Watchman System
Above: Watchman System and Display
board,
display board has its own radar head
This system has been on the streets for
a little while now. As of typing this (28/03/04) the Watchman
System does not have type approval, but is going through the process
of getting it so be warned. At the moment I am told the only thing
you will get in the post is a very snotty letter. My advice is,
don't speed past this kit.
Above: Watchman from
the front:
Top round reflective lens, NPR Camera. Square bit below is the IR
Illuminator for the NPR
Round lens bottom left, Flash. Bottom Right square opening is for
the overview image camera.
From my understanding the system works as
follows. Two cameras can be seen inside the box. One
for Images and one for NPR (Number plate recognition). The overview
image camera works all the time, recording 2 frames (images) per
second, the NPR camera records at 18 frames per sec for 60 frames.The
whole system can deal with 10,000 number plate events or 1 month
of overview images or a combination of both. The data is recorded
on to hard disk and is then transmitted via GSM or HSCSD. Live
images can be viewed if needed.
Above:Watchman
from the back. Top, rear ward facing
radar window Bottom, Service hatch
The smart part of the Watchman system is
the radar, first from the readings on my Bel it is using X
Band, a no longer used band or that what we thought. The
next problem is that it reads your speed as you approach, it has eyes in the back of its head you could say, so speed up
to it and slow down past it and its still got your speed.
It is worth noting that after checking over
twenty of these cameras on the same day, logging lat/long for
a GPS device, all gave out a signal and all seamed to be working.
It covers a much greater area than a Gatso camera,
and is always paired up with a speed display board or two. The
display boards have their own radar heads for detecting speed.
