Howdy,
I'm gonna be spending a good amount of money on a radar detector, so I want to make sure I get the best one. I want to hear some reviews. Let me know which ones you have and how well they work for you.

I hear Valentine1 is very good, but it's going for $400. It has aentannas in the front and back. Does the Escort have that?

How about the Escort Passport 8500? This one's $300 and it looks like it gets the job done. But is it worth it to spend the extra $100 and get the Valentine1?

Let me know what you think.
Thanks <img border="0" alt="[guns]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_guns.gif" />

 

Valentine 1 hands down.

 

Alot of ppl say the V1 is the best but I've been lead to question that. For one is big and ugly and a magnet for thieves. Its X and K band sensitivity is as good as any but its Ka band is horrible, and since most police are switching or have switched to Ka band, the V1 is a waste of money. I would go with the Passport. I have one and can personally vouch for its range, I can pick up cops usually over a mile in any direction. Look on the net, you can usually find it for about $250 or so.

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by SuperSound99SS:
<strong>Alot of ppl say the V1 is the best but I've been lead to question that. For one is big and ugly and a magnet for thieves. Its X and K band sensitivity is as good as any but its Ka band is horrible, and since most police are switching or have switched to Ka band, the V1 is a waste of money. I would go with the Passport. I have one and can personally vouch for its range, I can pick up cops usually over a mile in any direction. Look on the net, you can usually find it for about $250 or so.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hmmm...actually MY V1 beat YOUR Passport(8500) in both City/Hwy in Steady State and Instant-On for X, K, and ESPECIALLY Ka band in Car and Driver's last radar shoot-out. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" />

Also the current models are in a slim case that's been out for quite some time now.

The V1 also had no more Hwy false alarms than the Passport but did have more in the city. This can be reduced though with a couple pushes of the button to turn on a filter. I prefer to leave mine on as I've learned where those falses are so that when it picks up 2 or more radars, I know to look out for cops hiding in those false alarm areas.

Of course the be all end all for the V1 is the arrows. I'm sure ALL V1 owners will agree. When the alarm goes off, I look at the display and it shows me the alarm is behind me and gaining strength. Give it enough time and sure enough, here comes a cop. Or...I get one little Ka brap showing ahead of me... <img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="images/icons/confused.gif" /> ...hmmm, Hey, there's Mr. Popo sitting in the parking lot popping people as they go by, oblivious to his whereabouts.

I know, because I have arrows! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="gr_images/icons/wink.gif" />

<small>[ October 17, 2002, 02:11 AM: Message edited by: WEASEL ]</small>

 

No need to flame man <img border="0" alt="[Banging Head]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_banghead.gif" /> ....check out www.radartest.com

they seem to disagree with ur statement.....in either case the V1 and Passport are the best $$ can buy...with the passport being somewhat cheaper..........oh and be sure to check out the how police radar works section on that site...very interesting stuff...seems police radar isn't as good as we all thought it was <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" />

 

I used to have a V1, which was pretty good. I'm NOT saying anything bad about it, and the bogey counter and remote displays were nice features.

That being said, I recently got an Escort Passport SRX installed. WOW!!! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="gr_eek2.gif" /> It is an amazing piece of work. It is about as sensitive as you can get, and it REALLY does the job with laser jamming. I actually got pulled over because the state trooper couldn't get a speed reading on me at 75'.

 

I bought a BEL 946 cordless for my new car. It may not be the best, but it gives plenty of warning and I'm real happy with it.Cordless gives it a "neat" appearance.

2002 T/A Firehawk,M6 Hurst,spoiler,Auburn,chrome.

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by SuperSound99SS:
<strong>No need to flame man <img border="0" alt="[Banging Head]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_banghead.gif" /> ....check out www.radartest.com

they seem to disagree with ur statement.....in either case the V1 and Passport are the best $$ can buy...with the passport being somewhat cheaper..........oh and be sure to check out the how police radar works section on that site...very interesting stuff...seems police radar isn't as good as we all thought it was <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" /> </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">radartest.com has been covered man. This guy had a beef with Mike Valentine and therefore deliberately misrepresented the V1 in that test. The guy even grossly mislead people by blatantly reporting things incorrectly about the V1 (things that don't change, like size/weight, etc he just has them listed totally wrong).

Anyway, V1 used to have a link on their site telling the truth about this guy that did the radartest.com report, also no magazines will use him anymore because of his rediculous testing methods (even though he 'used to be' well respected as a tester).

V1 all the way man, no other choice don't even think about it! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" />

 

really...interesting...well that changes my perspective a lil bit....in either case the V1 and the Passport are the best on the market...just depends on much $$ u willing to spend

 

Cool, check on ebay usually it's hard to find even a USED Valentine1 selling for much less than $250 (it was a few months ago, I stopped pricing them there after I bought my 2nd one though), that is a good thing to me (that they hold their value so well).

Plus, they have recently redesigned the case a bit (18 mos ago?) so it isn't so big/bulky. A big deal is the ability to be able to send it back to Mike Valentine and pay a fee to have the 'guts' of your unit replaced with brand new parts years down the road. That's cool!

 

I've ran the whistler, bel, passport, etc. now have V1. Buddy was running passport 8500 til followed me to Big D. Then decided to buy himself V1. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" /> One ticket will pay for it!!!!!! Always heard you get what you pay for....chevy nova is cheaper than ZZZZZ ??? But hey: Your choice & your <img border="0" alt="[Fluffy]" title="" src="graemlins/fluffy.gif" /> $$$ <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="gr_images/icons/wink.gif" />

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by SuperSound99SS:
<strong>No need to flame man <img border="0" alt="[Banging Head]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_banghead.gif" /> ....check out www.radartest.com

they seem to disagree with ur statement.....in either case the V1 and Passport are the best $$ can buy...with the passport being somewhat cheaper..........oh and be sure to check out the how police radar works section on that site...very interesting stuff...seems police radar isn't as good as we all thought it was <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" /> </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">No flame intended. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="gr_images/icons/wink.gif" /> I was just trying to get your goat. <img border="0" alt="[jester]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_jest.gif" /> I figured radartest was where you were getting your info.

I'm not bashing the Passport either. I honestly haven't had another detector besides the V1 in probably almost 9 years. I honestly got more tickets with them than without them. They were a false sense of security so I started relying more on paying attention to my surroundings.

The only tickets I got after that were basically the instant-on guys which was still too much. I learned to start...um...ahem...out-manuevering them. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="gr_images/icons/wink.gif" /> That gets kinda tricky so I decided to buy the V1 and honestly don't know what I'd do without it.

The sensitivity is great as I mentioned in the tests but the arrows are the icing on the cake. They sound somewhat simple but within a couple of weeks with the V1, you really start learning how to read the warnings and will be amazed how useful it is.

One kind of ironic thing is that the range is so good that several times I've caught just one little BRAP signal ahead and thought, "hah, instant-on ahead", only to drive a mile or more and no cop. Just about the time I start to second guess the V1's accuracy and.....BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!!! BINGO! There he is. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" /> Drive by, smile, wave! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="gr_tounge.gif" />

 

What's the best way to use these radar detectors? Should you leave them on at all times, or just turn it on when you need it? Let's say you're doing the speed limit by a cop, but your detector scrambles his readout, does he have the right to pull you over and issue a ticket?

And my last question...
Isn't there some radar club where if you join up you get a free detector and newsletters with the newest radar technology out, and stuff like that? I know I was at the website a while ago, but I can't find it now.

Thanks for your help <img border="0" alt="[guns]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_guns.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[kaboom]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_bomb.gif" />

 

<img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="images/icons/confused.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="images/icons/confused.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="images/icons/confused.gif" />

Okay, wait a minute. A radar detector does just what the name implies. It detects radar.

Radar detectors are like an ear pointed forward on your car. Pretend that a radar is actually a horn. When it's pointed away from you the sound will be fainter. Like if a cop is ahead of you and traveling in the same direction OR has passed you going in the opposite direction. To the side, a little louder such as a cop sitting off in a parking lot somewhere as you go by. And towards you, really loud like meeting you on the road or laying in ambush beside the road facing traffic.

Some radars are better than others. Some are like trying to hear the horn with earplugs in. Some are like normal ears and others are like having a huge cone around your ear to funnel in as much sound as possible. This translates to their sensitivity to radar.

A radar detector like the V1 has the equivalent of two ears. One pointed forward and one pointed backwards. It also has a feature (arrows) to tell you WHICH ear is hearing the horn so you can more accurately tell where the signal is coming from and if you should be worried or not by also watching the signal strength meter.

If the arrow points behind and the strength meter is gradually getting less, then good chances are that you have passed an active radar or it's traveling in the opposite direction.

More commonly, if the arrow points ahead and the strength meter is getting stronger, you're probably coming up on radar.

This is where the arrows come in VERY handy compared to most other radar detectors. You're driving with a regular detector and you get a short blast on your signal meter. Maybe you slow down and look for a cop but not seeing one, you speed back up. It happens again. Not having arrows you may assume that the cop is ahead of you and that you will simply slow down when he comes into sight. The problem is that he's behind you, slowly catching up to you and shooting traffic coming the other way. Problem is when he gets to you in your nice little sports car, it's tooo late. AND, when he sees you've got a radar detector or sees you trying to hide it, you've guaranteed yourself a ticket.

The arrows on the V1 let you know, "Hey, leadfoot, he's behind you." If the strength meter increases, he's also gaining on you. It's pretty easy to start putting 2 and 2 together to figure out if you should be worried or not.

The ABSOLUTE worst enemy to you is instant-on radar and NO detector is immune to it BUT the V1 again gives a better chance of seeing him before he sees you.

A cop can put his radar in instant-on mode so that on his command, it becomes active and shoots you with radar, often at point blank range so that you have no chance of slowing down. This can be while he's mnoving or sitting still.

Like the example above you may just get a short "beep" from your radar detector but with most detectors, you don't know where it's coming from...maybe just a general idea if it's close or not. If you pay attention and are lucky enough to get another warning and see that the signal is stronger, you are better able to avoid a ticket, then again, maybe not.

Again, with the V1, even with a short beep the arrows will light up to let you know if the signal is ahead, beside or behind you giving you a better warning.

Still, if you're the first person he zaps with no prior warning to the radar then your options become somewhat limited.....disappear or hope for mercy.

Lastly, I think what you're thinking about is a radar jammer. Everything I've seen about today's magazine ad "jammers" say that they are absolute garbage and do nothing to jam radar. One article said that one model actually enhanced the radars ability to clock the vehicle.

The ONLY jammer that I have ever seen that was effective was one called the Stealth/VRCD. The engineer (David Sullivan) was basically run out of business by the FCC with lawsuits. The design was sold and copied but was supposedly a pale comparison of it's former self. The VRCD also only detected X and K band but did it with amazing ability. I think it was Car and Driver who put it on the biggest truck at the time ('95 Dodge Ram) to make it an easy target for radar. In conclusion, the truck had to be within something like 100 feet to even be acknowledged by the radar gun.

A V1 is your best bet IMO. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="gr_images/icons/wink.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" />

 

This post will tell you how to make the perfect "stealth" car.

Radar jammers are lousy. Make no bones about that. DO NOT waste your money on any of them. There is a trick that works for me at the end of this post. those who read on will be rewarded.

--Laser:
Laser jammers, on the other hand, are wonderful. They emit a cloud of high frequency "noise" that confuses laser signals, and renders them useless when they try to get a bead on you. Most models work fine.

--Speed cameras/red light cameras:
You can buy plate prisms from any number of sources. These refract the light from several different angles, rendering at least half of your lisence plate unreadable. When viewed head on, however, the plates appear normal.

--Radar:
Can radar be jammed? Yes. Is it legal? Yes. is it safe? Yes, with precautions. Go to your local high school (if you're still in it) or your local teachers' supply store. Pick up a small piece of radioactive material, called a gamma emitter. Fashion a small metal cup and place the gamma emitter inside. It's a good idea to make a solenoid driven lid for it, so you can shut it when not in use. The metal cup and firewall will protect you from any damaging rays. When active (open), any radar targetting you will register your speed at 404 mph, no matter what your current rate of speed. Even if the cop gives you a ticket, it will never hold up in court. Unless your car can DO 404 mph...

Happy motoring! <img border="0" alt="[Burnout]" title="" src="graemlins/burnout.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[devil]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_devil.gif" />

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by mhulslan:
<strong>--Radar:
Can radar be jammed? Yes. Is it legal? Yes. is it safe? Yes, with precautions. Go to your local high school (if you're still in it) or your local teachers' supply store. Pick up a small piece of radioactive material, called a gamma emitter. Fashion a small metal cup and place the gamma emitter inside. It's a good idea to make a solenoid driven lid for it, so you can shut it when not in use. The metal cup and firewall will protect you from any damaging rays. When active (open), any radar targetting you will register your speed at 404 mph, no matter what your current rate of speed. Even if the cop gives you a ticket, it will never hold up in court. Unless your car can DO 404 mph...
</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">...and you have this device on your car?

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by WEASEL:
...and you have this device on your car?</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ummmmmmmmmmmm... maybe! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[angel]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_angel.gif" />

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by mhulslan:
<strong> </font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by WEASEL:
...and you have this device on your car?</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ummmmmmmmmmmm... maybe! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[angel]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_angel.gif" /> </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Pictures are worth a thousand words. Maybe more depending on what the picture's of. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="gr_images/icons/wink.gif" />

 

Have you ever tried to take a picture of a radioactive substance? If ypu use film, you get severe overexposure. If you use a digital camera, the radiation knocks out the camera for about a day.

 

Lets see some pics of your little rig without the radioactive stuff