Passport X50

[purepump 0]

As introduced in the newbie section, I'm heading to NZL soon and thou not gonna speed plus the rental car is most likely incapable to do so anyway, just want some added protection. Judging from reads about 9500i and V1s, I assume my X50 will also work. Please advise what tripods/laser guns do you guys have, and what bands shall I turn on, how to adopt settings accordingly.

Moreover I am surely gonna hide it in the glovebox or take it out whenever its parked. Or shall I better off not bring it at all?

[jjs 60]

As introduced in the newbie section, I'm heading to NZL soon and thou not gonna speed plus the rental car is most likely incapable to do so anyway, just want some added protection. Judging from reads about 9500i and V1s, I assume my X50 will also work. Please advise what tripods/laser guns do you guys have, and what bands shall I turn on, how to adopt settings accordingly.

Moreover I am surely gonna hide it in the glovebox or take it out whenever its parked. Or shall I better off not bring it at all?

Where are you from?

Im sure it will work fine, but some US radars pick up extra noise as the X bands cannot be switched off.

Info copied from radardirect.co.nz

Q How many radar and laser guns are in use in New Zealand and which band is most popular?

A There are approximately 780 radar and 163 laser guns in use. Of these guns, approximately 4% are

K band (24.150 GHz), 96% Ka band (33.4-36 GHz), 0% X band (10.525 GHz), and 18% laser. There

are approx 70 non radar Pole Camera locations with 14 camera's rotated through them and approx

50 Mobile speed camera Vans or station wagons. These operate on the Ka band At 34.6Ghz.

Also from radardirect.co.nz, here is a list of all fixed speed camera locations in NZ Camera Locations Link

[purepump 0]

Thats very good info, thanks Jeremy. We never get such consolidate figures. Here in Hong Kong K and Ka are also the dominant bands so I can take it along then. Which one mode or multiple modes give best results in rural/urban areas? I have it perminantly on highway mode (its a grey import unit from the States).

[jimbo01 0]

As introduced in the newbie section, I'm heading to NZL soon and thou not gonna speed plus the rental car is most likely incapable to do so anyway, just want some added protection. Judging from reads about 9500i and V1s, I assume my X50 will also work. Please advise what tripods/laser guns do you guys have, and what bands shall I turn on, how to adopt settings accordingly.

Moreover I am surely gonna hide it in the glovebox or take it out whenever its parked. Or shall I better off not bring it at all?

Make sure you do hide it - even leaving the mount on the windscreen can invite a break in. Please note that in particular areas the police are also using laser guns - SHW1 and SH2 just out of Wellington often have them. The only way to beat laser is not to speed!

Also ourside schools if you exceed the speedlimit by 5kph you can get a ticket - the usual tollerance is 10kph - so the effective speed limit on the open road is 110kph - or just under. Even more important is that 40kph over is an instant loss of licence.

The police also operate their radar guns in what i'd call stealth mode - they ping you as you come around a corner - or coming in the opostie direction in a mufti car. Unless there is other traffic on the roadway that are being pinged then you have no idea if the car coming towards you is a cop.

Pay particular attention to temporary speed limits on the side of roads for road works, loose gravel etc - they can be as low as 30kph - so cruising through at 100kph after 5pm when there is no sign of a roadworker may just get you pinged for 70kph over the limit - which is instant 28 day loss of licence and a fine that will make you gasp. I saw 2 police cars doing this a couple of years back just west of Ohakune - a several km section of new seal had 50kph signs out since Friday - it was now Sunday - and there was no reason to creep along at 50kph - so people were going at the original speed limit, and getting tickets for 50kph over the limit. Yes our police like to find ways to endear themselves to the NZ public.

Another recent reported trick is to pull over motorists for speeding and issue tickets based upon old radar readings. Some of the victems had radar detectors which did not give an alert, therefore they didn't get the displayed speed reading from them. This issue only seems to be ocurring south of Auckland and north of Hamilton. Unfortunately if it's police word against yours, the police win.

The other trick is cops hiding at the end of passing lanes. You may also find that an interesting quality of Kiwi drivers who prior to a passing lane were doing only 80kph will increase their speed to 110kph or more on the passing lane. They deserve to be fined for gross stuplidity, but unfortunately this is as yet not illegal. And when you hit 120-130 to pass the idiot there waiting to give you a ticket are the police.

Apart from the flase readings - how can you denfend against that - there is a sure way to avoid tickets. It radical - it's called obeying the speed limit. of couse you may just nod off to sleep and still have an accident but at least speed won't be the major factor.

Have a great holiday.

[bravo 34]

rofl jimbo you cynical bugger.

Alothough probably never a truer word.

[Braeden320 0]

Nice article Jimbo!!! So true tho..

[steve R 0]

The other trick is cops hiding at the end of passing lanes. You may also find that an interesting quality of Kiwi drivers who prior to a passing lane were doing only 80kph will increase their speed to 110kph or more on the passing lane. They deserve to be fined for gross stuplidity, but unfortunately this is as yet not illegal. And when you hit 120-130 to pass the idiot there waiting to give you a ticket are the police.

have had this happen to me at newyears, passing a truck in a passing lane, going about 130, then as i come past the truck, in the middle of the passing lane theres a speed cammera sitting there..... why? luckily my mate was infront of me and neither of us got tickets, i guess because there was more than one car in the photo.

[purepump 0]

Yes I still remember vividly how my mum got caught coming into a small down and did not quite drop down to 50km/h and got zapped 4x above. Road's clear and traveling cross country sometimes drop your alert level towards these traps but its very much necessary for the locals. My intention for using a detector is for exactly these situations, to look out for all these traps and not for speeding.

Salute to Jimbo! Go Kiwis!