Making a reflective focus target for LPR setup

[SyconsciousAu]

Thought I would share how I made a reflective CCTV focus target to help me set up the focus on my LPR cameras.

You will need the following items

A printer. I used a laser but an inkjet will probably work too.

Some paper, either A4 or US Letter

Some reflective tape

Brutus 50mm x 10m Reflective Safety Tape

Find Brutus 50mm x 10m Reflective Safety Tape at Bunnings. Visit your local store for the widest range of products.

www.bunnings.com.au

A CCTV Focus Target file - Two are attached

Start by cutting four or five pieces of tape the length of the paper.

Stick the pieces of tape to the paper until it is covered, or mostly covered in reflective tape. Four pieces will just about cover an A4 sheet and because of the margins in the file they are enough.

Put the paper with the tape on it in your printer and print the CCTV focus target onto the taped side.

You may have to do this twice. I printed the image twice as it did not come out dark enough for my liking on the first try. You could also turn up the darkness setting in your printer options.

Here are my results.

At 1/50s




At 1/2000s

 

[DLONG2]

Here is a comparable size reflective tape available at AMZN, although I can't vouch for whether it can be printed upon:

https://www.amazon.com/AISEY-Reflective-Safety-Warning-Stickers/dp/B071W3JJDV

 

[SyconsciousAu]

Here is a comparable size reflective tape available at AMZN, although I can't vouch for whether it can be printed upon:

https://www.amazon.com/AISEY-Reflective-Safety-Warning-Stickers/dp/B071W3JJDV

It's pretty generic stuff

CROC Grip 10 m x 50mm White Reflective Tape 00807 - The Home Depot

Durable and chemical and oil resistant, this White and Red Reflective Safety Tape can be mounted in any direction and still perform perfectly giving motorists and other road users sufficient visibility

www.homedepot.com

 

[DavidDavid]

Pretty neat. Wouldn't an old and new license plate work well too?

 

[DLONG2]

Pretty neat. Wouldn't an old and new license plate work well too?

Good point. A printed target posted on a neighbor's fence can be more discreet than a plate, I am guessing!

 

[SyconsciousAu]

Pretty neat. Wouldn't an old and new license plate work well too?

It would, but unfortunately you can't keep number plates where I live because you never actually own them. They all belong to our equivalent of your DMV, and unless they are on a car, you have to give them back. If your registration expires you also have to give them back. If you don't the Police will take them off your car and return them for you, usually with a large return fee.

Good point. A printed target posted on a neighbor's fence can be more discreet than a plate, I am guessing!

You can also make several of them to check every point of your capture zone at once so you aren't hunting focus.

 

[Old Timer]

I used a couple pieces of reflective tape vertical with black electrical tape horizontal about every inch up the reflective tape.

Stuck the tape on the neighbors fence post. About 2 years later, my neighbor asked me if I knew about it, so I had to tell him.
He drove past it for 2 years, and never noticed it until he had to fix the fence.

 

[DavidDavid]

Interesting. I've got the rear plate of all my previous vehicles hanging on the wall of my barn. There's even a license plate nailed to a door of my house that must be covering a hole or something. It's been painted over dozens of times I'm sure and I never noticed it until I was down on the ground replacing the floor. (the house is 144 years old, I certainly didn't add the license plate to the door, but one of the many owners before me did. I've found lots of weird things while working on it, unfortunately no bags of money hidden anywhere.... yet....)

 

[Old Timer]

Interesting. I've got the rear plate of all my previous vehicles hanging on the wall of my barn. There's even a license plate nailed to a door of my house that must be covering a hole or something. It's been painted over dozens of times I'm sure and I never noticed it until I was down on the ground replacing the floor. (the house is 144 years old, I certainly didn't add the license plate to the door, but one of the many owners before me did. I've found lots of weird things while working on it, unfortunately no bags of money hidden anywhere.... yet....)

Those loose floor boards you covered up, the moneys under there.

 

[DavidDavid]

Unfortunately I know exactly what is underneath the floorboards and it isn't money, it's spiders. Lots and lots of spiders. One that even crawled down my arm 45 minutes after I came inside after spending an hour or two under there. I spent way to many hours in the 18" of space between the dirt and the house jacking an area up that was sagging 3" and making other repairs.

 

[bradner]

It would, but unfortunately you can't keep number plates where I live because you never actually own them. They all belong to our equivalent of your DMV, and unless they are on a car, you have to give them back. If your registration expires you also have to give them back. If you don't the Police will take them off your car and return them for you, usually with a large return fee.



You can also make several of them to check every point of your capture zone at once so you aren't hunting focus.

Funny you say that because a friend of mine collects plates from various countries and when I was in Japan, I asked a shopkeeper about buying a car license plate and the guy looked at me in shock and said "why would you want one, only criminals would want one" LOL.... I was so used to buying used plates that i never thought of that. I never did get one from Japan.