DIrEctQL

Another thing, how could the radar save you from a ticket? Just something I am wondering about. It won't save you at all. How do you know that you would get a ticket if not for the radar detector? Most of the time it's really luck. Otherwise it's your own skills with guidence of the radar.

joegolf

I owned the Passport and I liked it! Somehow I broke the dang thing and bought the Valentine One as I heard it was good. I prefer the Valentine now. It is ugly, difficult to hide as it does not work off batteries as an option, but I have fewer false alarms and like both the direction indicator and number of supposed cops in the area. It is pricey but I am going to buy one for my daughter and wife for Christmas, so I vote with my $$$ that is is worth it.

I took off my front license plate two months ago, added the chrome LEXUS plate that I bought off EBay. A buddy of mine has had both front plates off (two cars) for ten plus years and has even gotten tickets for speeding, etc., and they did not write him up for no front plate.

My detector does sound off at the automatic cameras at intersections, but just shows a basic K or KA band. It would be great to indicate an actual signal for the camera type radar. Maybe it is the same signal so it might not be able to be identified individually.

I still get my share of false alarms at certain intersections, which can lull me and that is a drawback. I understand the false signals come from things like automatic doors coming from stores.

The photo intersections are a real pain. Sacramento, where I live, is one of the places where they discovered government playing games at the lights, like reducing the yellow light time, so as to gain more tickets and more money. Very poor decision and I wish they would throw out all tickets during that time period but unsure if anyone is fighting for that position.

You'd figure that in Hawaii you would quickly learn the intersections, as it is a smaller commmunity. The front license plate removal might not work there for the same reason, such a small community.

That's my two cents!

Joe

Bean

iTrader: (1)

I read something about a new detector using GPS to eliminate false-alarms and add a whole new set of features... was supposed to be affordable too...

I don't remember what brand it was...

DirectQL, I don't think Escort pulled that gag... the guy who did the review where V1 scored second to the Passport HATES the owner of Valentine... its mention on their website...

DIrEctQL

Yes, and the guy writes these tests for biggest magazines like Car&Driver too. Yes, it was the Escort company that pulled that stunt off. It's was few years back, but yes, they did it. I'll try to look for the article. Heheh.

matt7184

I dont see how the GPS would work.
Only thing I can think of is they would program store locations in it. Then it would decrease sensitivity.

I personally have never gotten one ticket (your eyes and common sense are great weapons)! No radar detectors at all.

For the best protection I would go with a Valentine One (cant wait for the Two) and a Blinder Laser Jammer. Even though most radar detectors claim to have laser protection, if the police hit your car, by the time you get detected, you are already caught. The Blinder can jam the gun for the first shot and gives you warning to slow down (and it is proven to work!). I personally like the Valentine for the positional arrows and threat counter. The threat counter is great, many cops hide near hospitals or stores that give false alarms and most people ignore the detector there. You can see how many threats are in the area and if there is one more than that, you know somethings fishy.

The only test that had the Passport 8500 rated over the V1 was a biased test. Seems the Valentine guy has lots of enemies Dont get me wrong the Passport is great (my friends 7500 saved him a few times, but he got one laser hit), but I dont believe it (8500) is better than the V1.

Wow that was long!

DIrEctQL

Ya, that GPS thing would be a good idea, except that it won't be accurate. It would be too expencive to get a GPS accurate enough to pint point it exacly. All the point will be a few good feet off the target for sure.

moshlub

Okay, okay okay ... I think everyone's pretty much killed this topic, but please ... allow me to iterate my opinions.

First off, do not ... I repeat ... DO NOT believe any company's claim that their radar/laser jammer will work. Even if it does work, it will work to a certain extent only. Do you think it's really worth your money buying something that we all know won't work? These jammers will work, if they do work, at long distances only. Most police radar/laser operators wait until you are close enough for a sure kill. At this distance, your jammer is useless. And let's not even get into the FCC regulation of transmitting signals ...

On to a more familar topic, do you fellow SC'ers actually believe that speed and traffic enforcement is about safety? Well ... to a certain extent it is, but if it were truly about our safety, they would have done it differently.

The next time you see motorcycles out on the road with radar guns, take note of the day of the month it is. And take note the kind of weather. Why would these guys be on motorcycles and not cars? Do a little bit more research on the highways (technically, all streets other than residential streets are highways), on which they do the traffic enforcement. There is something which links all these incidences together.

Oh yeah ... has anyone ever thought that maybe (just MAYBE) the same companys who makes the radar detectors make the radar/laser guns? If (I'm going to say IF here), you get caught speeding and you have a detector, you have already lost the game. Why? Because ... if you have a detector, the police officer knows you play the game.

Your best weapon are your eyes and your common sense (like someone said above). However, better than that, in the situation that you do get caught, is to know the law. Know the vehicle codes. In California (and I'm certain most states too), there are many gray areas. For instance, there are several things that has to happen before a radar/laser citation can even happen.

Just do your research and learn the law. IMHO, it's your best offense (not defense).

lex400sc

I don't really have time to crack open the California Vehicle Code book, but can you elaborate on some of these gray areas you mentioned? Thanks.

moshlub

Well... there's the infamous CVC 22350, the infamous speed law. Most speeding citations off the freeway are under this code. If you look up this code, it says basically noone is supposed to drive at a speed which is faster than what is safe for the current conditions. When officers cite you under this code, they state that you were driving over the speed limit. "Your Honor, the CVC mentions nothing of posted speed limits." This is the easiest citation to beat.

AzN Retribution

Originally posted by moshlub
Okay, okay okay ... I think everyone's pretty much killed this topic, but please ... allow me to iterate my opinions.

First off, do not ... I repeat ... DO NOT believe any company's claim that their radar/laser jammer will work. Even if it does work, it will work to a certain extent only. Do you think it's really worth your money buying something that we all know won't work? These jammers will work, if they do work, at long distances only. Most police radar/laser operators wait until you are close enough for a sure kill. At this distance, your jammer is useless. And let's not even get into the FCC regulation of transmitting signals ...
- My friend opened up that phantom jammer on those commercial pages on the back of pop science. It looked like a small circuit board with LEDs. nothing more and never worked


On to a more familar topic, do you fellow SC'ers actually believe that speed and traffic enforcement is about safety? Well ... to a certain extent it is, but if it were truly about our safety, they would have done it differently.
- No it isn't so much about our safety as it is about quotas and getting the city more $$$. In reality. Traffic tickets are a indirect auto-tax.

The next time you see motorcycles out on the road with radar guns, take note of the day of the month it is. And take note the kind of weather. Why would these guys be on motorcycles and not cars? Do a little bit more research on the highways (technically, all streets other than residential streets are highways), on which they do the traffic enforcement. There is something which links all these incidences together.
- After awhile of driving you learn all the cop hiding positions
and what times they come out. In general its not a good
idea to speed near the end of the month. Quota Time.

Oh yeah ... has anyone ever thought that maybe (just MAYBE) the same companys who makes the radar detectors make the radar/laser guns? If (I'm going to say IF here), you get caught speeding and you have a detector, you have already lost the game. Why? Because ... if you have a detector, the police officer knows you play the game.

- They don't. You don't have a firm grasp exactly how radar works then. They work on certain frequencies. They aren't proprietary and can't be rewritten to screw up certain detectors like software.
K, X, and KA(Used the most now) are what are used. lasers are different and impossible to defend against. another thing impossible to defend against is Instant-On. If you don't know what instant on is. Its a type of radar gun where the signal doesn't go out until the officer aims it at you and pulls the trigger. by that time no detector will help you. Your already screwed. thats where common sense comes in. Don't speed going up hills. check curves. Cops like to hide in evil places like that. One thing cops do have is a VG-1 which is a Radar Detector Detector. HOWEVER. the best radar dections, the BEL 980 and the Escort mentioned have a auto-shutoff if they encounter it. The V1 Valentine 1 is not affected by the VG-1 because it operates completely differently from all other radar detectors on a different wavelength. All the other detectors follow the cookie-cutter form of the original escort detector.

Your best weapon are your eyes and your common sense (like someone said above).
- Yes I agree with this. Radar Detectors are a good aid because some people don't like to have to stare into the distance wondering if there is a cop there.. Common Sense + Radar Detection help u avoid all tickets. a detector isn't there to give u a key to speeding. Its there to help u avoid BS tickets from cops trying to meet their Quota

Just do your research and learn the law. IMHO, it's your best offense (not defense).
- Learning the law is good. Because u can hire a attorney to BS for u or go to court. wear a suit and be really polite. If the cop doesn't show up. ur a lucky b*tch. If he does. ask politely for deferred judication or ask the cop if he has had his radar recalibrated within the last 24 - 48 hours. if not the reading is not legally valid.


hmm oh yeah I'm a new memebr to this clublexus forums.
Here cause Imma get a SC300 in a few months so might as well check out what ya'all talk about

Bean

iTrader: (1)

I think you're being a bit paranoid

No the companies that make the detectors DON'T make the radar guns... if you knew the history behind Escort and Valentine you'd know...

I dunno if Beltronics or Whistler makes radar guns, but they might...

I have NEVER gotten a ticket with my detector on... I can see the cops coming from almost a mile away in either direction, and no one around here uses laser...

Anyone who says they can just look out and look around for cops has never used a detector before most likely. If you start pulling that crap around here, you're going to get busted, because cops here hide everywhere and they pop up from everyplace you can think of... sometimes they don't have their detector on, but sometimes they do... and the detector lets you know that, and also lets you know when cops are hiding in parking lots, etc...

Not to mention it also keeps the cop from bull****ting you when you have a detector with a high quality brand name like Passport 8500 or Valentine, because the cops know you don't **** around, and so they can't just say they gunned you...
I got let go twice like that when they walked up and saw my Beltronics Vector95...

moshlub

Well ... I'm not being paranoid. I just want everybody to just think and not waste money on this on-going battle. I'm sure the companies who make the radar detectors do not make radar guns; however, what I am sure is, the engineers who work for either company share information. You have radar detectors, radar detector detectors, and radar detector detector detectors. Come on ... let's stop this already. This industry is getting rich at the consumers' expense.

Sure, having a radar/lidar detector helps you avoid tickets. But, still the best weapon for avoiding tickets is to STOP SPEEDING. Of course this is easier said than done.

But, bottom line is, this whole traffic enforcement thing is all a game. That's all it is ... just a game. It's a game of revenue.

One comment on your experiences, however. It really depends on the cops' attitude. Here in California, there is NO SUCH THING as getting let go. If they see you have a radar/lidar detector, they've got you. I've seen guys that uses detectors that get tickets, and go in to court to fight it. They still get nailed. Truth is, here in California, it's easier to fight a radar/lidar ticket than it is to fight a ticket that didn't involve some sort of electronic device.

Like I've said before, know the Vehicle Code. I'm not kidding when I say that. I will elaborate at a later date.

anthracitetarga

iTrader: (1)

Well, both times the cop has been hiding. The first time i was driving about 15 over the speed limit and my radar detector started to go off so i slowed down and when rounding a curve not to far ahead, low and behold a cop was sitting in the bushes. I would've flown right by him if i hadn't had my detector and that woulda gotten me a ticket. The second time i was with my friends (they were behind me....5 cars including mine) and we were on this very long and straight road. Well, the speed limit was 45 i believe and we were doin around 75. there was a lil ridge coming up and then my detector went off. I slowed down and so did everyone behind me b/c they dont have detectors (they coulda passed b/c we were going back to one of their houses). Right when we crest the hill there is a cop sittin at the bottom. So really i guess i saved 5 people from getting tickets that day.
The area in Nashville i live in (Belle Meade) has a reputation for bad cops. They will sit in people driveways, etc. wherever they can and if u r going 1 mph over the limit they will get u. Some even set their radar guns:eek: . One of the main roads through BM is 2 lanes each way w/ a large grassy median seperating them. If u r not turning left, but r driving in the left lane and a BM cop sees u, he will pull u over. My friend got a ticket for running on the wrong side of the road there. I go the limit through BM but my detector still finds those that i didnt even see.

Direct....i didn't say that the Valentine 1 was wrong, bad or anything, but ur making it sound like i hate it. As i stated in my 1st post, the 8500 is the only detector i have ever had and was just answering the question of the initial post. U dont have to get all defensive and in my face about how much better Valentine 1 is, etc.

AzN Retribution

TI'm sorry but you obviously didn't read my reply to your post.
Get a better understanding of how radar technology works and you'll understand there's a great limit to both. I'll try and explain it more. The most common radar gun is a KA gun. on the KA band.
Its a frequency that cannot be reprogrammed or changed or encrypted or what not. If there is a signal on that frequency. The detector will detect it. There is no subtle cloak and dagger. Its as simple as that. Also the FCC severely limits them from using other frequences as they can intefere with other devices. So you see the only real advancements in radar gun technology is Instant-On which doesn't send a signal until the cop pulls the trigger and DSP or Digital Signal Processing. Which makes them more accurate. Other then that there is nothing they can do to thwart radar detectors other then look at VG-1 and turn on Instant-On.
The other form of gun they use is Laser which has some problems and more limitations then radar but is far harder to detect. and a new one is photoradar but it still operates on a KA band which is why it can be detected.

Now. Hmm Pay $400 dollars for a V1
or pay for traffic tickets and go through the hassle of getting a attorney, paying for it. having insurance go up.
I'd go with the former. a radar detector is a worthwhile investment no matter what kind of driver you are.

moshlub

Hahahahaha ... I'm sorry, but I DID read your reply to my post. I found it very amusing.

However, I have a very good understanding of radar and the way it functions. When I mentioned the FCC regulations, I was referring to jammers, not radar or laser. Radar is not perfect and neither is laser. That is why people who know what they're talking about can easily defeat those types of citations. The truth is, not all police officers out there understand the way these devices work. These devices, the way it stands today, serves as an easier and faster way of cops to make revenue for the city or county.

Most people, when they find that they've been clocked by radar/laser, automatically assume they've been had. Well, maybe because they HAVE been speeding. However, the case still stands (and I still stand FIRMLY behind my original premise) that learning the way the laws were written is your best bet. Why do I say this?

Many people have radar detectors and still get caught. There are some fortunate individuals who have gotten away either by paying attention to their detectors or have gotten lucky with the cops who pull them over. However, for the rest who aren't so fortunate, once you sign that slip, your only hope now is to open the Vehicle code book and hope that you have a fighting chance.

What then? You mention pay for a V1 or pay for traffic tickets and have your insurance premiums increased. I have a third option. I choose the third option. And yes, I have owned radar detectors too, including the V1.

Have you ever thought of the instances when a cop is NOT armed with a radar/laser gun? If you play the game, you need to know the rules.