3RD NUMBER PLATE?????? (1 Viewer)

flatpackchicken

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As we all know motorhome are prone to being stolen, one small bit of advice I have heard about is have a number plate fitted to the roof of your pride and joy when stolen they change the plates within minutes but never look on the roof
The ANPR cameras along the motorway network on the bridges pick up the plate on the roof hope this small tip helps one of my fellow motorhomers to get thier vans back.
Regards Garry Flatpackchicken
 

pappajohn

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Postcode or reg number PAINTED on the roof.
The police 'eye in the sky' will easily see it.

images.jpg
 
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magicsurfbus

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Often thought about putting the reg number in vinyl stickers on the roof. Must get round to it.

Presumably with the bottom of the letters facing the front of the vehicle to get traffic camera attention?

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Ridgeway

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What about plugging in an old phone on 12v inside the van, easy to find your phone these days and my guess is Mr plod is busy chasing bad guys rather than Ice cream vans.
 
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34127

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If an ANPR camera can't read a number plate that has incorrect letter sizes and spacing then I doubt it will be able to read a number plate lying 90 degrees to the norm. Also the cameras are focussed to read a plate approx. 18" to 36" off the ground and pointing towards the camera, can't imagine it can focus on a plate 8 feet of the ground and at right angles to what it is expecting to see.

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Silver-Fox

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If an ANPR camera can't read a number plate that has incorrect letter sizes and spacing then I doubt it will be able to read a number plate lying 90 degrees to the norm. Also the cameras are focussed to read a plate approx. 18" to 36" off the ground and pointing towards the camera, can't imagine it can focus on a plate 8 feet of the ground and at right angles to what it is expecting to see.


Some lorries run high rear number plates so I'm guessing anpr will ping in most positions.

I read a similar thread somewhere else and an ex officer said flat on the roof is readable (y)
 
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34127

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When the plate is on the front of a vehicle the camera will have quite a while to scan it and will probably only need a fraction of a second to do so but if you have a number plate on the roof (and almost right angles to the camera) of a vehicle travelling at 60 mph then the camera will only see the plate for something less than 1/1000th of a second and I can't imagine they are designed to read that fast. Also the cameras will be programmed to read a number plate of a certain dimension and skew angle or they would end up reading everything on the front and top and rear of the vehicle included names on lorries etc and this would just mean endless unnecessary and invalid readings.
 
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Dorset wanderer

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Some lorries run high rear number plates so I'm guessing anpr will ping in most positions.

I read a similar thread somewhere else and an ex officer said flat on the roof is readable (y)

Ford Transit box van has its plate above the roller shutter

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Dorset wanderer

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Also there are hundreds of M/H with bikes on the back with additional plates about 4' off the ground, also trade plates are often displayed in a window, so guessing these cameras must surely be able to spot these.
 
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34127

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Ford Transit box van has its plate above the roller shutter
Yes I accept that I am incorrect about the height of the number plates and I am no expert in this matter but just looking at the possibility of a camera reading a number on a roof of a vehicle just doesn't seem likely.
 

sdc77

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When the plate is on the front of a vehicle the camera will have quite a while to scan it and will probably only need a fraction of a second to do so but if you have a number plate on the roof (and almost right angles to the camera) of a vehicle travelling at 60 mph then the camera will only see the plate for something less than 1/1000th of a second and I can't imagine they are designed to read that fast. Also the cameras will be programmed to read a number plate of a certain dimension and skew angle or they would end up reading everything on the front and top and rear of the vehicle included names on lorries etc and this would just mean endless unnecessary and invalid readings.
They do read all sorts of stuff ... it doesn't matter what they read as they are only looking for database hits. On the roof may work but theres no guarantee and probably will not work tbh. They are looking for front and / or rear images of vehicles ..
The software actually searches for number plates but can recognise other text.

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34127

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Also there are hundreds of M/H with bikes on the back with additional plates about 4' off the ground, also trade plates are often displayed in a window, so guessing these cameras must surely be able to spot these.
Yes I accept your argument but a lot of vehicles have spare wheels on the back door and often have an advert on them. I can't image the cameras reading all this information. They must be programmed to identify a number plate by its colour and size which would rule out a number plate on the roof because of the skew angle.
My Main reason for arguing it won't work is because of the incredibly short time that the camera will see the plate, again because of the skew angle.
 
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34127

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They do read all sorts of stuff ... it doesn't matter what they read as they are only looking for database hits. On the roof may work but theres no guarantee and probably will not work tbh. They are looking for front and / or rear images of vehicles ..
The software actually searches for number plates but can recognise other text.
Yes agreed, the camera will be designed to read front and rear images only.
I will put my tin hat on now but this sounds like another FB generated urban myth.
 

Dorset wanderer

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Yes I accept your argument but a lot of vehicles have spare wheels on the back door and often have an advert on them. I can't image the cameras reading all this information. They must be programmed to identify a number plate by its colour and size which would rule out a number plate on the roof because of the skew angle.
My Main reason for arguing it won't work is because of the incredibly short time that the camera will see the plate, again because of the skew angle.

Equally I accept your arguement, if there is someway to angle the plate on the roof, maybe on a roofbox might be better though might be seen from the ground too.

End of the day all the small things we do can only be helpful.

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34127

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I accept that I may be wrong, I often am, but if it did work then I think the insurance companies and police crime prevention teams would have picked this up and openly advised the use of them.
 

Alistair33

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I accept that I may be wrong, I often am, but if it did work then I think the insurance companies and police crime prevention teams would have picked this up and openly advised the use of them.

Agreed .......But it cannot do any harm and at £5 for a plate I'll make the investment.

My question is which way round do you put it ?
 

MattR

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I wondered if most roadside cameras only took pictures if the vehicle was speeding and ANPR camera were user operated, taking pictures at ground level. Highway monitored cameras might not have the technology to distinguish between a number plate on the rear and a different number on the roof?

However, an eye in the sky camera might find it easier to track a vehicle if the number plate was in the roof.

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I agree with @Borderland just can`t see it working.
AFAIK they only look for vehicles not taxed and insured, presuming the thief gets a plate made up for a taxed and insured vehicle, why would the camera look for another plate ? I think there may be built in software to filter out all other info it picks up from different locations on the vehicle.
but we need someone with a knowledge of APNR cameras to be sure and I don`t suppose anyone will be willing to spill the beans on their full capabilities
 
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A lot of the ANPR cameras are on motorway bridges looking down on vehicles so will pick up number plates on the roof as stated by ex policeman in former thread and surely a few quid is worth spending as it could return your pride and joy if stolen.

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