Radar Detector Poll!

[Perfectlap]

Originally Posted by pez

Being a Firefighter/EMT I talk to police and troopers all the time, usually their take is if they pull you over and you have a detector in the car means instant ticket, no warning!
Seeing a detector in the car means you intend to break the law.

Just my .02 worth

That's a ridiculus attitude by law enforcement. All one has to do is go on a highway and see that 1% of traffic (around here at least) is driving at or below the posted speed limit. Did they all just decide on a whim to break the traffic laws? No. They intend to break the traffic laws every time they merge onto the highway. Unless there is heavy traffic, no one staying at 55. When I travel to other cities like Miami I can't believe how fast people drive in SUV's, minivans and Jeeps. I bet none of them have ever had any formal driving instruction since they were 17 years old applying for that learners permit.

The funny thing is its not just law enforcement that believe Radar detectors are for "speeders". My friends father shot me a disaproving look when he saw the V1 in my Boxster
Around here People seem to forget that going with the flow of traffic means you speeding. Most people I know go with the flow, even my friend's father.

I think I lost count after the 12th time that my V1 warned me of a police speed trap during light traffic on the two major highways here in NJ. If the cop had decided to come after me at least just once it would have cost more than $400 I spent on the V1 in the ticket and insurance surcharge. Well worth the investment in my opinion. Why walk into a trap if you can avoid it?

People who don't think radar detectors work need to talk to my friend Dan who just got his license suspended after several tickets. And he's defiinitely not a "speeder" and drives an old Volvo. He now has to wake up at 5am to take public transportation to get to work by 9am for the next 6 months(at least 2.5 hours to get home). Yeah that's almost as much commuting time as time at work.
The speed limit is set so that the Police can arbitrarily pick anyone off and bring in some revenue. If he speed limit is intended to be a deterrent then its a collosal failure.

[YellowJacket]

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

. When I travel to other cities like Miami I can't believe how fast people drive in SUV's, minivans and Jeeps.

Haha, it's funny how views of the same exact thing can vary. Every time I'm in Miami, I get annoyed at how slow people drive. But then, I learned to drive in Atlanta -- which by definition is 16 lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic going 85-90 mph.

[ntmatter]

Actually, you can de-program Xband on your Valentine one, by following the instructions here: http://www.valentine1.com/lab/MikesLabRpt3.asp

[aramati]

I have the X50 8500. I am not yet sure about it. The false alarms are making me "the slowest driver on the road". On the road from San Diego to Las Vegas, the detector went on several times. A couple were due to these "here is your speed" set ups. Once I got a full alarm, yet I could swear I was alone in the desert; I did not see any trooper and cars were passing me at a much higher speed. So far I cannot say it has saved me from anything, but for sure made me drive slower.

Could you please tell what are the physical things that make a detector give an alarm (other than from the Police)? I am reading through the thread that automatic doors do. Anything else?

[Perfectlap]

Desert roads wihout trees and buildings allow the radar warning to travel incredibly long distances of 10 miles. So its ideal for testing who has the longest range detector but not really so ideal for a desert driver.



regarding deprograming X:
yeah its cool you can turn it off, but I'm somewhat hesitant to turn off the X warning completely.
Any opninion?
I called Valentine and they said there were no plans to distinguish the X KA, K and Laser bands via different color lights. Must be some direction from a Valentine lawyer.
By the way if you decide to deprogram the X band its code 1 when you do the press down and turn on step. Make sure the arrow is pointing down when code 1 is displayed. Power on off again and a " P " with a light flashing below the P should be indicated.

Also I was cuirious about this, newer V1 have the POP warning incorporated into the K adn Ka alerts.

[RandallNeighbour]

A number of the online reviews of the V1 state that it falses so much on the freeway that it's annoying.

Have you V1 users found this to be true? That's a major factor in my purchasing decision. I must have that special blend of "sensitivie enough to work well, not so sensitive that it reports every Walmart door opener from a mile or two away" detector.

and yes, I know the arrows would show you it's a door opener at Walmart as you pass by, but locating the false signal is not my concern here... having a detector that is smart enough to know the difference is my main issue.

[RandallNeighbour]

aramati:

First, I was under the impression that the X50's circuitry was good at parsing out falses. Ugh. Not good news. I'm actually looking into the top of the line Bel now. Rated as good as the other two main detectors.

Second, to answer your question, there's a bunch of sources for false reads from your X50...

Automatic doors on stores
Very old and very cheap radar detectors in other cars
plus, oddly enough some vehicles... Ford Explorers make mine go off.

There are others too, but I can't remember them right now. A google search will quickly tell you what can set them off apart from the real thing.

[Perfectlap]

well the detector doesn't distinguish between automatic doors and police car speed guns. It distinguishes between frequencies, it jus so happens that the automatic door operates on the same frequency as some police. WHich sucks but its unavoidable. Which is where the counter comes in really handy. As a general rule areas where there are automatic doors are areas where you really shouldn't be driving so fast. Once your past the 'areas of human activity' I find in my area that the cops usually hang out on desolate stretches of road where there aren't any shopping centers. Stretches where people tend to put the throttle down. this is where my V1 is either quiet or saving my neck.

Its a trade off do you want to be able to know what is going around everywhere or do you want to run the risk of missing a false alarm that isn't really so false? That's a gamble I sooner not take for the sake of convenience.
Some however do choose to run that risk and opt out of the getting the V1. I think false positives are more annoying without the arrows and you will be getting them with any brand.

I have the volume on mine set very low, and have now become acclimated at reading the priority of the arrows and the counters to be able to rather quickly know when something is out of the ordinary. Especially when you travel the same roads frequently, roads where cops like to hang out. The V1 is very consistent in that respect, I can predict with great accuracy when it will go off on those frequently traveleved roads and the arrows instantly confirm my predicitions as false alarms that are behind me.
All detectors require some interpreting and I think these dopey little arrows give you the best tools.