1st, does it really false a lot? Do you use it on the highway? If anyone has the remote display, where did you mount the main unit? I prefer no suction cups. I normally mount my radar detector on the highest point of the binnacle hood with velcro. But the V1 looks pretty tall. will look kind of gangly..??

 

I have the V1 on the visor and its not too big. There are false alarms, but you can weed out those by going into one of the filtering modes, but run the risk of getting nailed by a cop (i.e. cop using the false alarms around a shopping area as a cover...shoots his gun on the same band)

 

 

damn i knew that was gonna happen. sorry for the repeat guys

 

I have a v1, and it is a falsing machine. It falses to the point of being unusable in the city. That being said if you do a lot of highway driving like me, then there is no substitute.

 

I don't even hear x-band anymore, but I choose to run in logic mode (little "L"). I don't mind the false alarms, keeps me alert and I know just how much radar **** my head is being slammed with.

Check the how-to forum for a hardware DIY guide.

 

I could not use the Valentine because it is so chatty. I've actually disabled the X band detection from my Escort 8500 and it works very well. There is no way to avoid a cop if he hides right were a bunch of false signals are present, but you can definitely tell if there is one or 2 more radars in a place where you know there is a known number of false alarms.... The Escort as well as the Valentine have the feature of detecting the number as well as the relative strenght of signals.
I think the Valentine as well as the Escort are pretty clunky, big units. I guess it's the price you pay for the extra accuracy and sensitivity....

 

thanks for the (possibly repeat?) info guys. I have an old Bel that is pretty quiet. Quiet enough for me to use in the city. Yet it still catches signals in time. Obviously the escort or the valentine would be a step up, but I really dont want it talking to me all the time. I have a wife for that. I had an old one like that and I wanted to throw it out the window while driving (radar detector, not wife. Well... yeah.. no not wife).

 

Then turn on a filter! If you are in a city, you will probably never run into a cop using radar. In most places local cops don't use radar....just highway patrol.

I leave mine on it's normal setting. I have spent some time understanding the alarms and patterns....so I can pretty much tell if it is a cop or an automatic door entrance at the 7-11...

The V1 Is just about the best radar detector out there. Don't let the worries about some false alarms get you down. After all, which would you rather have, false detections, or not detecting a cop early enough to get your speed down to the limit?

SC!

 

Remember, if you are getting lots of false signals in an area, chances are a cops radar gun is experiencing false reporting also.

I like the V1 due to the fact that I can see how many individual radar sources there are at any given time. X bands are usually security sensors, but sometimes cops also. If I see even numbers of warnings...ie there are 2 radar sources, it is usually a security sensor or door opener. If I see odd numbers 1,3,5, I am wary of a cop. If I see 2 different signal bands at one time, I am wary that one is a cop.

I like chatty radar detectors....they keep me alert and looking for cops.

 

I run it on it's lowest sensitivity setting, AND have x band disabled. It is still unusable around town.

 

Do you happen to know your local laws regarding local police and their ability to use radar? ie...if you are not on state patrolled interstates too often, and your local jurisdiction police don't use radar, your don't need the detector while driving in the city. In lots of states, Radar is reserved for State cops and Highway patrollman.

If your V1 unit is old, or if it has been exposed to high heat levels (storing it in your car on a hot FLA day) it could need a 'retune'.....You might want to send in your unit to see if there is a problem.

SC!

 

Round here I drive a lot of mixed highway/city roads, so I don't mind having to hit the mute button a few times on my way to work. It's a very small price to pay to be aware.

Also with the V1, I don't see how you could miss a cop shooting you in an area with a lot of garbage radar. I mean the most signal strength I catch off store doors and other various misc. sources is 2-3 dots, if I'm being blasted by radar blatently or there's a cop ahead or behind me, it shoots up pretty quickly. You just have to learn how to read the thing. The arrows help too, and the "strongest radar" indicator, always a plus. KA band around here = COP every time.

I ran in advanced logic mode ONE time, and that ONE time I got nailed by a cop doing instant-on on the highway. Had I been in plain logic mode, I am certain I would have had another 1-2 seconds of warning as it bounced off the 3-4 cars ahead of me. Never again!

 

No way you can avoid "instant on" radar unless the cars a good way in front of you get hit first. Otherwise all the time you have is a fraction of a second and thatis not enough I don't know what all these logic modes are, the escort can pick up and recognize I think up to 5 or more radar sources their type and relative strenght. You can also disable whichever frequency or frequencies you want (at your own peril). There are several other modes of displaying the detected signals including a totally stealth way in that the detector itself remains darkened and muted and you get the alarm from a little remote unit which I keep in front of the instrument panel. I have not tried or owned a Valentine since the late '90s. I heard all about how great it was and all, but the damned thing made so much noise and reported so many alarms that it was totally unusable. Maybe I just did not know how to tweak it or something, but I never had so much hassle from the Escort and it really does work well. It always warns me with enough time if I pay attention. The only problem I have will falsing is that the emergency vehicles also use KA band radr for some reason and they'll set off the alarm much too often.... There are lots of emergency vehicles working the roads in and around Atlanta. In the open highway it's not a problem at all.

 

Here's my real life comparison of the two top radar detectors...
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...ht=passport+vs