Police Laser Gun Jammer
08-19-2005, 11:44 PM
#31
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Join Date: Mar 2005
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Well, I hate to gloat, but I recently received my Blinder X-Treme M20 laser jammer and it got its first test already.
I had a trip planned to New Jersey for this past Thursday to pick up a hard top that I had purchased for my C4 cab. I had received my Blinder jammer a couple of days before but didn't have the time to install it. But it was now Wednesday evening and it was crunch time. I thought it would take a couple of hours to mount the transponders and at least get the electronics hooked up. By the time I started working it was after 10pm.
As a result of never having worked on a P car before and the mounting options for the transponder being somewhat limited and non-ideal, it took me quite a while to figure out where and how to mount them on the front bumper. By the time I figured that out and mounted them it was early in the morning. Then I took about another hour trying to figure out where to get switched power from and hook up the electronics inside the car.
So I basically pull an all-nighter doing that and getting the car cleaned up a little bit for my road trip.
By the time I'm ready to go early in the morning, the system is hooked up (I promise I will have some pictures of the installation process soon) via a hotwire into one of the interior lights in the ashtray which is also where I got my ground. There is an annoying buzz/hum, but I figure this is a grounding issue more than anything else.
The Valentine 1 picks up a couple of Maryland state troopers along the way without incident. While I'm in Delaware, I'm just past Wilmington on 95 right before 495 merges back with it when I crest over a small hill and not 200 or 300 feet in front of me is one of Delaware's finest standing in front of his patrol car pointing his LIDAR gun at me. The Blinder unit goes crazy (it is quite loud) and does its thing. I hardly had time to slow down to the legal speed limit before I'm passing him already. As I go by, it is clear that he did not get any reading on the LIDAR unit and was shaking his head (probably saying "darn it" or "shucks") with obvious displeasure at what I'm sure was supposed to be an easy nab. A priceless moment in time that I wish could have been captured on video somehow.
No more than a quarter mile or so down the road were no less than 5 more of Delaware's finest revenue collectors gathered on both sides of the highway. By this time I'm going 55 mph and notice their three customers as I tiptoe away into the horizon.
That was the only laser encounter for the rest of the 600 mile trip, although there were plenty of radar encounters, but none very threatening. But the new laser jammer paid for itself and justified a sleepless night already!
This is the 3rd LIDAR ticket avoided for me in the year or so since I've been using these devices. This encounter reinforced a couple of concepts for me.
First, at that range and at that speed no form of radar/lidar detector is going to save you from a conversation with the officer. Since this was LIDAR after cresting a small hill there was NO forewarning as there was, unlike for radar signals, essentially no scatter for a detector to pick up.
Second, at that range, the laser "cone" must be very narrow. I can't quote the numbers off the top of my head, but it's going to be around a foot across, I think. I know that it was narrow enough for the Blinder transponder(s) to pick up (as they are reasonably close to the license plate and front lights -- the two targets law enforcement officers are taught to aim for) but NOT set off the Valentine 1 (with front and rear laser detection capabilities) which was more than a couple of feet away near the top of the passenger side windshield.
Lastly, after driving for a prolonged time on our nation's highway system for the first time in a long time, it became clear that even with an armamentarium of electronic ears and countermeasures, there is no substitute for a high degree of situational awareness and the human eyes for scanning and processing tons of information on a constant basis. Even with all these devices, if you blow by a trooper a couple of lanes over going 30 miles over the speed limit and he doesn't have his radar unit on for some reason or another, you are playing with fire and asking for trouble. Just recognizing their presence and slowing down to posted speed limits can prevent needless expense at the "ticket window".
I'll have some pictures showing how I tried to make the transponders less noticiable and how I ran the wiring from the front into the passenger cabin. Definitely worth the $250 investment for me even if it never goes off again!
So, I continue to believe in the value of these devices and will continue to be a user in the future.
I had a trip planned to New Jersey for this past Thursday to pick up a hard top that I had purchased for my C4 cab. I had received my Blinder jammer a couple of days before but didn't have the time to install it. But it was now Wednesday evening and it was crunch time. I thought it would take a couple of hours to mount the transponders and at least get the electronics hooked up. By the time I started working it was after 10pm.
As a result of never having worked on a P car before and the mounting options for the transponder being somewhat limited and non-ideal, it took me quite a while to figure out where and how to mount them on the front bumper. By the time I figured that out and mounted them it was early in the morning. Then I took about another hour trying to figure out where to get switched power from and hook up the electronics inside the car.
So I basically pull an all-nighter doing that and getting the car cleaned up a little bit for my road trip.
By the time I'm ready to go early in the morning, the system is hooked up (I promise I will have some pictures of the installation process soon) via a hotwire into one of the interior lights in the ashtray which is also where I got my ground. There is an annoying buzz/hum, but I figure this is a grounding issue more than anything else.
The Valentine 1 picks up a couple of Maryland state troopers along the way without incident. While I'm in Delaware, I'm just past Wilmington on 95 right before 495 merges back with it when I crest over a small hill and not 200 or 300 feet in front of me is one of Delaware's finest standing in front of his patrol car pointing his LIDAR gun at me. The Blinder unit goes crazy (it is quite loud) and does its thing. I hardly had time to slow down to the legal speed limit before I'm passing him already. As I go by, it is clear that he did not get any reading on the LIDAR unit and was shaking his head (probably saying "darn it" or "shucks") with obvious displeasure at what I'm sure was supposed to be an easy nab. A priceless moment in time that I wish could have been captured on video somehow.
No more than a quarter mile or so down the road were no less than 5 more of Delaware's finest revenue collectors gathered on both sides of the highway. By this time I'm going 55 mph and notice their three customers as I tiptoe away into the horizon.
That was the only laser encounter for the rest of the 600 mile trip, although there were plenty of radar encounters, but none very threatening. But the new laser jammer paid for itself and justified a sleepless night already!
This is the 3rd LIDAR ticket avoided for me in the year or so since I've been using these devices. This encounter reinforced a couple of concepts for me.
First, at that range and at that speed no form of radar/lidar detector is going to save you from a conversation with the officer. Since this was LIDAR after cresting a small hill there was NO forewarning as there was, unlike for radar signals, essentially no scatter for a detector to pick up.
Second, at that range, the laser "cone" must be very narrow. I can't quote the numbers off the top of my head, but it's going to be around a foot across, I think. I know that it was narrow enough for the Blinder transponder(s) to pick up (as they are reasonably close to the license plate and front lights -- the two targets law enforcement officers are taught to aim for) but NOT set off the Valentine 1 (with front and rear laser detection capabilities) which was more than a couple of feet away near the top of the passenger side windshield.
Lastly, after driving for a prolonged time on our nation's highway system for the first time in a long time, it became clear that even with an armamentarium of electronic ears and countermeasures, there is no substitute for a high degree of situational awareness and the human eyes for scanning and processing tons of information on a constant basis. Even with all these devices, if you blow by a trooper a couple of lanes over going 30 miles over the speed limit and he doesn't have his radar unit on for some reason or another, you are playing with fire and asking for trouble. Just recognizing their presence and slowing down to posted speed limits can prevent needless expense at the "ticket window".
I'll have some pictures showing how I tried to make the transponders less noticiable and how I ran the wiring from the front into the passenger cabin. Definitely worth the $250 investment for me even if it never goes off again!
So, I continue to believe in the value of these devices and will continue to be a user in the future.
08-19-2005, 11:52 PM
#32
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
congrats - nice work.
thats one of the most lucid, coherent posts that i've seen anywhere in a LONG time.
the summation of how to 'survive' ticket-free on todays road should be required reading on rennlist.
thats one of the most lucid, coherent posts that i've seen anywhere in a LONG time.
the summation of how to 'survive' ticket-free on todays road should be required reading on rennlist.
