Beltronics STI radar problems.

[bully]

why is it my radar keeps crapping out? iv brought the proper mount and accessarys. but my 3rd radar has craped out! iv never been in the rain, its wired straight to the battery. the radar guy is stumped, it comes up with service required i send it back, they dont have the gear to test it so send me a new one every time, which is good, but im over them failing. the last one has only lasted a hour and a half, it seems each radar lasts shorter and shorter.im going to ask they replace it with a valentine.
has any one else had these problems?
i cant think what the cause is, surley i havnt had 3 duds?
it is good when it goes.

[Mikkel]

Shit happens.

But, how do you know that the radar has failed?

[bully]

Shit happens.

But, how do you know that the radar has failed?

beacause it comes up "service required" and doesnt work. if it needs a service after a total of two hours something must be wrong.

[more_fasterer]

Get your bike's electrical system checked out

[Crazy Steve]

The guy at www.radar.co.nz dosnt sell Sti's any more..

After replacing 10units to one customer in 12mths....

I had three Rx65's in 3mths and they all crapped out...

Crazy Steve..

[Mikkel]

Weird, my STi haven't had any issues in the one and a half year I've had it for.

[bully]

my bikes new so i expect the electrics to be fine, i have had no other electrical problems.
oh...so there are others failing, so theres a good chance the radars are just crap, the only thing i thort it could be was vibrations really.

[CrazyFrog]

My RX65 worked well, but it didn't like high humidity much on the bike, hell even sometimes in the car on crap days. I ignored the "service required" warnings it kept feeding me (I bought it in the USA so didn't have a NZ warranty), got it somewhere warm and dry and hey, presto, worked fine again the next day.
Worked great until the night some lowlife fucker stole it from my car...stoopid me for leaving it there in the first place. I hope it shat itself properly once he got his hands on it.

[Jdogg]

Get a v1 :Punk:

[CookMySock]

the only thing i thort it could be was vibrations really.thats what I reckon it is bro. Try a different type of mount maybe, or go to the valentine as you say.

Put your ungloved fingertip on the unit and cycle the engine through the rev range and see if theres a certain revs where it turns to a blur and wants to remove your fingerprint.

DB

[bully]

him, good thinking, maybe its like sweating in the rain cover. im getting droped off tomorrow, guna ask for a v1. but i just cant figure out why?

[Leong]

Don't know why you've had problems but can thoroughly recommend the V1, Had mine over 3 yrs now both in car and on bike. Love the arrows and they really proved their worth this weekend

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showpost.php?p=1710869&postcount=149

[Swoop]

him, good thinking, maybe its like sweating in the rain cover. im getting droped off tomorrow, guna ask for a v1. but i just cant figure out why?
You say that you have it connected directly to the battery???
A possibility here.

Get a v1 :Punk:
That is a downgrade from the STi. Look at the facts and you will see the difference in the two.

[Jdogg]

Swoop said That is a downgrade from the STi. Look at the facts and you will see the difference in the two.

Depends on what report you read, at the end of the day the sti LOOKS good on paper but I found it a little too over the top and without arrows what is the point in picking up a cop over 5k away? I have had aV1 for years and just recently got a sti to see what all they hype is about and gave it a good go over 3 months but just found the V1 just seems far more efficient in the real world, but hey ride with both and choose what suits you best.

[bully]

i was told it was best to go straight to the battery, so i did. maybe it is a problem, i dont know. its spose to say if the voltage goes too high or low but it hasnt so must be ok. its been a pretty good radar but im sick of it failing every couple of hours use on my bike! each new radar lasts a shorter and shorter time. the radar guy is pissed too, saying i must be doing somthing wrong, but im just using it!

[Swoop]

Depends on what report you read.
A fully independant one.
Have a look at the "detector threads", the link is posted there.
If you like arrows, stick with the V1.

[Gremlin]

I have been using mine for around 3/4 of a year, not all the time, but I would say a decent amount of use.

1 bike has it plugged into the front wiring loom, meaning it can only turn on when the bike is on, other is wired direct to battery. In both cases, I only plug the power cord in after the bike is running (in consideration to possible load on circuits). Its also lived in the plastic cover all its life (my arrangement means its sealed in, and I take the whole thing off).

Vibration wise, its only been on IL4 bikes, so not sure about a v-twin... may find out in a few months :blink:

Only issue for me is the HARD, its on the blink again, not wanting to flash... :2guns:

[bully]

same as me, mines il4. and the first one lasted about as long as yours did, but the last one has only been a matter of hours, i just plug it in when ever bike going or not.
just got a new hard too, it was failing using batterys in half an hour.

[robertydog]

Had mine for some time and not had any problems with the unit itself.
But i had a problem with the hard wire plug that goes in to the unit. It would cause the volume to go up and down and make the unit keep beeping. What i found was the plug was corroding due to me washing the bike and the weather if i didnt have the radar on. So i gave it a spray with crc to keep it clean and cover it up when washing the bike. Had no problems snice.

[bully]

well....i now have a valentine, while they probley pick up police the same,i do prefur the beltronics because its undetectable, where the v1 isnt. but for me i guess there no point having the beltronics if it keeps failing after a few hours use.

[Crazy Steve]

well....i now have a valentine, while they probley pick up police the same,i do prefur the beltronics because its undetectable, where the v1 isnt. but for me i guess there no point having the beltronics if it keeps failing after a few hours use.

i do prefur the beltronics because its undetectable

Question...How could a Radar detector ? Be Detected ?

It dosnt pump out any power ? ?...

Crazy Steve..

[bully]

somthing about leaking, thats why the bel has a magnesium case

[Salival]

It's something to do with the way the detector locates the signal. The way I understand it is that the detectors pick up interference on an oscillating frequency. Because they have to generate an oscillator, that in turn can be picked up.

The undetectable RDs aren't actually 'undetectable' - they've just shifted the oscillation out of the RD detector's active range.

Or something. I'm not entirely clear on this myself.

[Jantar]

...The undetectable RDs aren't actually 'undetectable' - they've just shifted the oscillation out of the RD detector's active range.....

That was the old technology. The newer ones don't have to shift the local oscillator frequency because they are shielded. ie no LO RF escape.

The Bel sti is fully shielded in a magnesium case, and is undectable.

[Gremlin]

The undetectable RDs aren't actually 'undetectable' - they've just shifted the oscillation out of the RD detector's active range.
This used to be the case with new detectors, they would change the frequency it output. Once the cops' guns were updated, they could be detected.

The new crop of detectors (I believe there may be more than the STI now) are truly undetectable by all current technology, and they claim they won't ever be detectable...

[CookMySock]

Question...How could a Radar detector ? Be Detected ? It dosnt pump out any power ? ?...Yes it does. A signal coming FROM the radar detector local oscillator gets back OUT through the antenna. The cops can detect this signal.



This used to be the case with new detectors, they would change the frequency it output. Once the cops' guns were updated, they could be detected.Yep.



The new crop of detectors (I believe there may be more than the STI now) are truly undetectable by all current technology, and they claim they won't ever be detectable...So it seems this is true. This heralds a new era in radar detectors, and effectively defeats anti radar detector legislation.

With the Beltronics STI Driver, BEL has apparently done the "impossible." They have managed to fabricate a superhetrodyne detector which does not produce LO leakage - typical of such detectors - which current RDDs (radar detector detectors) such as the STALCAR/SPECTRE rely upon to alert proximate detector usage.

* source http://www.laserveil.com/beltronics/bel/sti-driver/

Steve

[Ixion]

Correct. That's why older detectors will often "go off" when passing another vehicle that has a radar detector. Your detector is acting as a detector detector.

I believe that the detector works by generating a frequency that matches the radar units, and attempting to heterodyne that against the incoming frequency ( just like old superhet valve radios ). If they "match" then it knows that it has detected a radar unit.

But of course that heterodyne signal is itself a radio transmission, which could be detected by a (very sensitive) detector. Bel have managed to shield the transmitter so that no signal escapes.

[bully]

yer the bel is great....if it keeps working, aparently v1 havent upgraded there insides for 20 years.

[CookMySock]

I believe that the detector works by generating a frequency that matches the radar units, and attempting to heterodyne that against the incoming frequency ( just like old superhet valve radios ). If they "match" then it knows that it has detected a radar unit.A pretty close description of it. The incoming signal to be detected enters the horn antenna and then down a tunnel called a waveguide. In this tunnel they put a mixer diode and then fire a second locally-generated signal (called the Local Oscillator) into the same tunnel.

<img src="http://www.g3pho.free-online.co.uk/microwaves/solin.gif">

The trouble is, that Local Oscillator is facing straight back out the waveguide and the antenna. A very efficient transmitter!

The principle of operation is, the incoming signal mixes with the LO signal, and produces a third signal - the difference between them, at a much lower frequency than the incoming signal. They are doing this since a 34GHz signal is really really hard to process compared to a much much lower signal.


But of course that heterodyne signal is itself a radio transmission, which could be detected by a (very sensitive) detector.Again, pretty close. The heterodyne signal is the difference, or the signal that goes on for further processing.



Bel have managed to shield the transmitter so that no signal escapes.Actually, not quite. They are using a whole new technology, getting away from the old cavity/waveguide mixer system, and probably toward a printed-circuit stripline system using modern microwave integrated circuits. Why they haven't done this long ago baffles me, since MMICs have been cheaply available for some 20 years.

Anyway, by default the LO on these cannot get back past the mixer to the antenna - its quite a different technology.

Steve

[Stormer]

Correct. That's why older detectors will often "go off" when passing another vehicle that has a radar detector. Your detector is acting as a detector detector.

So that`s it.
My trusty Escort X50 sometimes sounds off, I slow back to 100kph, and ... nothing, just some random Joe Public car or truck...
I`ve been thinking of trading up to Escorts latest, but my ol` X50 just keeps on doing it`s thang and saving my butt!!