But at night is when there is no traffic so I feel safer to let loose a little

Thank you for the info, so from what your saying It's a little better to get a laser then the radar?
I'm assuming the laser detectors/jammers also detect radar aswell ?

 

I have to post again here. I'm not a crazy enthusiast but I have done many hours of research & comparison and I challenge anyone to try and prove me wrong, I know what i'm talking about.


Radar is a way of detecting your speed, yes. Radar waves are wide and scatter VERY easily, which is why it's possible to pick up Radar that's on miles ahead, this is a good thing for detection (this is of course with a good detector, Escort, Valentine 1, etc. NOT COBRA!!!). Radar waves are governed by the FCC and it is ILLEGAL (READ A FEDERAL OFFENSE: A FELONY!!) to JAM them, in fact it is illegal to transmit radar waves without a license from the government!!! You WILL NOT FIND A RADAR jammer that works (some HAVE BEEN reported but very rare and in general you will not get one without doing some shady stuff). So, it is MUCH easier to detect radar because you can get 2+ miles range of radar waves giving you plenty of time to "slow down" and do everything right.

Radar has a few modes, there is Instant on (where it is OFF until the officer targets someone and turns it ON, gets speed, and turns it OFF really quick which is hard (but not impossible) to detect.) This will be the most deadly because if you are the car the LEO is targetting, you will have no prior warning and he will have your speed. This isn't common nor uncommon, some places use it some don't, it just depends on your area. However, if the officer is using it on cars ahead of you there is a good chance you will detect it and have advance warning.

Constant on radar is the easiest to pick up because you will be picking up a constant signal and have a ramp up to tell you approx how far away it is (slow beeps farer away, the faster the beeps the closer you're getting, until its a solid tone!).

There are 2 main bands for radar, K and Ka. X is 99.9999999999% never used,unless you're in Ohio. K is used for radar and it is what stores use for their automatic door openers as well. The radar detector will pick those up (what we call 'false alerts'). They are annoying but eventually you learn what is a real threat on your route vs a false.

Ka band is most always a LEO. As soon as you encounter it, slow down and make sure you're doing everything right. (I'm not going to get into frequencies here but if you have questions you can feel free to PM me).


Now for laser, it is entirely different. Laser (or LIDAR) uses a single, narrow beam of light to get a speed reading. The officer has a "laser gun" and it has a sight. It is only activated when the officer pulls the trigger and is aiming at a car. It has little to no scatter, it is VERY rare to get scatter off of laser and anyone who says their detector reliably detects laser is either the one being hit (in which case the officer HAS your speed and all it tells you is that it detected laser which is useless because even if you slow down they have your initial speed), or is lying. Detectors will not reliably detect laser in any useful way.

There is where laser jammers come in, in most states they are not illegal. Laser is LIGHT, so as weird as it sounds, it is governed by the FDA. Therefore, it is not a federal crime to transmit light (what a jammer does). The two main brands are the Blinder (M27, M47) and the Laser Interceptor (LI, which is the best no questions asked although the blinder is very good as well).

Now in regards to "well the officer will see/know you have these!"

This MAY be true. I have been pulled over a couple of times (not related to speeding) and what I have done is remove the detector from my windshield and throw it under the seat. I'm sure an officer would not appreciate seeing a RD on my windshield.

For laser jammers, you are never supposed to jam to gun. (This is keeping your jammer on all the way to/past the officer). Once you are hit with laser, slow down and turn off the jammers (they come with a power switch). When he shoots you again, he will get a speed reading but hopefully it will be one that is safe and doesn't want to pull you over. Some officers ARE educated on jammers. Some laser guns (There are many kinds) will throw an ERROR CODE which means JAM, some will just not display a speed. Laser guys are not the easiest to use either, so it is not uncommon for an officer to shoot something and not get a speed right away.


Even if you have the best radar detector and laser jammer, there is still a chance you can get a ticket. They can use VASCAR (officers are trained to visually estimate the speed of a moving car) which is their eyes, ntohign you can do against that. If you are flying past a LEO they don't need your exact speed to give you a ticket. You can be shot with instant on radar, nothing is fool proof, BUT you have a very good chance of being safe.


Now how much does this cost? A GOOD radar detector will be $250-500. More in the 4-500$ range. Now for laser jammers, Blinder M47 is about 5-700$, and LI will be a little bit more (maybe $1k, but i'd have to check prices as it's been a while).


Is it worth it? Depends. I don't drive crazy but it always puts a smile on my face whenever I get an early warning that the LEO is out there, and I love technology. I just think it's cool.


Any more questions feel free to post or PM me.

 

After spending 30 years in RF (radio) and eleven years certifying police radar in Georgia (yea, I was one of those guys whose FCC license number and signature were REQUIRED on the officer's radar calibration certificate - without it, his tickets would not stand up in court) -------- I can honestly say I have never read a better and more informative post on Radar / Lidar than post 22.

The only thing I would add, would be that, in Georgia (can't speak for anywhere else) the courts have all but given up on anything other than Radar or Lidar. If you get a speeding ticket based on anything OTHER than Radar or Lidar, you can probably successfully fight it. I get this NOT from my own experience, but from talking to the very officers whose Radar I had certified over the past 11 years. Several have told me that they "are not going to waste time on something that some wimpy-assed court will throw out if someone questions it."

 

That was a good write up. I have used Escort and now Bel for over 11 years. Throughout the midwest, northeast, and southeast I generally find Ka used by our law enforcement agencies. I find a lot of X for automatic door openers in stores, and older K on highway signs that light up when they detect a car approaching. I pick up more laser driving by airports than I do on the interstates.

I've been very happy with my Bel 965 which I purchased at Best Buy for less than $200 about 4 years ago. Valentine 1 always scores highest in the tests, but if you read the reviews the difference in detection is usually less than 50 feet over models that cost half as much. V1 has the trick indicator that tells you direction of the radar which can be handy at times, but is not essential. Basically, there is enough splash off of radar hitting cars in front of me that I pick it up >1/2 mile ahead and slow down plenty early. For those tricky troopers with instant on, even the best detector won't save you because by the time it goes off, they gotcha.

 

I have been doing research on these devices and decided to go with the Valentine One....It is being delivered tomorrow. Will post up my thoughts after I have some info.

Found this cool video that has a good overview on the various speed counter-measure devices....found it appropriate given the car being driven in the video

Radar Detector Reviews - Need For Speed - YouTube!

 

VASCAR.... Don't forget my favorite weapon. LOL...

We use primarily 3 techniques. Moving, stationary, or LIDAR. Moving RADAR can be constant on, or instant on, so can stationary RADAR. LIDAR, needs to be stationary, and can be aimed in such a manner to shoot such a tight beam as to pick you out of a crowd so to speak. Your detectors are just getting the signal mostly from officers just leaving their's on. Like stated above, you might get a signal from an instant on, in any manner that is enough warning an officer is nearby working. Detectors are a tool, as you still have to be aware. I would only turn mine on when I knew I had a good target. I would get the person I was after, so if someone else picked up that signal, it really wasn't a save. I got the one I wanted. I loved my old VASCAR unit the best. No device was going to pick that up...lol Happy speeding...sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you...

 

I had to read your post, oledoc. Don't forget the bear in the air. Nothing a detector can do about that.

 

Detectors are like most products., you get what you pay for. The expensive models work very well, & are very sensitive to different signals. I have an inexpensive detector I use only for interstate driving here in Louisiana. It has saved me many times from hiding troopers behind signs & overpasses. I would be interested in a detecor that spots these new speeding cameras that mail the ticket after capturing your license plate, New Orleans is using these devices all over the city.Dont know if that technology exists.

 

I was always a K-40 guy - built into the dash, totally discrete, but a few years back, they started getting really bad reviews for their detection capabilities. I switched to Escort and have done fine with them ever since. I regularly drive well over the posted limit.

I don't put much into having laser detection capabilities - all that is likely to tell you is you just got snagged and should pull over.

 

I have the Escort 9500 ix in my Xfire. It is mounted above and to the right of the rear view mirror. Not very visible from the outside, front or back.
My other car has the Valentine 1. If you get one, be sure you reprogram it. Instructions can be found on radardetector.net in the forums. It makes it a lot easier to deal with the noise. I love the arrows on the V1. However, of the two, I would probably go with the Escort.

 

I just sent my Escort 8500 X-50 in for a "tune up"/reprogramming and a 1 year subscription to "Escort Live". If there are a number of people in your area using this service, It works pretty slick:

ESCORT Live - Escort Inc.

Crossie's in the shop-good time to NOT have a radar detector...