Hard 8

Just some random thoughts:

• I've already done the hard-wire install described in the DYI forum. It's great. My V1 is pretty much invisible from outside the car, even to any friendly policeman who might pull me over. And no wires were hurt during the install.
• It works great, as I mentioned in my "V1 saved my butt" thread recently.
• I have programmed mine (see the V1 website for instructions) to turn off X, K, and laser detection, because all we have around here is Ka, except for the very rare K gun.
• I found on the V1 web site that my version of the V1 detector lacks POP detection, but Valentine will add it, and renew my warranty, for $50. Pretty good deal, but I don't think we have POP around here so I may wait on it.
• After years of having the detector, I just noticed that the mute control has its own "boot-up" sound. (I always keep my mute level turned way down, but if I turn it up, it makes its own separate sound on boot-up.)
• When you turn off laser detection, the second set of tones on boot-up (the laser tones) go silent. (Now if only I could make the first set of tones quieter, without turning down the volume.)
• If I could change anything simple on the detector, it would be to use different color LEDs for the different bands, and make the tones more distinct between X, K, and Ka (esp X and K), a la cell phone ring tones.

That's it. You guys have any other observations on the V1's operation, or modding it?

truemagellen

integration with Laser Jamming technology

V1 needs to get involved with that...otherwise where I live the V1 is about as usefull as a pair of dice dangling from the Rearview mirror (90% penetration of Laser Speed Acquisition Devices in my county)

Hard 8

Bummer. Our local constabulary don't use laser. In fact, I have not heard of laser being used in this state.

Is it true that someone using a laser gun (lidar?) has to be in a stationary position (as compared to a moving police car) and has to hold the gun perfectly steady, e.g., on a tripod?

truemagellen

funny you asked since I defended my self in court on a Laser case and won

Yes with laser it must be stationary as is the case with Radar...if a cop is using a laser OR radar gun while moving you can have it thrown out in court

older laser units did need a tripod but current ones take a reading so quickly they have become handheld

really people have no idea how unsafe they are with laser around...my year old Escort 8500 has been collecting dust over the past 6 months because the risk of laser is too great...eventually I'll get a laser jammer but I've been to busy and would rather have a Hymee Exhaust anyway :D

Hard 8

Our radar guns are seldom stationary; the roving CHP, even on motorcycles, use them all the time while driving or riding. They have a secondary radar gun that measures the speed of their own vehicle, I've heard, and the cars even have a third gun that faces behind the vehicle. A computer reconciles all the different signals to figure out the offender's speed. Never heard of one being thrown out of court, though. Nice if that were true here.

truemagellen

hmm never heard of multiple guns...

yes they can use it while roaming but that evidence wont hold up in court...the must stop the vehicle and get an accurate reading based off protocol

really you can get any speeding ticket thrown out in court

2-5% of people talk to the DA/contest their ticket

of those people only a few percent actually take it to court...lets get one of the cops on the forum to chime in

Hard 8

I'm a lawyer myself, and I've had several tickets thrown out. Working on one right now, in fact. Funny thing is, I haven't got a single ticket in the several years since I bought the V1 (knock on wood--I think I'm just more cautious now), and not one ticket in the 8. But a few weeks back my wife got one in my 8, and it's funny because she almost never speeds. Anyway, I'm fighting it on a few grounds, the most interesting of which is that our city did not follow California law in enacting the local speed limits; for the last 30 years they have been void. The local TV news disclosed this fact a few months ago, and the city council passed the requisite ordinance, but my wife got her ticket before the new law took effect. I am having fun with this one; she got nailed in a classic revenue-rich blvd. where they catch all the harried soccer moms, and she wasn't going that fast at all; same as everyone else. They just love to get em there; it's like shooting fish in a barrel. I will fight this one all the way up if I have to, just for fun.

truemagellen

keep us updated on this...it sounds interesting I love fighting these things it is exciting

Hard 8

Yeah. I'll post the results when I get them. But first, I'm going to drag this thing out as long as possible. Here, we can do a trial by written declaration, and we don't even need to enter a plea and opt for that approach until June.

FONZIE

If I were you I would reprogram it to get back the laser detection. I don't have much of it around here, but I recently went through NY State and it saved my *** twice in 5 hours! One of them was a parked, black trooper car on the median right at dusk. The detector went off and I'm now trained to instantly hit the brakes when I hear the laser sound. I didn't see the guy for another 5 seconds because he was hid so well!

I do think that I'm going to program it to kill the x band though

Hard 8

I have never seen laser around here, and I have no plans to drive it out of state. But I'd be curious to learn whether anyone knows of any laser being used in CA.