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Comments
I've been an avid reader of Consumer Reports for several decades. I don't recall them ever printing the words "Nanny State", nor do I ever recall them ever printing anything vaguely resembling the phrase that you pretty much attributed to them: "government knows far better how to take care of you than you could possibly know yourself."
Perhaps it would be best if we discuss Radar/Lidar detectors in this forum, not personal politics.
scotian: I meant to convey my impression of Consumer Reports' attitude about speed laws, not my own. Also being a smart aleck.:)
The opposite view is best summed up by the foreign phrases 'caveat emptor' (let the buyer beware) and 'laissez faire' (let the market decide), where the government is there to protect its citizens from foreign invaders and criminals, but legal private enterprise should be allowed to work itself out.
Thanks to those who responded. In any case, back to radar/lidar detectors!
tidester
Host
Aftermarket & Accessories
CR is obviously staffed by old-school quasi-socialists who think that government intervention is the answer to every little problem (perhaps because non-profits are always looking for gov't grants?). People with this mindset would never consider testing something that might hinder the regulators -- because in their view gov't regulation is ALWAYS good for you.
Be that as it may, I do appreciate the fact that CR doesn't take advertising money in from anyone and buys their product samples for testing. Too bad it wont happen with radar detectors.
Back on topic, I would take a Valentine 1 over my Escort 8500 in a heartbeat if they were the same price. Sensitivity is probably equal but those arrows would be cool. But a $150 to $200 difference after getting the remote V1 module just doesn't make the 'cool' factor worth it.
jb
That said, my Passport has some flaws that I'm wondering if they are common or not. If you expose the unit to engine starts and stops, and sitting with power on and no engine running, low voltage conditions can cause the s/w to loop or get into some kind of sneak path and it starts acting very weird, constant alarms, lots of falsing, an alarm whether or not anything is on the display that you can't mute or turn off. If you go through the "reboot" process (turn the unit on while holding all 3 buttons down, the two on top and the mute on the front, the unit will read the s/w build number and reset).
Guess it's time to break down and get off my tail and hardwire it in to a switched power line.
Thankfully many states in the continental US have banned photo radar and thus probably this system. I know my detector works well against photo radar, but am pretty sure a laser-based system would be deadly.
For more details go to www.honoluluadvertiser.com
jb
I'm a coward when it comes to tearing into the interior of a nice car, but it was quick & easy.
I noticed that the Hawaii system uses a van with a digital camera. If you go back several posts I now know what I saw in a van was the digital camera.
The fact that your detector alerted indicates that a radar beam had hit you.
As for radar, C&D explained about some really new units that will get you from any direction. It's an interesting read.
Radar measures the doppler shift of the radar frequency, which is based on the speed of something approaching or going away from the radar gun. A car moving perpendicular will not cause the frequency to shift very much at all to the radar gun.
I think Scott's experience was just a cop who left his radar gun on. That used to happen all the time, though much less so now. Several years ago, most police had radar guns that were not instant-on, and they left them spewing radar all the time. When they really wanted to nab someone, they would clear the display and point it up the road.
Too bad the V1 is $300+. If it were 100 less they'd sell twice as many.
Some of the radar waves reflected off the car, say from the front end, is directed into the forward directions. Because the vehicle is moving, that radiation is Doppler shifted. Then, if some of the Doppler shifted radiation gets reflected a second time, for example, from the pavement, the radar device will register something moving.
This will pretty much coincide with the vehicle's speed. You are correct in saying that it is less reliable than a reading coming off a vehicle directly approaching or receeding.
tidester
Host
Aftermarker & Accessories
Interesting that most of the manual described how to be a witness against anyone caught speeding. It had refernces to legal cases that established that radar was accurate and legally admissible as evidence etc. The rest of the manual described how to actually use it.
It had a pistol type site on it. I could get car speeds so far away that I had to line up on them with the site, since the car was such a small object. I estimated that the car was about a 1/2 mile away.
How reliable (free of erroneous readings) and accurate was the radar gun? Did you have any obviously wrong readings, and did it return consistent readings on several cars going the same speed?
I know I've passed some of those signs equipped with radar (the ones that say "Slow Down! You are going ___ MPH. The speed limit is 45 MPH.) and got absolutely wrong readings. One time I was in a whole line of cars going about 10 mph and the sign flashed that we were going something like 40 mph.
Other tests have the V1 and Passport 8500 neck and neck (Radar Test, Speedzones), but some have argued about the bias of those testers.
I do have an 8500 and think it is sweet, but I wouldn't mind trying out a V1 if I had the money. I've owned 3 other detectors and think both kick sand in the face of the low-end detectors that are out there.
jb
My 8500 gives false "laser" warnings ALL THE TIME!! No matter what mode I use (auto, city, or highway), the total number of laser warning is (((MORE)))) and all other bands combine!! When I am driving in city, laser warning beeps more than once in a minute. When I took a long drive yesterday from Dallas to Houston, a 4 hr interstate trip, laser warning beeped about once every 3-4 minutes.
I thought it could be some interference coming from my car, but it was doing the same thing when I tried this Passport 8500 in my parents' car.
What do you guys think? Is this a common symptom for high-end radar detectors to be so sensitive? I always thought that X band was the only one would confuse detectors, not laser. Is my detector functioning properly, or did I receive a defective detector?
I think you have a defective unit. I just did the Dallas/Houston run myself on Wednesday and Friday and received NO Laser alerts from my Valentine One!
I have read that electrical voltage variations can cause false alerts.
If you had a recurring problem in two different vehicles I would think the unit is defective.
Jeff
Shouldn't cost them anymore and you get the replacement quicker.
TB
Click on buttons on the left.
The basic appearance of the unit didn't change though.
jb
Thanks!!
If you were the only car that was available to illuminate, then the unit you have functioned as designed. The advantage comes if another car was illuminated first, then your unit should have gone off.
In addition to my Valentine 1, I keep an Escort Solo 5 in my wife's car, instead of switching the V1 between vehicles when we travel in hers.
The Solo 5 is very convenient, as it works on four AA batteries and doesn't need to get plugged in. The only minor problem with it is that it's virtually useless for detection beyond a quarter of a mile from a RADAR or LIDAR gun.
When I had my V1 alongside an Escort 8500 in various modes, the 8500 solidly lost as far as detection went. The 8500 is better in the noises it makes and falsing, and I like its dot matrix display. The V1's directional arrows are extremely useful.
I agree that the V1 makes a lot of X-band noise. I wish I could make it shut up about X bogeys until they are 1/2 or more up the strength meter.
I have heard that the Auto mode on the 8500 is not a good one to use.
Hey -- Where'd deplorable's last message go?
Steve
Host
SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
In the 22 years I have been driving (and I drive alot), I have NEVER been pulled over and ticketed for speeding. However my recent purchase of a sports sedan coupled with my eagerness to break in the 260 hp engine; I am tempting fate.
I checked the five western suburban Chicago stores that sell the Passport's, and they were all sold out.... Called Escort direct, and they will have mine shipped to the house in 2 days delivery fees waived...What great customer service!.
My theory on shortage: Easter weekend and spring break, everyone on the road. I bet there will be alot of Passports returned after the holiday; Travelers getting their "free" usage. Can't wait to see how many cops are stationed alongside the expressway between here and Detroit!.
In my opinion, a fine detector is in some respects little more than a source of fascination and amusement on the road that can help to stave off boredom, as well as a potentially useful tool. It's one thing to speed along at the same rate as the flow of traffic around you, but if you're out there on unpopulated stretches of road, screaming along, these instant-on guns will likely nail you, and in this type of situation the only thing your detector may tell you is that you've just been artfully pinched, so you can have your license, registration, and credit card ready to hand-over if the cop decides to stop you.
I also don't understand why people feel the need to trash a detector to make theirs look good -- in the last case the person who was trashing the V1. I would say the V1 and the 8500 are great detectors -- it would have been hard for me to choose between the two if they were the same price because their performance is so similar.
jb
I had an old V1, and when I called them about upgrading it because of the new technology they have, they told me to send it in and they'd send me a brand new one in the box. And, they credited $125 off the purchase price for the old unit, too. It's a better deal, since it's smaller and more user-friendly.
Just my $.02.
Mike