No lidar in the Bay Area, paul. Just K & Ka bands. Lidar is too expensive to justify when they nab all the speeders they need with the old stuff.

Another voe for V1 and using common sense.

Never go fast when your the only car on the road. Even though your not harming ANYONE you will be a perfect target for a "Road Tax".

Always follow a "B!tch" never lead. This will give you time to slow down when the cop shoots at the lead car. And follow at a resonable distance so you don't get nabbed too.

I have been popped by instant on Radar and I was picked out of a pck of about 6 cars travelling at the same speed. something about a "Red Porch" makes cops excited and they gun for you.

In Georgia, I should have a brain tumor from all the laser and Radar I get shot at my Porsche.

BTW- Laser - When your laser detection goes off it means pull over and get a ticket. Unless you follow, then you'll get about a 4-5 second warning to slam on the brakes.

I am trying not to go on a rant about "safety" on the highway. Speed traps do not make safer roads. If all the stupid cops hiding on the side of the road would just drive around and spread out they would be 100X more affective making the roads safer than sitting and hiding in the bushes.

/rant

My V1 has saved me countless times -- one of my best electronic gizmo purchases ever.

http://homepage.mac.com/drew1/.Pictu...les_Copper.jpg
Another vote for the V1.
I don't leave home without it!

Another vote for Valentine 1. Amazing device, but if you know that you drive in areas where cops use laser, then no radar detector is going to provide much help. Most of my driving is in areas where they are still using radar. I drive in some areas where they use laser. I've been hit with laser before. Once when I wasn't speeding the cop hit me three times. My V1 went off, but if I had been speeding, it wouldn't have mattered because it would have been too late. I've gotten what I believe to be scattered laser once before. For an area with lots of laser your only real defense would be a laser jammer. Those aren't illegal.

But for a radar detector, I say V1.

I got a lidar ticket in Danville. Detector didn't even go off, as the laser beam is very narrow and aimed at your license plates or headlights. The only way to fight them is to have your sensors mounted near the plates with a jammer that reacts instantly. When you get an alert, you slow down and then turn off the jammer so the LEO can get a "good" reading on you. Yes, illegal in CA, but they'd never know if you use it correctly. Escort offers an integrated upgrade that uses your detector, Valentine does not.

BTW- an 8500 is not going to fail to detect anything the V1 would; the differences are nominal except for directionality. And adding the laser "shifter" is steep at $500, but one ticket avoided would probably pay for it.

So how can we find out what our LEO is using,...other than the obvious "Hard Way"?

I have the Passport 8500 and it's saved me a few times. I haven't tried the V1 and the arrows look useful, but as far as I'm concerned just knowing someone has radar on will slow me down, I don't need to look around and find out where they are. If you feel the extra $100 is worth it to know where the radar is then go for the V1, otherwise get the Passport.
I will repeat what someone else said though, don't make yourself stand out. If you're sitting out in the left lane and the only car overtaking you draw attention to yourself.

Aerkuld, the V1 also has a bogey counter which is just as important as the arrows - maybe moreso.

Up here, the RCMP like to travel the highway in pairs, about 2km apart. While following my bro(who had the 8500), my V1 gave my a Ka warning of two bogies up ahead. I didn't see his brake lights for at least 10 seconds after I got my warning, even though his Passport was mounted up high in his 4x4 and mine much lower in the 930. Once he got past the first LEO he put his foot back in it and got nabbed, but I knew there was a second RC coming.

I have the 8500 blue display in the 993 because they are illegal in VA and I need it stealthy. The Valentine would be way too obvious at night with so much red reflection on my face, even with the remote display. When I put my 8500 on dim, it is invisible outside the car. In the Bimmer I run a cordless Solo S2. Both have paid for themselves several times. The upside of the RD ban in VA is that the cops use antiquated equipment and usually just leave them on, making them very easy to detect.

I can tell you that when a cop uses laser he's got to aim the laser at a specific spot on your vehicle like the license plate. So if you see a cop on the side of the road standing beside his car and it looks like he's aiming a gun at oncoming cars, then he's using laser.

Otherwise, the chances are that it's radar.

Here in Houston, when I see HPD on the side of 45, 59, 610, etc... they are usually standing beside their car pointing something that looks like a gun down the street, but most of the other various LEOs that I see are usually using regular radar. I occasionally see laser other places.

I got a feeling they use both around here. Sometimes I see the local LEO's parked on a side street eating a jelly donut, with a dashboard mounted unit. That would most likely be Radar.

However I've seen the State LEO's leaning over thier car like they are a sniper or something.....I suppose that would mean they have the.... "Laser" (said like Dr. Evil with my fingers making the quotation marks) ;)

I believe you're correct.

Its almost 100% laser here in the Seattle area, so I don't see what a detector would do for me.

If you follow a fast car he will get zapped and your detector will pickup the splash. Follow the "rabbit" and you won't get bitten by the "Bears" on the interstate.

I love my V1: I'd rather have the arrows and bogey counter than a 2% increase in sensitivity.

If you only drive where there's laser, and you never go anywhere else and there's absolutely no radar, then a detector will do very little. IMO, a radar detector will warn you of radar at least 90% of the time. Occasionally the warning you get will be telling you "you just got hit, you're screwed." With Laser that is reversed, at least 90% of the time, the warning will mean that you just got hit and are going to get a ticket with occasionally the warning being early enough for you to avoid a ticket.

If you live in a laser only environment, then a laser jammer is probably what you need. The one that I seem mentioned most often is the Blinder Xtreme series
http://www.radarbusters.com/products/blinder/default.asp

It gives you a warning that you just got hit. The theory is that when the cop first tries to hit you with laser, you hear the warning, slow down, and then turn off the jammer and give the cop a good reading after you've slowed down and turned the jammer off.

I've done some reading, and apparently, sometimes, especially certain cars will take a couple of tries before the cop gets a good reading with laser. I'm guessing that something like a 911 or my miata is exactly that kind of car.

Agreed, the arrows and especially the bogey counter have saved me a couple of times when a regular detector without wouldn't have.

Hmm... how did you determine it was a Laser that got you? I don't drive through Danville much, but the only time my V1 ever alerts to laser is with a newer LED brake light in front of me. I see plenty of Ka band all over the Bay Area though.

Detectors are just tools. You'll never be able to ignore your surroundings and just zoom around waiting for your detector to protect you. You have to use the detector as an addition to your vigilance. The V1 is the most informative tool, IMO. No other detector can provide the information the V1 can.

P.S. I'm a firm believer that a front license plate will increase your radar cross section by an enormous amount, reducing your effective detector range significantly. I've run without one for years with no issues.

The officer told me he used laser, plus I've seen them standing next to the road aiming with a unit that clearly has a scope on it. Where I got nailed was as close to a speed trap as you'll ever see. Two lanes in each direction as you head south out of Danville on San Ramon Valley Blvd posted for 30mph. It's natural to go 40-50 there.

I would expect laser to become more prevalent as time goes on. I agree with you on the info that only a V1 can provide. For me, I just slow down for a viable threat regardless of how many or from where. I will be adding the laser shifter that integrates into the 8500. V1 can't provide that; you have to get a separate system.

FYI- not having a front license plate is now a moving violation, not a fix-it ticket anymore in CA.

I picked up the Escort 8500 today at Best Buy since it was readily available. They wanted $40.00 more the the blue display. The guy said the onlt difference was the color. Why that's $40 more is beyond me.

I can't wait to experience my first hit so it'll be justified :)