How to tell if a Gatso is live...

[tallchris99]

As you approach a Gatso from it's rear you can see two blanked off holes on the back of the box. If these are indeed "grey" ie blanked off you can go past at whatever speed you like. There is no camera in it. If you see the holes are open , with two brass looking nuts visible in them, then it's live and has a camera in it. There may or may not be any film in the camera but you never can tell this. If you look out for this feature you will find very few live cameras about at all. I got this advice from a worker who services the camera and have tested it out many times by riding very fast past the blanked off Gatso's and have never recieved a ticket.

Have fun with this, and note that my licence is on it's way out due to the offence I detail below in another thread. If you can help me with advice re this offence I would be grateful.

TC

[mondeoman]

Excellant!! Just the sort of info we need

[craigw]

have tested it out many times by riding very fast past the blanked off Gatso's and have never recieved a ticket.

- You like to live dangerously don't you.

[ajoy.chundee]

I think you'll find that whether the bolt holes are covered up or not is to do with whether the guy that last opened the camera up was lazy enough not to slide the cover back over them.

I've heard a lot of stories about these, like how the holes are for ventilation and they open up by themselves on hot days when the camera is working hard....

If you have a VERY good look at a camera (when no-one else is watching), you'll see that the holes can be covered up.....

HTH
Ajoy.

[manek]

HTH?

[tallchris99]

Well, my local advanced motorcycle group have tested this out for over a year and it is true! We would not risk our licences willy nilly...Further This got spread about amongst london based couriers over six months ago and I have not heard of one case where it was not true...

[CarZee]

HTH=Hope This Helps

IMO, even if this piece of urban myth were true, it'd be a double edged sword because whilst going at happy speeds you have to scrutinise the back of cameras when you really should (given extra speed etc) be watching the road...

And it'd be no good at night..

[paul]

As luck would have it, I was down the Nag's Head supping a pint of Mild this evening with everyone's favourite practitioner of speeding advice 'Big' Dave. I put it to him that the state of Gatso's could be determined via observation of the two holes mentioned, his response was that whilst possible, it was much better to "twat the F%cker with the bull-bars on Fletch's Landie"
So now we know...

[ZZR600]

Providing how good your eyesight is as you approach the camera look in the bottom r/h corner where the flash is , if its black there is no flash , so there is no camera inside .

[Neil Menzies]

Easy way to tell if there's a camera in the box, drive past at 90 mph. If there's a bright double flash, there's a camera in the box.

[CarZee]

Not so IIRC - the camera unit is removable seperately from the flash and radar bits..

[Paul V]

I was told that if the holes were closed there was no camera, I was a passenger in my girlfriends car on the A23 when some overtook us and went through the camera, the holes were definitely closed but the thing still went off, I won’t be chancing it!

[Fatboy]

I think it means if there are 2 new, badly distorted bullet shaped holes in the camera it is not live

[hertsbiker]

They are regarded as "live", when they don't have flames and smoke billowing from them.

Until this flag is evident, proceed with caution...

[nonegreen]

quote:
They are regarded as "live", when they don't have flames and smoke billowing from them.

Until this flag is evident, proceed with caution...

Does it count as dead if it is no longer vertical?