I purchased a V1 a few weeks ago, and have a few observations about which I would appreciate some commentary:

1. Warnings seem to be triggered rather easily, even in full logic mode. At this point, I just don't use it in commercial areas since it essentially goes off non-stop.

2. Twice now, I have driven by police on the interstate parked in what appeared to be a speed trap only to have the V1 remain completely silent. Unless there is a system not detected by the V1, either neither was clocking cars or the V1 didn't catch it.

I have never owned a radar detector before, and thus far I am not impressed. Here in CT, I rarely see speed traps and thus far the V1 has been very talkative when I wish it were quiet, yet has remained silent around the two apparent speed traps I have seen. Are my expectations realistic? I'm seriously considering getting rid of it.

 

the v1 has a reputation for having more false alarms than some its its competition. You can either learn to live with it or maybe crank the unit down a notch by eliminating x-band - where many building-related alarms originate. the obvious risk is that you eliminate the x-band protection. my understanding is that most PD's don't use x-band and anymore, anyway. Ka and K seem to be the most used bands. i believe the programming instructions are on the v1 website.

As far as your radar trap experience goes, (1) they didn't have there units on (eg, do their paperwork) or (2) possibly they were using laser, not radar. Laser detection, in my experience is problematic. If your unit detects laser, you are pretty much toast. i never depend on laser detection, just (hopefully) smart driving techniques.

Having said all that, I own 2 v1's and would not trade them for any of the competition. knowing what direction the radar is coming from is more imporatnt to me. Both have protected me on numerous occasions.

 

You get used to the false alarms. I've been saved many times over the years -- I'm willing to put up with them.

The best thing the V1 has going for it is the dual detectors.

Get rid of it at your own risk!

 

After 8 years of V1 use I am convinced that most of the false alarms are not necessarily false. Just because you don't see LEO on the road you are on doesn't mean he isn't in the area. I've seen enough examples of an alarm on Interstate with no patrols observed, to later see a patrol on a side street or frontage road to believe that most of the alarms are real. You just haven't seen the unit.

 

I travel 9 states for my job and have been useing the V1 since 1995. I drive around 40-50,000 miles a year. I highly recomend it as it is simply the best.

 

I tried a V-1 several years ago. It would go off in the middle of the desert, with nothing, nobody, not even a power line witin miles. After a few months of this I went back to a Passport which works good enough for me, without the false alarms. I sold the Valentine on ebay. Maybe the latest versions are better.

 

Just keep in mind that if you are using ANY detector to keep you from being nailed by authorities for speeding is a false sense of immunity. They have made it a lucrative business by catching speeders, and they're not about to lose that revenue simply because someone makes a better detector and/or countermeasure. If you have to really speed, go someplace where it's allowed, or know the roads very well. Between the crappy roads in the United States and the congestion you will find that the days of using your Porsche's capabilities are being lost. It's quite unfortunate that so many of you are first time Porsche owners and are now in today's enforcement world,--a far cry from what I dealt with in the early 1970s when I bought my first Porsche. I find that the Valentine 1 (current version) is a good source of 'intelligence' on what is going on around you. I use it strictly for that,--to know what is happening around me, but certainly not to protect me. The way I installed mine with the remotes below the a/c controls I can mute the alarm easily when my right hand is near the stick. The worst false alarms from it now are from the Infinity SUV's cruise control that is IR based,--it sets off the laser detector quite often. And sure enough,--there's an Infinity SUV up ahead or behind me...

 

I think when it goes off in the middle of nowhere your in the path of a Microwave tower or something. Mine goes off in the same place all the time.

I have noticed in the years I have been using the V1 that it will go off when someone keys their radio. I don't know if that is fact or not but I have had Forest Rangers set it off and they are not obviously using radar.

 

We drove from Portland, Oregon to Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and back and here are a few of my observations.

1] Instant on radar is basically undetectable unless you see him before he sees you. In our case, we saw him first. There was silence...then the V1 lit up like a Christmas tree.

2] On several occasions the V1 was blipping on low for about 75 miles and getting a bit annoying. In one instance as we pulled off for gas, a State Trooper went past us. I estimate he was at least a couple miles behind and the V1 was still picking him up.

3] On many occasions, the V1 would start chirping slow and steady building to full alert when a State Trooper passed by. The interesting thing here is in most situations, the Cop was over the horizon and at least a couple miles ahead of us in the oncoming lane. Once I estimated he was approx 5-miles ahead of us in the oncoming lane and the V1 found him.

4] Self storage facilities always alert on my V1, as do many shopping centers with door opening sensors.

I'm happy with mine and I have learned the areas of town where alerts are bogus. I have also been saved when I did not see the photo radar van stashed along side some public street here in Portland.

 

Another reason you may not have picked up the two traps was that they might have been using VASCAR, which is a distance/time measurement that doesn't use radar or laser. It is simply a stopwatch type system that is manually activated by the officer as you pass a start point, and stopped when you pass a second point at a known distance from the first. Simple calculation gives the mph you are traveling.
The V1 has two volume settings. set mine for low volume for weak signals (shopping centers, etc.) and turn the second, center **** at a higher volume for stronger, and presumably "real" signals. That takes care of the annoying beeping in microwave intense areas.

Jerry Magolan

 

I guess you travel I 95 a lot and as such you would have noticed all the poles with radar "guns" on them... they will trigger your V1 all day. If you blank out X band you will get most ofthem to be ignored.
If the troopers were using radar, and I guess they weren't, your V1 would have caught it ... I have travelled many thousands of miles with mine and it has never let me down. I also use the laser "Blinders" which have helped on two occassions in NY. I do not think CT uses laser, but might be mistaken.

 

The best speeding sensor is located above your shoulders and between your ears.

It's connected directly to your right leg which in turn modulates the accelerator pedal. It's the most hi-tech device known to man. It can differenciate & reason many factors that can & will create situations that can cause harm and/or damage.

It can save you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars if used prudently.

 

OBTW . . . . . I have a hard wired V1 in my 997S