It's best to just disable X band since that's what seems to set off the detectors from supermarket entrances and things like that.

 

Have you ever owned a radar detector? If so then you should realize that 90% of a detectors usefulness comes from patterning.

You drive thesame roads day in and day out, you figure out where traps are, where ambient radar is and those things. The arrows help with figuring our all these patterns. Then once you have a pattern down in your head (I know all the amibient radar places on my commute without thinking), the arrows help you figure out which signals are ambient radar and which are some other out of the normal sources.

As for getting nailed by radar, the whole point is for you to pick up his signal before you're line of sight and therefore slowing down if he's in front of you. If you're blowing through traffic and all of a sudden you have some K or Ka increasing in strength behind you, might want to slow down and check your rear view to make sure you don't have one sneaking up on you. It's a nice bonus.

The chattiness is true. The V1 is ultra sensitive, and therefore I've found on some roads with a lot of ambient radar I95 between NYC and New Haven, CT for example render the V1 completely USELESS. Having said that I bet other brands pick up the same crap...

 

NEVER disable X band in NJ....

NJ is the only state that really uses a lot of X band still, especially state troopers.

 

Yeah sorry, I was going to but forgot to say that this is coming from California where I haven't seen highway patrol use anything other than Ka band. I'm sure that doesn't necessarily apply to all states.

 

I just retired my 8500 in favor of a V1. I will NEVER go back to a non-directional unit like the 8500! Like they say, once you get used to the arrows, you wonder how you ever lived without them! I use the Logic mode and mute it. I wish I could disable the X band as it's not used down here.

 

Of course I've owned a radar detector before! I've owned several and I own and use one now. The patterning you are talking about has no bearing on the usefulness of arrows as far as I'm concerned. Every alarm should be considered a credible threat unless it's the same grocery store door you pass every day...

The ambient radar is never a problem for me where I drive because it's either X band which is not used by police or K band. I know where the K band sources are and if there is ever a double signal (which the Passport and Bel pro X65 will display), I know to look out. It does not matter where it comes from. In reality, I don't have time to look for directions of arrows, I just monitor my speed and make sure I'm nor speeding.

Of course that's the way to use a radar detector. What's new about that? Again, all you say is fine and true, but those arrows are not relevant. If a threat is detected, you should take action regardless of the direction of the radar signal... Like I said before, if you get nailed, it does not matter where the radar came from. Likewise, if you use the warning and avoid a problem, it's irrelevant where the radar signal came from.

I'm sure if there is a lot of spurious radar signals in an area, all decent detectors will respond unless you've disabled the offending bands or turn the damned thing off. I say buy what you want, but the arrows just don't do much for me... Yes, I've tried the V1 before for several days. I sent it back.

 

Call and talk to Radar Roy at www.radardetectors.com He is an ex police officer who does testing every year on the newest and latest technology in radar and laser. That is where I purchased my Escort 8500 X50 and Blinder M-40 laser jammer. Both work very well!

Roy explained to me how close the Escort X50 and V1 are, but I chose the X50. I didn't want to pay the extra price for some arrows to tell me to slow down. V1 tells you were the signal is coming from, but either way if your smart, your still going to slow down no matter where its coming from. Right?

I can honestly say both have saved my butt on numerous occasions and have already paid for themselves ten fold. I was doing well over 100mph one night and was hit with laser, slowed down to the speed limit, turned off the jammer, and then drove right by the officer with a smile on my face.

The key to using a jammer is to turn it off after slowing down to the correct speed limit. If the officer can't get a good reading from your car, they think something is up(using jammer).

It is common for a laser gun to get error signals while shooting at a moving vehicle, but it isn't common to get error after error signal. Slow down, turn it off, and let them get a vehicle speed.

I was hit with laser 5 times on the highway over the holiday weekend, not once did I get pulled over.

Also, the Escort X50 picks up signals from REALLY far away. It picked up the slightest signal over 4 long hills and slowly started getting stronger and stronger. I don't know exactly how far it was, but it was pretty damn far. The officer was driving in the opposite direction, so I can only imagine how far away he was if I went over 4 long hills until I finally seen him. I know it has worked close to or further than 1 mile.

 

Agreed in CA Ka seems to be it. On I-5 the Vector 985 saved me a bunch of times from LA-SF

 

LOL...did I not call that? V1 owners just jumped up like their *** was on fire when I said "whoopdie doo". Arrows, arrows, arrows.....WHOOPDIE DOO! I hope you find the extra $150 well spent if you ever get a speeding ticket...that way you can tell the cop "I knew where you were".

 

I've read reviews of the V1 saying that it is way too sensitive which causes the driver to evantually ignore its warnings. Is that true or not?

 

I could not ignore it, it drove me crazy so I sent it back. If I had one again, I'd try to disable the X band for sure. Maybe the V1 is a good unit and maybe those arrows are useful but I don't know.... I'd like to try one again but I'm not sure it's worth the hassle of buying it and then returning it again if it's not really better than the Passport or the Bel RX65............

 

I guess the people who praises the V1 don't drive in urban areas often where there are a lot of radiowaves to set off thier V1's. I think the passport has a better filter so its a better choice for city slickers

 

+1 for V1

 

i live in downtown denver. it's true the V1 will false around grocery stores, banks, etc., but it's not really that bad. the "advanced logic mode" helps a lot. i just ignore the X and K band warnings b/c cops around here use Ka.

 

I want the V1.