Licence Plate Cameras

[DiamondWash]

Does anybody have licence plate cameras at their wash? I'm considering installing a couple at our wash. Cameras would be bought from www.carwashcameras.com just for the fact that each time we have had a incident at the wash the person has seen the regular cameras and called to report themselves, so having licence plate cams on the property am I crossing anylines as far as recording licence plates?

 

[washtubman]

Clarify please???

 

[MEP001]

I have a high-res Sony camera pointed at each drive and get most plate numbers entering and leaving. Certaim times of day cause glare, and someone driving too fast at night will be blurred. The DVR ended up being the biggest issue with clarity of image.

I don't know of any issues with recording tag numbers.

 

[bigleo48]

I agree with MEP. You do need a higher resolution camera and good optics, but that will mostly help with stopped cars. If you want to catch a car driving away, you need at higher frame rate and a DVR than can handle the increased processor load.

High power LEDs on a camera will help with the glare and the Auto Iris problems with the car lights that overwhelm it.

It can be done, but expensive...BigLeo

 

[easywash]

Vegas Show

I saw one at the Vegas show. $899 was the show special.... I think it was carwashcameras.com

 

[DiamondWash]

Well I got a good price of $550.00 for a "Tag Shot Jr" cam when I called carwashcameras.com I just wanted to hear from owners that have them installed and what results you have gotten from them as far as tracking down the owner of the vehicle of a incident while going through the proper law enforcement channels of course.

 

[Randy]

Our experience has been nothing will happen if you give the Police a video with a good license plate number. You need a mug shot quality photo of the driver of the vehicle if you want anything to happen.

 

[Red Baron]

Our experience has been nothing will happen if you give the Police a video with a good license plate number. You need a mug shot quality photo of the driver of the vehicle if you want anything to happen.

I handle these things "in house," when I get a tag#. I run it on publicdata.com and 80% of the time that gives me the owners info. Depending on what they did I'll send them a ltter, or call them up and tell them not to set foot on my property again.

 

[MEP001]

I agree with MEP. You do need a higher resolution camera and good optics, but that will mostly help with stopped cars. If you want to catch a car driving away, you need at higher frame rate and a DVR than can handle the increased processor load.

The only problem I've had with moving cars has been the camera. I have the DVR set to 5 fps on the tag camera, but it's often not clear because the camera's electronic iris is trying to capture more light, thus blurring the image. During the day the images are usually completely sharp no matter how fast the car is moving. The camera is mounted right above a light and is 100' from the entrance, so cars entering and leaving are in frame longer.

 

[JustClean]

We've built our own license plate camera. You need a good DVR, a high pixel camera and a strong infrared beamer.
The installation has to be above the car that the lights don't shine into the camera and the beamer has to be so strong to overcome the headlights.
I don't like the number plate cameras that are mounted into the road. Too much hassle (snow, dirt, leaves).
We get around 95% of all number plates day and night. It is set to black and white to get a better picture. At night all you can see is black until a car comes in. Then you only see the number plate. But it is not easy to set it up. Alternatively you go the expensive way and buy a professional one. (I can't find the link but they start at US$1,700 and that's just for the camera alone)

 

[I.B. Washincars]

You might also check with midwestsecuritycameras.com. It is owned by forum member ProCarWashes (FKA Galen). He can probably help you out as well.