Which radar detector is better?

[mbeach]

Week 2.

If a police officer is gunning you with radar at 90* to your direction of travel, he is not at threat. It's called cosine error, and they know that it won't stand up in court.
With few exceptions, the officer to your rear is also not a threat. The largest threat comes directly from the front, in your lane of travel (or at least 0* of it). That's why the V1 puts its biggest antenna up front -that's where the danger is, and that's why the signal is prioritized.

Think about these things for a minute before you run out and get 1995's best radar detector:
1. It is IMPOSSIBLE to range a transmitter of unknown power simply by receiving a signal.
2. It is IMPOSSIBLE to determine the location of a transmitter with a single antenna, unless you're driving around in tiny circles and marking the highs with a nice directional antenna.
3. A radar detector should keep up with advances in technology in its environment:
>Police laser is shot at a wavelength of 904nm. Why do tailights set off the V1 and not any of the 'modern' units? Could Mr. Valentine please improve his IR receiver -they sell them at Radio Shack in the correct frequency.
>Simple programming and operation = safer use while driving. Why do you have to search on some secret corner of Valentine's website to learn how to program your unit? Why do you "program at your own risk?"
>When you are in an accident, everything in your cabin can become a projectile -would you rather get hit with a light, rounded box or a heavy, metal box with pointy corners?
>I'm a big boy -I know the difference between a K-Band 24.150 GHz radar shot and a 24.500 GHz door opener. Please tell me the frequency -don't just give me a single LED and expect me to start following the arrows.

The bottom line is that a (any) quality radar detector will always have the edge over the radar transmitter. It's just plain fact -reception is easier than transmit/receive/calculate/display. That's why we average detection ranges in excess of 8 miles. The police can't write a ticket based on an 8 mile shot -in fact, he'd be hard pressed to gun you more than half-a-mile out.
You pay for the features that make the unit safer, more convenient, more user friendly and better equipped to handle the broad array of RF energy being pumped about today. That means more than just a good antenna (which is fast becoming outpaced by ceaper competitors). Heck, I can build a detector that could sniff a cop's fart in the next county -that doesn't make it the best unit out there though.

I've had both units (I was a chronic speeder for some time), and I just feel far more secure with the 8500. The V1's newness wore off way too quickly for $400, and as my knowledge of the subject grew, I realized the truth about its performance. If you really think that those arrows and the 'bogey counter'/threat priority thingy works, then maybe you should also invest in an RMR jammer -I hear that they are good too.

[WyrreJ]

It's called cosine error, and they know that it won't stand up in court.

Knowing the guy's general location is at least as useful as knowing that he is there at all. Even if he can't get a true read of my speed, even if I'm not actually speeding - still would like to know which way he is coming from.


1. It is IMPOSSIBLE to range a transmitter of unknown power simply by receiving a signal.

I'm pretty sure that traffic radar guns are all regulated to have a maximum power rating, which means that you can compare relative distances. Guns that don't use the max power will also have a reduction in range effectiveness. Since no radar detector tries or even claims to tell you the precise distance to the emitter, this lack of precision isn't much of a problem.

2. It is IMPOSSIBLE to determine the location of a transmitter with a single antenna, unless you're driving around in tiny circles and marking the highs with a nice directional antenna.

We are not trying to call in an air strike on the emitter here, we don't need to know the precise direction - front/back or somewhere in between is a huge improvement over "somewhere out there."

>Police laser is shot at a wavelength of 904nm. Why do tailights set off the V1 and not any of the 'modern' units? Could Mr. Valentine please improve his IR receiver -they sell them at Radio Shack in the correct frequency.

Dunno - perhaps red neon has harmonics that are close enough to 904nm that they trigger it, and the other detectors aren't as sensitive? Since your only hope with LIDAR is to pick up "splash" from another car before you are targetted, I'll take the additional sensitivity if the cost is the ocassional false read from an easily identifiable source.

>Simple programming and operation = safer use while driving. Why do you have to search on some secret corner of Valentine's website to learn how to program your unit? Why do you "program at your own risk?"

Last time I checked, all the info was in the manual. You program at your own risk because you are turning off detection of certain frequencies, if you've turned them off you are now at risk of being illuminated and not knowing about it.

>When you are in an accident, everything in your cabin can become a projectile -would you rather get hit with a light, rounded box or a heavy, metal box with pointy corners?

Sure, but I would rather not be hit by anything at all, so am I better off with no radar detector?

>I'm a big boy -I know the difference between a K-Band 24.150 GHz radar shot and a 24.500 GHz door opener. Please tell me the frequency -don't just give me a single LED and expect me to start following the arrows.

I don't know about you, but if I am anywhere close to the speed limit and my detector goes off, my foot hits the brake and then I worry about evaluating the alarm. Telling me the actual frequency won't make much difference after I've already hit the brake.