lpr camera not seeing my ir illuminator

[bobbyb 0]

I covertly installed a Bosch AN traffic 4000 lpr camera in my mail box. I have the ir emitters that are built into the camera turned off so that it doesnt attract insects and attention from passers by. I purchased a ir illumiator and mounted it on my house that illuminates the target area very well. Both devices state that they are 850nm in ir output but the lpr camera does not see the light from the illuminator. The camera does work great with its buillt in ir leds.

The ir illuminator that i puchased is a LTS LTIR150.

Is it possible to add a separate ir illuminator to this camera? Is the camera not working with the illuminator because of a different ir wavelength or is there something Im totally overlooking?

Thanks for any and all help, Bobby.

[ssnapier 0]

How far is the house from the mailbox? Is it possible that you are simply not getting enough beam concentration to be useful? I have used that LTS illuminator before with great success, but only up to about 50 feet.

[Kawboy12R 0]

How did you turn off the cam's IR? I've never used that camera but is it possible that you turned the built-in IR off by putting it in day mode? It won't see IR at all in day (colour) mode.

[bobbyb 0]

Thanks guys for the replies. I figured it out. I took the license plate off of the car and put it in a dark room. I lit it up with a flashlight that I held near my head. It reflected back nicely. I then held the flashlight off to the side of my head and lit the plate up but there was not reflection. Its like when you shine a light into a animals eyes straight on, they glow.

 

It looks like lpr cameras need to have the Ir light source very near the lens facing the same direction to get the light to reflect back off of the plate and into the lens.

 

I ended up cutting the hole out bigger in the mailbox to get the entire face of the camera flush with the side for the ir leds to be unobstructed.

The ir emitters are adjustable in output from off to levels 1-10. I set the ir output to 1. The red glow at 1 is still pretty visable. I unscrewed the tinted glass off of the camera and put 4 layers of window tint between the irs and the glass. The ir glow is now pretty faint. I have not tested it yet but Im sure it will work fine. The camera is about 40 feet from the prime target area.

[dvarapala 0]

The tinting idea may or may not work, depending on which wavelengths the tint you used filters out. Chances are if it makes the red glow go away then it's filtering IR light; less light means less usable image from your camera.

 

Do let us know how well it works and which kind of tint you used.

[buellwinkle 0]

Post some sample pictures of plates.

[bobbyb 0]

The Bosch lpr cameras ir level set at 2 with 4 layers of dark static cling window tint.

I bought the tint at lowes a couple years ago and had some scraps in my garage. I didnt keep the box so I dont know what brand it is.

You cannot see any ir glow from the camera while slowly driving down the street at night looking directly at the camera.

The shutter speed set at 500th sec.

The cars usually travel at about 25-35 mph.

[bobbyb 0]

Another

[bobbyb 0]

Another

[bobbyb 0]

Daytime

[bobbyb 0]

I also use a Speco Intensifier camera to get the make, model, and color.

[bobbyb 0]

This pic shows the mail box location. My house numbers are reflecting back.

It also shows the LTIR150 ir illuminator and how its lighting up the house and trees across the street, about 200 feet away. The circle of light around the street light is from the illuminator not the street light.

The camera used here is a cheap 540 line Swann ir bullet camera purchased at Walmart. Cost was like $55 for a 2 pack.

I trenched and laid conduit under under my walkway, through my yard, under the side walk and up through the mailbox post.

The mailbox post is two 2x6s and a single 2x4 screwed together. It is cemented into the ground with 2 50 lb bags of concrete about 2 ft deep to keep the mailbox from moving in the wind and causing false motion recordings.

[dvarapala 0]

[Kingram 0]

Can you post some pictures of the mailbox camera and and link where to purchase ?

Thanks

[ssnapier 0]

Oh man, I wish I had known the angle of that illumination on my first answer. Yes your IR must be at or very near (within 5 degrees) the same angle as the lens for the very reasons you figured out.

[lowpro 0]

Nice work! Can you post a picture of the mailbox? Thanks!

[RandyParlee 0]

Are you able to read all of the plates? If not, what do you figure your success rate is?

[bobbyb 0]

I purchased the camera here. https://www.123securityproducts.com/vlr-4075-v521.html

 

With the cameras ir emitters turned on the success rate is about 100 percent. There has only been 1 car with a license plate cover that was very dirty with road salt spray that gave me problems. I only have the ir light output of the camera at 25 percent with 4 layers of tint added so its probably more like 5 percent. I live on a dead end street so all traffic going past my house must drive the opposite way with the rear plate in the cameras sweet spot.

 

I bought the extra large mail box from Lowes for 25 bucks.

 

The camera comes white. I painted the front black to hide it better. I used black caulk around the camera to seal it. I put a 3/4 in wood partition between the camera and the mail box opening so you cant see the camera or wires frome inside the box.

 

The bottom back 3 inches or so of the mailbox was cut out to aid with the installation of the camera and to help adjust the zoom and focus along with the connecting of wires. I have a piece of wood that covers the cut out area under the mailbox to keep insects and birds from getting in.

 

The camera is angled towards the street on purpose to get the best shot.

I used small blocks of wood to wedge the camera in place were i wanted it and shot screws through the outside of the mail box into the wood blocks.

 

One very important thing to note is that I had to cut the camera mounting bracket off with a cut off wheel to get the camera to fit in the mailbox. It doesnt fit with it on and it doesnt just screw off, I cut it off.

 

I spent around $750.00 on this project. Trenching wires and laying conduit under the walkways was a pain in the but. My neighbors probably think Im crazier than a coo coo clock for messing around with my mail box so dang much

[bobbyb 0]

Pic

[lowpro 0]

That is freakin' awesome! " title="Applause" />

[dvarapala 0]

You, sir, are an inspiration. " title="Applause" />

[bobbyb 0]

Thanks guys for the comments.

It didnt go exactly as I planned. I wanted the entire camera inside the mail box with only a 1.5 inch hole visable from the side but the external ir illuminator mounted on the house just didnt work as I hoped because of the angle.

Im really pleased with the images the camera is producing and feel that a lpr camera is a great tool to have.

[ssnapier 0]

is there a panel in there to protect the camera/ wires from the mailman?

[buellwinkle 0]

Cool idea. Wish I can do that, but I can't modify the mailbox as it's maintained by our homeowner's association.

[Mrwesley 0]

I have a problem and am trying see if this will work as an option.

I installed a Messoa 5 15 Prof 20 LPR camera. The infrared does not work. Board is burned out.

Does anyone know if I can install a separate infrared illuminator so the camera will capture license plate at about 150 feet?