the great laser/radar jammer debate

mjshira · 08-08-2005, 11:04 AM

so, let's get this cleared up: can you jam radar or laser? I have heard a lot about this from different sources. given that I am about to start a 4k round trip I want to be sure I have protection. think of it as a rubber for the road trip :-D

oh and just for those that like pics, here is one

Purrybonker · 08-08-2005, 11:33 AM

It's pretty clear that both laser and radar can be "jammed". The problem is that radar "jamming" is plenty illegal in many jurisdictions and also happens to be obvious to the "jammee", whereas laser "jamming" is legal almost everywhere and is effectively transparent to it's target.

I have an escort laser jammer and can speak to it's effectiveness; and have done so several times on this board. It has saved me on three separate occasions over the last couple of years - probably paying for itself in fines alone, let alone insurance implications. My Valentine never even reacted in any of those situations - not that it mattered.

Remember, radar/laser detectors are completely useless against laser. Laser is pointed specifically at a vehicle and are thereby undetectable until your car is targeted. Once targeted - you are caught and have no time to react. Being alerted to a laser hit means the same as being alerted to the fact that you are about to be handed a ticket.

Laser jamming is the only solution. V-1 + Escort Laser Jammer + sharp eyes + common sense = off you go...

ZOA NOM · ZOA NOM's Garage

Skip the jammer, remove your front plate to reduce (significantly) your frontal radar (and laser) reflection, install the Valentine 1 and enjoy the trip.

I just did the same thing and the V1 saved me at least three tickets on the trip.

My Solo Pelican Road Trip

RoninLB · 08-08-2005, 03:43 PM

I always remove ft plate when I'm interstate. And a couple of Canadians said the Blinder and Lidatek laser jammers were functional. I have an NMA article confirm on the Blinder's effectiveness and spread of coverage.

meanwhile the Lidatek has an auto shut-down to avoid the HP knowing they were jammed for sure. I'm hooked on the V1 so I figure about $400 for more entertainment.

fwiw.. i was told by a V1 tech yrs ago that all the tech's drive with their headlights on full time as it's the 2nd target if the plate is ng. Something about photons disturbing other photons. And my rear plate is painted with clear gloss rattle can marine paint for pic- ticket strobe glare.

if anybody is up on current jammer only units info let me know..
thx

alf · 08-08-2005, 03:59 PM

Has someone rigged up a giant LED and stuck it on their bumpers to foil laser yet?

Ronin
What is this clear gloss you spray and what does it do?

masraum · 08-08-2005, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by alf
Has someone rigged up a giant LED and stuck it on their bumpers to foil laser yet?

I think that's basically what the laser jammers are.

mjshira · 08-08-2005, 04:06 PM

do newer cars have something on them that triggers peoples V1s? I have had some false laser hits and radar hits while on my recent 900 mile trip up to Akron (Bell)

dweymer · dweymer's Garage

I don't know but if I find the 'tard that just stole my detector I may jam a laser right in his eye! F'in thieves.

Well, now I can buy a V1!!

randywebb · 08-08-2005, 04:09 PM

certain LED tailights

Joe Bob · Joe Bob's Garage

Lot of the newer SUV tailights give my V1 fits....

ZOA NOM · ZOA NOM's Garage

Some of the newer cars have fiber optic taillights, which set off the V1's laser detector.

s5uewf · s5uewf's Garage

I think I may build a laser gun of my own and fire back

Formerly Steve Wilkinson · 08-09-2005, 06:41 AM

No, it's not possible to jam radar, at least not without a huge power source, by which I mean the equivalent of hundreds of hp cranking a generator. Go the the Escort website and read the quite extensive jammer test that I believe Automobile magazine did several years ago, proving all of the radar jammers on the market to be useless. Indeed, some of them even increased the range of police radar.

Don't know anything about laser.

Stephan

ZOA NOM · ZOA NOM's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by Formerly Steve Wilkinson
No, it's not possible to jam radar, at least not without a huge power source, by which I mean the equivalent of hundreds of hp cranking a generator. Go the the Escort website and read the quite extensive jammer test that I believe Automobile magazine did several years ago, proving all of the radar jammers on the market to be useless. Indeed, some of them even increased the range of police radar.

Don't know anything about laser.

Stephan

Actually, it requires very little power to jam a radar signal. The important parameter to match is the frequency. It is the radar's receiver that is jammed, not the transmitter. Receivers are tuned to detect very tiny amounts of power. If the jammer can recreate the transmitter's frequency accurately, then the receiver being jammed will be overwhelmed with signal strength, eliminating it's ability to detect it's own transmitter's return.

Formerly Steve Wilkinson · 08-09-2005, 09:16 AM

Then why don't any of them work?

Stephan

Jim Richards · 08-09-2005, 09:59 AM

Zoanas is forgetting that there's path loss associated with transmitting the jamming signal. Yeah the receiver needs to only receive a relatively weak signal to be jammed; however, it requires a significantly strong signal to jam it. But to be fair, I think Stephan's using a bit of hyperbole in his statement about what's required.

Has the FCC licensed or otherwise authorized radar jamming devices? I'd be surprised but you never know. A product that intentionally transmits a radio frequency signal for use here in the US falls under one of the Commission's rule parts.

Jack Olsen · 08-09-2005, 10:03 AM

My V1's laser alert is so annoying I've considered using the programming function to disable it. Having sped up and down the length of California many times, I've yet to see laser used anywhere, by anyone, especially the CHP.

Are there any states that use laser for freeway enforcement, or is it just a local thing?

Formerly Steve Wilkinson · 08-09-2005, 10:04 AM

My info comes solely from a recent lengthy thread on the same subject, which I began. Ultimately, the thread--and that Escort-website article--convinced me that radar jammers are a joke.

Somebody did post on the thread that they had a friend who was an Air Force electronics technician, who told them that it would require the full output of a Porsche's engine to create enough power for a useful radar-jamming signal, which is where my possible hyperbole came from.

Stephan

Formerly Steve Wilkinson · 08-09-2005, 10:09 AM

Jack, I got caught by laser on the New York State Thruway, state trooper using it, about half a dozen years ago. Got out of it by simply showing up at the little JP court in Saugerties. The other troopers there referred to my arreesting officer as "Laserboy." Apparently it was his new toy.

Saw another trooper using it on the Thruway last year, when I had an ambulance call to a Thruway accident. I asked him where he aimed it when he was using it, he laughed and said "right between the headlights." Which I guess is good if you're in a 911...

Stephan

randywebb · 08-09-2005, 10:09 AM

1. path loss refers to the geometry of the situation - the radiation is coming from a point source (or nearly so) and spreads out in a very large 3-D cone (maybe a complete hemisphere). Thus, the total power required at a given distance to jam the reciever has to be multiplied by all the other power for the jamming signal that is radiated into empty space. -- think about a big globe with a point inside it and rays coming out -- the point is the jammer and the rec'r is on the surface of the globe -- it only gets a few of the total # of rays.

2. the other issue is that if the jammer is off freq. a small amt. then it has to have a much larger power output in order to get some 'leakage' over into the reciever's frequency -- think about a normal distribution bell curve - off by just a bit.