I would love to do that but my HOA won't allow that. Everyone has the same mailbox.
which camera for LPR at a distance of 215ft?
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CCTVCam
Known around here
- Sep 25, 2017
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HOA's are a pain in the US. Your system is seriously corrupt. Over here you can do pretty much anything to your property unless the development substancially alters it's appearance or exceeds a certain size re;ative to the original building, in which case you need planning permission. eg. I just had a 60 ft x 6ft high stone walll built down the side of my property, (result of a car crash into the lower one that was there prior), with no permission needed. Same with the black slate number plaque I put on the end of the wall. I could have stuck a Donald Duck one on there had I wanted although my neighbours might have complained about that one!
HOA's have there pluses and minuses. Not all neighborhoods have HOAs. I do think they have too much power. If you don't follow the rules, or the dues, they can put a lien on your house and sell it.
bigredfish
Known around here
But two things
1- You should know the HOA rules and covenants before you buy there
2- HOA’s aren’t some autonomous governing body. They are volunteers from the community. You can and should participate in your HOA
1- You should know the HOA rules and covenants before you buy there
2- HOA’s aren’t some autonomous governing body. They are volunteers from the community. You can and should participate in your HOA
sebastiantombs
Known around here
LOL. Trust me, I know. I've been cited for leaving my trash can outside, for being too messy under my deck, for too many weeds in my flower bed, for missing my house number on my mailbox, and for an area of dirty siding. The HOA hired a management company who has "agents" that walked around on occasion to spot "violators". Luckily, we switched to a new management company and the rules have been more lenient.
I'm going to place my LPR camera somewhat behind an arborvitae tree so that it is not too conspicuous. Probably will have to install a 4x4 post to mount it on.
CCTVCam
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- Sep 25, 2017
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I can see the value in maintainging a nice neighbourhood, but many US HOA's sound like natzis, I mean can sell your home because you leave your trash can outside too often? Can fine you for weeds in your flower bed? In the UK for trash cans, local authorities make the law and I believe in my and many areas, theoretically there's a fine if you leave it out for more than 24 hours after a pick up, although I've never heard of anyone getting fined. As for what you do under your deck or in your flower beds, up to you over here. Ultimately may be some action in nuisance if eg have a garden full of old tryres, but pretty much can do what you want with your own home subject to nay restrictive covenants and even then, for mostmatters, no one is going to enforce them.
The Z12E arrived today. So I went outside and dug a hole and put in a 4x4 post to mount the camera. The camera will be mounted 3.6' high. The concrete is drying/curing now. Should be ready in a couple days. In the mean time, I'm pre-staging my camera.
I added it to BI but can't seem to get BI to control zoom. I realize that this is not super important as I can still control zoom via the camera GUI, but it would be nice if it worked with BI. I searched the forum and other sites but the tips were not successful. I didn't find any examples exactly for the 5241e-z12e. Has anyone had luck with zoom controls in BI for this camera model?
I added it to BI but can't seem to get BI to control zoom. I realize that this is not super important as I can still control zoom via the camera GUI, but it would be nice if it worked with BI. I searched the forum and other sites but the tips were not successful. I didn't find any examples exactly for the 5241e-z12e. Has anyone had luck with zoom controls in BI for this camera model?
Better make the setting via the webpage of this camera.
ipcamtalk.com
LPR with a pair of IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E
So I picked up a pair of the IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E cameras from Andy last week and installed them a few days ago. I live on the outside turn of a small circle so I needed to have a pair of these as a lot of people do not have front plates around here it seems like. I have only just started...
All of the camera settings needs to be completed in the camera GUI. It will be a digital zoom in BI and not optical, especially more so since it is being used for LPR purposes.
I stumbled on a way with another camera to do that optical, but it messes up all the other settings in the GUI, so it is recommended to make all camera changes within the GUI.
Thanks Andy and wittaj. Good advice. I'll just use the camera UI since I should not have to change it much. Any zoom & focus changes later will be done via API when switching between night and day.
Some updates. I setup OpenALPRd as mentioned in another post. LPR setup guide using openALPRd (open-source install - FREE option)
I tried different locations and it appears that I'm getting better results from OpenALPRd when there is less of an angle. So I'm going to keep my target distance at around 200ft as described in my OP. The only issue is that while daytime pics are getting decent results, night pics struggle because I'm not getting enough light. Also dawn and dust pics are not clear either. I'm in the process of adding an illuminator to see if I can get more light out to my target. Here are some samples from this morning of pics which OpenALPRd has gotten the plates correct. (only posting commercial vehicles for privacy reasons). This are from the web gui (openALPRd snapshots).
I tried different locations and it appears that I'm getting better results from OpenALPRd when there is less of an angle. So I'm going to keep my target distance at around 200ft as described in my OP. The only issue is that while daytime pics are getting decent results, night pics struggle because I'm not getting enough light. Also dawn and dust pics are not clear either. I'm in the process of adding an illuminator to see if I can get more light out to my target. Here are some samples from this morning of pics which OpenALPRd has gotten the plates correct. (only posting commercial vehicles for privacy reasons). This are from the web gui (openALPRd snapshots).
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looney2ns
IPCT Contributor
Yes, on the PTZ tab for the camera in BI, try one of the three Dahua settings, instead of ONVIF. Make sure that the PTZ option is checked on that same page.
The dusk/dawn time frame is always a tough time for capturing. I have mine zoom in at night time (and 30 min before sunrise and 30min before sunset) as a larger plate seems to have better results, but you might be maxed out on zoom at that point?
@wittaj , Yes, I'm at max zoom. Here is the exact direction. Unfortunately there is a neighbor's tree so I can't point to the middle of the intersection.
The blue arrow indicates the where I plan to add an illuminator. It will be at the base of a tree next to an LED uplight. Hopefully the glare from the uplight will hide the red light from the illuminator.
The blue arrow indicates the where I plan to add an illuminator. It will be at the base of a tree next to an LED uplight. Hopefully the glare from the uplight will hide the red light from the illuminator.
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@reflection - yea, so you will probably have to deal with sunrise/sunset being problematic. Hopefully the offline IR will help.
I wonder if those trees are blocking some of the IR from getting that far out and/or maybe causing an issue at night - I wouldn't think so given the distance, but something possibly.
Any night shots you can post for us to look at and see if we see or can offer any suggestions.
I wonder if those trees are blocking some of the IR from getting that far out and/or maybe causing an issue at night - I wouldn't think so given the distance, but something possibly.
Any night shots you can post for us to look at and see if we see or can offer any suggestions.
The line of sight goes under the branches as you can see in the photos. I don't think the branches are blocking the IR.
The night shots are human readable, but ALPRd gets them wrong. Thoughts to improve this? It should be better with supplemental IR.
The night shots are human readable, but ALPRd gets them wrong. Thoughts to improve this? It should be better with supplemental IR.
bigredfish
Known around here
shutter is 1/500. Any faster and it's too dark at that distance. The intersection helps because people have to slow down.
HCL is on and set to 50
iris is set to 50
Let me try to add some more IR and report back to you guys.