I've been looking at getting a radar unit (Passport 8500 or V1) and have a few questions for those in our area.

What do most of the locals use (K, Ka, Laser?). I don't take too many road trips, but do put on plenty miles on around town and seem to find myself going faster lately (go figure).

Are the radar detectors that effective around town or more effective on the open road? False alerts, etc.

And the question that I'm sure will bring some opinions.....Passport or V1??? Is one more capable than the other in the city?

 

Hiyas Mark ...

I can only speak for my personal experience in the areas I've frequent around the Fort Worth area and Colleyville/Hurst/Bedford/Grapevine and Arlington.

I recently purchased the Valentine1 and absolutely love it - in town and on the road. The way I see it, it's already paid for itself.

The V1 has a couple of different "logic" settings the reduce "bogeys" (or false alarms). I have mine set on the Full Logic (highest filtration mode). While I still get some bogeys (mainly around pharmacies, banks and other places with pretty serious alarm systems), overall I experience far fewer than I have with past detectors.

I've seen a couple of K band radars but the mainstay I've seen in the area are Ka band. The police in my town (Colleyville) constantly have their radar running (a little trivia I learned from my V1). I've yet to get a laser hit locally - but I'm sure they exist. I did get hit by them in Louisiana by State Troopers.

A pretty common "trick" I've seen them play a bunch around Grapevine and Arlington is to sit and radar in areas where people generally get bogeys already. While most detectors don't display the deviations between bands - nor their locations - the V1 does and it's found a few hidden radar traps that I would probably have otherwise missed if I'd not had all the information it offers me. Since people get used to getting bogeys in certain areas they frequent - they rarely realize that it may also be used to camouflage the real thing.

Just one very happy V1 user's opinion...

 

I have a Bel 985. It distinguishes between frequencies. It works wonderfully. I drive 200 miles a day avg. I have gotten 24 tickets before it and 0 after it. I have had it for about a year. I am 24 today. 8 years of driving. It works wonderfully.

 

I love my V1--basically for all the reasons Keven mentioned. It REALLY helps out when I have to drive through Flower Mound and Grapevine (I'm in Lewisville) because they're starting to play with laser radar. Right now they're leaving it on mostly, haven't seen much pulsing, but I'm sure to be right at the speed limit when my V1 goes off for that!

BTW, Cody--Happy Birthday!

 

i have the passport and plan on adding the laser jammer (oops! I mean laser shifter) to it. if should take car of those pesky officers who like hide out and wait till the last minute. the passport has saved my *** plenty.... same as mentioned previously .. i have lots of tickets but 0 after getting the passport. I dont know how much of a difference getting a valentine would have been 0 tickets = 0 tickets IMO. If you plan on taking care of the lasers then the passport is the way to go because you can add on the jammer (doh! i mean shifter)

 

I live in the HEB area also. I work on the west side of FW...bleh, but I see ALOT of lasers being used. I mean the handheld "I'll shoot you in the face with my laser gun" type. So...how much does a laser "shifter" cost anywho?

 

this is the lowest i've found it.

http://www.savinglots.com/lotprod.asp?item=ZR3SHIFTER

once my subaru is up I'm going to invest in all sorts of anti-police devices.... cloaking device, ground to air and ground to ground tactical weapons, oh... cant forget the warp drive button

 

Got the V1 and no ticket yet. Contemplating buying another V1 or 8500 so I can stop swapping the detector out when I play musical cars.

Been hit by laser twice in Carrollton, but got lucky (must have "reflected" off a car in front of me giving me early warning). Been hit by instant-on by OK state troopers while en route to Hallett last year and got lucky again (also helps to have a willing schmuck or two that wants to be ahead of you at all times for some strange reason). Of course, both of these incidents occurred while in the Sentra.

When Droid and I went to MSR last month, we noticed 2 things: 1) in some situations, my V1 picked up K band 2-3 seconds before his 8500, and 2) while passing through Benbrook, my V1 failed to pick up 2 Ka while his 8500 when AWOL. I got the latest and greatest version of the V1 so that spooked me out REAL good.

Oh yeah, the LED brake lights in a few GM vehicles (namely Trailblazer) trip the V1 laser. Somewhat annoying.

Michael.

 

I was going to post this message as a reply to this thread, but instead decided it was applicable to a wider audience, so posted it elsewhere: https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....threadid=36436

Basically it says paying attention will save you from more tickets than a radar detector. I find it troubling that some people claim to have a huge pile of tickets before, and no tickets after getting a detector. That indicates something's not quite right to me.

 

I think I know what warp drive button you are talking about.. I saw them in 2fast2furious... looks like alot of fun..

BUUB...i agree paying attention is a good form of protection...but around these parts police like to playing hide and seek...always waiting in that spot that you cannot see.... so a radar *usually* picks up this before you get there as they are sniping other cars

i say i have a lot of tickets but not as much as i should have i am constantly on the lookout for the po PoPo when driving

 

nah josh, not for awile turbo subarus and nitrous dont usually mix well.... I might get it down the road to help the low end get to boost quicker by providing the car with a low shot 35hp or something like that.

we'll see......

oh, and yeah paying attention is a big factor in ticket prevention..... unless you're bombing down an open interstate doing 140+ then paying attention wont help you out alot.

-Kev

 

Toykilla, possibly. I often long for the days when I used to be able to drive without 100 people not paying attention all around me. That's probably my least favorite thing about this place.

 

Aha Bankheist...I work for a defense contractor...maybe I will borrow some futuristic weaponry~! J/K! <looks over shoulder>

 

Hey gooters did you ever get a Z? Did you make it to our meet the other day?

 

You might also look into a K40 permanantly installed radar detector with front and rear laser diffuser. I just installed one on my Z and I like it better than my V1. I like that it is totally hidden and you dont have to scramble to hide your detector when or if you get pulled over. Like the V1 it has separate led's for front and rear laser. I blew by a plano pd with his laser radar out and aimed right at me. The K40 went nuts as I topped the hill in front of him but I was busted for sure. I was going at least 15mph over and he didnt even flinch when I drove past him.

 

Does Plano and Richardson use laser? I thought they use mostly Ka band. I've also seen Constables on 190, what do they use?

 

The hidden install is nice, but it can seriously degrade your range versus a high-mounted detector. The higher the better.

 

where in the DFW area (what store) can you get a V1?

 

I have had my V1 in the car along side my K40 and the K40 wins the range contest every time. There are a couple of things I like better about the V1 but range is not one of them.

You can buy the V1 from the porsche store on park but they charge more than online.

 

You buy V1's directly from Valentine Research: http://www.valentine1.com/