Radar Detectors

[socratic]

How does a Valentine1 work fully if it is remotely mounted? Doesn't that take away it's ability to determine the direction of the radar if it can't see out the back window?

[Perfectlap]

if you use the little remote box you still have to use the V1 on your windshield or wherever. The remote displays the arrows instead of on your v1 itself.
it keeps the the arrows on the V1 turned off so that you don't attract tail gaters.

this weekend I was following a Merc and noticed he was abrublty slowing down, so I hit the brakes. About two seconds later my laser signal went off (but by this time I was under the speed limit). I looked in my rearview and saw what looked like a crown vic. about a mile later the laser went off a second time. (this time I'm exactly at the 50mph limit).
a little further down the road in the opposite lane a car was getting pulled over.
Later, the crown vic sped past us in the passing lane, it was cop.
End of the month speed trap didn't get me!

p.s.
I later got a parking ticket for parking near a stop sign in a quiet neighbohrhood on a Saturday evening. Behind me was a fire hydrant and the curb was not painted yellow between the the stop and the hydrant yellow curb part. I think I'm going to fight it. They should have painted it yellow all the way to the stop sign.
Even if its in the DMV book. I think i'm going to plead entrapment.

[ACD]

I've got the 8500 X50 and it's alerted me extremely well to every type of signal out there. I'm often driving from Providence to NYC and the CT. cops are really sneaky. Not as bad as the NY state cops I encounter when driving on 90 to Rochester, but I've had more the enough time to slow down.

I didn't get the V1 because if the alarm goes off, I'm slowing down. Less concerned about where the signal is from, though I appreciate the arrows. I also think it's ugly and bulky and overvalued.

A note on laser. Laser devices can only be used when mounted to a stationary vehicle. The cop needs to focus the beam within a relatively small area on your car to get an accurate readout. Even then it's relatively flawed especially in bad weather. A black car with a raked front end and no license plate (like a Boxster) is pretty well cloaked. Add the headlight film and you're invinceable. Moving laser is simply to scare people. I think you could win a court fight pretty easily. That said, I've been hit with laser three times now and never pulled over. My X50 sends me out of the seat with its warning, but from what I've read it should have been all over for me at that point.

I'm interested in a laser jammer and the veil headlight technology.

[Perfectlap]

Originally Posted by ACD

I didn't get the V1 because if the alarm goes off, I'm slowing down. .

???

isn't that the whole point.

I think you mean that you rather take a chance with fewer warnings. My friend got an Escort (the wireless one) I've driven with her many times and she's an excellent driver who is constantly aware of her surroundings.
well last week she told me she got nailed on the Garden State Parkway on her way back to New York. She said the warning never came and that she was doing 15-20 miles over the limit.
There's something to be said to be said for the V1's sensitivity. If you decide to pass up the sensitivity beware, the convenience could cost you dearly when that insurace hike comes in the mail.

[JackG]

I have an 8500, and a friend has a V1. Coming back from lunch one day, each in our own cars and travelling next to each other on a 4 lane raod, I got a weak instant-on Ka warning. We were (predictably) at 10+ over the limit, so I scrubbed off the extra speed. He, with the V1, shot ahead and didn't hit his brakes for another few seconds, then he did the same on another burst of Ka.

Arriving back at work, we talked about why I had slowed up so early compared to him. Short answer... same road, car position, radar signal, my Escort had better sensitivity than his V1, and alerted me earlier. Put them both in a different situation, and it could be the opposite.

Some test have shown the 8500 to be the better detector, and others show the V1 to be better. Drivers have gotten tickets with both. I firmly beleive that, no matter which you choose, you can't drive any faster than you're willing to get a ticket. If you do, you're rolling the dice, and you *can* come up a loser.

Jack

Oh, and the Solo wireless is not as good as the 8500 or the V1, so it doesn't surprise me that Perfect's friend got a ticket with it.

[Perfectlap]

my understanding was that the wireless solo and the 8500 are the same circuitry with regards to the K's and Lazer, the difference being the added POP.

and also I agree both will be different in the accuracy dept of their warnings in different situations but my point was more geared to the greater filtering of warnings by the Escort, accurate or not.
In this department of filtering warnings, the two are very different from each other.

p.s.
an to my understanding the V1 seems to be the best at spotting lazer from a trailing vehicle. I believe in the last big test it was the only unit that did in fact detect laser from a moving vehicle.

[JackG]

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

my understanding was that the wireless solo and the 8500 are the same circuitry with regards to the K's and Lazer, the difference being the added POP.

and also I agree both will be different in the accuracy dept of their warnings in different situations but my point was more geared to the greater filtering of warnings by the Escort, accurate or not.
In this department of filtering warnings, the two are very different from each other.

p.s.
an to my understanding the V1 seems to be the best at spotting lazer from a trailing vehicle. I believe in the last big test it was the only unit that did in fact detect laser from a moving vehicle.

Case shape and material, antenna shape, and all kinds of weird things such as mounting bracket location can play a role in performace. If the Solo and 8500 are indeed similar internally, they can still perform differently in the real world due to the above factors, as well as the added POP circuitry.

In any case, the "filtering" of the 8500 seems to not give me a problem. Even with it's filtering out of falses (and maybe some real signals?), it still, in my real world experiance and some tests, beat the V1 by a significant margin in the Ka band.

Since that's the band used in my area, not laser, the 8500 is the unit for me to have. The V1 simply lags by seconds and hundreds of feet. That's not what I want protecting me.

Of course, if there is laser being used from moving cars from the rear in your area, go for the V1. Even when it fails, you can get that tossed, because that use of laser should not stand up in court. Fortunately, it's a non-issue for me.

Jack

[slogans7]

I don't get it.

If a radar detector goes off, it's indicating you're already been scanned, right? So what's the point?

[porscheguy05]

I take it you have never owned one. It can detect a signal a long distance ahead when they are running with it on all the time or when clocking other cars. Usually mine goes off well before it is humanly possible to see the unit. The only case when it does not really help much is with laser units, which I have only seen go off once in probably ten years since 85% off police units use some form of radar in the US. If you have ever used a cheap radar then you may experience some frustration at false sisnals or limited reception distance, but just like anything else, you get what you pay for. I recently upgraded from an older to a newer model and probably get twice the warning distance.

Originally Posted by slogans7

I don't get it.

If a radar detector goes off, it's indicating you're already been scanned, right? So what's the point?