gazita123

You might be able to get this kind of frequency from a hot source of something, including visible lights (such as the revolving lamps that are on top of the control towers).

rx8daniel

I'd not let something like this keep anyone from otherwise buying a V1. I used to use it a lot, and one 400 foot stretch in one part of the country (I've used it everywhere from TX to Iowa to here lately to remember how to use it) does not detract, in my opinion, from it's purpose at all. It has 3 modes too so you can avoid most local store sensors and only get alerted to the stronger signals when in urban areas.

Farsyde

i don't see it happeneing for a spot light since the visible spectrum only covers ~ 390nm to 780nm. Unless the bulb is specifically designed to create an infrared beam, then it is highly unlikely, especially around an airport where clear communications are needed, that a stray infrared beam would be aloud for no purpose other than to interfere with important communications.

I've also driven behind every type of car (including a bad as lamborgini, although not for long :D ) and my detector has never had a false laser. I would never spend $100+ additional of my hard earned money to have a system that false detects a laser signal, by far the most important signal to read.

rx8daniel

This could be it's own thread, but I'll open this one up for comments:
Once you get hit by laser, the detection is very nearly pointless from that moment in time.

rotarynews.com

The V1 is simply reporting what it "Sees"

Would you rather it be less sensitive, with the possibility of missing actual lasers, or more sensitive, and just give the bird to the lady in the trailblazer in front of you when she puts on her breakes that sets off the V1 (then she looks back at you, when you're giving her the finger, and she gets a very perplexed look on her face) ?

Farsyde

This is true. The capture time for laser is three-tenths of a second so instead of the detector displaying "LASER" it should just display "PULL OVER"

Also true, but there are dozens of detectors out there that "see" what isnt there. This is just as bad as a detector that misses the occasional laser, police related or not. I would rather have some trust in a working detector than false hope in a paranoid detector that false alarms b/c it isn't sure what it "sees."

gazita123

The sun produces visible light, but it also produces many other frequencies, including UV and IR. IR is a frequency that is unregulated by anyone, since is is produced by anything that produces heat. That spotlight doesn't just produce visible light, it produces heat, as all visible light sources we have currently do.

A good example: I was working tech support for a commercial my company was producing for an IR controlled toy. The spotlights produced enough IR to keep the receivers blind to the control signal. We had to place an IR filter over the spots to keep them from interfering.

It is quite possible that the spotlight (which is much brighter than the ones used for the soundstages) to produce that IR frequency and in sufficient strength to give a false warning.

StealthTL

iTrader: (1)

Finally a thread I can get my teeth into!

I have had a lot of different radars. Most are junk.
Settled on a top-of-the-line Bel. ( Not the one with the voice alert! Lord forbid....) the one just below, there are so many models for different markets, it is in the 900 series.
The #1 reason for this model is that you can selectively turn off bands, one by one. X-band is not used in my area, and 95% of my false alarms are 'x'. A detector is mostly useless if you cannot trust it's alerts. With X off my unit just sits there until it spots the real thing! Sometimes a very weak alert from some old 'Fuzzbuster' in oncoming traffic, but if the display read anything over '1' out of '10' it is definately the real thing.

( Unless I am using the ARC jammer, then all of the above goes out the window!)

Also have Blinder laserjammers between the headlight and the bumper, but have never been 'lasered' for real.

eccles

FWIW, both the Passport 8500 and the Valentine 1 offer this same functionality. I have my 8500 set to reduced X sensitivity, but not off entirely. Just the other night I got hit with X-band from a stationary cruiser, but that's the only time I've seen X-band used around here since I bought the unit over a year ago.

quicks8

First, as I think it was already stated the V1 does not have "free" upgrades for life, but it isn't what I would consider a small fee either. I believe i gave either 150-250 when I upgraded mine last year. That is still cheaper than buying a new on and I only mention it for the sake of being complete.

Upgrading is definitely worth it versus buying a new one. Plus when you upgrade they don't make you send back your old unit, do something to it and send it back to you, you actually get a brand new one. Fortunately for me I live about a half hour from Valentine HQ, all I did was walk in with my old one (detector only) they took it and gave me a brand new box with the detector and all accessories. This was a very nice surprise.

As for the false lasers. My brother and I were parked head to head [3 feet btw. the cars]. He has an 2002 Acura TL, when he turned on the headlights it set off the laser sensor. And frankly I think the manufacturers who made those vehicles that trip my V1's laser should all be taken and hung by their ***** from the rafters of a catholic church. There is nothing like speeding along at 85-90 down I-75 and have your V1 report a false LASER. I can't count on two hands the number of times I have almost wrecked my Miata b/c some **** brick in his crappy Trail Blazer hit his breaks in front of me.

Of course I'm not upset or anything, and I am sure I could remedy this by just not speeding, but then what would be the point in paying 400.00 for a radar detector if you're not going to speed.

wakeech

...wouldn't there be a lot of reflected and refracted LASER radiation bouncing around a highway if a patrolperson was zapping every 5th or 6th car??
...i mean, there must be SOME reasoning for even including a detector on a band which would really only tell you "you've been caught" if you'd find out in the next 20-40s anyways, right??

eccles

If you nearly wreck when trying to wash off enough speed to get under the limit, then either[list=a][*]you're going wayyy over the limit and there's no way you're going to wash off enough in time, or[*]you're unable to control your car at the speeds you're travelling, and thus shouldn't be going that fast in the first place,[*]or both.[/list=a]Given the truism that the cop already has your speed before you even get a chance to react to a Laser alert, I don't really see the benefit. If my 8500 falsed that often, I'd just disable the Laser detection.

Sputnik

That's the thing about laser, the amount a laser beam is reflected and refracted is sooo small, that you have better odds of seeing the trooper before the laser detector goes off. The laser beam is so narrow, and so little of it refracts, that when a front license plate is targeted at normal targeting distances (some 500-1000 ft), a windshield mounted laser detector will normally not even detect it.

---jps

Farsyde

exactly, the only way your even going to detect the lazer is if the cop has the laseron constantly and you come over a hill or around a turn and the laser sweeps over your detector. And yes, even with a beam as intense and focused there are reflections, but they are soooo rare that i have never even picked them up.

About the "$250" upgrade. That's crap. Don't get me wrong an upgrade clause on a detector is great but why not take the 250 bux, maybe spend an extra 20 bux, and get a top of the line new detector that isn't 5-10 years old. Yes i know the internals 'may' be recent but it just doesnt settle right with me

Sputnik

That's the thing, unless the "upgrade" is merely a software upgrade (in which case it will NOT cost $250), you will get a completely new detector, not just internals. Read quicks8's post again.

---jps

Farsyde

Somewhat true. But remember that these detectors are designed by engineers (and sometimes also embedded software designers). I doubt that $250 could ever buy just software, but the software design is usually the most expensive design process of any system. Radar has simply not changed in 50 years and neither has the means to detect it. Only the systems have become "smarter" for lack of a better word. Things like DSP are designed by people (a lot of people) and they most definately get paid crazy amounts of money. Lets say a team of 20 engineers and embedded designers make up the V1, Escort, whatever team. At a national average of $74k a year thats $1.4 million before anything is done. Radar detectors are simply loosing the race since laser has come to the market, and something will eventually replace lazer that is better. $400 to throw out for a detector that doesnt have any real advantage over current technology just seems pointless. Add to that the $250 upgrade cost and your up to $650 of which will only get you maybe 5 more years of confident driving. Don't get me wrong, i swear by my detector but i won't be giving up anymore money untill there is a solid advantage again. Sorry bout all that but its late and i've been up 3 nights studying for tests

P00Man

going back to the kia.....

ill have you know that my moms sephia went 205k miles, and she hardly ever even changed the oil lol
________
HOW TO USE A WHIP VAPORIZER

P00Man

wow, just looked at that snooper s6-r, that thing is incredible, and for 700+bucks, it better be lol. even detects cameras and other stationary forms of speedtrapping
________
Herbal store

JaChTsai

From all that I've read, it doesn't even seem reasonable to get a radar detector because the chances of actually detecting a radar does not warrant the actual cost of buying one? Is that right?

bureau13

No, no...that's just laser. Decent radar detectors work quite well, its those damn lasers that people are complaining about.

If you're going to get one you need to get a good one however, unless you're only worried about highway driving. Years ago I bought a Maxon POS and it falsed so much around town my average speed was probably 10 mph less than when I just turned the damned thing off. So, I guess it did work in that it prevented me from getting a ticket...but only because it falsed me into constant paranoia.

jds

93rdcurrent

It sounds to me like you should be thinking of a more comprehensive system like the one sold by Valantine. You can have a built in radar and lazer jammer. It will work to let you know that someone is trying to get you and at the same time give them an error message on their read out. My experience has been that unless you are going at some gawd awful I am in a hurry to hell rate of speed most police units relying on this form of detection won't waste their time pulling you over. Especially if they get a reading on the poor bastard behind you :D .

Doug Green

Valentine One for over 5 years!!!.....just ordered my second one for my other car.....I have had and tried them all.......Valentine rules!

DG

93rdcurrent

That is the brand going in my car when I save up enough. I want laser jammers and all.

Farsyde

keep in mind radar and lazer jammers are illegal in almost every state. Also, the valentine (along with almost any other "jammer") doesnt jam the signal as is advertized. They use what is called "passive jamming" in which the original radar/lazer signal is NOT changed. However, a "chirp" (or other buzz word) is sent back along the same band thus making it more difficult for the gun to read your speed. Keep in mind this is an extremely false sense of security. Let me tell you why. Every gun maker has switched over to DSP (digital signal processing) This really only needs to be used for radar due to doppler shifts. Anyhow, DSP allows the gun to scrutinized every signal received by the gun on the same band and filter all signals that cannot be represented by a reflection of the original beam off you car (hence the "chirp" is ignored) This is not to say that the "jammers" don't ever work. On older radar guns they may shorten the distance the cop has to lock onto your car, but they will lock onto your car far away (because the jammers arent high powered enough to send a signal over long distances) or possible close up, due to the opposite. I'm going to say this for the last time though, Lazer jammers (same principles as passive radar jammers) will not work, almost ever! Period. Laser guns record your speed by taking thousands of distance measurements per second. In instant on mode laser guns can detect your speed in 4 thousandths of a second. Given the calculation speed of detectors, the cop will prolly have your speed before you even hear your detector. The only silver lining here is that lazer guns cost 5-10 times the amount of radar guns, and thus most depts. will opt for 10 very advanced radar guns over 1 laser. Be warned, any reasonably sized city will have sherrifs or highway patrol using laser. Be warned. Untill there is a major improvement in detection technology (and there hasnt been in a good 5 years) just get a good detector. the 8500 and Valentine are both great, so pick one based on the vanity features and you'll be fine.

93rdcurrent

The instant on feature, otherwise known as VG-2, has been defeated by most advanced radar and laser detectors. I had a VG-2 guard system on my last detector (which was stolen out of my car) and I had it go off several times in the Portland Metro area, from Olympia to Seattle, and in the So. California region. Most of the time I would find the officer parked on the side of the road a little bit up the highway. Never was pulled over and I used to speeeed let me tell you. I did get nailed just getting into Olympia once by aircraft. No hiding from them spotters. The VG-2 guard works by detecting the VG-2 signal and shutting down the radar detector instantly while yelling and screaming and flashing at you. Mine even had an LCD screen that saidn VG-2 WARNING!!! That was your cue to slow the hell down.

On a side note many jurisdictions are disallowing the use of VG-2 or "instant on" radar detection units because of the lack of accuracy in the readings. Apparently that is not enough time to get a real accurate speed rating about 35% of the time as I understand it but you might want to check that info out before you start quoting it too much.