytime mode. For this test the illuminator is running at continuous output, which means it is too bright. Fortunately I now have a current mode...
  19. 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.
  20. 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.
  21. 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...
  22. 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...
  23. 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...
  24. 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.
  25. 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...
  26. 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...
  27. 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...
  28. 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...
  29. 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...
  30. 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.
Top