peterjcb

For those of you who use a radar detectors; can they really alert you to police radar and how effective are they. Are there situations where they don't work? I'm considering getting one just for precaution.

Moogle

radar detectors are really just sophisticated radios.

they will give you warning, but in this age of instant on, they won't give you much.

if the cop shoots someone in front of you before you, you will get a little warning

i find the valentine 1 dissapointing, but better than most out there, ive tried a few.

Kesepton

laser guns are whatll get ya. dont get a laser detector since you only get a signal if youve been hit and thats too late. good thing is, they cant be used while moving, the guy has to stand on a curb or something and shot, you.

But your looking for a radar detector i just realized so... here are my thoughts. Valentine is great because it gives you directonal signals. The others are good too, just not knowing if the cop is say behind/in front of you compared to on the sides. Like if they are on the street adjacent to the free way or vice versa. My friend swears by it and ive seen it go off a few times while in the car. Its good when you think about it. If it saves you from one ticket, its paid for itself. 200+ for ticket + the time for court/class if you can plus points on your record.

What most cops are using now, i forgot what its called but here is what it does, sends out s ginal that bounces through traffic constantly. When it hits something going too fast, itll alert the cop and gives him a general speed reading (not good enough for court). In which case, they will shoot you with another gun. But, if you can avoid the first, youll be good. The first one can be detected easily by the detector while you are far out of range of the sight of the cop so he dosent know who is the speeder just yet. And, since it gives you that warning, youve got time to slow down and switch outa lane one etc etc.

Moogle

i think you are referring to POP laser, which is not like what you said, it does not bounce around in traffic, what it does is send out many bursts of laser, which is difficult for many detectors to, erm, detect. the latest valentines detect this.

it is not admissible in court because it is not very accurate in determinning speed
i don't think a cop has enough time to get one reading from a pop gun, then whip out another gun and shoot you again because the pop said you were going pretty fast.

peterjcb

I've been doing a little reading up and apparently there are three bands that are the most common in use today...X, K & Ka bands. All are in use with the newest being the Ka band which is harder to detect. There's also the POP which send out bursts to get a reading. The Escort Passport 8500 X50 looks like it got some pretty good marks but I guess nothing is perfect.

Kaz

The Valentine One is the best there is and has paid for itself many times over. The arrows are very useful as opposed to just getting a blanket warning as you do on other detectors. You still have to use common sense with any radar detector as there really isn't a lot of lead time on Laser unless you have cars ahead of you that get probed first.

hacker-pschorr

5th gear tested a few anti-radar toys. They tested a laser jammer that actually worked. It's sold as an auto garage door opener.

drb007

Not to start a debate on which detector is best...
But I have had a few different detectors in the past, and finally got the Valentine 1 when I got my first Porsche. I don't think it is all that much better then any other for general use, but, it does have two unique features...the directional arrows and the counter.
There are a few buildings on my way to work that set off the false alarm. I am usally exceeding the speed limit a tiny bit. Once in a while, a radar unit will hide behind the building, which I believe they know is always sending out a false signal. But those mornings my V1 says two instead of one device, and I know there may be a real radar. I like that feature the most. But it is something that works on a road you know well and travel often.
On the highway or when travelling out of town, they are all pretty similar.
And nothing is going to work well against laser.

djantlive

Does your radar detector stay on while ignition is off? My cig lighter isn't switched off when car is off for some reason. What do you guys do?

I bought a decent $120 cobra. It works fine for me. Definitely not bullet proof though. If you speed and you will, watch out for cops and use radar detector as a backup set of eyes.

Kaz

Hardwire your detector instead of using the cig lighter outlet.

hacker-pschorr

I wish I would have tapped it - Top Gear tested a laser detector that did work very well, assuming a different car was tagged first. They had two cars about 5 car lengths apart. The cop tagged the first car then the second. The detector in the 2nd car gave enough warning to slow down before the cop was able to get a reading.

I don't know what detector it was. It was a laser only system. - the laser jammer they also tested worked perfect. Might not be available for very long, not sure how to get one in the states.

Bill Gregory

Go to the Valentine 1 website (http://www.valentine1.com), where there is alot of good information on radar and detectors. I've used Escort in the past, but switched to Valentine 1, and am pleased with it. As mentioned, the arrows and counter are very useful.

Kesepton

well you see the problem is that you can only have passive hardware in america. Meaning, it can not actively source out these things and jam them. THe reason detecotors are legal is because it is "collecting signals" like a radio. It dosent affect the gun.

Just ta let ya know. Though they are still sold, theyll get you a big ticket.

hacker-pschorr

Kesepton,
They are not legal in the U.K. either - reason why the box say's it's used to open your garage door. The unit they tested is wired into your car, you program in the speed limit. the second you come within the programmed range of the speed limit, it shuts itself off so the cop can get a reading.

drb007

I have seen the reviews on the jammers and the lazer ability of the high end detectors...like you said, if the guy a couple of cars head gets hit with laser first, then a good detector will alert. The V1 will do that. But...if you are speeding, and doing so that close to others, and the cop is picking people out of the crowd to clock...is he going to aim at the Mustang/Camaro/BMW or the Porsche 911? The factors that have to all fall in line to actually detect laser and respond to it are so numerous, I would just as well consider myself unprotected from laser.
I have not yet seen a really good jammer...and now I am told that the police have jammer detectors...it never ends!