$415

[blueillusion97]

$415......I hope it pays off.........few people keep telling me that i need a radar detector....I dont think im driving fast, i respect the law and speed limits, i always follow them ........So i ordered V1 and i hope it will be a good guardian angel for me.... Any good or bad experiences with V1 ?

[70Sixter]

It will pay off the first time it saves your butt.

V1's are very sensitive and false too often for me. Others swear by them. I think you did fine. Most high quality detectors are worth the high cost.

[Perfectlap]

ok when you first get it, don't stare at it every time it goes off.
When you have a real threat it will make a certain sound that is almost always the Five-O. Sounds something like this:

beep........beep.........beep.......beep...beep!be ep!!beep!!beep!!beep!!

After a while you learn how to listen to a V1.
The only problem is that the headlights from Inifinti Wagons always show up as Lazer.

p.s.
I think the V1 has probably warned me of a sneaky cop hiding behind a bush oh maybe a few dozen times. Its driving fast without a peep from the V1 that makes you enjoy the drive.

[Jeph]

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

After a while you learn how to listen to a V1.

Can you listen to the arrows?

[Perfectlap]

Well as the V1 gets louder you look at the arrows.

but you have to be careful. One time I had a passenger who was yap yap yaping away and I completely ignored the V1 even though it was screaming.
Sure enough the five-O comes out from a supermarket parking lot and chases me down. The cop was my age so he only gave me ticket for something other than speeding but one that still required a court visit. He said he wouldn't show up so that the ticket would be thrown out.

But the V1 did its job. I was just being stupid.

[Hops]

I have a V1 and a Bel RX65. They both work well. The V1 is the best detector you can buy for highway use due to the sensitivity, the arrows, and the bogey counter. Unless you can turn off x band where you live (which is most of the country) and sometimes filter k it can drive you nuts driving in commercial areas of cities. The RX65 and Escort models are much better at filtering off axis signals, which helps make them more city friendly but can compromise always finding the cop.

I have driven a many, many miles with radar detectors since 1989. Just drove 10,625 miles around the US last summer. No tickets since 1992, but let me explain why. You have to view the radar detector as a source of information but you cannot let your guard down at all. Between instant-on, laser, and shooting you blind from behind (like an overpass or entrance ramp), there are still plenty of chances to get caught.

The four keys, IMO, to not getting tickets are 1) watching far ahead and in your mirrors at all times (if you react immediately and slow down when seeing the cop, it almost seems as if you get credit for being attentive), 2) watching for disruptions in traffic that signal clocking activities (brake lights, clustering of cars, people diving out of the fast lane), 3) making it hard for them to single you out (keeping traffic between you and the cop), and being aware of (slowing down a bit for) hiding spots where they can ambush you from front or back.

So, yeah, doing all these things is a lot of work. Sometimes it's better to just go with traffic and stick to 5-7 over the limit. But, on our trip last summer we probably averaged more like 12-15 over, especially in the western states. Our CB alerted us to a few traps, my eyes picked up a few, and the detector picked up a few. Had I relied solely on the detector we may have gotten nabbed a few times. But, the detector probably saved us a few times as well, the cases where it finds the threat before your eyes pick it up. There was a very well hidden local sheriff (SUV) in a little town in Wyoming that would have been awfully tough to pick out. He was on the opposite side of the road parked under a low shade tree, naturally right after the limit dropped from 55 to 25. Even with the detector going bananas it took me some effort to locate him. A pick-up was passing me right at that moment and got nailed.

[blueillusion97]

looks like i made a right choise getting V1. Hopefully i will learn V1's beeping language quickly. When ever i drive im always on a lookout, but my rear plastic window is getting yellowish and hard to see through, that made me miss a cop 2 times from the back, lucky me they had more important business to take care of.

[RandallNeighbour]

First thing to do is get back on the V1 web site and download the instructions on how to completely turn off X band, which is where I found a LOT of false alarms were coming from.

[Can your new overpriced detector without arrows do that, Jeph?]

The only police departments still using X band are located in Ohio and you're in SoCal.

When I drive in SoCal with my V1, I find that they're shooting K, Ka, and most alarmingly, Laser (most dangerous and surprising if you are not in heavy traffic).

Of course, you're rarely not in heavy traffic in SoCal, so I guess that's kind of a non-issue

[70Sixter]

Hops has some good tactics I use in conjunction with my RX-65. I can only add that I also try to keep a "rabbit" out well in front of me. He'll trigger any instant-on radars.

Then I drive from one pack of cars past the next pack being really careful if I don't have somebody out in front.

You have to watch your mirrors for vehicles closing faster that you are going. Could just be somebody using the same tactic. Mebbe not. I slow either way until I get confirmation.

About X-band. Last week my RX-65 alerted on X-band. Was a deputy sheriff in the median. I slowed and watched his tactics. Apparently knowing he was broadcasting halfway to S Carolina he'd let a few cars pass in the opposite lane. Then he'd blast the traffic. He got one as I watched. Then he was going the opposite direction as I returned from my errand. I don't believe there is an instant-on X-band, so not sure how he did it. Maybe the silent periods were the radar warming up?

I never worry about weak X-band because it is usually an automatic door opener or burglar alarm. If it starts to get stronger there is plenty of time to slow down. Strong (all red lites on and beeeepbeeeeep etc) X-band has always been radar. Always.

Based on my observations, small towns and deputies still seem to use X-band. That said, small towns are places I NEVER speed. Tickets are a revenue source they cherish.

One other observation. When I've been hit by instant-on I've usually heard a faint beep followed in seconds by blaaaaap. So I brake hard for weak K or Ka unless my rabbit is way out in front.

One more....pick-up trucks and SUVs (as someone mentioned) are killers. I saw two unmarked p/u trucks in South Carolina making a fortune working I-95 near GA border.

[Jeph]

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

[Can your new overpriced detector without arrows do that, Jeph?]

Oh Randall, why do you want to start this war. You can't win! And YES, my aptly priced detector can do that.

There is only ONE THING the the Valentine 1 can do that the 8500 & 9500 can't... and that's POINT (to false alarms). There are loads of things the Escort can do that the V1 can't.

[Perfectlap]

well it does point to a boat load of false alarms but they aren't ALWAYS false alarms. But regardless, the split second that the arrow points behind you its all moot, I can exhale and go on with my driving.
I guess its a matter of preference do you want to listen to a diminishing beep or do you prefer to see immediate confirmation that a threat (false or real) is safely behind you.

Personally, what sold me on the V1 was that so far unless I'm wrong its still the best at picking up Lazer from a trailing vehicle. At least three times I was warned of a trooper that was a few cars back. One time the trooper followed me for about a mile and then sped into the passing lane and pulled over a poor sap in an M3.
It is EXTREMELY difficult to pickup Lazer from that position.

[Lil bastard]

Don't want to start a , but over many years of driving, I have a clean record and have never owned any detector.

I realize that different areas of the country place greater emphasis on setting Speed Traps, that some people just find a detector reassuring, and for some it's a gottahave item for whatever reason.

Personally, I think they're expensive (despite claims that there is a PayBack, wouldn't have been for me), they give you something else to hide or worry about being stolen, and there are still plenty of people who use them, but get citations nonetheless.

Yea, I may get a speeding ticket some day, but it won't be because the detector didn't warn me, it'll be because I have exceeded the posted limit. I prefer to use my money on more fun mods. But, my motto is always: Your car + Your $$ = Your choice! Good luck with it.

[Perfectlap]

^ you are a lucky man.
In this neck of the woods we are a densely populated lot. On a 30 minute trip to Costco I will pass through six different municipalities with at least three (on my last trip) police cars looking for speeders. On the way home I took the Parkway and counted two Staties looking for sheep. Popping people going as little as 10 miles over the limit has become big business in states like NJ where there are more cars than people. With insurance companies looking to harpoon you for so much as one point on your record, I think you have to be nuts to be driving even 5 miles over the limit without a detector.

[Brucelee]

No detector, no tix in 39 yrs of driving.

Lucky? YOU BET!!!!!!!!


Funny thing is my son always has the lastest valentine and he gets tix pretty regularly.

Go figure.

[Hops]

Originally Posted by Brucelee

Funny thing is my son always has the lastest valentine and he gets tix pretty regularly.

Go figure.

He obviously thinks it is like deploying the shield on the Enterprise or something. The one ticket I got since buying a detector was a VASCAR ticket from an unmarked Mustang GT with tinted windows. That taught me my lesson. You must keep your guard up at all times.

Originally Posted by Jeph

There is only ONE THING the the Valentine 1 can do that the 8500 & 9500 can't...

There is ONE THING my wife can do that my best friend can't, but I find it rather important. Don't knock the arrows. I like my RX65 quite a bit for city driving, but once you've been stuck doing 55 for 20 minutes because there is an officer a mile behind you shooting oncoming traffic, then you appreciate the arrows. V1 is the only detector that lets you confidently keep distance between you and the threat behind you.

[blueillusion97]

Its good to know that X band is not used here and that i can turn it off. Because i used to have a radar detector a year or two ago for few weeks and X alert kept going off even on a highway constantly

[RandallNeighbour]

Hops, don't keep it up about the arrows with Jeph. He's in arrow denial in a bad way and he's not ready to see the light... the light behind the arrows. And that's ok because we have the arrows and enjoy the fact that we know where the threat is at all times. Jeph lives on the edge not knowing and it must make driving fast more adventurous.

Blue, after you wrote that last comment, I thought to myself, "Now you're gonna get a ticket from a cop running an old, outdated X band gun. Just watch."

[blueillusion97]

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

Hops, don't keep it up about the arrows with Jeph. He's in arrow denial in a bad way and he's not ready to see the light... the light behind the arrows. And that's ok because we have the arrows and enjoy the fact that we know where the threat is at all times. Jeph lives on the edge not knowing and it must make driving fast more adventurous.

Blue, after you wrote that last comment, I thought to myself, "Now you're gonna get a ticket from a cop running an old, outdated X band gun. Just watch."

I hope Jephs 9500i works out great for him cuz of all the heat he is getting ... that would really suck to get a ticket from X band gun, ill try do to more research about it cuz from what i remember there were quite alot X band false alarms with my old escort X50 that i had few weeks and if V1 is even more sensitive then i could only imagine

[SilentThunder]

Whats all this about turning off X band completely on the V1? I have a V1 and the only thing I have seen is to set it to advanced logic mode, so I assume thats what your talking about. But if its not please tell me. In advanced logic mode it mutes all but the strongest of X band signals, so your still covered if that cop with a wild hair up his ass uses an X band gun. And Ive driven past one who has in a small town, it was very unsettling.

[70Sixter]

Originally Posted by SilentThunder

Whats all this about turning off X band completely on the V1? I have a V1 and the only thing I have seen is to set it to advanced logic mode, so I assume thats what your talking about. But if its not please tell me. In advanced logic mode it mutes all but the strongest of X band signals, so your still covered if that cop with a wild hair up his ass uses an X band gun. And Ive driven past one who has in a small town, it was very unsettling.

I've had the same experience, so that would be a helpful feature. Weak X is either a false or an X-band radar way down the road.