Stereo & Electronics - Beating the Spectre 2 Radar Detector Detector

Police across North America are now taking delivery of the nastiest little weapon to come along since the VG-2 radar detector detector. This new detector renders all stealth (read: undetectable) radar detectors useless.

The Spectre is a threat to everyone who owns a radar detector. In places where detectors are illegal it will result in fines, but in almost all jurisdictions it will certainly be used to prove intent. The Spectre 2 can be easily modified to detect any new technology that comes out in stealth detectors, according to Mike Valentine, maker of the famous V-1 radar detector. Prospect to defeat it are bleak, he says.

Recenty however I stumbled upon a bit of information that can drive the Spectre 2 nuts. If true, it seems that if you put a $20 air ionizer in your car it will set off the RDD quite efficiently. The Spectre 2, according to sources is already prone to false alarms also. So for those with radar detectors it's a good idea to get an air ionizer and point to it if you get pulled over.

Even if you don't use a radar detector get an ionizer anyway.

what in the hell is the ionizer?

The little bag of rocks type thing??

Can't prove dick about intent, other than intent
to know when you're being invasively monitored.
Ionizer bullshit is not going to fade your signal
worth crap; if it did it would degrade your detector's
sensitivity too. Radar detectors are legal except in
slave states.

Besides, intent is a not an issue in non-criminal situations such as speeding. They don't have to prove you intended to speed - only that you were speeding. So those of us who don't live or travel in those few areas that have laws against radar detectors don't really care if the police know we have one.

Besides, intent is a not an issue in non-criminal situations such as speeding. They don't have to prove you intended to speed - only that you were speeding. So those of us who don't live or travel in those few areas that have laws against radar detectors don't really care if the police know we have one.


Swell, but if they can prove you have one it won't be long before there is a law against them.

Perhaps, but I doubt it. Even now there are enough people driving around with radar detectors easily visible on their dash or windshield that it would be easy enough to charge them if they were outlawed. Most of the states that don't outlaw radar detectors are the ones that have more legislative concern for individual rights and would have a hard time passing a "big brother is watching" type of law. Of course, these are often the same states that do stupid things like repealing existing motorcycle helmet laws (don't get me started on that subject - let me just say that anyone who rides without a helmet is an "organ donor"). ;)

But, in the end, it comes down to money - they don't really care about the safety aspects, they just want to generate income from fines. It is much easier to fine someone for speeding and have it stand up in court than it is to pull them over and fine them for merely having a radar detector.

If your car is registered in another state, such as Maryland, and you travel to a state where it is illegal to have a radio receiver (radar detector), such as Virginia, you can legally have a radar detector. PROVIDED, of course, it is not a dash unit. It must be hard-wired to the car. The following models are legal to own, and use, in radar detector free states.
1. BEL Pro Remote Plus (Model RX75 Plus)
2. Escort Passport SR7
3. K40 2000P

If your car is registered in another state, such as Maryland, and you travel to a state where it is illegal to have a radio receiver (radar detector), such as Virginia, you can legally have a radar detector. PROVIDED, of course, it is not a dash unit. It must be hard-wired to the car. The following models are legal to own, and use, in radar detector free states.
1. BEL Pro Remote Plus (Model RX75 Plus)
2. Escort Passport SR7
3. K40 2000P

Well, that got me curious so I looked up the Code of Virginia. Title 46.2 section 1079 is the section regarding radar detectors and there is no such exemption in it for vehicles from out of state. The exact wording is:

It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a motor vehicle on the highways of the Commonwealth when such vehicle is equipped with any device or mechanism, passive or active, to detect or purposefully interfere with or diminish the measurement capabilities of any radar, laser, or other device or mechanism employed by law-enforcement personnel to measure the speed of motor vehicles on the highways of the Commonwealth for law-enforcement purposes.

Where did you hear that out of state vehicles with permanently mounted radar detectors were exempt? Was it from a court decision or something?

I've beaten it three times in Virginia by taking the tickets to court. I'm a Maryland resident, and my Escort was permanently attached to the vehicle. I listened to each judge tell the arresting officer that permanently mounted detectors were exempt, as they could not be disabled or unplugged at the border easily. Maybe the judges were wrong, but I'm not going to correct them!

That's really good to know - I have a K40 and my wife has the SR7 so, if we ever travel through Virginia, I'll feel less worried about it. Do you know if D.C. works the same way?

I'm assuming that you had it off or turned it off when pulled over...

Police across North America are now taking delivery of the nastiest little weapon to come along since the VG-2 radar detector detector. This new detector renders all stealth (read: undetectable) radar detectors useless.

The Spectre is a threat to everyone who owns a radar detector. In places where detectors are illegal it will result in fines, but in almost all jurisdictions it will certainly be used to prove intent. The Spectre 2 can be easily modified to detect any new technology that comes out in stealth detectors, according to Mike Valentine, maker of the famous V-1 radar detector. Prospect to defeat it are bleak, he says.

Recenty however I stumbled upon a bit of information that can drive the Spectre 2 nuts. If true, it seems that if you put a $20 air ionizer in your car it will set off the RDD quite efficiently. The Spectre 2, according to sources is already prone to false alarms also. So for those with radar detectors it's a good idea to get an air ionizer and point to it if you get pulled over.

Even if you don't use a radar detector get an ionizer anyway.

Bring it on I got a good radar detector and a better lawyer. :devil: