Help ID these cameras- video, infared, or radiation?

These cameras are in the national park close to here, outside each entrance to the tunnel under Cumberland Mountain.

A park ranger said they do not check for radiation or take radiation readings, nor does the tunnel authority. Then what in the heck are these cameras? Their height is too tall to capture any video images of cars. Tractor trailers, maybe.

Thanks in advance for your help.

a reply to: CharlieAtTheGap

PIcture of cameras here

Perhaps infrared so they can see into the tunnel if there is a lot of smoke or obstructions? Never been there, so I can't really say.

I can't say what kind of camera is inside the installation, but it appears to be shielded.

Good luck shooting those out.

Thanks for responding, they are pointed across the roadway and not toward the tunnel.

Ha! My goal is not to shoot them out. If they are radiation detectors, I would like the FOIA the last couple years' readings.

originally posted by: CharlieAtTheGap
These cameras are in the national park close to here, outside each entrance to the tunnel under Cumberland Mountain.

A park ranger said they do not check for radiation or take radiation readings, nor does the tunnel authority. Then what in the heck are these cameras? Their height is too tall to capture any video images of cars. Tractor trailers, maybe.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Why didn't he just tell you what they are for after saying they're "not for radiation detection?" Was he being top secret about them or something?

They are putting those up on I-5 and all over the place.

They are license plate readers.

They are probably set to catch both coming and going.

Look around, where did they hide the facial recognition?

a reply to: CharlieAtTheGap

I'd check with USGS as it looks like a stereographic camera used to measure deviations in terrain or structure height. Since the Cumberland range is in a fault zone, that might be your answer. If you have scanner with programmable converter you might be able to read them and determine the agency using them, as they are using either cell comms or WiFi.

Cheers - Dave

No way these are reading license plates. They are way too high and pointed perpendicular to the roadway. Do you see the little antennae on top of each viewer?

We have about (100) 360° state of the art IPIX cameras scattered up and down the roadway and in the tunnel. Those are the ones they use for plates.

Thanks Dave. Great idea!

Looks like a type of range finding camera with the stereo optics pointing in the same direction.

Where the buffalo "range"?

Could be this, an older version, though.

PAN/TILT THERMAL & COLOR CAMERAS

longrangecamera.com...

originally posted by: CharlieAtTheGap
These cameras are in the national park close to here, outside each entrance to the tunnel under Cumberland Mountain.

A park ranger said they do not check for radiation or take radiation readings, nor does the tunnel authority. Then what in the heck are these cameras? Their height is too tall to capture any video images of cars. Tractor trailers, maybe.

All cameras detect electromagnetic radiation in the form of light. If you're talking about other types of radiation you don't need cameras for that, something like a geiger counter would work but I doubt they would use those at a tunnel.

Are the cameras aimed directly across the roadway, say 90 degrees from the direction of traffic?

Based on your description of the camera if it really can't see cars, my guess would be that they check the height of trucks to make sure they don't exceed the height capacity of the tunnel, to prevent this sort of thing that happens when there are clearance problems:

www.boston.com...-4

originally posted by: CharlieAtTheGap
No way these are reading license plates. They are way too high and pointed perpendicular to the roadway. Do you see the little antennae on top of each viewer?

We have about (100) 360° state of the art IPIX cameras scattered up and down the roadway and in the tunnel. Those are the ones they use for plates.

Well, the exact same stereo tubular housing and style are used for license plates.

The antenna is different however. Is there a picture of what they are looking at ?

I bet Arbri's nailed it. I have sent in an email with the pic for confirmation, but yes, I bet that's it. Awesome.

a reply to: CharlieAtTheGap
Let us know what they say, you got me curious.

Not directly related to your question, but I ran across it and thought it interesting, that tunnel used limestone fill to hold up the concrete roadway and the groundwater washed away the limestone, leaving up to a 40 inch gap under the road, as this picture from 2007 shows:

tunnelingonline.com...

40-in. void beneath concrete pavement

They had to spend millions to replace the limestone sub-base with granite in certain areas, though I'm not sure why they didn't use granite to begin with, maybe cost? It would have been cheaper, after considering the repair costs.

Are there traffic lights near the area? Perhaps an Opticom set up? Although they don't seem to be attached directly to a traffic signal.

Signal Preemption Systems Traffic signal preemption is a type of system that allows the normal operation of traffic lights to be preempted, often to assist emergency vehicles. A very common system in the United States is the Opticom™ system by Global Traffic Technologies (GTT). These devices have a few things in common: They are small and compact They are mounted facing the traffic they are monitoring They are typically mounted on the structures supporting the traffic signals

Source - Know your cameras

For some reason I can't link the story where the Forest Service got funds for...

You guessed it: License Plate readers. You act like I'm stupid for suggesting it.

Carry on thinking they are some sort of Radiation Detector.

Oh no, absolutely not. You misread me. I thought it was a great thought, it's just they were pointed the wrong way. I *was* thankful you responded.

a reply to: whyamIhere

I would like to know if those funds were issued to all Nat'l Forests or just specific ones. Very interesting.