My DIY radar speed camera: Mullet Edition—Business in the front, party in the back.

[u/nutstobutts]

I've found a nice way to hide my radar speed camera on the street so I can start testing it. From the front, it just looks like every other slow down sign. In the back, is where the party is at.

I cut a small hole in the sign for the camera and attached it all (radar, camera, wifi, and solar panel) to the back. Of course the solar panel looks way out of place. Without it no one would ever see the radar unit, so I think I will power it with a long cable instead. Right now I'm using a second sign to hide it from the rear.

Performance wise, it's working far better than I expected. The radar has a range of about 130ft-180ft (about 40-55 meters).

Attached are 2 photos it took automatically. One is of a white SUV driving from left to right which is about 180ft away.

The second is a white sedan driving towards the camera, this car registered 14 MPH when the photo was taken.

I still need to figure out the best speed and timing for the photos to get the car much closer to the camera. A video would be nice but I think images will be easier to manage.

Of course this thing is nowhere near ready and still needs quite a bit more work. I'll open source everything in a few weeks once I fix some glaring problems. I'm also combining all the dev boards into one board, so it'll be about 3 times smaller than what you see in the photos.

[u/i_used_to_run_fast]

This feels like a DIWHY more than anything else, what is the end goal here exactly? Seems like bored boomer behavior. Why go through all this effort to take grainy pictures of speeders? You gonna email them to the courthouse? 2025 version of an old man shaking his fist on his porch because some kids walked on his grass or something.

[u/beaverbait → u/i_used_to_run_fast]

This is HOA behavior. Mail out fake tickets from badly calibrated speed cameras to threaten home owners.

[u/kadeve → u/beaverbait]

Literally yesterday a speeding car hit 2 of my neighbors cars, pushed one in to the front yard of another house almost crashing in. It only could stop after flipping over to another car. Local government refuses to add speed bumps and everyone who lives here are annoyed by those speeding people who drive more than 3 times the speed limit.

[u/CritterBoiFancy → u/kadeve]

I bet a speed camera would have prevented that

[u/kadeve → u/CritterBoiFancy]

Funny to get down voted for explaining what I experienced without agreeing or disagreeing with their necessity. must be people who cant/wont have kids..

think of one of you 23 cats getting hit by a speed car if it helps.

[u/Jay-Moah → u/i_used_to_run_fast]

And some home grown radar speed tracker isn’t going to hold up in court.

[u/In-Justice-4-all → u/Jay-Moah]

Lawyer here... You are correct. There is zero chance that would be admisible. In my state... And most... The police need to have the device itself certified as reliable by the state Supreme Court. The court would appoint a special master (think retired judge on recall) to take testimony of experts and of effected parties and amicus curiae. Once certified then it's admissible only under the conditions that that court approved. New model? Nope. New firmware? Nope. So this DIY radar would die on the vine. Cool project though.

[u/grumpy_human → u/In-Justice-4-all]

The video footage would be admiasinel wouldn't it? There are ways to determine speed using visual cues alone. Not saying anyone is getting a traffic citation form this contraption, but in the event of an injury crash etc, any video evidence would be used to determine rate of speed, including doorbell and security cameras. No reason footage from a fake speed camera wouldn't also be used.

[u/gheide → u/In-Justice-4-all]

Big video screen showing the top offenders of the week. Public shaming is legal, isn't it?

[u/acme65 → u/gheide]

i'd be honored to top your scoreboard

[u/Nnyan → u/i_used_to_run_fast]

I saw this and thought boomer too.

[u/macr6 → u/i_used_to_run_fast]

Btw why hide it? Op doesn’t have a display. Makes no sense. Maybe I’m missing something but couldn’t they just put it in their yard without obfuscating it?

[u/Stefanoverse → u/i_used_to_run_fast]

100%^ great project but poor intent

[u/doxx-o-matic → u/i_used_to_run_fast]

How do you equate neighborhood safety with "get off my lawn"? At least the OP did something and was proud to show it off. I mean, it's not like the OP is 44, scrawny, and trying to figure out how to start getting in shape.
We had a little girl on a bike get killed because of a careless driver in a neighborhood. I bet this would have been very welcome in that neighborhood, or even mine, for that matter. In a world of constant surveillance, you want to complain about one more camera that might actually do some good. Maybe you should look at your accomplishments and think to yourself, "What if some a-hole on Reddit tore you down for something that you had every right to be proud of?" Then go touch some grass and re-center.

[u/i_used_to_run_fast → u/doxx-o-matic]

🙄 fine. Maybe I was too harsh. But seriously what’s the end goal here? Just tinkering, or is there a practical next step on what the photos will be used for?

[u/supercargo → u/i_used_to_run_fast]

I don’t know what OP’s ultimate goal is but I appreciate the civic engagement. There are lots of ways technology can be used by individuals to make a difference on a local level. Whatever data this project produces wouldn’t be admissible, but it could be used to draw attention to a problem that can be fixed (be it with better enforcement, road design, signage, or something else)

[u/doxx-o-matic → u/i_used_to_run_fast]

Maybe the OP is testing the next evolution in neighborhood security. Maybe the OP challenged themselves to see if they could even do it. What difference does it make to you? What made you stop and have come here to tear the OP down? Why couldn't you just scroll on and not be hateful to someone who never crossed your path before now?

u/nutstobutts , nice job. I like what you have done. BTW, how do you plan to use your new system? Do you plan to link up to a security system or maybe a website that the whole neighborhood can look at? I think it's a great idea and I would like you to keep us updated on your progress ...

Do you know what it cost me to be nice? Nothing.

[u/mixduptransistor → u/doxx-o-matic]

These cameras don't do any good. Do you think someone who will mow down a kid would slow down because of this sign? All that is going to come of this is OP is going to be the annoying guy at city hall sending in pictures that can't be enforced, or posting pictures of people on Facebook to "shame" them even though this thing is not calibrated

The answer is proper enforcement of the law, by police officers, not by a surveillance state that is hardly accountable and more often setup for revenue generation rather than safety

[u/supercargo → u/mixduptransistor]

Sadly they will be too busy texting to notice the sign. But yeah, bringing shame to people who endanger the lives of others would probably be taking it too far

[u/yugami → u/supercargo]

maybe they'd be too busy looking at the sign to notice the kid

[u/mixduptransistor → u/supercargo]

yeah, it's great that in our system we let random strangers with no training or sense of any rules or fairness be judge, jury, and executioner. probably the best way to do things

[u/wizzard419 → u/i_used_to_run_fast]

Bingo, and it may not even be legal (usually okay but some states have laws regarding cameras pointed at the street).

[u/GarnetandBlack → u/wizzard419]

Would you mind showing a single state law that prohibits filming of a public roadway?

Public streets are almost universally the least likely places to have camera restrictions, as they're usually mentioned specifically as a place you should not ever have any expectation of privacy.

[u/PM_ME_STEAM__KEYS_ → u/GarnetandBlack]

Ya this is bogus. If that were the case every doorbell camera or CCTV can or home security cam would be illegal.

[u/MrP1232007 → u/PM_ME_STEAM__KEYS_]

Not to mention dashcams