About the Stop Arm Camera
Kit Part Number: DVR-824
Camera Part Number: PC-1824
The HD Dual-Lens Stop Arm Camera is designed to capture license plates and faces of drivers that pass a school bus while the bus is stopped and has its red lights flashing and stop arm deployed. The camera is waterproof (IP-67 rated) and has two lenses with low-light image sensors set at 45° angles to the side of the bus. The camera is designed to be mounted directly to the bus, parallel to the road, with four self-drilling Phillips-head screws. The camera also has a waterproof microphone for audio capture.
General Camera Installation Tips
- For multi-camera installations, it is recommended to mark both ends of the camera number using a marker with text (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) or tick marks (I, II, III, etc.) on both ends of each cable. This will easily identify which cable is at each location when the final connections are made to the DVR.
- Carefully open all video cables and lay them out to full length. This will make it easy to pull the cable and make sure there are no snags or knots in the cable while it is unraveling.
- When making holes for cables in panels, drill a ¾” hole with a drill bit or step drill bit.
- Leave at least 4” of slack near the camera connection points to allow future servicing of cameras.
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If excess cable slack is present, this can be doubled over or wound up. After running cables, you may want to use cable ties to secure them in place. If you do this, do not over tighten the cable ties. It is possible to damage the shielding inside the cables by over tightening; make the cable ties snug or slightly loose. Do not use a cable tie gun as these will over tighten the cable ties.
- Read and understand the installation instructions below BEFORE drilling any holes in the vehicle. Cameras have specialized mounting designs that are not apparent without reading instructions.
Mounting Locations
The camera must be mounted parallel to the road surface on the driver’s side of the bus. The open stop arm should be partially visible in the camera field-of-view, but not so much as to obstruct vehicle license plate capture.
Recommended Mounting
- 6”-18” below the bottom of the stop sign on the stop arm itself.
- 12”-60” from the center of the open stop arm forward or rearward.
- Note: The BLUE line in the image indicates center of the stop arm.
On most bus models, mounting in the area forward of the stop arm provides faster and easier wire routing to the DVR. The camera must be oriented such that the two 4mm socket head bolts screw in from the bottom of the “PV” logo is upright, facing toward the center of the road. The proper orientation of the mounting bracket and camera are marked with “UP” and a directional arrow.
Vehicle Model Variation
For the first installation of each different vehicle model variation it is recommended to temporarily connect the camera, without the mounting base assembly attached, to the recording unit. Power the system on and then hold the camera in the desired mounting location to observe the view to confirm it is satisfactory before continuing.
Shown above is a view from the stop-arm camera mounted forward of the stop-arm on a bus. Note that the stop arm is partially in the view when open but not obstructing license plate capture.
Installation Steps
- Attach the camera mounting base to the rubber mounting gasket as shown to the right. Hold the mounting base assembly to the desired mounting location and ensure the base is parallel to the body lines on the side of the bus. Mark the center of the four (4) camera base mounting screw locations (shown in ORANGE) and the large center cable hole (shown in
RED).
- Place the camera mounting base assembly aside and then verify that there is clearance behind the four (4) marked mounting screw locations, as well as clearance and access to behind the one (1) large marked cable hole location.
- Drill a 1/2” diameter hole in the center marked location (shown in RED above). DO NOT DRILL THE OTHER HOLES.
- Using the female end of the camera connection or extension cable, verify there is enough clearance for the connector to fit through the hole and route toward the recording unit. If needed, drill the 1/2" hole out to 3/4" to allow the connector to route into the vehicle body.
- If certain of the camera’s mounting location and that the correct hole for the cable has been drilled, place the mounting base assembly so that the four (4) ORANGE marks completed in Step 1 are showing. Orient the mounting base assembly so that the bolt cutouts in the base and gasket point toward the ground and the “UP“ points toward the roof of the bus. Use the four (4) self-drilling screws provided to attach the base and gasket to the side of the bus.
- After the base and gasket are securely attached to the bus, route the camera cable through the drilled center cable hole and place the camera in the mounting base assembly. Orient the camera so that the bolt cutouts in the housing are pointed toward the ground and the “UP“ points toward the roof of the bus as shown to right.
- Slide the two (2) 4 mm bolts into the bottom of the camera connecting the camera housing to the mounting base assembly. Using the provided 3 mm ball end Allen wrench, tighten the bolts into the Nyloc nuts that are attached to the bottom of the housing. The bolts should be nearly flush with the rubber gasket when fully tightened.
- Connect the camera cable to the extension cable running to the DVR, and then connect the extension cable to the “Camera 7” port on the DVR unit for the camera to be recognized.
Removal & Re-installation Tip
The Nyloc nuts used for mounting the camera experience reduced holding performance after each removal and reinstallation. If the camera is removed and reinstalled multiple times, it is recommended to apply a medium-strength liquid thread locker (such as Permatex® Threadlocker Blue) to the end of the bolt threads or inside of Nyloc nuts before reassembly.
Stop-Arm Camera Triggering
The stop-arm camera contains an automatic detection function to automatically detect cars passing and generate small video clips that are easy to locate and find for violations. The detection function relies on an external trigger to the DVR unit to tell it when the stop-arm is open to begin detecting vehicles. To use this function, a 12V constant signal from the vehicle when the stop-arm is open must be connected to one of the trigger inputs of the DVR and then configured in the DVR web interface. See "Settings > Stop Arm Camera".
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