What can a citizen do with license plate data?

[Rebelx]

Hey man, OT question but do you earn money from your light show? It sounds like a professional gig with unbelievable effort and man power on your part!

btw, do you think you could use high end PTZ cameras with the NVR that has face ID? I saw that some of the Dahua NVR models offer this. Not sure how good it works though. Then you may not even need to talk to them to know who they are!

 

[Greg Castiglione]

I spent over $5000 per year every year for 10 years. The light show was always free for anyone to view. On a good night we would have 500 cars with anywhere from 1-8 people per car. We did encourage people to bring a toy for toys for tots and we did collect food for our church's Christmas food drive. Every year we were on the local TV station and a few years the TV station sent out their helicoptor to broadcast the light show from 500 feet up.

I gave out 5000 full size candy canes per year always free. Nobody makes money doing this. We all do this for the enjoyment in brings our viewers. It's a rich mans hobby. But it is very addictive. For six weeks of the year, I feel like a rock star. Everybody is so appreciative. I had all the correct and necessary recourses to do this. That's why we were very successful. You must have industrial electronics knowledge and fully understand physics. I needed a team of 10 but got by with a team of 3

I recently converted over from NTSC analog 'coax' type cameras to IP cameras. Most of the time it was NTSC PTZ analog cameras. They still worked perfect.

You are right about the unbelievable effort. Its a labor of love. Almost every weekend we spent doing something regarding our show. Building...testing...replacing. It only ended when my boys grew up and moved out of the house.

I use a combination of Amcrest, and Lorex outdoor cameras. Still, when light levels are low and it's dark out, resolution and color disappear regardless of what Lorex calls 'nocturnal cameras' that can see color in the dark. That's baloney. When it's dark out, ALL cameras suffer from lower quality. --Greg--

 

[Rebelx]

It's a rich mans hobby.

Excellent to see that you are using your wealth in a positive manner.

Thanks for your explanation and information!

 

[J Sigmo]

Are you a member of doityourselfchristmas.com?

Lots of amazing technology on that site!

 

[Greg Castiglione]

Yes, I am. that is one of a few that I use on a regular basis. There are many more. --Greg--

 

[J Sigmo]

A programmer where I used to work wasn't too well versed in the hardware side of things and asked me to assemble a batch of one their group-buy circuit boards for him. They were reasonably well designed, and not too badly laid out.

This was around ten years ago, and I was amazed at how far a lot of these people get into this hobby. Some of the members there had written their own software to design and coordinate the lighting and other effects timing to match music, etc. It was sort of an eye opener for someone who wasn't familiar with it all.

Pretty cool, actually. I do think folks get a lot of enjoyment out of viewing these shows. And it's a neat hobby for those setting up and presenting them.