Radar detectors

I hope this isn't a sore subject, but I did a search and didn't find any threads on it...do you guys use radar detectors? I've never owned one, and don't know much about them, except what they claim in the ads.

Do they really work, or are they just another way of spending money that could be better used on parts?

Just instaled a k-40 ( www.k40.com ) with the laser difuser. Really like the invisible side of it, just 2 diodes. However getting the remote sensors instaled and look right is not easy.

Oh, yes it does seem to work rather nicely on the highway but not as well for those brisk moments in the city...

Jean-Paul

*** Taken from the REMOTE RADAR post ***

Well, I just returned my newly purchased Valentine. I bought it and an ESCORT 8500 to test together, and there is no comparison anymore.
I posted a question to this board about what was the best detector and more said Valentine than said ESCORT. I now can only assume that they have no experience with the new ESCORT 8500. The Valentine has always been a great detector, but they have done very little advancement in the last few years. I drove around my usual routs with the Valentine and then again with the Escort 8500 and the ESCORT blew the Valentine away. Keep in mind that this comes from a former Valentine Die-Hard.
The 8500 has vastly superior range in detection for all bands as well as LASER. The ESCORT also shows the number if signals it is receiving as well as their strength, unlike the Valentines Boggie Counter numerical display.

Go to www.escortradar.com and read the reviews. While I know it is their website, they do not own the popular mags referenced.

Anyone can refute this, but I am offering my experience, side by side with both of these detectors and did it as recently as last month.

Best thing about Valentine right now is their buy back policy...

Also see: http://www.radartest.com/ & http://www.speedzones.com/companys/Passsport/passport.html

The V1 is the best detector I've ever owned. Not sure how you can drive around with both detectors and come to such a firm conclusion. Did you have cops with radar / laser guns waiting to help you or were you basing it on sensetivity to security systems and garage door openers (things that a good detector filters out) in your area?

Regardless, I'm sure they are both good, but my Valentine 1 has saved me so many times that it would be hard for me to change.

Just my 2 cents.

Can some one explain to me how a LASER detector works? What I'm getting at is this; If the detector picks up a laser beam being focused on your car, the return light signature from that beam has already been picked up back at Smokey's laser unit telling him of your speed. Light travels so fast that the damage is already done, a human cannot slow a car down in time to the detectors warning, and I've got serious doubts as to a "laser diffuser" ability on one of these units.... Has anyone out there been booked whilst using a detector? That would be proof of the pudding.

I have a Uniden radar detector which worked fine in my previous car. However in my 911 it seems to go nuts every time I try to use it

About that defuser K40 thing. If the cops can't measure you with their laser pistols then what? Here they'll just send a motorcycle after you to find out why they couldn't measure you. When they find the defuser they'll take it.

I don't think laser diffusers (jammers) are illegal and therefore can not be confiscated. However, Radar jammers are illegal. The advantage to the K-40 is the discreet mounting and the integrated laser jammer, although I also question the laser jammers effectiveness, it can't hurt. Many tests (see above) have shown the new Escort and Valentine 1 to be more effective at detecting radar.

[This message has been edited by robfix (edited 03-06-2001).]

Mike Feinstein - I agree the V1 is a good detector, but the NEW Escort is far and away the superior unit today. And yes - I too loved the V1. I drove around with each for several days, encountering cops and supermarket doors. (Only one detector was powered on at a time.) The ESCORT gives more information, better information, and superior range than the V1.

Read the reviews, and then do what I did, prove it to yourself. Otherwise I would have never believed in the ESCORT over the V1. Having done that, you too will see that ESCORT has developed a very powerful tool for the enthusiastic driver.

Valentine has no plans for a new detector either…

Fishcop,

You are right, when the laser hits you, your detector should scream the words "YOU'RE BUSTED"! But. . .I've only had my laser detector go off once. I think the local police have just purchased some new toys since it happened near my office just last week. The good news was that although I was doing about 75 in a 65, they didn't come after me. I was in a fairly tight pack of cars and wonder if I could have detected a laser hit focused on a car near me? Does anyone know if the V1 (or any detector) can pick up a laser signal this way (like radar)? It would give me warm fuzzys if I could detect laser hits on cars in front of me!

Viperklr. . .thanks for clarifying. I'll bet the Escort is alot less $ too!

Mike 94 C2 cab

Laser is very similar to radar, just different wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, both travel at pretty much the same speeds and both register instantly. The thing about detectors is that you detect scattered waves when the cop picks somebody else to target. The laser scatter is harder to pick up because it is a focused beam and thus scatters in a bunch of smaller and weaker focused beams, radar has a much broader scatter. From what I understand, lost of detectors can see from a long straight distance. The "good ones" detect bounced signals from around corners etc (like the V1).

Brad

A laser beam is too linear and polarized to 'spray' sufficiently to be detected, even in traffic. Detectors are going to be too late.

And while the laser device is winning acceptance in State courts, it should not be. Radar uses a 'Doppler' effect to estimate speed. The signal comes back to the gun at a different frequency, revealing the target's speed. Laser works differently. It receives the return bean at discrete intervals, and judges distances, rather than speed. So if it sees you once, than then sees you a millisecond later at a distance of nine feet closer than before, it may determine you are speeding. Unfortunately, it may have seen your rain gutter first, and your front bumper next, folling the device into concluding you were speeding.

It's like drug testing. The people who use it to make money are pretending it measures performance. Radar does in fact measure velocity. Laser does not. Drug testing does not measure performance either. It does not even measure intoxication, let alone performance.

But, like laser speed estimation, some folks with enough money to control things want it really bad (the laser gun development project folded, and was bailed out, and completed by, the insurance industry). So you'll have to live with it, whether it's fair or accurate, or not. It's about money, in case you missed this so far.

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'83 SC

How about chrome plating your car? Bet that polished aluminum Audo W12 concept car would be undetectable by laser

Maybe we should chrome plate our cars

--- oops sorry for double posting, the board was doing funny things --

[This message has been edited by bfranklin (edited 03-06-2001).]

Agreed, the only thing that a laser detector tells you is that you are busted. The beam is too narow to pick up bounced waves. I have a laser jammer because of this. Works great. Blinder M10.

What type of laser jammer do you have and where can one be purchased?

Thx

When I get my 911, one of my first purchases will be a Valentine One (unless I decide on the 8500).

Just for grins, I was checking these out on Ebay and can't believe how (let's just say, not very smart) people are. They're bidding $380 for a used V1 when you can purchase a NEW one for $399. Go figure.

I have been looking at getting a radar detector for a while now. I had my mind made up on the Valentine 1 based on all of the fantastic reviews its received. It now appears that the Escort 8500 may be a better product. Can anyone give me some feedback in this area??

Thanks,
ian

See my first post on this topic. there are a few reviews there for you to check out!

THe laser jammer I have is called the Blinder M10. Check out www.radarjam.com I think that's where I found it. Dual emitters and unlike most active jammers they do not trigger the laser guns detection circuit...

Scratch that, I found some info on it at http://www.1-radar-laser-jammers-detectors.com/laser-jammer.html

[This message has been edited by cstreit (edited 03-06-2001).]

I've been thinking about getting a radar/laser detector for a long time. Which brand would work best in a place with hardly any staight roads, just a bunch of curvy ones? Thanks!

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Jeff
1976 911S