Radar detectors - what's best?

[jono035]

I wouldn't be 100% on the directional stuff anyway, a lot of the signal you get outside line of sight will be reflections which could mean the guy is absolutely anywhere. I can't see the directional thing being worth anything other than being fancier.

If my detector makes noise, I slow down to the speed limit. If it stops making noise I wait a minute or 2 then let my speed creep up again.

[bully]

heres some real world info for ya. i had the belltronic sti, 3 of them to be actually. they are the better ones i think, better than the v1 i have now!
so you might ask why do you have a v1 then. well it seems my late model inline four wrecked them, i had all the proper and expensive gear but they kept on failing, the radar guy couldnt figure out why, maybe to much vibes or too much heat nobody new, which sucked because i really liked the sti!
the guy just kept replacing them for me but after 3 or 4 of them and only being able to ride half an hour then it would pack a sad and ask for a service, i couldnt go on and had to move to the next best,l v1. so beware, keep your warrenty. the guys at mad sounds know me well now!

[NSR-Dan]

Yeah, but it also gets much higher rates of false-alarm in real world conditions from memory. It also costs a heap more.

A false alarm is better than no alarm. nothing wrong with slowing down when you should be anyway.

[boomer]

I wouldn't be 100% on the directional stuff anyway, a lot of the signal you get outside line of sight will be reflections which could mean the guy is absolutely anywhere. I can't see the directional thing being worth anything other than being fancier.

If my detector makes noise, I slow down to the speed limit. If it stops making noise I wait a minute or 2 then let my speed creep up again.

It's accompanied by how strong and the number of 'hits' that receiver receives. The module is quite smart.

Theres no point having a radar detector that doesn't cover your ass; literally.

My V1 doesn't false.. ever.

[jono035]

It's accompanied by how strong and the number of 'hits' that receiver receives. The module is quite smart.

Theres no point having a radar detector that doesn't cover your ass; literally.

My V1 doesn't false.. ever.

Good to know they got that sorted out. You can pick up a hell of a lot from the RF splashing off metal objects but that doesn't work quite so well when you're in the middle of nowhere.

A false alarm is better than no alarm. nothing wrong with slowing down when you should be anyway.

You do get why people have radar detectors, right? And true, false alarm better than no alarm, but accurate alarm is better still.

[boomer]

Good to know they got that sorted out. You can pick up a hell of a lot from the RF splashing off metal objects but that doesn't work quite so well when you're in the middle of nowhere.



You do get why people have radar detectors, right? And true, false alarm better than no alarm, but accurate alarm is better still.

RF will propagate of any object mate

[jono035]

RF will propagate of any object mate

Nah, gotta have something with good conductivity for it to reflect. A tree is useless as an RF reflector for instance. (I'm an Electrical Engineer )

[boomer]

Nah, gotta have something with good conductivity for it to reflect. A tree is useless as an RF reflector for instance. (I'm an Electrical Engineer )

So mr Electrical Engineer, are you telling me that if im in the whop whops and there are no man made objects i wont pick up scatter, propogated Rf waves or radar hits other than those directed directly at me?

[jono035]

So mr Electrical Engineer, are you telling me that if im in the whop whops and there are no man made objects i wont pick up scatter, propogated Rf waves or radar hits other than those directed directly at me?

I never said anything about manmade, I said conductive. And you will, but it will be not be as effective, relying more on dispersion and diffraction than reflection. Also you will get reflections off the surfaces of the car you are in and I don't know what the gain plot of the feedhorn antennas look like either.

Basically it's a crap shoot, but it will definitely be a hell of a lot less signal than an equivalent situation in an urban environment.

Edit: Bear in mind that 'directed directly at me' isn't really the way it works either, the radar gun will basically be spraying RF all over the damn place...

I was just trying to provide more information but it looks like this conversation may be taking a turn towards the heated side, which I'm not particularly interested in with respect to radar detectors. Use what works, if you like the V1 then congrats, good choice. I haven't been ticketed with my Escort 8500 and am also extremely happy with its performance. Ultimately that's all that really matters and it all becomes relatively meaningless if they shift to non-radar based speed measurement.