Lets talk about radar/laser detectors

This is my first real summer with my 89 5.0 and one of the toys I wanna get is a wireless (since they dont make hardwired anymore) mountable/hideable radar detector.

Does it really pay off to have a detector these days? Radar or laser?

After a google search it seems like the Whistler de3500 is my best option.

Is it true that having a laser detector doesnt really help cause it has to hit you to be detected and then its too late.

Looking for stories or opinions on this matter.

Reply to
faust_151
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My dad always uses a radar/laser detector and ALWAYS gets tickets! I won't waste money on one. They still use the ol' "bear in the air/eye in the sky" trick. If I'm on a long trip and I need to make good time, I bring my CB radio. The truckers always communicate the locations of law enforcement, and I haven't had a speeding ticket or even been pulled over in years, (even though I "may" have deserved one). I've not had a radar detector since 1985.

Reply to
nospam

The new Passport is good. Get one that performs very well with the K and Ka, Ku, etc. bands. Your odds of slowing down to avoid laser (lidar) are very slim - but not nil. It will scatter like radar does, but it's pretty much worthless to try to use a detector to avoid it in practical terms. My old Solo, made my Escort / Passport, saved me at least a dozen 85-100 mph tickets on interstate travel alone. No kidding, no doubt, and I've already factored out the "maybes".

Reply to
Jason O

Don't buy a no-name to save money... they're crap. Been there, done that.

Reply to
jwardl

If you are serious about having some protection from radar tickets get a Valentine 1. The top of the line passport would be a second choice. The wireless one's are questionable value at best because they are only on part of the time to save batteries (last time I checked how they worked). I have never run into any cops using laser - it's more work for them so it's not likely you'll come up against it often. If you read the traffic and watch how you drive and where you speed you can get by without a detector MOST of the time. The detector is just another tool that can help but it's not the only tool.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

There's a black Mustang up ahead, and he must be doing about 90mph. You, you're a left-lane campout whom he just passed on the right, driving your SUV at about 70-75.

As you crest a hill, you can see the black Mustang still in the right lane, but now doing not much more than speed limit + 10. You eventually pull up alongside and move past him, and you must be wondering why he's now just poking along.

Then you see the state trooper parked across the median and overreact, slowing quickly to less than 60. The Mustang continues on, purring by at 70.

The Mustang knows where the speed traps are, and the Mustang knows that no state trooper is going to pull out and chase him for doing 70mph.

Throw away your so-called "radar detectors" and just follow the Mustang's lead. No charge.

dwight

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Reply to
dwight

Laser is line-of-sight, there are multiple strategies for dealing with it. A laser detector would be kind of a toy for me at this point.

I would recommend a late-model series 5 Escort or a PassPort at the front, a BelTronics BEL XKR or similar at the rear, a scanner, & a CB(mostly for interstate use).

The scanner is a must. It's also illegal in most states to equip a vehicle with a scanner - use a hand-held. DON'T use a scanner to commit felonies.

The Valentine 1 is a NICE unit.

Rob

Reply to
trainfan1

Regardless of what brand you buy, one of the most informative places you can read is

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Reply to
WindsorFox

Radar and laser are both line of sight. The distance they cover is important. I've never owned a detector, but I have sure used the units. So, here is my take on the subject.

For the most part, we watch for the driver who is weaving in and out or passing everything in sight, trying to get ahead of the pack. As long as the pack flows smoothly, it's generally ignored. When I am traveling I generally flow with the pack, and keep an eye on the truckers. Those good ol' boys know where the bears are.

As good as detectors are.... they are illegal in many jurisdictions and just having one visible is a citeable offense (and often grounds for confiscation). And don't forget that in many out in the middle of nowhere zones, it's the aircraft you need to watch for... they pace vehicles (that's what those white lines along the road are for) and radio ahead. Doesn't matter if you're going the speed limit or not when you finally get to where the patrol car is located. You are already nailed. For those in turnpike country, it's fine until you exit through a toll booth and the computer logs your time and automatically computes your speed from point A to point B. ZAP! Then there are the cameras which have become so popular. They can be set up anywhere as a friend of mine visiting Arizona from Florida learned the hard way. The ticket was waiting for her when she arrived home, including the photo of her license plate with the speed date time etc.

Don't forget... when you are stopped, attitude means everything. Many times I would approach a driver with the intention of giving a break on the speed, and meet up with total A$$holehood. Not only didn't the driver get a break, I added whatever else I could find (the worse the attitude, the more I addeed), and took my sweet time doing so. (I recall one guy who was fidgeting and when I questioned him, he admitted he was in a hurry to get home to his Preparation H. A

5 minute ticket took 20 minutes.)

Your detectors are good (some far better than others) but it comes down to accepting that you broke the law and if caught, be willing to pay the fine.

If you think you got a bad deal.... as I did entering Utah when I was passed by a Porsche who must have had tower clearance. A patrol in the median nailed me. Could it have been my California plates and the Porsche's Utah plates? I don't really know. But, I was polite, accepted the cite and got on my way. When I got home, I mailed in the $50 fine along with a letter which described the situation. I mentioned that the office was very professional and that I didn't feel he "intentionally" singled out the out of state plate. The court retained the money... BUT.... no points were assessed. As many know, the issuing state can be notified of points assessed and put them on your record. This can raise your insurance rates. So $50 and no points was worth the effort to write.

BUCKLE UP! We hate to have to scrape up the remains. And Lord help you if a child dies and you survive.

Reply to
Spike

That's a common strategy. But like I said, it's just one strategy, you don't always have a rabbit to chase. Last month I didn't have anyone to provide my cover and was thinking of speeding up to get out of a que of traffic. Then my V1 went off so I didn't and over the next hill was the cop. I figure it saves me a ticket maybe every couple years at least. The speeds on this trip were 95 plus.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

It's true that for the cop to get a radar reading it's line of sight but for picking up the radar on a radar detector the good ones will pick them up over a hill and around a curve.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

at 29 Apr 2007, Spike [ snipped-for-privacy@snowcrest.net] wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

I have an el cheapo Cobra but I use it as an additional tool, not an oracle that will tell me if I can break the speed limit or not. It has saved my bacon a couple of times in the last 2 years. But I still keep a close eye and trust my senses. I generally flow with the speed of traffic, not trying to be at the head of the pack.

What I do like is that, expecially on the backroads, it'll warn me if a LEO has someone pulled over ahead of me. As they generally leave their radar on in those cases. Giving me time to adjust speed and plent y of warning time as to cars on the side of the road. Also the newer emergency vehicles and schoolbuses appear to have (at least here in the Tampa Bay, FL area) something aboard that sets it off. Warning me of like a schoolbus stopping ahead to let off kids.

Having driven in Europe most of my life were speed camera's are thick as fleas and 3Km over the limit will get you a ticket, I must say that the more relaxed attitude in the US definately is better. YOu spend way to much time in Europe watching your speedo to avoid going over (cruise is/was not as common there as here) the limit rather than watching the traffic and the vehicles around you.

Reply to
Paul

I wonder how they do that. Must be magic :0) or XFiles. Seriously, it is true that, given the right terrain, they can detect before being hit, but, as a general rule I think it's a lot to bet on.

Reply to
Spike

Not really. They have been testing them like that for a long time and ones like the V1 and the high end passport will easily pick up the scatter from the radar gun in those situations. I've seen it often with my V1. With some of the cheap crappy detectors I had in the past they sometimes wouldn't go off till you practically rear ended the cop car.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

Whaddya mean they don't make hardwired detectors anymore?

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Whether or not it pays off really depends on your style of driving. If you're driving like a ticket magnet, a detector is not going to help. If you usually "go with the flow" and just want the detector to avoid being one of the fish in the barrel, it may help.

I'd say a Valentine One is your best option, but hey, it's your money. :)

Yes and no. It is possible to detect laser that has refracted off traffic ahead of you and get a warning ahead of time, but the conditions do have to be good for that to happen. Most of the time, if your detector goes off on laser, it is indeed already too late.

Reply to
Garth Almgren

Anymore I think they are a waste of money. With the propagation of laser based and "instant on" units you don't get any early warning that lets you slow down before they read your speed. Also, the laser beam is so small that it only baths a small portion of your car.

The best way to avoid a ticket is to not speed or carefully pick your spots to speed through. If I am > This is my first real summer with my 89 5.0 and one of the toys I

Reply to
Michael Johnson

I would imagine there is a lot of variation from state to state but here in AZ they are still plenty useful. Even with instant on radar guns you can pick them up when they are looking at the guy half a mile ahead of you. And a lot of the cops are still using on-all-the-time radar. The radar detector is another tool that can be used wisely or foolishly.

Also, the laser beam is

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

Reply to
Michael Johnson

They work fine if you know how to use them. Being the first in the pack is not the way to do it. The V1 catches instant on and pop.

Reply to
WindsorFox

If you are not willing to be the first in line then you are basically running with the pack. That is inherently safer and what I tend to do most of the time. I don't really need a detector for this strategy to work.

Reply to
Michael Johnson

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