I Need Radar detecter Opinions

[BillC. 26]

its not about speeding as much as doing something stupid in front of a LEO that you were unaware of.

[ryan_j 0]

I like how cops will get stiff over radar detectors yet have no issues with PBA cards and shields.

 

I find the use of PBA cards and shields to be totally ridiculous. You know these people are putting them there solely to get out of a ticket if they get pulled over. I support a lot of organizations but I don't put stickers for them on my cars. All I have is a sticker from my college and a tivo window cling I got way back when. I just thought it looked cool. 

[ryan_j 0]

Saw this, some of your may find it useful:

 

http://radar-mirror.com/

[ChrisJM981 924]

I run a V1 on my fun car and have been pulled over in it only twice in 6 years. Both times, I got hit with laser. That is with multiple 'spirited' trips back and forth to Florida. A V1 coupled with a decent laser jammer is the absolute best setup you can have.

Hear Hear!!

 

That's why when I would be getting pulled over I am already ripping it off the window and stashing under back seat...

Or atleast used to....

I left it up once. Cop said something along the lines of, "saw me with your radar detector huh?" (He was hiding in a business's parking lot with his lights out facing me) I won't leave it up after that.

 

NJSP use laser on the Turnpike, Parkway, 80, and 78 from my experiences. Local police in North Jersey use x and ka, as well as NY State Troopers.

 

I don't get tagged often; but when I do, it's with laser. Stay hidden my friends.

 

http://www.blinder.net/blinder-m47.htm

[JackDaWack 2,895]

My friend has one of those with the unit installed in the rear middle headrest. I have mine hard wired above my rear view mirror, you have to be siting in the car to see it.

[Urban Grunt 44]

Think of all the money you can save to buy guns and ammo by using the gas less.

How much do these units cost to buy?

[Jon 264]

Think of all the money you can save to buy guns and ammo by using the gas less.

How much do these units cost to buy?

 

My fun car gets better fuel mileage at 85mph than 65mph...

[Sig226GuyNJ 128]

OP, I know you already bought a 9500 ix. It will serve you well, but you bought a RD that is not nearly as effective as a Valentine One with Connection, or a band segmented Redline. Here is where the 9500ix shines. GPS lockouts. That's it. The 9500ix uses a M4 antenna, that is "outdated" technology and inferior in range and reactivity to the Redline. (The Redline uses the newer M3 antenna). While GPS lockouts are the only advantage to the 9500ix, it is also it's Achilles heal. To most, this will not matter, but to some, it can mean a big fine. The GPS lockouts can be set one of two ways on the 9500is. Autolearn, and manual lockouts. With autolearn, if you pass an area with a false 3 times, your RD will automatically lock that signal out based on it's frequency and location. If you set it to manual, you can manually lock out the signal if you are certain it's a false. Most falses alerts happen with the K band and X band. Here's the problem however. If you encounter a LEO in the same area as your lockout, it most certainly is possible for your RD to confuse the LEO signal as the false it has locked out, despite what Escort claims. There are many documented cases of this, and hard core enthusiasts have even tested this and found it to be true. Most will use the argument of, "Well I don't speed there anyway", which could very well be the case, but after having my Sti-R+ (which is also GPS enabled and functions exactly like the 9500is in this regard) lock out multiple LEO radar, I and many other's have decided that GPS enabled RD's are for people who really don't speed and can get away taking that risk.

 

The Valentine One WITH V1 Connection, and the Redline WITH band segmentation (BS) and the ability to turn radar detection rejection (RDR) off are the two top players in the game right now. Each has it's benefits and "weaknesses".

 

Starting with the V1. The V1 has been considered the top dog for years. The advantages of a V1 are it's outdated, yet superior display which allows you to view a slew of information all on one little display. The V1 offers the most situational awareness out of any other RD on the market today or in the past. Now with V1 Connection, (V1C), you get even more info on one screen through blue tooth connection through your phone. Another advantage to the V1 is its reactivity. Everyone talks about range (sensitivity), but many fail to realize how important reactivity is. Reactivity relates to how fast your RD will decipher whether a radar signal it hears is legit or not. (The Redline used to lack in reactivity until it's most recent update)

 

If you run the V1 in its base settings, which leaves Ka Guard ON, your Ka detection will be subpar at best because it confirms the Ka signal by sweeping it twice before it alerts to it. Turning Ka Guard OFF increases Ka band sensitivity and reactivity, but increases falses from all the piece of crap Cobras on the road. Cobras false in the 33.7 frequency. There are 3 Ka band frequencies used in the US. 33.800, 35.500, and 34.700. Of course these frequencies drift, so seeing a 34.690 or 34.715 is very common. Here is where having V1C is beneficial. Before V1C, the V1 did not have frequency display. It only showed you what band it was, and it was up to you to decipher whether it's a real LEO or a false. (On X and K band, you still have to decipher yourself) However, almost all NJSP vehicles use Stalker Radar, which runs at 34.7 Ka frequency. But beware, there are still a few NJSP X band radars on the road. Municipal and County PD's use them all, depending on what town or county you are in. If you see 33.7 on the parkway or turnpike, 99.9% of the time its a false from a Cobra. Where you have to be careful is if a county LEO is pretending to be a trooper and running radar on the parkway. This however is very rare.

 

The rear antenna is also great on the V1. The arrows tell you where the signal is coming from, and this is important so you don't have a LEO sneak up on you.

 

The V1's weakness is it's narrow horn which reduces it's capability to pick up weak off axis, and forward facing radar (FF) (Forward facing meaning the LEO is running radar in the direction you're traveling, and hits you in the rear after you pass him) Off axis and especially forward facing radar detection relies on reflections of the radar off of other vehicles. Only the most sensitive and most reactive RD's will pick this up. The 9500ix is horrible at picking up weak reflections. The V1C will still pick up off axis and FF radar, but not as well as the new updated Redline.

 

This is getting too long of a post so I'll try and make it short. The Redline used to be a very slow RD, meaning that it would scan a signal multiple times before alerting. This is where the ability to turn off RDR is a huge improvement, as now, it will alert to a signal on the first sweep. The reason RDR exists, is to prevent false signals. To combat that, especially on Ka band, the Redline now has the ability to set your Ka scans to just the frequencies you encounter. This also speeds up the reactivity and increases range on Ka b/c it is only scanning those 3 frequencies instead of all the Ka frequencies. In terms of sensitivity and reactivity, the Redline is HANDS DOWN the best. There is not even a question. The V1C comes in second.

 

Keep in mind the best defense against police radar is situational awareness and your eyes. Also, as others mentioned, police also use Instant On radar, which means they keep radar in hold mode, and then trasmit when they see a car in range. In this case, you must use a rabbit. A rabbit is someone in front of you going the same speed. The idea is for the LEO to hit him, before they see you, thus giving you time to slow down. But NOTHING is 100%. A very selective LEO will be able to pull you over if he doesn't hit anyone else in front of you with radar.

 

Also remember LEO's use lidar now. With lidar, most of the time you won't get an alert until you are the target. The only RD that will give you even remotely a chance is the V1 as the V1's lidar detection capability is ridiculous and it is possible to get lidar scatter before you are the target.  But I would NEVER rely on any RD to protect you against lidar.

 

 

OP, the 9500is will serve you well, but if you're s super speeder, I would definitely upgrade. Hope this helped.

[Pew Pew Plates 358]

Fuel savings?

LOL

 

 

[Johnny 0]

Valentine all the way. But you have to pay ATTENTION. Always look around at what is going on in front of you and don't ignore your mirrors. Sharks are out there, especially on the NJTPK. (Sharks- officers who drive well over 90mph with no lights on looking for someone ahead of them speeding.)

[Fred2 367]

+1 on Valentine.

 

My take on most speed limits is that most are as arbitrary as Magazine Capacity limits, and imposed for much the same reason.

[PeteF 1,044]

Valentine all the way. But you have to pay ATTENTION. Always look around at what is going on in front of you and don't ignore your mirrors. Sharks are out there, especially on the NJTPK. (Sharks- officers who drive well over 90mph with no lights on looking for someone ahead of them speeding.)

 

 

Or the speeding marked car going up the left lane @95 mph,  everyone gets out of the way then accelerates back to normal driving speeds.   Around 1/2 mile behind the first car comes the unmarked car to get people who were lulled into a false sense of security.

[Holeshot 3]

Valentine all the way. But you have to pay ATTENTION. Always look around at what is going on in front of you and don't ignore your mirrors. Sharks are out there, especially on the NJTPK. (Sharks- officers who drive well over 90mph with no lights on looking for someone ahead of them speeding.)

 

SHARKS?!     Lions, Tigers, and Bears and now I have to watch out for Sharks!   That's just great.

[Malice4you 627]

Have any radar detectors figured out how to safely block Audi and BMW blind spot radars yet? or are they actually the exact same frequency as true police radar?

 

I am looking for a new detector, and that feature alone would be wonderful. I dont care about gps and all that, which seems to be the only major technilogical breakthrough in sub-$400 detectors in the last few years.

[Malsua 1,422]

Have any radar detectors figured out how to safely block Audi and BMW blind spot radars yet? or are they actually the exact same frequency as true police radar?

 

 

 

If you turn POP off on the V1, it won't false on blind spot radars.

[Sig226GuyNJ 128]

Have any radar detectors figured out how to safely block Audi and BMW blind spot radars yet? or are they actually the exact same frequency as true police radar?

 

I am looking for a new detector, and that feature alone would be wonderful. I dont care about gps and all that, which seems to be the only major technilogical breakthrough in sub-$400 detectors in the last few years.

 

 

If you turn POP off on the V1, it won't false on blind spot radars.

Malsua, that's not true. Even with POP off, your V1 will still pick up K band lane assist from other cars. It's not that they are the same exact frequency as police radar, but the range is 24.05 to 24.25 GHz and some lane assists will be between those as well. What POP is is the ability to pick up a certain type of K band radar that I believe only Kustom and MPH has. Kustom and MPH being radar companies. Not all of their units have it, but they are the only ones who do make POP radar. POP cannot be used to actually pull someone over and issue a ticket, although I'm sure it happens. POP is an extremely short burst of radar that is used to estimate speeds. It is however very rarely used.

[JackDaWack 2,895]

If you turn POP off on the V1, it won't false on blind spot radars.

I don't even have pop on my model and it still does it.

[H.M. Murdock 0]

Good responses here -- great practical advice for the professional speeder.

 

V1 and situational awareness will keep you out of most speeding tickets and will decrease the chances you'll be spread eagle if you do get stopped (by that I mean the officer may be proud that he just nailed you for an 85 in a 65 but you'll be relieved about how much speed you were able to drop before he got you at 85).  Always be scanning sequentially in every direction.  That SA will also keep safe as you'll always know where other vehicles are placed around you.  After months or even years with the V1 you will know every signal pattern and be able to respond without thinking.  Same with knowing your environment, eventually you will just "know".

 

Make sure your brakes and tires are always up to task.  A stiff suspension is a good visual work around for the frontend diving under extreme braking.  Always be revved up so you can lose moderate speed by lifting (or put in a toggle switch in parallel with the brake switch).  Stay right.  Know the road.  Change lanes strategically, not willy nilly.  When passing "No U-Turns" be smooth and early in dropping speed on the approach and be mindful of the loudness of your exhaust accelerating after you pass a trap.  Slow down around other cars and while passing any police that are already pulled over with a customer.  Don't speed in residential zones.  Don't play games with other drivers.

 

For your V1 you should get a remote display and locate a mute button near your steering wheel or gear shifter.  You want your V1 to be dark and inconspicuous.  It should not be easily seen from either outside the car or up close and personal.  The remote display should also be inconspicuous but visible without removing your eyes from the road (see below).  The mute button should be a negligible hand movement away from where your right hand normally locates itself (see below).

 

Remote display:

 

Mute button:

 

This post is intended for entertainment purposes only.

[Sig226GuyNJ 128]

Good responses here -- great practical advice for the professional speeder.

 

V1 and situational awareness will keep you out of most speeding tickets and will decrease the chances you'll be spread eagle if you do get stopped (by that I mean the officer may be proud that he just nailed you for an 85 in a 65 but you'll be relieved about how much speed you were able to drop before he got you at 85).  Always be scanning sequentially in every direction.  That SA will also keep safe as you'll always know where other vehicles are placed around you.  After months or even years with the V1 you will know every signal pattern and be able to respond without thinking.  Same with knowing your environment, eventually you will just "know".

 

Make sure your brakes and tires are always up to task.  A stiff suspension is a good visual work around for the frontend diving under extreme braking.  Always be revved up so you can lose moderate speed by lifting (or put in a toggle switch in parallel with the brake switch).  Stay right.  Know the road.  Change lanes strategically, not willy nilly.  When passing "No U-Turns" be smooth and early in dropping speed on the approach and be mindful of the loudness of your exhaust accelerating after you pass a trap.  Slow down around other cars and while passing any police that are already pulled over with a customer.  Don't speed in residential zones.  Don't play games with other drivers.

 

For your V1 you should get a remote display and locate a mute button near your steering wheel or gear shifter.  You want your V1 to be dark and inconspicuous.  It should not be easily seen from either outside the car or up close and personal.  The remote display should also be inconspicuous but visible without removing your eyes from the road (see below).  The mute button should be a negligible hand movement away from where your right hand normally locates itself (see below).

 

Remote display:

 

Mute button:

 

No doubt this dude knows what he's talking about. Awesome install btw! I used to run a Concealed Display as well, but with V1C, I just read the arrows, bands, and frequencies off my phone now. And the V1 is always in dark mode. If you haven't done so already, you really should get V1C as it will allow you to run your V1 with Ka Guard Off without so much of the annoying falses. V1C allows you to program which frequencies you want to scan in Ka band, thus reducing ALOT of falses. You will still get falses from crap Cobras though, but they are almost always 33.6-33.7 range and if you know the area you are driving through does not use 33.8 radar, you will know it is a Cobra false. Also, the arrows help determine if it's an Instant On shot or if you've just passed a Cobra.

[TheLugNutZ 21]

Fuel savings?

 

LOL

 

 

 

 

Someone flew by me today in the parkway construction zone in one of these w/ an LE lic plate... tisk tisk

[Malsua 1,422]

Malsua, that's not true. Even with POP off, your V1 will still pick up K band lane assist from other cars. It's not that they are the same exact frequency as police radar, but the range is 24.05 to 24.25 GHz and some lane assists will be between those as well. What POP is is the ability to pick up a certain type of K band radar that I believe only Kustom and MPH has. Kustom and MPH being radar companies. Not all of their units have it, but they are the only ones who do make POP radar. POP cannot be used to actually pull someone over and issue a ticket, although I'm sure it happens. POP is an extremely short burst of radar that is used to estimate speeds. It is however very rarely used.

 

Well, maybe _YOUR_ V1 picks up lane assist with pop off, but mine does not.    I kept falsing on Audis, looked it up, turned it off and no more falsing.  Shrug.

 

Mine is relatively new at v3.893.  I upgraded when the ESP thing came out.

[JackDaWack 2,895]

 

 

 

 

 

The problem with this is that your adjusting the response time for frequencies in the K range, its not just POP your turning off. People have noticed a fall off in performance when they turned POP off.

http://www.radardetector.net/forums/valentine-one/73713-v1-pop-off-post865928.html

 

 

 

[Malsua 1,422]

 

 

 

 

The problem with this is that your adjusting the response time for frequencies in the K range, its not just POP your turning off. People have noticed a fall off in performance when they turned POP off.

http://www.radardetector.net/forums/valentine-one/73713-v1-pop-off-post865928.html

 

 

 

 

 

Now that I think about it, I may have Pop on and t mode off.  I'll have to run it though the letters to figure out what modes mine run in.

 

That said, there have been significant changes since that thread was posted. My 3.893 was a significant upgrade to the firmware that addressed some issues.

[Turtle Shell 0]

+1 for Valentine One to anyone considering a detector.  Had mine for +8 years, saved me from quite a few obvious speeding tickets.

[Arbelest 29]

You guys do realize that Radars have an on/off switch for sending the signal that you are trying to catch.  I used to leave it off until I physically observe a faster car than the others.  Flick it on, then BAM.  Your ass is mine.

Seen that in action I can verify that.

 

 

Yes.  The issue is that the operator could here the higher tone distinguishing the faster car, but it doesn't lock in to the speed because another car is blocking the signal.  The more traffic, the harder it is to get speeders.

 

From what I was told I thought it only picked up the car with the bigger mass?

[Sig226GuyNJ 128]

Well, maybe _YOUR_ V1 picks up lane assist with pop off, but mine does not.    I kept falsing on Audis, looked it up, turned it off and no more falsing.  Shrug.

 

Mine is relatively new at v3.893.  I upgraded when the ESP thing came out.

 

Not trying to get into a debate here, but I can assure you POP has nothing to do with you picking up K band from other cars. Like I mentioned earlier, POP is a mode of certain radars, that has the ability to shoot very quick bursts of radar to try and beat radar detectors. However, most LEO's don't use this b/c it's only to get estimates. It cannot or I should say, it is not supposed to be used to actually pull over a speeder. The problem with POP is, after they get a reading with it, they must switch the radar back into regular mode, and shoot the car again and get a tracking history, before they can pull the speeder over.

 

 

 

 

The problem with this is that your adjusting the response time for frequencies in the K range, its not just POP your turning off. People have noticed a fall off in performance when they turned POP off.

http://www.radardetector.net/forums/valentine-one/73713-v1-pop-off-post865928.html

 

 

 

 

 

POP on will help increase K band performance, and 33.8 Ka performance, while slightly reducing 34.7 Ka performance. But if you have V1C, you have the ability to sweep frequencies on multiple sweeps, thus having your RD search more for that certain frequency. In order to use V1C, you must have the latest 3.893 version. Also, there is no reason to run POP in NJ. I have yet to hear about any case where a NJ LEO uses POP. However, if you do wish to run custom sweeps with V1C, POP is automatically turned on because you must use Euro Mode to run Customs Sweeps. BTW, there are no currently used radar units that can shoot radar as fast as you can with a Bushnell.

[1LtCAP 4,264]

Think of all the money you can save to buy guns and ammo by using the gas less.

How much do these units cost to buy?

you don't use significantly less in most instances between say......55mph and 75 mph, when you figure in the extra travel time. think in gph, not mpg.

[Malsua 1,422]

Not trying to get into a debate here, but I can assure you POP has nothing to do with you picking up K band from other cars. Like I mentioned earlier, POP is a mode of certain radars, that has the ability to shoot very quick bursts of radar to try and beat radar detectors.

 

Yes, I understand that.

 

Pop detection affects how often the V1 sweeps for K and KA.  It's much faster with Pop on, about 5 times as often.

 

When pop is on, no decisions are made, it alerts right away.

 

When pop is off, the V1 discriminates and realizes that the side assist is a false and does not alert.

 

But you know, don't take my word for it.  Take it from Audi drivers who have a V1.

 

Here: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/471669-Valentine-1-w-Side-Assist-and-Park-Assist

and here http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/467520-V1-with-Side-Assist-Issues

[Malsua 1,422]

Additionally, I just checked my unit...I have pop on for KA and the Traffic thingy off "t" which turns POP off for K band.

 

 

[JackDaWack 2,895]

I need to send mine in for an upgrade.. lol. I usually just run mine in little L mode to mute the false crap.