License Plate Camera help

[TiredOfEggs 0]

Hey all, new to the forum and looking to expand my knowledge.

 

A little background- You can skip to the Astricks below if you want to skip the background. We had one of our cars get egged back in April, which prompted me to upgrade the cameras because I could not see to the street. One of my security vendors recommended a TVI system because I already had coax in place and the price was reasonable for what I got.

 

I was very happy with with system until end of July they came back and got the house. Hoping it was a one time thing, I let it go. Then last week, I got it again, house got egged. I talked to my vendor about options and he suggested a license plate camera. I ran some wires to the tree in front and put a Dome camera until it arrived. The next night I got it again. Dome camera picked up some good info, but not enough. They stay in the street and it's about 70-80 feet to the camera and pitch black.

 

I went ahead and ordered a LPC on amazon while waiting for my vendor to get me mine. It arrives Monday, they come back Monday and stop perfectly in frame of the camera. I call the cops, and the kids get busted. Paid off.

 

Forward to today, I get my "better" camera from my vendor, set it up and it's already reading pretty well out of the box. The amazon one I really had to tweak all the settings.

 

*My issue- I can't get close enough to the street. The camera is placed on the tree, which is a good, guessing, 50 feet perpendicular from the close curb of the street. These TVI cameras are rated at about 50 feet. Does anyone have experience with these things? Am I better off with more angle, but a closer read or further read at less of an angle? I can point it down the street some, but I would be reading over 100 feet away then.

 

The system works well as long as the vehicle is stopped or under 10 mph. I can read the plates then. However, if they zoom past the camera and stop in the dead zone, I won't get anything.

 

I found out my TVI system can handle 2 x IP cameras so that is my next step. I think these things are 2mp, and the IP ones are rated up to 4MP. That should help quite a bit I imagine. The ones on the house, which are aimed within 40 feet of the house are fine. It's when I have to pick up details in the middle of the street from these dang kids that I need something a little more. The police caught the 3 kids based on the plate I picked up. I didn't press charges, but they have to appear in front of the village next month. They are Juveniles so probably just some community service. I am glad I got them, but I was lucky that they stopped where they did. I want to be able to sleep a little better knowing I can pick up the plates a little better.

 

Any suggestions? Am I asking too much from my system? The readers work awesome when directly behind the vehicle, because I tested it out with my truck. Unfortunately, they cut all our park way trees down last year so I have no place closer to mount it.

 

Appreciate the help and hopefully they learned their lesson.

[TiredOfEggs 0]

See attached picture of what I am contending with. The green lines are how they are currently aimed. I tested last night and I can pick up my plates as long as I am going under 10 mph or stopped. But it's hard to read while moving. The purple arrows are where the car usually stops. The red lines are to get the minimum angle , but the distance is so far that I don't think I would be able to read the plates @ 2mp. The yellow circle is another tree on the property that is roughly 5-7 feet closer to the street.

 

Right now the angle is terrible, but pointed at what should be their slowest speed.

 

Any suggestions on how to get the best reading?

[tube tech 1]

I can't see enough to prescribe a precise plan, but what I like to do is get clever: put up a big rural mailbox, put the camera in that, right out on the street. put a camera and DVR in a bird house or trash can, something that has a valid reason to be at the curb. it does not need to be a permanent structure, just an appropriate structure