Re: [OT?] Speed Trap help

["Simon Rafferty" <simonr@xxxxxxx>]

Rather than using a radar gun why not use a heavy duty rubber mat with a
couple of inductive loops in, or bury the loops in the road. This is what
many police forces are doing now. The police car then plugs itself into
these loops (small grey posts set in lay-byes) and points its video Vascar
camera at the point on the road where the loops are. Simple time over
distance measurement allows the vascar unit to determine the speed between
the two loops and if the offending vehicle exceeds this it captures its
details.
The mats and loops are commercially available and, I should imagine, are
considerably cheaper than a radar gun. I know that our local authority just
installed a speed sign with a radar built into it that illuminates when you
approach at excess speed and that cost 18k.

Simon
----- Original Message -----
From: Hawes,Timothy Edward (GEG)
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2003 2:07 PM
Subject: [ukha_d] [OT?] Speed Trap help


Guys,

Not sure if this is strictly OT, see what you think :-)

I'm investigating a low-cost speed trap idea for non-public roads, a couple
of recent serious near-misses has spurred me into action. What I was hoping
to do was use a handheld radar gun on which I could pre-set a 'trigger'
speed, then if the vehicle exceeds the trigger, a frame is grabbed from a
digital camera.

Trouble is, I can't seem to find a radar gun with a relay output. Googling
found one with an RS232 port, but I was hoping for something a bit simpler
(if indeed the speed can even be passed real-time over the RS232
connection).

The frame-grab side I think I can sort, either by Gotcha (or similar), or
an Axis camera and a VIOM board etc. it's really finding a cost effective
way of getting the trigger that's stumping me ATM.

Any thoughts ? Promise to put whatever I find in the FAQ :-)

Thanks,

Tim H.

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