Tilted radiator?

[WyrreJ]

My current client invented radar and I was BSing with one of the engineers there (trying to get a few cans of the F-117 stealth paint, fat chance!) when he mentioned that one of the prior generation corvettes had a really, really small radar profile. Said that part of it was due to the fiberglass composite exterior which the radar just goes right through and part of it was due to the radiator being tilted back a few degrees. The reason the radiator was tilted was that it allowed for more surface area, but it had the side-effect of angling any radar reflections up into the sky instead of back at the radar gun.

So, I'm thinking that the cladding is probably just as invisible to radar as fibreglass so got that covered better than most cars. But how hard would it be to tilt our radiator or replace it with a larger tilted one? Any comments on the feasability?

[hitnrun74]

An active jammer works really well and is a lot easier than doing any of that. Mine was 250$ on e-bay, 450$ from the manufacturer. Actually tested it with one of those drive-by radar stations. It didn't display a speed for me at all. I have laser jammers too, but haven't been able to find a good way to test them. No speeding tickets though---guess they must work okay.

[WyrreJ]

The problem with an active radar jammer is that its use is a federal felony (violation of FCC laws, basically transmitting without a license) and probably a local misdemeanor (interfering with a police officer in his lawful duties). The FCC does not have jurisdiction over laser frequencies, but using an active laser jammer would be just as much of a misdemeanor as an active radar jammer.

Most modern radar and lidar guns have some level of active jammer detection, so it isn't necessarily an uncatchable crime either.

Since I happen to be working at the company that invented radar, I have a vested interest in avoiding any felony or misdemeanor charges, much less any convinctions.

[Tone]

Blocking Laser is NOT an offense in any state I am aware of and the jammer I have is easy to switch off after you have slowed to a legal speed - most officers will probably move to another vehicle when he can’t get a reading. Their guns have NO way to know why they can’t get a reading, depending upon how they are blocked. I held an LT1 being jammed and all it displayed was 'Out of range'

Tilting the radiator is an old falacy and does little if anything to affect radar - there is a whole lot of other parts on there that reflect just fine. Some people should just drive the speed limit...

Hitnrun - email me about your radar and laser jammer - the guy who builds my laser jammer has a new 2 part system that is coming out soon and I'll like to know what’s out there and working for you.

[newthings]

Wyrrej do you work for Plessey of the UK?
They invented radar at the Caswell Resarch Labs near North Hampton, working in an old manor house. As the threat of bombing worsened, in WWII, they moved the research to the subway tunnels in London. A simple magnatron tube was brought to the US on the Queen Mary as a top secret. I think Westinghouse did the development here. I worked at the Caswell Labs for a few months. It is still out in the sheep grazing fields, but now has three bronze glass pymarids to house the labs. The manor house remains.
Roy

[WyrreJ]

Sorry, I meant the company that invented the microwave oven. Guy with a chocolate bar in his pocket stood in front of a radar emitter and noticed that it melted. Or so the story goes. They are probably the largest radar manufacturer today.

Tone - I suggest you check into the law some more, especially if you are relying on the advice of the manufacturer. For example:

http://www.speedlabs.net/info.htm
"All radar and laser jammers are illegal in MN, OK, NE, CA, VA, and Washington D.C." --And those guys aren't even talking about interfering with an officer, those laws are explicit about jammers (and in at least the case of VA, even detectors).

As for radar and lidar guns having jam detection, I have seen pictures of the operator end of one lidar gun, I believe it was a recent model LTI, I think 100LR, which had a jam alert display and have been told that almost all new models of both lidar and radar guns have some level of jam detection. How effective they are at detecting jamming depends on both the gun and the jammer, but "NO way to know" is clearly wrong.

Also, the tilted radiator theory may be a myth, but not for the reason you cite. The problem with saying that there is plenty of other metal is that most of it is behind the radiator. Lidar and radar must be targeted either head-on or rear-on in order to work accurately - the further off to the side, the slower the reading will be. From a head-on position, the radiator covers most of the engine and the rest of the car, especially in a vette.

[carlymac]

My Custom pro 1000 radar unit picks up corvettes just fine as long as there aren't any other vehicles around it. In fact it'll even clock a baseball which has no metal parts at all.:supercool

[Tone]

Interesting how speedlabs.com is owned by Rocky Mountain who makes crappy detectors and even crappier jammers - from the link above:

"LIDAR - The_Rocky Mountain Radar Jammers are 100% legal because there are no laws governing the transmission of light not in the visible spectrum (infrared). The power output of the LEDs contained within the jammers are well below the levels called out under the safety guidelines of OSHA and the FDA."

Speed on but be sure to tilt the whole VX!

[Jolly Roger VX'er]

The only thing I can add to all of this is I've read many, many reviews on how bad and worthless the RMR products are....

Also, My brother was an MP in the Army for better part of a decade and had the chore of enforcing speed limits on different bases he was stationed at and he always tells me that the two hardest things to get a timely speed reading on a radar gun (x, ka bands) are the Corvette and a motorcycle. He has been instructed in training that the Vette is hard to read because of the signal passing through the fiberglass and reflecting off the engine block back to the gun. A motorcycle reflects the signal from the motor and being a relatively small "vehicle" takes more time to read. However, a front liscense plate will reflect radar as well as laser.

I've noticed that going through construction zones with those "Your speed is..." signs that my VX gives a quick speed while my '88 Fiero (plastic and fiberglass body panels, mid-motor, small vehicle) seems to take forever for a speed to show and sometimes none is displayed!

[skunkworks]

The Fiero also has a tilted radiator. I know from past experence that they can slip through radar traps easily. Mine was kicknamed the "Stealth"
________
Yenko Chevrolet history (http://www.chevy-wiki.com/wiki/Yenko_Chevrolet)

[WyrreJ]

Originally posted by Tone
Interesting how speedlabs.com is owned by Rocky Mountain who makes crappy detectors and even crappier jammers - from the link above:
Yeah, rocky mountain sucks ass no doubt about that, it was just the 2nd or 3rd website out of hundreds that came up in google with that same phrase about what states have laws against radar and laser jammers. If I had more time this morning I would have dug up some direct citations, but for some reason google does a poor job of indexing state and federal statutes, in the past I've always had to go to the specific sites and dig through the statutes by hand. Kind of weird how that is.

As for timing a baseball, I'm pretty sure radar is what they use when timing pitches. But, the distance is a lot smaller, I bet you couldn't lock on to a baseball a quarter mile away.