Radar Detectors....
Valentine for sure. The arrows make it worth it, once they show the signal going from in front to the side or rear, you know you are in the clear. And it is programmable so you can adjust the sensitivity when in the city.
I have the Escort Passport, no complaints.
None of this **** garuntees your not gonna get caught speeding. Best way is to not speed. I have been pulled over a few times with a radar detector and all I did was pist the pig off even more.
I still would want 1 but the price on these things and your not even sure if it will save you from a ticket doesnt sound to promising.
I still would want 1 but the price on these things and your not even sure if it will save you from a ticket doesnt sound to promising.
Last edited by RedBullRR; Oct 5, 2007 at 06:12 AM.
Originally Posted by RedBullRR
None of this **** garuntees your not gonna get caught speeding. Best way is to not speed. I have been pulled over a few times with a radar detector and all I did was pist the pig off even more.
I still would want 1 but the price on these things and your not even sure if it will save you from a ticket doesnt sound to promising.
I still would want 1 but the price on these things and your not even sure if it will save you from a ticket doesnt sound to promising.
i chose the escort passport because the styling of the V1 is just too ancient for me - it's a square box. it does have a few nicer features - it is upgradeable, can detect those extra laser bands (which as someone said is pretty much useless), and has those arrows. albeit, a seasoned escort owner is usually able to tell which way (front or back) the signal is coming from.
my advice is to try to find people who have either one and ride along and see how one works. then choose the one that you feel would suit your functional needs.
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 102
Likes: 0
From: Cali
Originally Posted by PWRSTRK
This thread will go on and on and on, everyone has their favorite among four or five on the market. I love my Escort Solo S2. Have two of them and they serve us great.
Valentine One is the best. You might want to consider getting rid of that battery operated detector because it is crap.
http://guysoflidar.com/august-2007/r...ctor-test.html
http://guysoflidar.com/july-2007/off...ctor-test.html
I have had a V1 for about 6 years now.
My first one had to be fixed after 2 yrs for being out of calibration. Wouldn't pick up anything anymore.
Then the replacement got stolen 3 months later out of my truck at the dealer by someone who drove the truck to the back. They would never pay for it.
I bought another, it was good for about 2 yrs, then it did the same thing, just had it fixed and now it works good.
I wish they would not get out of calibration like this. Oh well. But I wouldn't buy another radar! I owned a Passport 8500 as well, and the V1 blows its away.
My first one had to be fixed after 2 yrs for being out of calibration. Wouldn't pick up anything anymore.
Then the replacement got stolen 3 months later out of my truck at the dealer by someone who drove the truck to the back. They would never pay for it.
I bought another, it was good for about 2 yrs, then it did the same thing, just had it fixed and now it works good.
I wish they would not get out of calibration like this. Oh well. But I wouldn't buy another radar! I owned a Passport 8500 as well, and the V1 blows its away.
Originally Posted by SOLO-350Z
I have had a V1 for about 6 years now.
My first one had to be fixed after 2 yrs for being out of calibration. Wouldn't pick up anything anymore.
Then the replacement got stolen 3 months later out of my truck at the dealer by someone who drove the truck to the back. They would never pay for it.
I bought another, it was good for about 2 yrs, then it did the same thing, just had it fixed and now it works good.
I wish they would not get out of calibration like this. Oh well. But I wouldn't buy another radar! I owned a Passport 8500 as well, and the V1 blows its away.
My first one had to be fixed after 2 yrs for being out of calibration. Wouldn't pick up anything anymore.
Then the replacement got stolen 3 months later out of my truck at the dealer by someone who drove the truck to the back. They would never pay for it.
I bought another, it was good for about 2 yrs, then it did the same thing, just had it fixed and now it works good.
I wish they would not get out of calibration like this. Oh well. But I wouldn't buy another radar! I owned a Passport 8500 as well, and the V1 blows its away.
Registered User
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 139
Likes: 0
From: Texas
Beltronics STI Driver. Zero radar leakage, which is important considering most cops now have radar detector detectors. Valentine has best laser detection but also has the highest leakage and therefore is easier to detect. But both are good, just depends on what your looking for. For me, I dont care about false positive detection, so the Passport isnt one I would be interested in.
Ive got a 9500i and love it. Not having to mute it constantly is its best feature (GPS). Its got good range to but if you cant slow down in time then no radar is anygood.
All the alerts im getting these days are cops waiting for cars to come around a turn and then flipping their Ka band on. At that point your pretty much screwed if your speeding.
+1 Jammer
All the alerts im getting these days are cops waiting for cars to come around a turn and then flipping their Ka band on. At that point your pretty much screwed if your speeding.
+1 Jammer
I would love to have a V1 or Passport 9500..for now I have a cheap radar detector a Sensoro
...It works pretty good at detecting the K,Ka band but also it picks up interference so at every chirp I slow it down. So far no tickets yet.
...It works pretty good at detecting the K,Ka band but also it picks up interference so at every chirp I slow it down. So far no tickets yet.
Since the MilehighZ.com site is down, I'll post some interesting results here.
First off, thanks everyone for coming out, with a pleasent suprise from Dave K....one leg and all.
We had 2 Valentine. I forgot to ask what year. Included was one Bell 9500.
The test was cut short due to unexpected events but here's what I learned.
All the units can detect the radar fairly well at neary 500 ft. away. Even when the Radar was emitting through some dense brushes, all the detectors were able to pick it up. Unknown on signal strenght and type of radar it showed.
We also did a test with the radar on AND the Ladar (laser) at the same time. I knew that the detectors picked it up, but I'm curious if they were able to separate the two. Did the Valentine showed "2" detections?
When the Radar was on "standby" mode, it was neither transmitting front or rear, however, all the units were able to pick up a signal. I believe this was from "Leakage" from the radar unit. I was also amazed that the units were able to pick up the leakage blocks away. When I turned the radar unit completely off, there were no more detection from the units, confirming that the radar was indeed "leaking". Very interesting cause when I'm driving around on "standby" mode, I thought I was invisible. Thanks guys for making me smarter!
Ladar was a completely different matter. All the units were able to pick up ladar the moment I locked them in. As we all know, detectors are only good if you are NOT the primary target. I have always suspected that detectors can pick up ladar reflections from other vehicles, thus giving the driver a heads up warning or that there might be a delay in the detection of the ladar by the detectors. Everytime I locked in a vehicle, all the detectors were able to pick up the ladar instanously.
On another test, Gary's Z had both the Valentine and Bell units. Next to the Z was another unknown vehicle. I was approximately 100 ft. away. Note that at 1000ft. the ladar beam is 3ft in width.
Unknown vehicle & Z, side by side at 37mph:
I locked in the unknown vehicle with the ladar, no detection from the Z. I pointed the ladar dead center on the grill on the unknown unit. When I pointed the ladar at the driver's headlights of the unknown vehicle, no detection. I then pointed the between the vehicle, no detection. When I hit the Z's passenger head light, the detectors picked up the ladar. I also pointed the ladar at the Z's lowest point of the front bumber, the detectors picked it up.
I got the same results with the unknown vehicle one car length ahead of the Z. This is interesting because it showed that the detectors did not pick up any reflection from the unknown vehicle, but yet when directed at the Z's lowest point it was able to pick up some reflection. During ladar/radar class, we were informed of the ladar's width, but now I wonder what's the height of the ladar. Hmmm........
On another test, with two Z heading in opposite direction. I was app. 500ft. away. I locked one Z in with ladar, the other Z later reported that they DID pick up a signal. So a nonprimary target can detect Ladar at app. 500ft or further, thus saving drivers from a ticket.
Later on in the day, the Bell unit malfuntion and was unable to pick up Ladar (rear or front), even at 3ft away!!! What was interesting was that at 10ft. away, the Bell could not detect the Ladar but both Valentine was picking up the Ladar! This made me confused as well since with the earlier test with the unknown car, the Valentine was unable to detect any reflection
WAIT!!!! Maybe.....the ladar does have "leakage" but it's so light that it can only be detected at a close distance.
All in all, it shows that the units were excellent in detecting and giving advance warning against Radar...whether you are the primary or nonprimary target. With Ladar, there is no safety if you are the primary target...but at 500ft. or more, it can provide some advance warning as a nonprimary target.
Since I was not in the vehicle, some questions I have are:
Did the arrows on the valentine worked?
Did the numbers system of the Valentine worked?
What unit picked up the ladar/radar first....Bell or Valentine?
If there was a time difference, how long?
How strong were these signals at certain distances?
How accurate were the mph readings on the radar/ladar compared to speedometer?
I don't think we know all the answers to all these questions since I didn't orgainzed this event really well. This sounds like we need to conduct more tests...in a more controlled environment.
If I had to pick a winner, I would pick the Valentines since they worked well for the two hrs. The Bell malfunction and could no longer detect Ladar. (Sorry Henry....your summons is in the mail.)
This was not an official test, just a group of guys running test on real city streets with hill and obstacles with acutal police Ladar/Radar units and off-the-shelf detectors (not the juiced up versions that manufacturers sends out to testers).
Here's the thread: https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....ighlight=radar
First off, thanks everyone for coming out, with a pleasent suprise from Dave K....one leg and all.
We had 2 Valentine. I forgot to ask what year. Included was one Bell 9500.
The test was cut short due to unexpected events but here's what I learned.
All the units can detect the radar fairly well at neary 500 ft. away. Even when the Radar was emitting through some dense brushes, all the detectors were able to pick it up. Unknown on signal strenght and type of radar it showed.
We also did a test with the radar on AND the Ladar (laser) at the same time. I knew that the detectors picked it up, but I'm curious if they were able to separate the two. Did the Valentine showed "2" detections?
When the Radar was on "standby" mode, it was neither transmitting front or rear, however, all the units were able to pick up a signal. I believe this was from "Leakage" from the radar unit. I was also amazed that the units were able to pick up the leakage blocks away. When I turned the radar unit completely off, there were no more detection from the units, confirming that the radar was indeed "leaking". Very interesting cause when I'm driving around on "standby" mode, I thought I was invisible. Thanks guys for making me smarter!
Ladar was a completely different matter. All the units were able to pick up ladar the moment I locked them in. As we all know, detectors are only good if you are NOT the primary target. I have always suspected that detectors can pick up ladar reflections from other vehicles, thus giving the driver a heads up warning or that there might be a delay in the detection of the ladar by the detectors. Everytime I locked in a vehicle, all the detectors were able to pick up the ladar instanously.
On another test, Gary's Z had both the Valentine and Bell units. Next to the Z was another unknown vehicle. I was approximately 100 ft. away. Note that at 1000ft. the ladar beam is 3ft in width.
Unknown vehicle & Z, side by side at 37mph:
I locked in the unknown vehicle with the ladar, no detection from the Z. I pointed the ladar dead center on the grill on the unknown unit. When I pointed the ladar at the driver's headlights of the unknown vehicle, no detection. I then pointed the between the vehicle, no detection. When I hit the Z's passenger head light, the detectors picked up the ladar. I also pointed the ladar at the Z's lowest point of the front bumber, the detectors picked it up.
I got the same results with the unknown vehicle one car length ahead of the Z. This is interesting because it showed that the detectors did not pick up any reflection from the unknown vehicle, but yet when directed at the Z's lowest point it was able to pick up some reflection. During ladar/radar class, we were informed of the ladar's width, but now I wonder what's the height of the ladar. Hmmm........
On another test, with two Z heading in opposite direction. I was app. 500ft. away. I locked one Z in with ladar, the other Z later reported that they DID pick up a signal. So a nonprimary target can detect Ladar at app. 500ft or further, thus saving drivers from a ticket.
Later on in the day, the Bell unit malfuntion and was unable to pick up Ladar (rear or front), even at 3ft away!!! What was interesting was that at 10ft. away, the Bell could not detect the Ladar but both Valentine was picking up the Ladar! This made me confused as well since with the earlier test with the unknown car, the Valentine was unable to detect any reflection
WAIT!!!! Maybe.....the ladar does have "leakage" but it's so light that it can only be detected at a close distance.
All in all, it shows that the units were excellent in detecting and giving advance warning against Radar...whether you are the primary or nonprimary target. With Ladar, there is no safety if you are the primary target...but at 500ft. or more, it can provide some advance warning as a nonprimary target.
Since I was not in the vehicle, some questions I have are:
Did the arrows on the valentine worked?
Did the numbers system of the Valentine worked?
What unit picked up the ladar/radar first....Bell or Valentine?
If there was a time difference, how long?
How strong were these signals at certain distances?
How accurate were the mph readings on the radar/ladar compared to speedometer?
I don't think we know all the answers to all these questions since I didn't orgainzed this event really well. This sounds like we need to conduct more tests...in a more controlled environment.
If I had to pick a winner, I would pick the Valentines since they worked well for the two hrs. The Bell malfunction and could no longer detect Ladar. (Sorry Henry....your summons is in the mail.)
This was not an official test, just a group of guys running test on real city streets with hill and obstacles with acutal police Ladar/Radar units and off-the-shelf detectors (not the juiced up versions that manufacturers sends out to testers).
Here's the thread: https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....ighlight=radar
Last edited by bamyi; Oct 7, 2007 at 03:47 PM.