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Device Settings
The Device tab is the main control page of the device web portal — the live speed readout, the claim code, and every setting that decides when the MiniSpeedCam tracks a vehicle and when it takes a photo. This page explains each control on it.
🔌 Getting to the portal: open
http://minispeedcam-XXXXXX.local/(or the camera's local IP) in a browser on the same network — see Setup Guide → Step 7. Everything below is on the first tab, Device.
💾 Settings save instantly. Every box and switch on this tab takes effect the moment you change it and is written to the device's non-volatile memory, so it survives a reboot or power loss. There is no Save button on this tab — the Save Settings button lives on the Wifi Settings tab and is only for WiFi credentials.
| Control | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Current Speed | Live speed readout (read-only). | — |
| Claim Code | Code you type into the web app to link the device. | — |
| MPH/KPH | Display + threshold units. Off = MPH, On = KPH. | MPH |
| Power-Saver Mode | Drop WiFi when idle to save power. | On |
| Minimum Speed | Speed at which a tracking run starts. | 3 |
| Photo Speed | Speed within a run that triggers a photo. | 10 |
| Speed correction | Cosine correction for angled installs — multiplies every reading. | 1.000 (off) |
| Min Radar Signal | Proximity gate — ignore vehicles farther than this. | 0 (off) |
| Photo Radar Signal | Proximity at which to fire the photo (both directions). | 0 (off) |
| Photo Radar Signal FRONT | Override the fire point for oncoming cars only. | 0 (use shared) |
| Photo Radar Signal REAR | Override the fire point for receding cars only. | 0 (use shared) |
| Aiming Stream | Temporary live video to aim/mount the device. | Off |
| Firmware Update | Check for and install ESP32 / STM32 updates. | — |
A read-only live readout of the most recent speed the radar reported, in your chosen
units (e.g. 0 MPH). It updates a few times a second while a vehicle is in view and
sits at 0 when the road is clear. Use it as a quick "is the radar working?" check —
walk past the unit and watch the number move.
The same reading also appears on the Status tab next to the live Radar signal value, which is handy when you're calibrating the proximity thresholds (below).
The short, 6-character code (e.g. K7P2RM) you type into minispeedcam.com to link
this physical device to your account. Once the device makes its first successful upload,
this field changes to "Linked to your account."
Full walk-through: Setup Guide → Steps 4–6.
Switches the units used everywhere on the device:
- Off → MPH (miles per hour)
- On → KPH (kilometres per hour)
This affects the Current Speed readout and the Minimum Speed / Photo Speed thresholds — those numbers are interpreted in whatever unit is selected here.
⚠️ Switching units does not convert your thresholds. If you set Photo Speed to20in MPH and then flip to KPH, it stays20— but now means 20 KPH. Re-check Minimum Speed and Photo Speed after changing units.
Controls whether the device powers its WiFi radio down between vehicles.
- On (default) — when the road has been idle, the device turns WiFi off to save power. The moment the radar detects movement it brings WiFi back automatically, connects, uploads, and goes quiet again. Best for battery / solar installs.
- Off — WiFi stays up all the time and the device never sleeps. Best while you're setting up, aiming, or tuning thresholds, because the web portal is then always reachable. Costs more power, so switch it back on for long-term battery use.
While Power-Saver is on and the road is idle, the web portal can be briefly unreachable (WiFi is off). If the portal won't load, trigger the radar (walk in front of the unit) to wake WiFi, or turn Power-Saver off while you work. Captures are never missed — detection always wakes the device first.
The device also never sleeps while it is still unconfigured (no WiFi saved), so the setup access point always stays reachable.
The speed a vehicle must reach before the device starts a tracking run. Anything slower is ignored — it sets the floor for "this is worth paying attention to." Raise it to skip pedestrians, cyclists, or slow traffic; lower it to catch everything that moves.
A run only begins after a couple of consecutive readings at or above this value, so a lone noise spike won't start one.
In the units set by MPH/KPH. Default: 3.
Within an active run, the speed at which the device captures a photo. A run whose top speed never reaches Photo Speed is still uploaded as a speed-only record (no image) — so you get the data for every vehicle, but only photograph the ones over your photo threshold.
Set Photo Speed at or above Minimum Speed. A common setup is a low Minimum Speed (log everything) and a higher Photo Speed (only photograph speeders).
In the units set by MPH/KPH. Default: 10.
Compensates for the mounting angle. Doppler radar only measures the part of a car's motion aimed straight at the antenna, so a unit that views the road at an angle reads every car a little low — by a fixed, predictable percentage set by where you mounted it. This factor multiplies every speed sample before the Minimum Speed / Photo Speed comparisons, so those thresholds are always in true road speed.
- 1.000 (default) — off. Fine whenever the unit points nearly straight down the road (standoff ≥ 11× the lateral offset).
- Accepts 1.000 – 1.300; values outside that range are rejected and the previous value is kept.
How big the effect is, how to place the unit so it stays small, and two quick ways to measure your factor (a GPS drive-past or a tape measure): Speed Correction and Placement.
The next four settings — Min Radar Signal, Photo Radar Signal, Photo Radar Signal FRONT, and
Photo Radar Signal REAR — are an optional, more advanced layer that uses how close a
vehicle is, not just how fast. They all default to 0 (off); with them off the device
works on speed alone, exactly as described above.
How it works: alongside each speed sample, the radar reports an echo magnitude — how strong the reflection is. A reflection gets stronger as a vehicle gets closer (and much weaker with distance), so magnitude is effectively a proximity signal:
- High magnitude → the vehicle is close (on your road, well framed for the camera).
- Low magnitude → the vehicle is far (e.g. distant cross-traffic on another street).
You can watch this value live: open the Status tab and read "Radar signal (proximity)" while traffic passes. That live number is the key to setting all four thresholds — every one of them is compared against it.
Two things you can do with proximity:
- Reject distant traffic that's fast enough to trigger but isn't on your road → Min Radar Signal.
- Time the photo for the best plate framing instead of just "first frame over Photo Speed" → Photo Radar Signal (and the FRONT/REAR refinements).
The minimum echo magnitude a vehicle must show to arm a run at all. A sample now has to be both fast enough (≥ Minimum Speed) and close enough (≥ Min Radar Signal) to count. Because distant cross-traffic returns a weak echo even when it's moving fast, this gate filters it out.
- 0 (default) — disabled; no proximity gating.
- Set it between the Radar signal reading you see for a car on your road and the (lower) reading for distant traffic you want to ignore.
The echo magnitude at which to fire the photo. With the unit aimed down the road, an oncoming car's magnitude rises as it approaches and a receding car's falls as it leaves — so the firmware shoots when the live magnitude crosses this value. That catches the front plate on the way in and the rear plate on the way out.
- 0 (default) — off; the device falls back to capturing at Photo Speed (first frame past the speed threshold).
- Watching the Status Radar signal reading, set it to the value a car shows when it's best framed for the plate. Keep it above Min Radar Signal.
- This single value is used for both directions unless you override one with FRONT or REAR below.
If a vehicle never cleanly crosses the threshold during its pass, the device still fires a best-effort shot once the echo has fallen to about 70% of that run's peak (near closest approach), so you don't miss the capture entirely.
Overrides Photo Radar Signal for approaching cars only. A car's front reflects strongly, so an oncoming car can reach a given magnitude while still fairly far away. Raise this to delay the front-plate shot until the car is closer and better framed. Keep it ≥ Min Radar Signal.
- 0 (default) — inherit the shared Photo Radar Signal value.
Overrides Photo Radar Signal for receding cars only. A car's rear reflects weakly, and the rear-plate shot usually wants the car a little farther out (not broadside). Lower this to fire the rear shot later, once the receding car has pulled away.
- 0 (default) — inherit the shared Photo Radar Signal value.
The device records each pass's direction (approaching vs. receding) from the shape of its echo over the run and reports it with the capture, so FRONT/REAR are applied to the right cars automatically.
- Mount the unit where it will live, aimed down the road. (Use the Aiming Video Stream to point it.)
- Open the portal → Status tab and watch "Radar signal (proximity)."
- As real traffic passes, note the Radar signal value:
- at the spot where the plate is best framed (this is your Photo Radar Signal), and
- for any distant cross-traffic you want to ignore (your Min Radar Signal sits just above this).
- On the Device tab, set Min Radar Signal above the distant-traffic reading and below the on-road reading; set Photo Radar Signal to the well-framed reading.
- If front shots fire too early, raise Photo Radar Signal FRONT; if rear shots fire too early (car still broadside), lower Photo Radar Signal REAR.
- Each box saves as you type — no Save button needed on this tab. Watch a few real passes and nudge the numbers until the captures look right.
Prefer to keep things simple? Leave all four at
0. The device then tracks and photographs on speed alone, which works well for many installs.
A temporary live MJPEG video feed for aiming and mounting the camera. Flip it on, open the link that appears in the Stream URL field, point the device, then flip it off (or let it auto-stop after 5 minutes). Speed measurement is paused while it streams.
Full details: Aiming Video Stream.
At the bottom of the Device tab — Firmware status line, Check for Updates, Install ESP32 Update, and Install STM32 Update. The device can update both of its microcontrollers over the air; nothing installs until you press a button.
Full details: Firmware Update.
| Setting | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| MPH/KPH | MPH | Display + threshold units |
| Power-Saver Mode | On | Off keeps the portal always reachable |
| Minimum Speed | 3 | In the selected units |
| Photo Speed | 10 | In the selected units |
| Speed correction | 1.000 (off) | Range 1.000–1.300 — see Speed Correction and Placement |
| Min Radar Signal | 0 (off) | Proximity gate disabled |
| Photo Radar Signal | 0 (off) | Capture at Photo Speed instead |
| Photo Radar Signal FRONT | 0 | Inherit Photo Radar Signal |
| Photo Radar Signal REAR | 0 | Inherit Photo Radar Signal |
All Device-tab settings save immediately to non-volatile memory and persist across reboots.