Best radar detector?
Newbie
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
From: Archbald Pennsylvania
I bought a V1 the first week I bought my evo. And in that week it paid itself off. Notified me of two staties shooting on the highway on my way home from work. Gave me plenty of time to slow down. I would of gotten grabbed twice on that highway in 1 week if it wasnt for the V1.
You are correct. 95% of the time when your detector goes off and reads **LASER**, you have already been tagged, and the officer knows your speed within 1-2 seconds of painting your car with the laser. Few of us have been lucky enough to detect the laser "scatter"(deflected laser signal bouncing off another car) makes up for roughly the last 5% worth of detection means. Which suggests, "hey, since you are most likely caught already, what harm can it do, to apply the brakes, since there’s always a slim chance, you might have those few extra seconds to save yourself", given those few percentile that you may have gotten lucky.
Although there are many popular laser "shifters/jammers" out there on the market, most of them do not permanently jam police laser guns. There are those out there who think that because you have a laser jammer, that you can simply fly by cops as fast as you can and get away with it....FALSE(You most likely will be given a ticket, regardless of its validity in withstanding in a court of law. Jammers/shifters are meant to provide you with those crucial extra few seconds that you need to apply your brakes and possibly take yourself down from a $300-$400 ticket, to a $200-$0 ticket. Since reliability is never 100% it is best to use your jammer/shifter as sort of an early warning system allowing you to react while the jammer scrambles the laser gun, causing it to read 00.
Jammers are usually expensive, costing upwards of $400-$600 dollars for basic systems, and as much as $1000.00 for systems that integrate into the car serving as both detector and jammer.
Fortunately pieces of the system can be bought separately in some instances, and jammers can later on be added to work in conjunction with the detector already being used by the driver.
For those of us who have LFS (Lead Foot Syndrome) and do a considerable amount of highway driving over long distances, I would recommend investing in a jammer system. In most states, it is often highway patrol who has the funding to procure laser guns for their department leaving city police with most of the KA band guns/instant on devices.
/OFF TOPIC
On another note, many users of radar detectors perceive the use of a jammer/shifter system as illegal, which are one of the main reasons for having reservations on upgrading to one. In some states and areas they are prohibited, however if they are legal to use in your state, and you are approached by an officer with the question of why you have/need the use of a laser jammer/shifter system, please keep in mind that it is your constitutional right to protect yourself from being shot with laser beams and the like.
* I am not an attorney or legal spokesperson,the above mentioned is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact your attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem.*
Although there are many popular laser "shifters/jammers" out there on the market, most of them do not permanently jam police laser guns. There are those out there who think that because you have a laser jammer, that you can simply fly by cops as fast as you can and get away with it....FALSE(You most likely will be given a ticket, regardless of its validity in withstanding in a court of law. Jammers/shifters are meant to provide you with those crucial extra few seconds that you need to apply your brakes and possibly take yourself down from a $300-$400 ticket, to a $200-$0 ticket. Since reliability is never 100% it is best to use your jammer/shifter as sort of an early warning system allowing you to react while the jammer scrambles the laser gun, causing it to read 00.
Jammers are usually expensive, costing upwards of $400-$600 dollars for basic systems, and as much as $1000.00 for systems that integrate into the car serving as both detector and jammer.
Fortunately pieces of the system can be bought separately in some instances, and jammers can later on be added to work in conjunction with the detector already being used by the driver.
For those of us who have LFS (Lead Foot Syndrome) and do a considerable amount of highway driving over long distances, I would recommend investing in a jammer system. In most states, it is often highway patrol who has the funding to procure laser guns for their department leaving city police with most of the KA band guns/instant on devices.
/OFF TOPIC
On another note, many users of radar detectors perceive the use of a jammer/shifter system as illegal, which are one of the main reasons for having reservations on upgrading to one. In some states and areas they are prohibited, however if they are legal to use in your state, and you are approached by an officer with the question of why you have/need the use of a laser jammer/shifter system, please keep in mind that it is your constitutional right to protect yourself from being shot with laser beams and the like.
* I am not an attorney or legal spokesperson,the above mentioned is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact your attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem.*
Newbie
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 67
Likes: 0
From: DirtyJersey
You are correct. 95% of the time when your detector goes off and reads **LASER**, you have already been tagged, and the officer knows your speed within 1-2 seconds of painting your car with the laser. Few of us have been lucky enough to detect the laser "scatter"(deflected laser signal bouncing off another car) makes up for roughly the last 5% worth of detection means. Which suggests, "hey, since you are most likely caught already, what harm can it do, to apply the brakes, since there’s always a slim chance, you might have those few extra seconds to save yourself", given those few percentile that you may have gotten lucky.
I have a few buddies that have said the V1 has saved them from numerous tickets. That said, I will be buying the V1 as soon as I have enough money for it. Not sure if it is the case with radar detectors but remember that with most things, "You get what you pay for."
I have the 8500 x50 and 9500ix both are fantastic. They work very well and the 9500 has yet to false, once set by gps. 
Has anyone see this yet?
http://www.escortradar.com/iq/?utm_s...q_v=7a36adf165
Has anyone see this yet?
http://www.escortradar.com/iq/?utm_s...q_v=7a36adf165
I have the Passport SR7 with the ZR3 shifter... I love watching the cops head drop down to look at there laser gun, that is the crutual time needed to slow down, because the closer you get the more of a chance they will eventually get a reading, so hands down SR7 with the shifter is the way to go.... And to VETTE 50 TH, if you admit that you have a Jammer to an officer, you will be arrested, Jammers are illeagle, in order to Jam you are emitting a signal that can be against FCC rules, what the shifter does is takes the signal emitted by the police and redirects the signal from getting back to the cops gun. when it comes to the law everything is technical...
Last edited by MyEvo8Urs; Oct 28, 2010 at 04:07 AM.
Newbie
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
From: Boca Raton
I have the Passport SR7 with the ZR3 shifter... I love watching the cops head drop down to look at there laser gun, that is the crutual time needed to slow down, because the closer you get the more of a chance they will eventually get a reading, so hands down SR7 with the shifter is the way to go.... And to VETTE 50 TH, if you admit that you have a Jammer to an officer, you will be arrested, Jammers are illeagle, in order to Jam you are emitting a signal that can be against FCC rules, what the shifter does is takes the signal emitted by the police and redirects the signal from getting back to the cops gun. when it comes to the law everything is technical...
Jamming is illegal because you are directly interfering with police equipment (police activity), while shifting is not because you are simply "redirecting" the infrared laser.
Evolved Member
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1,227
Likes: 4
From: NYC
I'm going to make a repost of a long drawn out post I made on another section of this site:
I have a Valentine 1 and find it of limited use. It's more of a curiosity and here's why:
Radar detectors only pick up radar. Most troopers and state funded units nowadays use laser. Laser units are so precise that it's near impossible to pick up scatter from them. In fact, with a steady hand, at close range, they can pick off your plate or head lights w/o alerting your detector even if it's on the bottom of your dash (ironically, your detector should be up high to pick up as much radar as possible). Basically, if it detects laser, it's telling you that you're getting a ticket. With that said, the V1 is one of the most sensitive laser detectors out there.
Laser Interceptor makes the best laser jammer so far. Their regular units are powerful enough to jam 95% of all laser guns out there all the way down to point blank (Jam-To-Gun). Most blinder units can jam down to a very useful range, couple hundred feet but they won't JTG on as many units. The LI Extreme units are supposedly even more powerful. Rule #1 when running a jammer though, is that once it detects that you're actually being lit up with laser, you slow down to ~PSL then kill it so that the cop will get a delayed reading of a legal speed and let you go on your way. It always looks suspicious when you JTG; some guns even throw a jam code.
Where radar units are helpful is in detecting scatter picked up off some other sucker being nailed 1/4 mile or more in front of you. Typically, the "preferred" strategy is to have a "rabbit" in front of you going well over PSL (posted speed limit). You follow behind and can pick up radar as they're targeted, hopefully giving you enough time to slow down. However, like I said a lot of highway units are switching over to laser.
Most small towns still use radar. This is where the V1 is most useful. It can sniff out very small amounts of radar being bounced around so if you have a stationary or mobile officer running radar (most towns i've seen run constant on) then you'll know when they're near by. Even if they're running instant on / quick trigger (IO/QT), the V1 can pick up blips. So if you're cruising around on a back country road with no falses and all of a sudden you get a blip, chances are someone's shooting near by. That's where the advantage is with the V1, you can tell the direction of the signal.
However, the #1 rule of radar detectors is, never speed alone. I, along with other people, have gotten nailed before with IO and never saw it coming. This is cause radar nowadays can nail your speed down in about a second. So if you're flying along way over PSL down a back country road and a cop with quick reflexes comes around the corner at the other end of the road and decides to hit the trigger, by the time your detector alerts and you hit the brakes, he's already got your speed.
You can always pull an Alex Roy and use your passenger as a spotter with a pair of high powered binoculars to look for cops ahead of you during the day and FLIR night vision at night. Running a police scanner + CB also helps. Having a friend in a spotter plane at 1000ft looking ahead also helps.
As far as the "shifter" name is concerned, it's just a name. They ALL broadcast IR. AFAIK, LI is the only unit that uses high powered laser diodes, the rest use lower powered LED's and are not as effective. And yes, there are some units (the LI Extreme specifically) that can Jam-To-Gun on almost all the laser units out there though it's very dangerous because the less the cops know about our countermeasures, the better. There used to be some RADAR jammers that claim to reflect back junk (mostly from rocky mountain) and those didn't work for crap. Emitting radar falls under the FCC and is a federal crime. There are no federal restrictions on emitting IR, which is why they're legal federally though some states have their own laws on that.
The danger with radar detectors and especially laser jammers is false sense of security. Unless set up correctly, you're worse off with it than without. Radar detectors have to just generally be pointed straight and level. Laser jammers, however need to be leveled very very well. The beam emitter pattern is fairly narrow and a degree or so off can throw the hotspot many feet off when it's 1000ft down the road. If you do get a jammer, the most important thing to do is to rent at least 2 lidar guns with a bunch of guys and spend an afternoon testing it to make sure you can jam down to as low a range as possible if not JTG.
There's also a transparent tinted paint called Laser Veil that can reduce the reflected IR enough that in certain cases, it can cut the jam distance down in half. You usually paint that over your headlights and anything that the police can target to reflect IR. Don't think that just cause your car's a dark color that it'll work. Some guys have picked up reflected lidar off a jogger with a black sweater from hundreds of feet away.
Your eyes and mind are really your best defenses. What I said's just an intro, if you search around, there's a lot more to it.
I have a Valentine 1 and find it of limited use. It's more of a curiosity and here's why:
Radar detectors only pick up radar. Most troopers and state funded units nowadays use laser. Laser units are so precise that it's near impossible to pick up scatter from them. In fact, with a steady hand, at close range, they can pick off your plate or head lights w/o alerting your detector even if it's on the bottom of your dash (ironically, your detector should be up high to pick up as much radar as possible). Basically, if it detects laser, it's telling you that you're getting a ticket. With that said, the V1 is one of the most sensitive laser detectors out there.
Laser Interceptor makes the best laser jammer so far. Their regular units are powerful enough to jam 95% of all laser guns out there all the way down to point blank (Jam-To-Gun). Most blinder units can jam down to a very useful range, couple hundred feet but they won't JTG on as many units. The LI Extreme units are supposedly even more powerful. Rule #1 when running a jammer though, is that once it detects that you're actually being lit up with laser, you slow down to ~PSL then kill it so that the cop will get a delayed reading of a legal speed and let you go on your way. It always looks suspicious when you JTG; some guns even throw a jam code.
Where radar units are helpful is in detecting scatter picked up off some other sucker being nailed 1/4 mile or more in front of you. Typically, the "preferred" strategy is to have a "rabbit" in front of you going well over PSL (posted speed limit). You follow behind and can pick up radar as they're targeted, hopefully giving you enough time to slow down. However, like I said a lot of highway units are switching over to laser.
Most small towns still use radar. This is where the V1 is most useful. It can sniff out very small amounts of radar being bounced around so if you have a stationary or mobile officer running radar (most towns i've seen run constant on) then you'll know when they're near by. Even if they're running instant on / quick trigger (IO/QT), the V1 can pick up blips. So if you're cruising around on a back country road with no falses and all of a sudden you get a blip, chances are someone's shooting near by. That's where the advantage is with the V1, you can tell the direction of the signal.
However, the #1 rule of radar detectors is, never speed alone. I, along with other people, have gotten nailed before with IO and never saw it coming. This is cause radar nowadays can nail your speed down in about a second. So if you're flying along way over PSL down a back country road and a cop with quick reflexes comes around the corner at the other end of the road and decides to hit the trigger, by the time your detector alerts and you hit the brakes, he's already got your speed.
You can always pull an Alex Roy and use your passenger as a spotter with a pair of high powered binoculars to look for cops ahead of you during the day and FLIR night vision at night. Running a police scanner + CB also helps. Having a friend in a spotter plane at 1000ft looking ahead also helps.
As far as the "shifter" name is concerned, it's just a name. They ALL broadcast IR. AFAIK, LI is the only unit that uses high powered laser diodes, the rest use lower powered LED's and are not as effective. And yes, there are some units (the LI Extreme specifically) that can Jam-To-Gun on almost all the laser units out there though it's very dangerous because the less the cops know about our countermeasures, the better. There used to be some RADAR jammers that claim to reflect back junk (mostly from rocky mountain) and those didn't work for crap. Emitting radar falls under the FCC and is a federal crime. There are no federal restrictions on emitting IR, which is why they're legal federally though some states have their own laws on that.
The danger with radar detectors and especially laser jammers is false sense of security. Unless set up correctly, you're worse off with it than without. Radar detectors have to just generally be pointed straight and level. Laser jammers, however need to be leveled very very well. The beam emitter pattern is fairly narrow and a degree or so off can throw the hotspot many feet off when it's 1000ft down the road. If you do get a jammer, the most important thing to do is to rent at least 2 lidar guns with a bunch of guys and spend an afternoon testing it to make sure you can jam down to as low a range as possible if not JTG.
There's also a transparent tinted paint called Laser Veil that can reduce the reflected IR enough that in certain cases, it can cut the jam distance down in half. You usually paint that over your headlights and anything that the police can target to reflect IR. Don't think that just cause your car's a dark color that it'll work. Some guys have picked up reflected lidar off a jogger with a black sweater from hundreds of feet away.
Your eyes and mind are really your best defenses. What I said's just an intro, if you search around, there's a lot more to it.
Last edited by xi; Oct 28, 2010 at 10:49 AM.
Guys who can chime in, I need a radar detector that will be able to work worldwide eg. Europe or Asia?? Passports and valentines to my knowledge wont do any good with different systems outside the US??
Evolved Member
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1,227
Likes: 4
From: NYC
Valentine 1 works in Europe.
http://www.valentine1.com/Service/EuroMode.asp
http://www.valentine1.com/Service/EuroMode.asp
