Radar/Lidar detectors

SPYDER98

Finally got my v-1 on friday. Had a chance to test it all weekend and was pretty impressed. I was a little annoyed at first, by the false alarms it put out, but after some getting used to, I was able to identify them. The greatest feature (I think) has to be the directional signals and bogey counter. It helps so much in judging false alarms. I also cannot believe the range of the detector. It picked up one cop car about a mile and half in front of me on a straight away. My old uniden detector never came that close.

My question is...
I've been using the logic mode most of the time. The A mode is too sensitive and audible alarms every little signal it picks up. I would rather use the a-logic mode, to cut down on false alarms. But my fear is, it will might filter out a cop radar mixed with a false signal.
What mode have all you other guys out there been using? I guess the a-logic mode is good for city driving, but is it safe for highway?

thanks...
spyder98

dnk1

Spyder,

The advanced logic mode is excellent; it cuts out almost all false alarms and according to Valentine, it *does not* reduce sensitivity. I use a-logic everywhere and still have had no problems. It will still sound on strong x-band, but keep most of the falses at bay. I would however, recommend going to the all mode for extremely rural driving like say, west Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and east California.

Bhelper,

That BCT deal sounds pretty cool. Does it work country-wide? What does it cost and where can I get one cheap? Sounds like a better investment than a regular old, radio shack scanner that you have to tune in every time you enter a different county.

bhepler

Best Buy carries both the BCT-7 and the BCT-12, the last time I checked. If I recall correctly, you can get a BCT-7 for about $150, and the BCT-12 is about $200.

Check out www.uniden.com for the official features list. They also have a refurbished merchandise section if you don't mind that route.

bhepler

Sorry, forgot to add: Yes, it has frequencies for all 50 states and Washington DC.

You will probably be able to find them cheaper online at a ham radio shop. Some digging will be required, but you can find them.

c70t5

Does anyone know how the Escort 7500 compares to the Valentine.

dnk1

No official word on this yet, but from everything's that's been professionally done, it's unlikely that anything short of a patent-able breakthrough could unseat the V1 as the king of radar detectors.

Extreme confidence or just hubris? You be the judge of that, but I'll place my bets on the V1.

Bhelper,

Muchos gracias, senor.

gems

V1 for 400 may be best and gives good value for the money spent agreed. I am looking for a used
one( atleast to save me from straight and direct attacks). There is a listing of all sorts of radar detectors in ebay for as low as 5-10$. I think I might get a decent one for may be $50.
( V1 still goes for around $380). What do you guys think about the following detectors BEL 840i Radar Detector, cobra, Fox Four-band monitoring system X, K, KA and laser. Each one of them is below $50.

tone40

I was driving my Boxster S on Easter Sunday. I made a passing maneuver on a downhill and I got pulled over by an LA County Sheriff. Me and another car were the only ones on the road. I was told that I was clocked with laser (62 in a 40). I did not verify the readout or the positioning of the gun.

My car is new so I do not have a front license plate, only a metal frame. My car does not have metal in the headlights.

I would like some opinions:
a) Do I have a chance to fight this ticket? I have read that the laser is aimed at the front license plate or headlights. I do not know if "judicial notice" is established in LA county. Any help on where I can check this out?

b) I hope to buy a laser jamming device (after I check the legality) as well as a Valentine radar detector to aid in the alert of potential clocking. I hope that the jamming would give me enough time to reduce my speed. Is this a reasonable theory?

mcgreenx

I asked this a few days ago, with no response. I am interested in the V-1 but don't want to spend the money and find I have to pay again to upgrade a short time later. So I am wondering when the last time the V-1 was "improved," or upgraded, or when a new upgrade is likely to be released. Any ideas anyone?

caprirooster

You should be able to go to the V-1 web site for the info if not call them and ask. I bought mine in 97 and it has not been updated since I was informed that I have all the changes. Hope this helps.

bhepler

A) I doubt it. The laser just needs a return signal. While the license plate helps, any reflective surface will do (some more than others). Metal in the frame or headlights is immaterial with laser. After all, the laser is merely light and will reflect off anything, not just metal.

Good plan.

dnk1

Fight them all the way, man. If everyone did so, it would become so unprofitable for them to issue speeding tickets that they would stop doing so. It's your *duty* as an American driver to fight every ticket you receive.

"There are people out there with CHAINSAWS and you're giving me a speeding ticket?!?"

awchan

Anyone have any experience with the V-1 and cars with special glass? Just took delivery on a 2001 Cl-S, and love it! However, the car has what is described as a heat rejecting green glass. I have treied to find out if that means that there is metal in it or not, but have been unsuccessful. I suppose I will get the V-1 anyway, but it sure would be nice to know if my detection was reduced by 95%!! I dont know if its similar to the glass thats on some Audi's or not. Any advice or knowledge shared would be most appreciated! Thanks

bhepler

You could hit V-1's web site and post the question to the man himself. He might have better contacts in the industry and be able to get an answer for you.

dnk1

. . . is not metallic. It's on a lot of cars now, but to my knowledge, does not contain any metal.

jgunn

From my research I found that the blinder was the best reviewed. You can get it at http://www.radarbusters.com/blinder.htm.
As for legality, it's a gray area. I figure if you turn you front headlights on all the time, tell the judge that the cop needs to prove it was the headlights or the jammer that prevented a reading. (Or sun reflections, or dust, or fog, or heat rising off the road) Supposedly this thing works so well that they suggest you turn the jammer off after returning to a nicer speed so as to allow him to get a reading. I don't see too much use of laser around here but if it becomes prevalent, I will be ordering one.

xorbtant

wouldn't it be nice if they had a radar jammer like that?

dnk1

I dunno about this one, jgunn; the unit seems to rely on the fact that it can detect the laser first. Laser is inherently difficult to detect and even if you do, by the time the detector registers it, the signal has already returned to the source with a reading.

$300 is also *really* steep for a unit that doesn't offer some kind of rear protection too.

Not that I don't believe you, it's just that I'm skeptical and have never heard of them. Where did you read the reviews?

jgunn

I downloaded a movie from a site (I'll see if I can figure out where from) that showed first a car getting tagged with laser without the jammer, and then with. With the jammer, the laser was dumbfounded, it just sat there kind of sputter beeping. It was beautiful.

blane

Fresnel lenses, as well as ALL other plastic covers over license plates (cosmetic, protective or anti-photo radar) are illegal in New York State. Anyone know which other states have similar laws?

karl

Way back in this topic, there's reference to the Automobile magazine's ranking of the Uniden 6599SWS second only to the Valentine One, and a link to the Uniden website (http://www.uniden.com/docs/store/)
showing the 6599SWS (refurbished) for $126.

The 6599SWS is still there for $126; however, Uniden also shows a 6699SWS for $95. Reading the features, they look pretty similar, and in Uniden's product lineup, the higher #'s look like the more advanced models, or the ones with more features.

Anyone have any info on the 6699SWS ? I couldn't find any tests of this unit on-line.

BTW, both the 6599SWS and 6699SWS are back-ordered on the Uniden website.

-Karl

gems

Uniden 6599 was rated next to valentine1 by Automobile magazine( above passport 4600, Bel855sti, whistler 1595se etc)!!!!!.
Anybody with experience on 6599 or 6699 ??

clappingmonkey

i had the 6599 and now have a v1. the v1 is much much better. the directional arrows are great. also, if you ever decide to sell the v1, you'll get most of your money back.

havent seem the article in a while. if i remember correctly, the uniden was a distant second.

tsumm

I have researched alot of laser jammers on the web and I think the best is the Blinder M-10. Go to their web site at http://www.blinder.dk. An independent group,Speed Labs, rates it the best...the article is on Blinder's web site.

gems

This was the way Automobile magazine rated detectors.
www.automobilemag.com/pages.cfm?area_id=0&page_id=156&template=3
-----------------
Valentine-1 : 90
Uniden LRD 6599SWS : 84
Whistler 1595SE 76 :
BEL 855STi :75
Escort Passport 4600 : 67
Cobra ESD :54
------------------
Check this site
www.radar-guys.com/lrd6599.htm

Uniden 6599 is listed for $112 and is readily available

karl

Thanks for the link. I just placed my order for a Uniden 6599SWS; total cost (FedEx Econ s/h) was only $122.

I figure that if it's a close second to the Valentine One, that's good enough for me. I read the comments on the V-1 (e.g. the $399 cost pays for itself the first time it spares you a ticket), but for <1/3 the price, I think the Uniden will do fine.

All I really want it for is longer highway trips. I don't speed around town at high enough speeds to draw much attention to me.... I hope.

-Karl

pat84

Thanks for the info on the illegality of Fresnel lens license plate covers. I can't really see myself getting out of my vehicle and removing them in NJ to drive through NY, though.
Radar detectors are illegal in VA and Wash DC. My detector is hard wired in and clipped to my visor. I do not remove it when I drive there. Think about it, why even have a radar detector if you aren't going to illegally exceed the speed limit ? My theory is it is only illegal if you're caught.
As an aside, thank you gems for the web site on radar evaluation. I do believe that a test of the detectors ability to avoid detection by a VR1,(not to be confused with VA1) radar detector detector would have been useful to some of us.

trippdogg

in NJ. To start, NJ outlawed the use of camera for ticketing purposes (unless you run througha tool booth) Not to mention, anything covering the license plate (front or back) is illegal in NJ

gems

Good luck with your purchase. Please let us know as to what happens and how do you find this one.

I think you got a good deal on this one. Here are are the different rates for the same detector
$154 at http://www.radarguys.com/uniden.htm
$112 http://www.radar-guys.com/lrd6599.htm
$126 at the Unidens site http://www.uniden.com/docs/store/ ( But Refurbished )
One more interesting thing is that I was following this item at Ebay and was surprised to find out that people are buying used Uniden 6599's by paying more than $100!!!. One was sold yesterday for $102 and another one is currently at $81( These are all used ones , more than a year old but in "Mint condition" !!!). I really don't understand why people buy a used one when you can have a new one for couple of dollars more?? Either people are not aware of the original prices or these detectors keep a good resale value ( just like Valetine1 ) or am I missing something here ??

what is 'hard wiring' means? You connect it to the power always and keep the detector on the visor? Can't you remove it once you hard wire it" what are the advantages and disadvantages?

blane

gems:

"Hard wiring" means that you've permanently wired the unit to a hot or live terminal, wire, or connector. It can be either switched or not switched by turning your ignition key to the run position (your choice). The main advantage is that you can tuck the wire away between or behind trim panels, making it unnoticeable, instead of having a long loose wire dangling down from the unit toward your cigarette lighter. You can leave the unit's power switch in the on position and it will turn off when you remove your ignition key, or on when you re-insert it if you wire it correctly. An added advantage is to free up the cigarette lighter so that you can plug in other devices such as a cellular phone, computer, CD, etc.

People overpaying for ANYTHING at auction is quite common. They just get caught up in the action and may not know the value of the item they are bidding on.

pat84

I said "I could not see myself removing them in NJ to drive through NY." I don't see myself getting out to take them off in DE to drive through NJ or NY. I don't see me getting out to remove them to drive through any state regardless of their quaint customs and laws. Do you ever plan on getting to VA or DC ? Leave your radar detector at home. Right ?

gems

Did you get your Uniden 6599?

karl

I received the Uniden 6599SWS I ordered from that website, in 2 days (FedEx), just in time for a highway trip back to California. (From Reno, Nevada, to Salinas, California.)

I've never had a radar detector before, so I don't have any experience to compare the Uniden to, but: it definitely works. There were 3 times that the Uniden gave off a *loud* alert (full signal strength), so I slowed down to the posted speed limit; and right over the next rise appeared the police car. (2 times the police car had pulled someone else over already; 1 time a police car was waiting on the side of the road.)

I did not pick up any lidar/ laser signals, nor did I get any SWS (safety warning signals).

BTW, I did get a lot of false alarms, particularly on the Ka band, from store automatic door openers. From what I've read, this is normal, and you just have to keep your eyes peeled for police hanging around those areas.

-Karl

mcgreenx

Don't know how new it is, but I hadn't heard before of a remote Escort I recently saw in a direct mail advertisment. They say it can only be bought from authorized dealers, but no price is given, either in the mailer or on their website. (I think the URL is www.passportsr1.com)
Anyone have any information about it, either price or how well (or poorly) it works?

blane

mcgreenx:

I also received Escort's direct mail advertisement. No, I don't know about the price (which is no-doubt high, considering that they say that it will only be sold installed by "professional" installers), but judging by their description of the product I would be inclined to save my money. They indicate that the front and rear antennae are designed to be mounted low (behind the grille in front and in the area of the rear license plate). The lower you mount a receiving antenna in a vehicle, the less chance you have of receiving a police radar signal in a timely manner. When you are coming up over the crest of a hill and Smokey is on the other side, you want your detector mounted as high as possible, such as at the top of the windshield.

joe166

I have seen the remote Escort at "Sound Advice", which is a chain of Stereo and TV stores in Florida (and I am sure elsewhere). It looks neat, but frankly, the price is astonishing. I think it is either $599 or $699 and the installation is extra. They don't want it installed by amateurs, but at that price they can keep it. I was satisfied with my Escort for many years, and it was small enough that I didn't care that it was not "hidden", but recently on a trip from Va. to Fla, I used my new Valentine and my daughter used my escort. When they were leading me, I found myself flicking my lights at them over and over when I got an alert with Kx band and they were still speeding along. When we stopped for gas I found that they had not gotten an alert at all. We compared notes and their alerts were MUCH later than mine and they got so disheartened they just removed it from the windshield and followed me. This was when it was mounted on the top of the windshield so I can only assume that in the grille or behind the bumper it would be even worse.

willywill

hello, I HAVE A 2000 Dakota and was wondering if any one one could tell mr the difference between the Escort and the valentine and the prices????


Thanks Will

joe166

I have had both and frankly, I was totally satisfied with my Escort UNTIL I got my Valentine. The Escort is cheaper, (you can look up the exact price on the internet, but I am pretty sure it is about $100 cheaper. The Escort is smaller and might fit in above a mirror better. The Escort will probably work fine 90% of the time. The Valentine is a much better unit. The arrows on it, which point to where the threat is coming from and the counter which tells you how many radar sources are active are most entertaining and stop you from ignoring burglar alarms which you start doing after a while. Then one of those "burglar alarms" turns out to be rolling along and you pay for your sloth. If you aren't going to spend the $400 for the Valentine, I would go with a MUCH cheaper unit. I don't think there is enough difference between most of the top rated units (other than the Valentine) to justify the price premium for the Escort. As I recounted recently, I just returned from a trip to Va and found that, running with my daughter's car, my Valentine "saw" threats that the Escort in her car did not ever see. Of course, she didn't get ticketed either, so perhaps we got too much information. On the other hand, I don't think you can get too much information about this.

anniebogart

I recently was given a very undeserved ticket for passing a pickup truck that was dumping rocks and dirt behind it since its tailgate was down. The car in front of me passed this guy illegally using the chicken lane...before I knew why he did that, I thought to myself, "what's his problem?" since we were all going the speed limit (55mph)...then my BRAND NEW car started getting pelted with the rocks, pebbles and dirt clods that were falling off this pickup now directly in front of me. Since we were in a one-lane section of this highway, I couldn't think of doing anything but backing off, but even with several car lengths between us, the debri still managed to bounce on the road and STILL hit my car! There was absolutely NO ROOM on this section of road to pull over. I was so upset, until I realized that a section with two lanes was coming up...and as soon as I legally could, I quickly passed this oblivious idiot and IMMEDIATELY resumed the speed limit of 55 once I passed him. My luck was that a police car was tucked in somewhere around there and clocked me speeding (he says I was going 74mph) to get around this truck hazard. Of course, he wasn't situated where he could have viewed the car who made the TOTALLY illegal pass...! Long story short: the officer acknowledged the hazard that the truck posed, but he told me that I should have used my cellphone to call 911 instead of passing this guy. I couldn't believe the officer's lack of compassionate judgement in this case. I have an ABSOLUTELY clean DMV record going back 15 years, and am a professional driver with numerous "Safe Driver" awards from the National Safety Council, and I get my first ticket in North Carolina this way...man, that's just not right.

Anyway, the problem is that since this January, I got a V-1 radar detector (see response #242 & #246 to know why), but I only use it for long trips on the freeways, not around town where I don't speed, so when I got pulled over, I wasn't using it! HERE'S THE DILEMNA: I REALLY believe that the officer gave me a ticket MOSTLY because he saw the detector and it made him angry and suspicious. I was told by my friend who is a sheriff in another state that I should talk to the officer again, and provide him with proof of my driving history. I just need to know what a lawyer might advise a person to say to an officer that might ask "why do you have a radar detector if you don't intend to speed"? The only thing I can come up with is the truth: that ALL of us speed unintentionally from time to time, especially when on the freeway for a while, and that I wanted to better my odds that when I DO "zone out" on the freeway and speed 10-16 mph over the speed limit, that I wont pay for it dearly with a ticket that jacks up my already very expensive insurance (only due to my new car model, whose value-based yearly tax revenue payments also help make NC a wealthier state). Can anyone think of a better reply?


P.S. By the way, I still like my V-1 very much. I hope that in a future V-1 upgrade, they can include those traffic warning codes that some new models have.

ljuii

"I fought the law and the, law won; I fought the law and the, law won." (was that Johnny Cash I just heard in my head?) I'm not a lawyer, but I'd just pay my tax bill and move on. The best I've heard in such a situation is you go to traffic court and for some reason the cop doesn't show up and the case is dismissed. Most of the time what I hear is that the judge drops the points to keep your record clean, but they collect their $$$. Good luck either way, let us know what happens.

joe166

Pay the ticket. If you approach the guy and he is as big a jerk as he appears to be, he might make your approach to him sound sinister and obstructive. I doubt that you could talk him into anything. If you really want to fight it, try going to the first hearing, look for the officer. Many times there is a list of the defendants who are on the docket on the door. Look for your name and either the name of the officer or his number. Then look to see if there are any persons before you that have the same name or number next to theirs. That way you can tell before your case comes up whether he is present If he is there, maybe you can ask for a continuance to get a lawyer. Most often Judges will grant that. If he is not in court, announce ready and demand that the Judge dismiss the case for lack of prosecution. If that works, you walk. If it doesn't, the next time the Judge will likely hold their feet to the fire the next time. Many times police officers don't get notice but if you don't complain they will just reset the case. If the court will not play the game, plead no contest to going above the speed limit with an explanation. Give your explanation and pray. Good luck.

CokeBear

Has anyone attempted to open a V1 and relocate the sensors to the front and back windshield and place the main unit out of view?

I have seen several dealers willing to install a concealed V1 by etched the display into the rear view mirror and place the main logic board out of view. Unfortunately, their asking price is much more than what I want to spend on a radar detector.

I am trying to do something similar by my self and am looking for someone who has opened their V1. Thanks.

blane

CokeBear:

To avoid damaging your V-1, and to save lots of hassle, why not just spend another $400 and put one V-1 in the front and one in the rear windshield? It's got to be cheaper and easier than the custom installation and you 've got a spare in case you have two cars.

CokeBear

Blane, thanks for the advise.

The reason I want to do a custom installation is because of two issues:

1. I want to hide the V1 unit out of view from all the bad people.

2. It just doesn't look good on the windshield even after hiding all the wires.

I believe eventually the V1 will be available as a custom installation from Valentine Research. It appears everyone else is following that route. The reason Dr. Valentine gives for against a custom install unit can easily be overcome by installing the sensor at the appropriate places. The only reason I see them not doing it is because it does not substantially increase their profit since they are already ranked #1 and they can not depend on the quality of local installers.

bhepler

If Mr. Valentine really wanted it, I'm sure he could make the external sensors plug-and-play. Two extra jacks on the unit, one for remote front, one for remote rear. It would work very nicely, and I would be much happier.

dnk1

Man, what timing for this topic! I've been racking my brain on this for a while now.

It seems like a plug and play operation for the sensors to be relocated, right? I think it has to be more complicated than that. There's some pretty sophisticated (or so it seems to me) logic going on in the V1 to decode exactly where the signal is coming from and how many of them there are . . .

If you change the *spacing* between the sensors (i.e., moving them out of the pre-deteremined spacing guaranteed by packaging them in the V1 unit) you change the the "delay" of signal propogation between the 2 sensors.

Whether this is important, I dunno. But it seems like it very well could be. I think the V1 could use some sort of advanced phase-shift detection or fast fourier x-form algorithm to figure out what direction the signals are coming from . . . changing the sensor spacing could really screw this up.

So it may not be that simple anymore

tikcar

Is there anyone out there using a V1 in Acura 3.2 TL ? Is it effective ?

Just bought a TL, but am not sure if it has those instaclear windshield heaters or any other such components that may affect V1. (Basically don't know much about the Radar detectors.)

Thanks for your input in advance.

tikcar

Any comments on which one is more effective ?
How about laser detectors and laser jammers ?

Should one buy a radar + laser detector/ jammer ?
Or just a radar detector/jammer enough ?

Thanks

dnk1

I'm pretty sure that the 3.2 TL comes standard with "Solar energy-absorbing Green Glass." This will not affect the V1 in any way. If you have a tint, though, this will adversely affect the V1 in terms of range and accuracy.

Radar Jammers are *illegal*; radar detectors are not (except in Virginia). Besides, having a radar jammer is easy to detect as most radar guns now display a "jam" light when a jammer is in the vicinity.

HTH.

ljuii

Perfect timing - I've been considering a V-1, but with a convertible I also have been "racking my brains" to conceal the unit. I've considered making a custom housing that would have an internal motor which would drop the unit down and into position under my mirror, and with a flip of a switch raise it into the housing under my mirror where it would not be obvious. I really like the etching idea for the mirror, but have been concerned about loss of sensitivity. Any commnents from the field about the sensitivity issue? Also, where have you found people willing to etch the mirror? Thanks