Radar Detectors

[m325i 709]

Just wondering if anyone is using them? 

I haven't used on in more than a decade, (and touch wood have not ever had a ticket). I don't speed generally, but the I could see how you could get caught out if you were say overtaking in a transitional area for example. 

Last one i used was a V1 - now I see there are GPS once which would cut out false alerts / alerts when at low speed etc. 

Interested in your chat...

[Olaf 3317]

I’ve been using one (after more than a decade without) since 2012.

Initially I was seeking a high-performance Lower-cost used item as ‘proof of concept’.  I did research and found that the V1 of the time had been bettered for range and selectivity - for a single threat, obviously - by a few models from BELtronics and Escort.  I picked up a used BEL v995 for a little under $350, and enjoyed it for many years.

I then did some research... I was commuting 60-100km round trip on state highways - in addition to a lot of weekend travel with family to sporting events - and figured that I should be better prepared.  I did further research and landed on Escort Redline or BELtronics Magnum STi.  The Magnum was a little cheaper, I landed one.  The range is superb, giving me warning with plenty of time to verify that I’m traveling at the speed I thought I was (100kph, of course, Officer), before reaching the radar ‘kill zone’.

There’s since been another round of detector updates, and the Magnum (indeed, BELtronics wholly) is gone, Redline has been superseded, and there are some new value challengers too.  I’m not up with the play.  Current detectors have greater selectivity and many new features (great integration with GPS and online data, in some instance), to avoid falsing.  The downside is they don’t have the extreme range that the Magnum and REDLINE had.

My views are:

1.  Range (coupled with selectivity) is KING. You want to know where Ka is.  Tickets from Ka hurt.  This, to me, is the most important feature.  If I know there’s an active radar out there a few kms before I’m in it’s range, so much the better.

2.  Mobile Camera Radar is gonna get ya.  It’s very low energy, and 45 degrees to your lane - your detector doesn’t see it until it’s too late. I doubt the latest detectors have done much about that.

3. Instant-on Radar will get you every time, and the best detector can’t make up for irresponsible speed, lack of situational awareness, and committed road policing in a clever location.

BBQ talk.  “Why do you have a radar detector?  Are you a speed lunatic/looking to kill other motorists?”  

“ultimately, our govt chooses to broadcast on those frequencies.  I’m listening out on those frequencies, which gives me a little time to ensure I’m not in the taxation zone; an example is 50kph on Ferguson Drive... it’s so easy to be doing 56 or 57 in a line of traffic... bet you’ve done that too!  Long straight street, wide, clear vision, but a 50 zone.  Getting a bleep from my detector reminds me to check my speed.”

YMMV. Let us know how you get on.  If you want to conduct your own proof of concept, buy my 995i for $210 including freight! ?

[Driftit 2078]

I haven't used them in well over a decade too.

Interesting thing I found in the US is that WAZE has a huge user-base in replacement of Radar Detectors.  Which are illegal in some states.

Any speed trap is quickly reported and then backed up by multiple drivers.  Waze then alerts me.  'Police reported ahead'
It is great for reporting speed cameras and tax revenue officers guarding the ends of passing lanes.

I have been using it here in NZ.  But it seems everyone sees it as nothing but GPS maps here.  "It's state highway 1, i'm not going to get lost".  So the user data is limited and therefore not as reliable.

However it's best uses in the US were its user reports.

Fuel Costs
Road Closures
Flooding
POT HOLES
Ice/Snow
Police
Accidents
POT HOLES
Construction on the Road.
Animals on the Road (I reported a Crazed Homeless guy once.  It got over 150 thank you's.)
Oh and POT HOLES!!!!!!  Especially in Jersey.
You can even request roadside assistance.

Edited July 17, 2019 by Driftit

[m325i 709]

2 hours ago, Olaf said:

...

Great post, thank you. 

I know what you mean about speed camera's and 'dedicated enforcement' etc. 

 

8 minutes ago, Driftit said:

WAZE

Yeah, I have heard that too. I find that it is disappointing here for traffic congestion obviously due to the same reasons. 

[Driftit 2078]

Yeah it is such a shame.  If you use Google Maps.  Switch to Waze.  As Waze uses both Google Maps and it's own data.  In the US it is far more accurate.  Google owns them anyway.  Google Assistant is now built into Waze too.

[Eagle 1662]

Owned most the higher end ones over the years but using Uniden R1 atm as i dont need GPS. I think its better than anything else on the market for the price. Only issue is it wont pick up mobile speed camera vans because the K band freq doesnt cover that range, not a big deal given they are easily spotted.

Mine is hardwired but i only really turn it on for long trips mainly as a passing safe guard

[Olaf 3317]

1 hour ago, Driftit said:

Yeah it is such a shame.  If you use Google Maps.  Switch to Waze.  As Waze uses both Google Maps and it's own data.  In the US it is far more accurate.  Google owns them anyway.  Google Assistant is now built into Waze too.

 I tried Waze when I first got an iPhone in 2012, found it if little use at that time.  Good to hear it’s improving, I’ll give it a crack again.

[Michael. 2313]

Hmmm I was thinking of getting a radar soon too. 

Might get Waze in the meatime 

[Hi-Tek 3]

I’ve had a Valentine 1 since 2005 and it’s been great, I left it in storage when I was in England and have recently started using it again since I’ve moved back to New Zealand. 

It seems to now have an annoying habit of going off whenever a new Toyota Corolla comes towards me in the opposite direction. The alert sounds in different to when there’s police but it’s still super annoying. I’ve got no idea what causes it  

 

I’m after some suggestions also on a new radar detector. 

[Matth5 471]

38 minutes ago, Hi-Tek said:

It seems to now have an annoying habit of going off whenever a new Toyota Corolla comes towards me in the opposite direction. The alert sounds in different to when there’s police but it’s still super annoying. I’ve got no idea what causes it  

Probably caused by their blind spot detection. 

[Eagle 1662]

On 7/27/2019 at 12:40 PM, Hi-Tek said:

I’ve had a Valentine 1 since 2005 and it’s been great, I left it in storage when I was in England and have recently started using it again since I’ve moved back to New Zealand. 

It seems to now have an annoying habit of going off whenever a new Toyota Corolla comes towards me in the opposite direction. The alert sounds in different to when there’s police but it’s still super annoying. I’ve got no idea what causes it  

 

I’m after some suggestions also on a new radar detector. 

Problem with V1's is you can't disable certain frequency ranges within the bands like most of the good newer ones. Turning K band off (and X band which you probably have off anyway) will probably help since many assistance system run on that, you will loose camera van detection though. Different brands\model have better or worse filtering signals like these but given car manufacturers use all sort of frequencies so its hard to block them all. Given we only dealing a few radar frequencies and laser here in NZ its easiest just to only enable what bands\frequencies are required and disable everything else.

[M3AN 4016]

On 7/27/2019 at 1:18 PM, Matth5 said:

Probably caused by their blind spot detection. 

The blind spots in front of them? That's some signal leakage there.

What are those frequency scanners/plotters called? It would be good to drive around for a bit and record all these omni-directional signal frequencies one day.

 

[Michael. 2313]

I'm interested in the Uniden R7, anyone dealt with that model? 

[KwS 2425]

 

 

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On 7/17/2019 at 12:09 PM, Olaf said:

 

2.  Mobile Camera Radar is gonna get ya.  It’s very low energy, and 45 degrees to your lane - your detector doesn’t see it until it’s too late. I doubt the latest detectors have done much about that.

3. Instant-on Radar will get you every time, and the best detector can’t make up for irresponsible speed, lack of situational awareness, and committed road policing in a clever location.

This is basically why I sold mine years ago. The only thing they might be good for is if a police patrol car is heading your way (and even then by the time the detector has seen the radar, its also seen you). No good for anything else.

I think mine was a beltronics, one of the top of the line ones. Got a hook up through where I used to work. Now I just pay attention to my speed/not speed, and that's seemed to work well.

[hqstu 780]

I still have a working "vintage" escort SR7 hardwired in the M5 when near new in mid 2000's.  It's little more than a novelty..

[Olaf 3317]

9 hours ago, KwS said:

This is basically why I sold mine years ago. The only thing they might be good for is if a police patrol car is heading your way (and even then by the time the detector has seen the radar, its also seen you). No good for anything else.

That’s a rather simplistic view.  With very long range, and great selectivity, you can pick up the instant-on or mobile radar operating in the vicinity, eg - reflections from other vehicles 5-6 kms down the road, regardless of the unit’s direction of travel.  That provides useful warning, and is the reason I’m still using mine.  I’m usually moving towards them, which is what counts.

[KwS 2425]

Useful warning for what, knowing you're speeding? 

sh*t, in the 12 years I've been driving I'm sitting on two speeding tickets. One when I was a teenager doing stupid things in his turbo DC2R, and the other from driving when tired and angry, through a speed camera I knew was there. 

I'm no advocate for the speed kills crap, but dont pretend there is any reason other than bad driving (speeding) to use a radar detector. 

[sweetm3 180]

Kelvin

"any reason other than bad driving (speeding) to use a radar detector. "

Didn't you mean                                 ( by others)

[Olaf 3317]

hmmm.  Unplugging the detector has the disbenefit of removing the 'taking oneself rather too seriously' filter.

As I said in my original post, anyone travelling in a line of traffic in a 50 zone on a long straight road can easily find themselves doing 56 or 57, along with everyone else.  Bad driving?  Or considerate for the conditions and other human beings using the road.

[kwhelan 241]

agreed there's nothing more stressful than driving over a long weekend when there is basically zero margins on speeding, you spend way too much time checking the dash to avoid accidental creep especially on downhill runs rather than concentrating on the road. The people that die on those weekends were never going to be saved by that stupid temp limit either.

[Eagle 1662]

On 7/30/2019 at 10:38 PM, Michael. said:

I'm interested in the Uniden R7, anyone dealt with that model? 

Pretty much the same performance as the R1\R3 but with arrows. 

On 8/1/2019 at 9:13 AM, kwhelan said:

agreed there's nothing more stressful than driving over a long weekend when there is basically zero margins on speeding, you spend way too much time checking the dash to avoid accidental creep especially on downhill runs rather than concentrating on the road. The people that die on those weekends were never going to be saved by that stupid temp limit either.

Also useful for those smaller towns where police love to generate income, ie roads suddenly drop from 70-80kph to 50kph where i always just roll off the gas never braking

The other night i picked up what was soon discovered as breath test check point, first for me.

[polley 916]

I had a beltronics sti magnum on the bike and it was great. Unfortunately it randomly died and I replaced it with a tpx 2. Which I don't think is nearly as good. The sti had excellent range and accuracy.