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Author: Subject: Bit of a mystery?
liam.mccaffrey

posted on 25/1/04 at 01:42 PM Reply With Quote
Bit of a mystery?

Does anyone know what this is for. I think I know what its for?


thing

[Edited on 25/1/04 by liam.mccaffrey]

[Edited on 25/1/04 by liam.mccaffrey]

[Edited on 25/1/04 by liam.mccaffrey]

[Edited on 25/1/04 by liam.mccaffrey]

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mangogrooveworkshop

posted on 25/1/04 at 01:53 PM Reply With Quote
Thats a traffic master beacon. They sell them in that very expensive bike shop Halfords (oh they have expensive car parts too)
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stephen_gusterson

posted on 25/1/04 at 03:15 PM Reply With Quote
yep - been around ages - traffic master camera - takes slow scan pics of the traffic.

think they are moving over to inductive loop detection of traffic. look on most major roads and motorways and you will see oblong loops cut into the road - bit like speed cams have. these detect traffic movement. I suspect that these will have some kinda extra use - like monitoring traffic trasponders when big brother want to know where we are and how fast we covered a distance.......


atb

steve

[Edited on 25/1/04 by stephen_gusterson]

[Edited on 25/1/04 by stephen_gusterson]






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Peteff

posted on 25/1/04 at 04:47 PM Reply With Quote
They are used to monitor traffic flow so you can dodge the jams. It says on the one near us that it is not a speed camera so it doesn't get vandalised. It supposedly works by recognising figures on number plates but that sounds a bit dubious to me.

yours, Pete.





yours, Pete

I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.

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blueshift

posted on 25/1/04 at 04:53 PM Reply With Quote
I thought they just had a doppler radar in and detected the speed of traffic flow.

I was under the impression that was all trafficmaster worked on, warning people when roads were going slow / stop-start jams

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andyps

posted on 25/1/04 at 09:43 PM Reply With Quote
I read that they read number plates (although only the middle letters/numbers so as not to invade privacy etc!!) and time how long it takes a vehicle to travel between two points so they can work out the average speed and hence spot if there are any hold ups.

If you have an O2 mobile phone you can call 1200 to get a live update based on the traffic where you are (on motorways and main roads) and find out about particular roads anywhere in the UK which comes from these types of camera.





Andy

An expert is someone who knows more and more about less and less

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craig1410

posted on 26/1/04 at 12:10 AM Reply With Quote
Andy's spot on, they do read the number plates of passing traffic in all weather and at virtually any speed. They then drop the first and last digits from the number before transmitting the data to a base station. This base station will then get another signal from farther up the road when you pass the next sensor and can work out traffic flow rate.

I wonder how long before Blunkett decides that these relatively benign devices would be much more useful if the registration number wasn't truncated and if the police had access to the broadcast... All in the name of anti-terrorism you understand...

Cheers,
Craig.

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mangogrooveworkshop

posted on 26/1/04 at 12:42 AM Reply With Quote
The big brother syndrome is well and truly in full swing when you come into Fife Scotland. On the three bridges that traffic use they have a camera that reads the plates and cross checks your road tax status. Considering that there is only five major routes they pretty much have the upper hand. See following text this is scary as hell....... big brother bites.




Draft Briefing on Automatic Number Plate Recognition and Electronic Vehicle Identification Systems.

Definitions.

Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR). The automatic detention and recognition of vehicle registration plates and the checking of those details against a variety of databases. Hardware consists of digital video camera system capable of all weather day/night operation linked to computer system (PC, laptop, local area network, network server or digital link to mainframe system) Software - ANPR programme usual running in Windows environment. Main UK supplier Speed Check Services (SPECS). Software analysis digital picture, usually of front of vehicle, searches for number plate then analyses and checks registration mark against database. More advanced systems also capable of capturing images of driver and front seat passenger and comparing with database. Although it must be said that this face recognition system is in its infancy.

Electronic Vehicle Identification Systems (EVIS). Currently under development. A number of systems being developed capable of transmitting vehicle VIN number, registration mark and details of owner via road side receivers, wireless digital system, real time digital network to allow checking of details against database held information.

Uses.

ANPR - Intelligence gathering - national/ports, intelligence gathering - local, detection of speeding, VED, MOT, no current keeper type offences, congestion charging, vehicle theft.

EVIS - More likely to be used for congestion charging than ANPR, would also be capable of reporting vehicle position in case of breakdown or criminal incident. Capable of development to same uses as ANPR. Systems likely to form part of vehicle management/communication system.

Operation Spectrum.

To equip every UK police force with at least two ANPR systems and backup facilities by end of 2002. Funded by Home Office in response to New York September 11th attack. Will be used for all forms of intelligence gathering involving vehicle use.

Project Laser.

Basically a system to hypothecate the fines generated by ANPR use. Would require extension of Section 38, speed camera hypothecation, of the Vehicle Crimes Act 2001. The business case for Laser suggests that it would help with the collection of uncollected speeding fines, no MOT, no VED, unregistered vehicles, altered number plates, no insurance and no driving licence. It is suggested that to ease prosecutions in may be necessary to introduce new statutory instruments for fix penalty notices for some offences.






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Simon

posted on 26/1/04 at 12:55 AM Reply With Quote
Looks to me like someone left a bit of 4" diameter tube lying in the ground.

Perfect for someones exhaust

ATB

Simon






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andyps

posted on 26/1/04 at 02:47 PM Reply With Quote
It is worrying the technology already in use. Two examples:

My daughter crashed on the M1 recently, whilst sat in the police car giving them her details she was told that the bleeping noise going on was the computer system checking that all the passing cars were taxed based on recognition of the number plate.

My sister in law insures her sons car, after an issue with the police they told her that they knew the car was insured in her name, her son was a named driver but she was listed as the main user.

There is nowhere to hide!





Andy

An expert is someone who knows more and more about less and less

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