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Automotive News & Views Radar/Lidar detectors
1206 messages, Last post on Dec 28, 2008 at 5:16 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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According to the wife-o-meter, the 9500i is more annoying than the x50 which she prefers, apparently, because of its decreased sensitivity. I think this unit is far superior to my 3 year old x50 as far as sensitivity, maybe even straying into V1 territory.
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Replying to: upstatedoc (Jan 14, 2008 10:57 am)  In-city, the combination of "Auto" mode with the few X-band locked-out spots I have makes for a near-noiseless commute, so definitely, I think this is more scenario-based. With regard to your observation/comparison to our venerable Rev5 x50s, I'd totally agree - Ka-band sensitivity, overall, and also K-band off-axis sensitivity as well seem to be way up compared to my old Rev5 x50, which is about the same "vintage" as yours. I still don't know that it's a match for the V1 just yet, particularly on the open highway, but definitely, Escort did make a progressive step in the right direction between the x50 and this new flagship.
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Replying to: lgtwrx (Jan 15, 2008 5:41 am) 
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Does anyone know what band of radar is used with the blind spot detection feature offered on some vehicles? We may see more of this in the future, its a $200 option on some Mazdas now.
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Replying to: upstatedoc (Jan 15, 2008 8:28 am) The radar-based systems, I believe, are in the range to cause falses on K-band. The Audi Q7, for example, uses a "24 GHz" frequency for their system, and it's known to present problems. At the same time, similar laser-based cruise-control or predictive-safety systems found on many Lexus and Infiniti vehicles also can cause falses on both laser detectors as well as jammers. |
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The February 2008 Motor Trend magazine has a long article about their 11,306 mile north-south, east-west cross-country road test of a 2008 Chevy Malibu. Here's what they said about some of the tools that they took along: http://tinyurl.com/3b4ltf That's the last of seven pages of the article on their website.
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Replying to: blane (Jan 16, 2008 6:02 pm) I don't want to link to the Valentine 1 website, directly, here, as I don't know if that's against Forum policy  , but you can easily obtain the V1, direct from the manufacturer, by simply Google'ing the detector name. In any case: Most true open-highway warriors will have a strong preference for the V1 due to its extreme sensitivity as well as directional-threat indication (for radar, this is unique to the V1), and, in cases where an active laser jammer is either out of financial reach or illegal (or simply beyond one's "moral/ethical" boundary), the V1's extreme laser sensitivity is a plus, too. For raw sensitivity and unfiltered/"full" informational presentation, the V1 is nearly impossible to beat. Although it is, nevertheless, imperfect, it is so strong in the open-highway scenario that nearly 99% of drivers - even enthusiasts - will need no supplementation when detection is the question. Yes, there are those who actually run the V1 with the Bel STi-Driver (one of the truly rare "magical" combinations that do not cross-interfere with each other) or even use the V1 in conjunction with the remote-mounted Escort SR7/SRX units (to those in detector-legal areas, this is oftentimes considered the true gold-standard, as these two devices pair near perfectly to offer "full-circle" detection, and fills the holes left by the other in a complementary manner), but those are truly few and far in between. The V1's only true weakness, in the open-highway scenario, is that of Spectre radar-detector-detector detectability (which will only matter for commercial vehicle operators or, alternatively, for those who live in detector-banned areas; nevertheless, even the use of the fully-cloaked Bel STi-Driver requires a certain amount of proper tactical execution and discretion). Honestly, if my commute entailed routine open-highway travel, I'd definitely be a V1 user. However, my commute is nearly 90% on local surface streets (and I'm factoring-in even my most typical highway-route errand running). And in as much as Escort's latest commercial video demonstrates (that kind of densely-packed non-LEO signal situation is very much akin to what I must run through, every day, during my commute), I truly need the 9500i's filtering capabilities. And yes, I am well-aware, as per our previous discussions, that the V1 can be programmed, in-depth (even more than to simply select between the various main operating modes), to greatly cut-down on such "annoyance" factors - but as you can read via the discussions here: http://www.radardetector.net/viewtopic.php?t=32993 , such extremes in terms of programming can cause dangerous oversights, as the original poster of that thread very well acknowledged (his goal, as a fellow enthusiast, was not to debate the "V1 versus 9500i" issue, but rather to show how easily one can manipulate such videos to further their own commercial propaganda). There is no perfect detector - everything is a compromise. It's up to the end-user to determine what compromise best-fits their particular threat scenario. --- Current rumors have it that the new remote-mounted units from Escort (introduced at this year's CES) may rival or even exceed the current-generation V1 in terms of raw sensitivity, but this remains both to be seen as well as need to be categorized differently, as such remote units offer not only not-insignificant advantages in being able to optimize on-vehicle positioning (particularly if "off-the-books" mounting/setup is taken into account), but are also, literally, many times more expensive than even these top-flight self-contained models. |
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Replying to: blane (Jan 16, 2008 6:02 pm) I just finished reading the entire article - most entertaining! I must say that Mr Markus, et. al., certainly have a higher opinion of my fellow commuters here in Cleveland than either myself or most of my fellow driving-enthusiast friends. I wish I saw more of that kind of vehicular/driving courtesy. One point I did want to address with regard to the little blurb about the V1. Mr. Markus mentioned that it is able to discern the frequency of the threat. This is, while true, not completely so - yes, the basic X, K, and Ka-band differentiation, based on frequency, can be made, but the more advanced differentiation between actual, physical, frequncy of the signal is something that is currently the sole ground of the high-end Bel/Escort products, with "SpecDisplay." |
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| I don't know if anyone has caught that new show on tru tv (formerly court tv) called speeders, but it's pretty interesting to see how the officers operate and who they pull over. In the vast majority of cases, the officer is using laser and none of the offenders are using countermeasures (from what I can see). It's also interesting to see how some people interact w/ the officers. I imagine acting "annoyed" that you got pulled over isn't going to help your case at all. | |
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Replying to: upstatedoc (Jan 28, 2008 7:17 am) That isn't to say that you shouldn't be respectful and pleasant.. just that the laser operation is a whole different thing than radar.. There is no chance that the officer was sitting there eating a donut, and you happened to trip his radar detector..or, he was on his way home and you popped up.. He was making a conscious act to aim that laser detector at you, and then come after you.. Unless you have the mother of all excuses, you are getting ticketed.. On the plus side, I could call in and pay it with my credit card... 
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