Although the external case has remained basically the same through the years, the Valentine One V1 is a top-flight instrument to detect all bands of radar as well as LIDAR. Owners swear by the effectiveness of its front-panel direction arrows. While it offers the highest level of sensitivity, its level of user-friendliness, overall protection, and value falls just a bit short of competitive units.

By far the largest and heaviest unit tested, the Valentine uses a single rotary switch with concentric ring to control on/off, audio level, mute level and two "logic" modes that filter X band. We feel that's about four functions too many. So do the competition, all of whom allocate these key functions to separate switches for faster, simpler operation.

The Valentine One's audio alerts are reasonably distinct although its audio level was the lowest of the bunch. Like the Escort Passport 8500 it can warn of multiple radar signals although the Passport not only displays band ID but also the relative signal strength of each, helping to prioritize the threat. One unique V1 feature is the Radar Locator, claimed to pinpoint the direction of incoming radar beams. Under optimal conditions--detector mounted high on the windshield with a panoramic view and with a relatively strong signal on a steady bearing--we found the directional arrows generally accurate.

But we quickly learned to distrust the bogey counter's truthfulness. For example, in bucolic Campo, Colorado, a village of 121 souls, the Valentine shrieked a strident warning of three simultaneous microwave threats. Yet the hamlet has no police radar at all, largely because it has no police department. In larger metropolitan areas we noticed this Chicken Little behavior even more, often being bombarded by alerts for eight or nine simultaneous threats while sitting gridlocked in traffic, a major nuisance. Truth is, radar to the side poses no threat at all and radar from behind is scarcely worthy of more attention. Go to How Police Radar Works and Speed Trap 101 to learn why. We'd prefer to not to be annoyed by incessant warnings of microwave ovens in roadside eateries and door openers at every Safeway store. Just let us know when there's a real threat up ahead and keep quiet the rest of the time.

Features notable by their absence include auto mute (manual only), user-programmable features (the BEL has seven, the Passport nine), text display, voice alerts, selectable band defeat and tutorial mode. A photoelectric cell automatically dims the displays but there's no provision to darken them or tailor the brightness to personal preference. The lack of a dark mode is a problem due to the enormous red directional arrows, red status LEDs and large red "bogey counter" which together produce nearly enough illumination to read road maps at night. Mounted squarely in the middle of the windshield--a requirement if the "radar locator" and rear radar antenna are to function--the Valentine One draws detector-poor drivers like moths to a porch light, who then glom onto the rear bumper and refuse to leave. Disapproving police officers find it equally attractive, as do most thieves. Linking the V1 with an optional remote display ($39 plus shipping) extinguishes the light show but the extra wiring contributes to cockpit clutter and installation hassles. We'd prefer one button and a choice of display brightness.

If this were 1991, with X and K-band radar the primary threats, the Valentine One would have fared much better in this shootout. In the straightaway test, in unfiltered X-band mode it heard the radar from 7.5 miles away, good for a solid first-place ranking. At the same site it also scored within feet of the BEL and Escort in the X band city mode and K band tests. It was considerably less adept on Ka band, trailing the BEL and Escort by nearly 17,000 feet, almost 3.2 miles, and a critical shortcoming in an era when Ka- band radar guns are everywhere.

In the X-band highway/curve test it eked 68 more feet than the second-place Passport 8500 but achieved less than one third the Passport's range on X-band city. On Ka band it belatedly issued an alert only a few feet before the radar locked-on to our speed. It did somewhat better against lasers, weighing in with a first-place finish in field of view and third place in maximum range, within a few feet of the Escort and BEL.

Still capable of putting up a good show against X and K-band radar and lasers, with its stratospheric price tag, minimal features and quirky ergonomics the V1 is an also-ran compared to modern detectors. Celebrating its tenth birthday next year, making it the oldest model on the market, the V1 is clearly showing its age.

Most Invisible To Radar Detector/Detectors-VG-2, Spectre II, MD-3
Bel 985, Passport 8500, Valentine One

Best At Detecting POP Modes-Bee III Ka, Z-25 K
Bel 985, Cobra 9870, Passport 8500, Whistler 1793, Whistler 1783

Best Straight Line Detection X, K, Ka
Bel 985, Passport 8500, PNI Zodiac, Valentine One, Whistler 1783, Whistler 1793

Best Maximum Range Over The Hill
Bel 985, Passport 8500, PNI Zodiac, Valentine One

Best Laser Detection
Bel 985, Cobra 9870, Passport 8500, Passport SR7, PNI Zodiac, Valentine One, Whistler 1793

Best Radar From The Rear
Bel 985, Passport 8500, Valentine One, Whistler 1783

Why am I getting laser alarms when I follow some cars?

Red neon is occasionally used for the CHMSL (Center High Mounted Stop Lamp) on new cars. We know of these models: GM Trailblazer and Envoy, the Lincoln Mk VIII and the latest BMW 3-series convertible.

These lights use a neon-plasma light source. The red lens allows red visible light to pass, and also invisible energy near infrared. The source is powered by a pulsating voltage on a frequency that happens to be similar to the repetition rate of legitimate laser-gun pulse trains. In other words, the CHMSLs have an invisible energy leakage that’s nearly identical to the beam used by traffic laser. If we suppress the interference, we’re likely to damage laser sensitivity.

If you’re really bothered by this interference, you can disable V1’s laser reception. You can reprogram V1 yourself. Here’s a link to the instructions on our website: http://www.valentine1.com/lab/mikeslabrpt3.asp