Radar detector
Jun 18, 2007, 05:36 AM
#16
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I know this doesn't answer your question, but I recently purchased the Bel RX65.
http://www.beltronicspro.com/rx65.html
It's already saved me TONS of speeding tickets. I dont have any complaints. And +1 to the customer service. They took my old detector which didnt work anymore as a trade in.
They shipped the RX65, and it was giving me false laser when driving directly towards the sun on clear days, like around 7:00pm-ish. At this time, the sun is low, and in Northern Ohio there are no hills to make shade. I called and they shipped me a UPS return label so I sent the unit back and I had a replacement 2 days later. However, BELTRONICS is in Ohio, so that helped!
That was a few months ago. Overall, I'm extermely pleased with the unit and service.
Another thought--I heard Bel owns Escort. I'm not sure if it's true, but it wouldnt make sense to have 2 R&D departments and compete against themselves if it is true.
http://www.beltronicspro.com/rx65.html
It's already saved me TONS of speeding tickets. I dont have any complaints. And +1 to the customer service. They took my old detector which didnt work anymore as a trade in.
They shipped the RX65, and it was giving me false laser when driving directly towards the sun on clear days, like around 7:00pm-ish. At this time, the sun is low, and in Northern Ohio there are no hills to make shade. I called and they shipped me a UPS return label so I sent the unit back and I had a replacement 2 days later. However, BELTRONICS is in Ohio, so that helped!
That was a few months ago. Overall, I'm extermely pleased with the unit and service.
Another thought--I heard Bel owns Escort. I'm not sure if it's true, but it wouldnt make sense to have 2 R&D departments and compete against themselves if it is true.
Jul 18, 2007, 07:20 PM
#24
1tallbrother.....
What type of driving do you do? Is it more city driving, highway or back roads? Then the final question to yourself should be what is your budget? Are you aware of what type of radar and laser guns are used in your area? Just be aware that not all radar and laser detectors and that includes laser jammers work better or worse then others. What ever you do dont get a cobra because they leak alot of noise and they set off quality radar detectors. I have a V1 (1.8-ver. 3.813) and that seem's to be the holy grail of the V1's on the street with the best detection and its they hardest to be detected by the Spectre III Radar Detector Dectector. If you dont need or want to spend the $$$ on a V1 getting Whistler, Bel, Escort (not 9500i its worthless). But if you do have the $$$ and the want by all means get the V1 and you wont want another RD even though there are some fine radar/laser detectors out right now.
What type of driving do you do? Is it more city driving, highway or back roads? Then the final question to yourself should be what is your budget? Are you aware of what type of radar and laser guns are used in your area? Just be aware that not all radar and laser detectors and that includes laser jammers work better or worse then others. What ever you do dont get a cobra because they leak alot of noise and they set off quality radar detectors. I have a V1 (1.8-ver. 3.813) and that seem's to be the holy grail of the V1's on the street with the best detection and its they hardest to be detected by the Spectre III Radar Detector Dectector. If you dont need or want to spend the $$$ on a V1 getting Whistler, Bel, Escort (not 9500i its worthless). But if you do have the $$$ and the want by all means get the V1 and you wont want another RD even though there are some fine radar/laser detectors out right now.
Jul 24, 2007, 09:44 AM
#25
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Jul 24, 2007, 10:51 PM
#26
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just a question with this(yes, noob on this topic, did a search and looked on V1 site)
does this detect cops in the general area, or just ones that are using laser guns?
does it detect fixed cameras?
does this detect cops in the general area, or just ones that are using laser guns?
does it detect fixed cameras?
Jul 25, 2007, 07:31 AM
#27
from what i know they do not detect fixed cameras, the fixed cameras work by using a magnetic field method in the road which detects your car's presense, if it shows the car is moving forward by the change in field it'll let the camera go off when the light is red. How-stuff works has a good explaination of it.
I still love my radar detector, its gotten me out of a lot of close calls and plus it helps tell me when a cop is near by if he has his radar on.
I still love my radar detector, its gotten me out of a lot of close calls and plus it helps tell me when a cop is near by if he has his radar on.
Jul 25, 2007, 01:47 PM
#28
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Would love to get one, cept it's illegal for the city cops to use radar. They mainly use that stupid 2 white lines or whatever trick. I hardly do any highway driving, so there is no point to me.
I had a cobra for like 4 years, and it barely worked right. Saved me few times, yes, but annoying the other 98%. Loved to drive by a cop and hear it go off after I pass it.
I had a cobra for like 4 years, and it barely worked right. Saved me few times, yes, but annoying the other 98%. Loved to drive by a cop and hear it go off after I pass it.
Jul 25, 2007, 02:08 PM
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Here's a quick rundown on how I view radar detectors.
They all have something to offer but NONE of them replaces common sense and situational awareness. To me arrows are a waste of time. Does it really matter where you're being tagged from? Some say yes but to me if I think it's a legit signal I slow down (if speeding) no matter where the signal is. Then I use COMMON SENSE to determine if there really is a threat or if it's a false alert. To me that is worth more than spending an extra $100 or more on the Valentine.
As far as radar tests go they all show some sort of bias. Even the magazines (which most have advertisements of one brand or another) can be biased towards that brand. In the end most of the high end brands detect about the same range and have similar rates of false alerts.
VG2 or radar-detector-detector is nothing to worry about unless you live in D.C. or Virginia where detectors are illegal. So what if a cop knows you have a detector, if you use good awareness as a driver you won't be needing to explain to him why you think you should own one.
LIDAR (Laser Radar) is pretty much the cat's meow of radars. It's instant on and no radar detector will help you avoid that unless it just happens to catch someone else getting tagged in front of you. However there are LIDAR jammers (which are legal in all states) that will scramble the return laser signal long enough for you to slow down and then switch off the jammer. Radar Jammers of any kind are illegal as their frequencies are controlled by the FCC. They have no jurisdiction over LIDAR signals. (yet)
So which one do you want to get? Depends on the features you like. I have the 8500 X50 and it has saved me a few times I suppose. (How do you really know it saved you if you never get pulled over?) Escort has a new model (9500 I believe) that has GPS capability to log and remember false alerts, speed traps etc. so that it knows when to alert you and when to ignore a false signal. It is user programmable so that you can mark which areas to ignore or react to.
One more thing. Stay away from cordless units. They end up using more space for battery storage which diminishes the space needed for circuits to detect signals.
Bell, Valentine or Escort....it's up to you to decide what ya want/need.
They all have something to offer but NONE of them replaces common sense and situational awareness. To me arrows are a waste of time. Does it really matter where you're being tagged from? Some say yes but to me if I think it's a legit signal I slow down (if speeding) no matter where the signal is. Then I use COMMON SENSE to determine if there really is a threat or if it's a false alert. To me that is worth more than spending an extra $100 or more on the Valentine.
As far as radar tests go they all show some sort of bias. Even the magazines (which most have advertisements of one brand or another) can be biased towards that brand. In the end most of the high end brands detect about the same range and have similar rates of false alerts.
VG2 or radar-detector-detector is nothing to worry about unless you live in D.C. or Virginia where detectors are illegal. So what if a cop knows you have a detector, if you use good awareness as a driver you won't be needing to explain to him why you think you should own one.
LIDAR (Laser Radar) is pretty much the cat's meow of radars. It's instant on and no radar detector will help you avoid that unless it just happens to catch someone else getting tagged in front of you. However there are LIDAR jammers (which are legal in all states) that will scramble the return laser signal long enough for you to slow down and then switch off the jammer. Radar Jammers of any kind are illegal as their frequencies are controlled by the FCC. They have no jurisdiction over LIDAR signals. (yet)
So which one do you want to get? Depends on the features you like. I have the 8500 X50 and it has saved me a few times I suppose. (How do you really know it saved you if you never get pulled over?) Escort has a new model (9500 I believe) that has GPS capability to log and remember false alerts, speed traps etc. so that it knows when to alert you and when to ignore a false signal. It is user programmable so that you can mark which areas to ignore or react to.
One more thing. Stay away from cordless units. They end up using more space for battery storage which diminishes the space needed for circuits to detect signals.
Bell, Valentine or Escort....it's up to you to decide what ya want/need.
Jul 25, 2007, 03:26 PM
#30
Here's a quick rundown on how I view radar detectors.
They all have something to offer but NONE of them replaces common sense and situational awareness. To me arrows are a waste of time. Does it really matter where you're being tagged from? Some say yes but to me if I think it's a legit signal I slow down (if speeding) no matter where the signal is. Then I use COMMON SENSE to determine if there really is a threat or if it's a false alert. To me that is worth more than spending an extra $100 or more on the Valentine.
VG2 or radar-detector-detector is nothing to worry about unless you live in D.C. or Virginia where detectors are illegal. So what if a cop knows you have a detector, if you use good awareness as a driver you won't be needing to explain to him why you think you should own one.
So which one do you want to get? Depends on the features you like. I have the 8500 X50 and it has saved me a few times I suppose. (How do you really know it saved you if you never get pulled over?) Escort has a new model (9500 I believe) that has GPS capability to log and remember false alerts, speed traps etc. so that it knows when to alert you and when to ignore a false signal. It is user programmable so that you can mark which areas to ignore or react to.
One more thing. Stay away from cordless units. They end up using more space for battery storage which diminishes the space needed for circuits to detect signals.
Bell, Valentine or Escort....it's up to you to decide what ya want/need.
They all have something to offer but NONE of them replaces common sense and situational awareness. To me arrows are a waste of time. Does it really matter where you're being tagged from? Some say yes but to me if I think it's a legit signal I slow down (if speeding) no matter where the signal is. Then I use COMMON SENSE to determine if there really is a threat or if it's a false alert. To me that is worth more than spending an extra $100 or more on the Valentine.
VG2 or radar-detector-detector is nothing to worry about unless you live in D.C. or Virginia where detectors are illegal. So what if a cop knows you have a detector, if you use good awareness as a driver you won't be needing to explain to him why you think you should own one.
So which one do you want to get? Depends on the features you like. I have the 8500 X50 and it has saved me a few times I suppose. (How do you really know it saved you if you never get pulled over?) Escort has a new model (9500 I believe) that has GPS capability to log and remember false alerts, speed traps etc. so that it knows when to alert you and when to ignore a false signal. It is user programmable so that you can mark which areas to ignore or react to.
One more thing. Stay away from cordless units. They end up using more space for battery storage which diminishes the space needed for circuits to detect signals.
Bell, Valentine or Escort....it's up to you to decide what ya want/need.
To address your statement about whether or not it matters to have arrows, I'm just gonna have to flat out disagree with ya man. Cops here in SLC like to setup speed traps, and they like to setup a few at a time. It's really nice to know if I'm approaching a new one or if its simply detecting the one I just passed. They also like to hang out in sets of two at a time with one gun off and the other on. I'm not saying this holds true under all circumstances, but it doesn't hurt. The arrows in conjunction with the "bogey counter" make it very easy for me to enhance my awareness of the road.
Regarding explaining to a cop why you need a radar detector, don't explain at all. If it's legal, you owe them no explanation. Chances are if they've noticed your RD, and have even mentioned it to you, you're not getting out of a ticket. I'm not saying be rude, but don't give them any more ammo than they already have. Every single thing you say will be documented in their file of the pull over.
As far as cost goes, 1 speeding ticket will make up the difference you just saved in going with a different detector, you get what you pay for. I thought the arrows were just a gimmick until I owned a V1 also. In fact, most people who never have owned a V1 are quick to suggest they are unnecessary... then they'll get to borrow one and its a whole different story.
Simply stated, any of three RDs that people consider here are going to be better than nothing. Having one of these devices while remaining alert is the best bet for sure. Again, my vote goes for the V1, then the escort/bell.