Radar Detector Recommendations
07-28-2008, 03:29 PM
#41
I would avoid Whistler products just from my own experience. I just installed a Cobra 9940 and it's really slick. The compass works great and it has a nice display. My daily driver also has a Cobra (older one not sure the model#) it also works well.
07-28-2008, 04:04 PM
#42
Team Owner
Sure we can agree to disagree, but your statement above is not correct. Here's why:
All radar detectors are simply radios tuned to the microwave frequencies used by traffic radar, they automatically sound off when they receive signals on those frequencies.
Unfortunately other things that are not radar are also operating on traffic radar frequencies. Examples are burglar alarms, automatic door openers, other radar detectors that leak radiation. There's no way for a radar detector to tell if a clean signal on a certain frequency is traffic radar or a false alarm. NO WAY.
The V1 has a "J" feature that identifies a false alarm after the fact because the V1 is so sophisticated that it detects very slight 'drift' in the frequency of the signal source. Traffic radar doesn't behave that way, but certain radar detectors do, because they aren't transmitting by design, they're leaking radiation in an uncontrolled fashion.
A radar detector that doesn't 'false' as much as a V1 has given up a certain amount of its detection ability in favor of silence. This really isn't a debatable point. It's a scientific fact. For some people silence is golden. For others who have the patience to learn the science and to manage it, they can enjoy a greater degree of protection. Everybody is different. Buy what you like and enjoy it, but don't try to defend an indefensible position!
All radar detectors are simply radios tuned to the microwave frequencies used by traffic radar, they automatically sound off when they receive signals on those frequencies.
Unfortunately other things that are not radar are also operating on traffic radar frequencies. Examples are burglar alarms, automatic door openers, other radar detectors that leak radiation. There's no way for a radar detector to tell if a clean signal on a certain frequency is traffic radar or a false alarm. NO WAY.
The V1 has a "J" feature that identifies a false alarm after the fact because the V1 is so sophisticated that it detects very slight 'drift' in the frequency of the signal source. Traffic radar doesn't behave that way, but certain radar detectors do, because they aren't transmitting by design, they're leaking radiation in an uncontrolled fashion.
A radar detector that doesn't 'false' as much as a V1 has given up a certain amount of its detection ability in favor of silence. This really isn't a debatable point. It's a scientific fact. For some people silence is golden. For others who have the patience to learn the science and to manage it, they can enjoy a greater degree of protection. Everybody is different. Buy what you like and enjoy it, but don't try to defend an indefensible position!
technology is great sometimes. As I said, all the technical talk is great, but real world results are what I am conveying, and I stand by what I KNOW 
So much for an undefensible position, oh by the way, you have some egg on your face. :o
Last edited by Racer; 07-28-2008 at 04:07 PM.
07-28-2008, 05:00 PM
#43
Race Director
I had the Valentine 1 for several years. Last year I purchased the Escort 9500I. Wife now has the Valentine in her car......and I don't want it back....
07-28-2008, 06:05 PM
#45
Melting Slicks
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And it does feel messy. Ugh. I was in my 'road trip' mode when I wrote that (where the GPS feature isn't helpful unless you travel the same road trip path again). Regardless, I get your point. My apologies.
07-28-2008, 06:11 PM
#46
Team Owner
Last edited by Racer; 07-28-2008 at 06:13 PM.
07-28-2008, 06:11 PM
#47
Instructor
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never a problem with the v1 or escort have used them for 10+ years. I do prefer the v1 though it has great sensitivity and the logic mode works better than any others I've tried (range& bogey count)
07-28-2008, 07:10 PM
#48
Burning Brakes
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KY Events Coordinator
Valentine I is my choice. It has direction arrows letting you know which direction they are coming from. I also use an invisicord for power from the mirror and a mirror mount in my 2008 Coupe.
07-28-2008, 07:53 PM
#50
Race Director
I should chime in here...my K40 dashmount gives me plenty of warning and costs half of V1 and they will pay your tickets for the first year should you get one...
07-28-2008, 07:59 PM
#51
Burning Brakes
The V1 is a great detector, unsurpassed laser sensativity. Probably the only detector to give you a chance against lidar. With this sensativity comes the only drawback to the V1, it false a lot. Once you get used to the signal rampup, it's pretty easy to distinguish false signals from the real ones. If all you are looking for is passive measures get the V1. If you want to use more aggressive countermeasures get a laser jammer (only defense against lidar) and then use the Escort 9500ix. The ix does not have nearly the laser sensativity but is equal to the V1 on radar detection without the false alarms. The 9500 has GPS and will lockout false alarms after it sees them in the same location on 3 successive trips past a location.
Guess it depends on how you want to go.
Guess it depends on how you want to go.
07-28-2008, 09:54 PM
#52
Melting Slicks
I have just returned from an 8,000 mile around the country trip that lasted nearly 2 months. I had the V1 and caught at least 100 police shooting and returned with 0 tickets. That said, perhaps other brands (like Escort) would have yielded the same results. All I can speak to is my V1 which served and protected.
07-28-2008, 10:35 PM
#53
Intermediate
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I have really had it with some of the guys on this forum and this is a good example!
This is the kind of puke that gets spewed out of someone's mouth that ALWAYS turns the detector threads into a war.
I think the "J" that shows up on YOUR detector stands for "jerk behind the wheel"!
The V1, Escort 8500 & 9500i are all awesome detectors and no one would be making a bad choice by choosing anyone of them. Do a little research and buy what you like and what you think is best for your situation.
The crap, junk and waste of money comments all need to be left out of these discussions.
This is the kind of puke that gets spewed out of someone's mouth that ALWAYS turns the detector threads into a war.
I think the "J" that shows up on YOUR detector stands for "jerk behind the wheel"! The V1, Escort 8500 & 9500i are all awesome detectors and no one would be making a bad choice by choosing anyone of them. Do a little research and buy what you like and what you think is best for your situation.
The crap, junk and waste of money comments all need to be left out of these discussions.
07-29-2008, 01:09 AM
#54
Team Owner
No its over sensitive guys like you that get your feelings hurt. I have owned every radar including k40 and honestly without knowing the direction its coming from makes it a pain. Also in the v1 book it says the j means junk radar, so I was not saying its junk as in, its better than having nothing but the v1 is king. Its attitudes like yours that make people associate corvette guys as a bunch of losers. Thanks for your input though!
Wow, you have owned every radar detector, amazing, actually I think a better word would be INBELIEVABLE!
Also, no arrows, no pain, no matter, no tickets, as I have said before been there done that, have moved on to what I and lot's of others would say, a superior all around detector. You have yourself a real nice day ok!
07-29-2008, 01:41 AM
#55
Racer
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my 8500 passport is starting to act up. I can hit the horn and my laser just goes off for no reason. I can hit the gears pretty hard and the laser goes off. Occasionally the laser just goes off 3 or 4 times in an hour or so and in areas where there is no laser at all. I occasionally get the service unit blips and I just shut it off and it seems to reset itself. I want to get a V1 as I have heard lots of good things about them. Anyone have any idea why my 8500 is acting up ? Need Calibration ? I am able to delete the x band as I think noone except very very small depts use it and it eliminates the grocery strores dont set it off. Does the V1 have that option ? Thanks.
07-29-2008, 12:50 PM
#57
Racer
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Actually, it is you who doesn't understand the 9500i, it does false, you then hit the button and it stores that exact GPS location and it will never false again. Meanwhile LEO can set up on street right by where it falsed and detector will go off because not the same GPS coordinate technology is great sometimes. As I said, all the technical talk is great, but real world results are what I am conveying, and I stand by what I KNOW So much for an undefensible position, oh by the way, you have some egg on your face. :o
technology is great sometimes. As I said, all the technical talk is great, but real world results are what I am conveying, and I stand by what I KNOW So much for an undefensible position, oh by the way, you have some egg on your face. :o
The problem is that if you drive by an area with with more than just one door opener, you could end up locking out the entire K band frequency. Remember, every different segment you lock out blocks 12.5% of the K band used by police in that area. So, if you have 4 different door openers operating in different segments of K band which is highly likely, you will block 50% of the cops using K band in that area. Also, the TrueLock area is about a 1/2 mile radius from the TrueLock source so that is an area of a mile from side to side where this flawed "filtering" takes place.
Another issue is that door openers are cheap and are more prone to frequency drift which means that it may move to another segment of K band which would make the Escort 9500i user TrueLock another segment which would increase your chances of silence and another speeding ticket. Owners of the Escort 9500i think that the TrueLock is some magical thing but they just don't understand how it works so they will never understand its flawed nature.
Owners of the Valentine One prefer to have all of the information possible so that they can make an intelligent decision while the Escort 9500i owners rely on tricks and filters because they don't like too much "noise" and they pay for it by receiving a speeding ticket.
The TrueLock feature was already tested and it failed as seen in these videos. The first video shows a "TrueLocked" area that is blocking actual police K band radar being shot right next to it.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Dxy7gGG-JlI
http://youtube.com/watch?v=bZnmUd8ysRc
Even with the TrueLock feature turned off, the Escort 9500i still can't beat the Valentine One in performance and the Escort 9500i is $50-$100 more than the Valentine One.
http://guysoflidar.com/august-2007/r...ctor-test.html
***********END OF THREAD***********END OF THREAD************END OF THREAD************
Last edited by Brentvino169; 07-29-2008 at 01:52 PM.
07-29-2008, 01:51 PM
#58
Safety Car
OK my turn. At first I didn't buy into the V1 thing. Having owned many detectors over the years and reading many reviews I was convinced that the V1 was clunky, behind the times, arrogant, and not to mention expensive. So I was happy with my choices of detectors and continued to buy different ones as the technology improved. One day a friend of mine had a new V1 he bought for another car, and he owed me some money for some parts I ordered for him. He said take the V1 in lieu of the cash and if I didn't like it, he would take it back. So I figured what the hell? Well after trying it and understanding the arrows and bogie counter, I fell in line. What I like is knowing where the cop is and slow down if necessary and speed up when I know he is gone. Also knowing how many there are is very helpful. What I also realized is I don't use any of the other features that the other detectors offer, I just want to know about where the cops are.
Also as for the question about the 9500i being fooled by a cop hiding in a previously recorded false alarm. I had the Uniden GPRD which seems to be what the 9500 is based on, and it would factor in signal strength so even if a cop was hiding in a recorded area, it would pick him out. The Uniden wasn't a great detector, but I loved the GPS speedo.
One last thing, as for Laser, because of the short range and deliberate nature of aiming the gun, IMHO 95% of the time the warning is to let you know you are getting a ticket.
Also as for the question about the 9500i being fooled by a cop hiding in a previously recorded false alarm. I had the Uniden GPRD which seems to be what the 9500 is based on, and it would factor in signal strength so even if a cop was hiding in a recorded area, it would pick him out. The Uniden wasn't a great detector, but I loved the GPS speedo.
One last thing, as for Laser, because of the short range and deliberate nature of aiming the gun, IMHO 95% of the time the warning is to let you know you are getting a ticket.
07-29-2008, 02:03 PM
#59
Team Owner
Actually, it is you that doesn't understand about the flawed TrueLock feature. Let me explain to you how the TrueLock feature works so you will understand why you will get a ticket with your Escort 9500i and why it was so quiet when the cop pulled you over. The Escort 9500i only breaks down K band into 8 segments so if you "Truelock" a K band door opener, it will not alert to police that are shooting in that segment of K band in that area.
The problem is that if you drive by an area with with more than just one door opener, you could end up locking out the entire K band frequency. Remember, every different segment you lock out blocks 12.5% of the K band used by police in that area. So, if you have 4 different door openers operating in different segments of K band which is highly likely, you will block 50% of the cops using K band in that area. Also, the TrueLock area is about a 1/2 mile radius from the TrueLock source so that is an area of a mile from side to side where this flawed "filtering" takes place.
Another issue is that door openers are cheap and are more prone to frequency drift which means that it may move to another segment of K band which would make the Escort 9500i user TrueLock another segment which would increase your chances of silence and another speeding ticket. Owners of the Escort 9500i think that the TrueLock is some magical thing but they just don't understand how it works so they will never understand its flawed nature.
Owners of the Valentine One prefer to have all of the information possible so that they can make an intelligent decision while the Escort 9500i owners rely on tricks and filters because they don't like too much "noise" and they pay for it by receiving a speeding ticket.
The TrueLock feature was already tested and it failed as seen in these videos. The first video shows a "TrueLocked" area that is blocking actual police K band radar being shot right next to it.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Dxy7gGG-JlI
http://youtube.com/watch?v=bZnmUd8ysRc
Even with the TrueLock feature turned off, the Escort 9500i still can't beat the Valentine One in performance and the Escort 9500i is $50-$100 more than the Valentine One.
http://guysoflidar.com/august-2007/r...ctor-test.html
***********END OF THREAD***********END OF THREAD************END OF THREAD************
The problem is that if you drive by an area with with more than just one door opener, you could end up locking out the entire K band frequency. Remember, every different segment you lock out blocks 12.5% of the K band used by police in that area. So, if you have 4 different door openers operating in different segments of K band which is highly likely, you will block 50% of the cops using K band in that area. Also, the TrueLock area is about a 1/2 mile radius from the TrueLock source so that is an area of a mile from side to side where this flawed "filtering" takes place.
Another issue is that door openers are cheap and are more prone to frequency drift which means that it may move to another segment of K band which would make the Escort 9500i user TrueLock another segment which would increase your chances of silence and another speeding ticket. Owners of the Escort 9500i think that the TrueLock is some magical thing but they just don't understand how it works so they will never understand its flawed nature.
Owners of the Valentine One prefer to have all of the information possible so that they can make an intelligent decision while the Escort 9500i owners rely on tricks and filters because they don't like too much "noise" and they pay for it by receiving a speeding ticket.
The TrueLock feature was already tested and it failed as seen in these videos. The first video shows a "TrueLocked" area that is blocking actual police K band radar being shot right next to it.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Dxy7gGG-JlI
http://youtube.com/watch?v=bZnmUd8ysRc
Even with the TrueLock feature turned off, the Escort 9500i still can't beat the Valentine One in performance and the Escort 9500i is $50-$100 more than the Valentine One.
http://guysoflidar.com/august-2007/r...ctor-test.html
***********END OF THREAD***********END OF THREAD************END OF THREAD************
Taken from another web site and no it wasn't that one site that is supposedley anti V1
In all actuality the "real world" is more likely to be safe than the perfect worse case scenario: Having multiple lock out's covering a wide band range in the same location with a LEO running the same power and frequency, plus you happen to lock out the high risk area (And there is a GOL guy taking videos :wink: ) It's unlikely, and to completely lock out and speed in a high risk area is just stupid.
Contrary to some videos out there it’s very unlikely to lock out real police radar. You would almost have to deliberately try to do it (especially after reading this post). Besides detection range will trump the small lock out area in the first place and provide ample warning/alert before the lock out point. In most cases Auto mode will do a good job filtering these falses anyway.
Last edited by Racer; 07-29-2008 at 02:06 PM.
07-29-2008, 02:19 PM
#60
Melting Slicks
Member Since: Jun 2007
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What a load of crap. Those guys are so biased it isn't even funny.
Taken from another web site and no it wasn't that one site that is supposedley anti V1
Another answer to the "Videos out there"
That web site should be called www.guysofLIEdor.com
Taken from another web site and no it wasn't that one site that is supposedley anti V1
Another answer to the "Videos out there"
That web site should be called www.guysofLIEdor.com
You've made your choice and seem to be resentful of data that supports another decision.
Personally, I only care about getting the very best protection. I'd switch from V1 in a heartbeat if someone could demonstrate a superior system. So far that hasn't happened.
Regardless, I'm not emotional or defensive about my decision. It is what it is, it ain't life or death!