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Anyway as far as the front plate...it is in the trunk. Anyway now that I have it wired... next is the concealed display.
jimntexas - you bit hard on that hook. He had no right to your detector. Difficult as it might have been given this trigger happy cop's aggressive posture, it would have saved a few bucks to have told him that you had no detector. He wasn't going to have cause to search your car; basically he was threatening you into doing something incriminating, i.e., admit the use of a detector and he wanted the power cord for courtroom purposes in case you disputed its use. Since it's no points & only like $30 or so, I figure since you didn't get shot, you came out ahead. Figure that with the TV cameras in cruisers, plus the preponderance of witnesses in your car, he wasn't going to do anything stupid anyway, but hey, you never know.
cuz im planning on getting the v1.. and how much is a good price for it?
You also find them in Virginia, where it's illegal to own radar detectors. Since nobody has a detector, they don't have to worry about it being easy to detect.
PS. I also heard that you shouldn't bye radar detectors from Best Buy, surprise, my girlfriend bought the Escort Solo from Best Buy! Where is a good place in MA to purchase a unit. By the way, I would love to have something where I could hide the cord in my cherry red '99 Acura Integra...
thanks for the help!
I just got my new silver Infiniti I30t and I'm having a tough time keeping it under 75mph. I'm in the market for a new radar detector (looking at the V1) and wondered if anyone had any experiences with their I30 and the performance of their detectors. Also, I'd welcome any feedback on using one with the back shade up, putting it on the visor or dash, etc...
Thanks! PJ
I recently got a Uniden 360-degree radar/laser detector ($50) and it's been great. Probably saved me from a few tickets. Just recently, the K-band warning went off, which is unusual on city streets, so I slowed from 55mph to 40mph.... then within 5 seconds, a cop appeared out of nowhere! I didn't think the radar detectors work, but I'm a believer now.
Anyone know why the radar detector detector invisibility is an important feature? If radar detectors are legal, why does anyone care if the cops know you are using one? Or is this feature for VA and other illegal states?
There are only two jurisdictions in the United States where you can't legally use your unit. Virginia and Washington DC.
That is...VA, not CA.
Aside from those two jurisdictions, the stealth feature (radar detector detector prevention) will prevent your detector from spraying spurious signals out to confuse other radar detector users on the highway. Older models caused such "pollution".
Otherwise, why make Smokey aware of your presence...just in case you may inadvertently be one MPH above the limit?
Maybe you guys can help me with another non-radar question.....last night, while I was driving in the desolute highway of a desert, several semi's and cars, coming in the opposite direction, kept hi-beaming at me. The first time it happened, I thought "what a jerk!" but then it kept happening, so I'm wondering if it's some sort of a secret highway code...... if anyone knows, spill the beans, please! I'm going nutz trying to figure this out.
BTW, I had my headlights on (low beam), so I'm
sure it's not to remind me to turn it on.
95mph????? I like to speed, but not crazy. Heck, I don't even do that on the freeway. Well, I did do 100mph, but that was for a few seconds, on a dare.
I think you're insinuating that the 5 second warning was too late, which means my radar detector isn't so great. But, what if the cop just happen to turn it on 5 second earlier? Not even Valentine 1 (the best) would detect a cop's presence if the cop dosen't turn on the radar. And no radar can save you if the cop uses instant-on directly on you.
I doubt that the k-band signal was from a shopping center (there's one about 2 miles away) since it was early Sunday, which means they were closed. Plus, when I pass supermarkets, shopping malls, etc. the x-band signal always went off.... don't remember the k-band ever going off. That's why I was extra cautious when the k-band went off. Any how, it's too much of a coincidence that a cop happened to show up right after the k-band went off.....
Those other vehicles you mentioned in post #289 were trying to signal you that there was a speed trap in your lane up ahead.
My question is, where can you purchase them at good prices? I have'nt seen them in any commercial stores. The only places I've seen them is in some car stereo shops at ridiculous prices of over 500 bucks!!
What's a good place to buy them online at?
thanks...
spyder98
The BCT-7 which I currently own has paid for itself in avoiding tickets, but it has its own share of problems. Since the Beartracker units look for the relay signal from the car to the handheld unit, if no broadcasts are occuring during the time you are within 3 miles, you are SOL. It really is a random chance thing, but in busy jurisdictions there is a transmission roughly every five seconds in my experience.
There is also the problem of high-density areas where you will pick up the signal from a cop five blocks near the highway you are travelling on. You get a lot of false signals. But you do get signals, which is better than nothing.
That and scanning is a pretty interesting hobby. I have heard some outlandish stuff on my scanner while driving. Local police and EMS are usually more interesting than state police, but you occasionally get lucky. One of my favorites was on December 24th a couple of years ago. I heard a dispatch telling all units to be on the lookout for a fat man in a red sleigh, last seen heading North...
And scanner laws vary from state to state. Saying that they are "illegal" is incorrect.
I just finished reading some of the pages on their website and I'm just about sold. My only worry is in case they come out with an upgraded detector. I just talked to one of there sales reps and he said the last significant upgrade was in 1997. My guess is, they probably have a totally redesigned detector coming out. I would hate to pay 400 bucks and get stuck with an older model.
Any advice on what to do?
I should probably just suck it up and buy the darn thing before I get snagged out on the road huh?
i have a v1 and it seems to work fine...
There are a lot of cheaper alternatives out there. My $50 Uniden radar detector works great too, as I have tested it extensively during 500 mile trips across the "war zone" (La to Vegas). It has given me several full blown alerts (cop in close proximity & able to gun me!).... which within seconds, there would be a cop with a victim pulled over for speeding, on the side of the road. So, I know this thing works!
--------------------
blane,
I guess that's one possibility. But it's interesting that they didn't hi-beam the guys in front of me. Others have suggested that maybe the headlights on Lexus' are too bright and resemble a hi-beam.....
I figure with the way speeding ticket prices are here in CT (an 80mph ticket in a 65 zone is about 250 bucks) and with the current insurance rates (I'm 23yo paying 2200 a year with a descent record), a 400 dollar investment for the best radar detector out there really is'nt much.
I drive roughly 30k miles a year, mostly highway miles, so I'll definitely be using it alot.
thanks for the feedback everyone...
spyder98
It used to be that you could pick up a booklet in Radio Shack that listed all of the emergency frequencies in all of the states. They probably still carry them.
With the BCT-7, I could set it to scan specifically in one area of the spectrum (say, 39-50MHz, if I remember correctly) and listen for cordless phones.
You can't do that with a BCT-12, if I understand the unit correctly.
Or you could go to www.perconcorp.com and search by city, county, state etc... for your area..:-)
Like it so much, just bought a new V1 and am going to have the original one upgraded..
The display is autodimming; there is no manual dimming.
And unfortunately, if the gold-type film on your Lexus is metallic (which it probably is), then it will not work through the rear glass. Moreover, the locator circuitry may be confused by it. It will probably still work fine for the front, but your rear detection range will be zero.
This is the signal the BCT looks for, and the range is about 3 miles on a good day. When it detects one of these signals, a warning light flashes and an audible tone sounds from the unit. The tone quits after about three seconds, but the light stays on for a minute after the last detected signal.
The unit will also sound off with whatever signal it picks up, too. So you can hear what the cop/dispatch is saying. I had a particularly memorable incident where my BCT-7 went off and I heard a state trooper complaining to home base that the cars were bunched together too tightly and he couldn't get a clear shot. He also mentioned exactly where he was. 20 seconds later, we came around the corner and saw him right where he said he was.