Safe Speed Forums

Do the MSC's units you get with police camera vans operate at night or only in the daytime?

Also are sat nav speedos virtually 100% accurate?

-Rob

With a clear view of the sky yes, but with buildings around, definitely not.

The satnav on my pushbike is good, but the manufacturer still provides a device to measure speed via wheel rotation and this overrides the satnav signal for speed readings.

However the device also automatically works out the circumference of the wheel based on your speed derived from the satnav, and it gets this millimetre perfect, even accounting for the circumference changing squash you put in the tyre when you sit on the bike apparently.

And Do MSC operate at night after 9?

They can and have operated in darkness (lidar gun [laser] and mobile gatso).

I don't recall anything that prevents them from operating after 9pm.

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

Good point, I've seen a portable gatso device in dorset. Only once though, but it has a flash attached to night isn't an issue.
I saw this green light by the side of the road and thought "What's that? Oh I know what that is..." Brake hard... "Oh I wasn't even speeding anyway."

I believe the main technical reason for not operating lidar at night is nothing to do with the speed detection device, that emits its own laser light, but it is the video camera bolted on to it which would need some light in order to record the numberplates.

Or it might just not be profitable enough...

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Andrew.

Not necessarily. If plod are manning the gun, an offender will get a tug and the details will subsequently be noted.

However,
In the dim and distant past I thought (and I could well be wrong) I had read something about a lidar setup that illuminated the (retro-reflective) number plate (just like ANPR) such that a video camera can indeed capture it.

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

ok lets just clarify





wrong, i have worked cameras at 2 - 3 am, vehicle identification and vrm easily readable,
the new digital concept system is even better i have seen dvd's taken well into darkness with the number plate readable at 200m + on daytime settings,

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now retired

Fairy snuff. However, I should point out the logical flaw that your good experience of night enforcement in itself doesn't preclude others from using such an illuminator ... and LTI do sell them.

Either way, I think the original question has been answered

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

There has to be some light though? Or are we talking about areas with street lighting?

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Andrew.

If a parked up SCP van with an illuminator (which I accept likely isn't used in this county): no lighting is needed at all. All the operator need do is aim at/between the headlights, the rest will be on the video/photo.

If a parked up SCP van with no illuminator: they would likely be relying on street lighting to illuminate the plate for the video. As CO says, I think the optics used (wide effective aperture) will be good enough for good light capture in typical streetlit environments.

If police (with car): no lighting is necessary. They can just pull.

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

If there is no streetlighting it must make it almost imposible for the camera operator to form his prior opinion of a vehicle's speed before applying the laser.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

Seen the vans working up here in the dark. Pretty naff parking by some of them too

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