Radar

[Jackrat]

OK, so who has any real life experiance with Radar Detectors.
Don,t bother repeating what ya, mates,brothers,cousins,mums,dad told ya,cause thats crap.And if ya, trying to sell one,keep that to ya, self to,cause thats even more crap.Who has one and how well does it work in real life,IE Camera vans,sneaky coppers hiding behind a tree,ect.
Don,t bother with the mistical cop who knows how to use an eagle properly,I want to know how they really work.Will they pick up the cop trailing you for some distance ?? And how much real time do you have to react.
Thanks.

[Marmoot]

Escort8500 for almost a year now.

Saved me about 8-10 times already from "10-20kph over" situations.
In a straight plain, detections ranged to about 2.2km (as tested in a stretch of road in Hamilton and some parts of S.Island).
Gives about 6-10 seconds warning for mobile (van) speed cameras in the Auckland Mway; saved me twice from "speeding due to innatention" (careless driving?).

Still doesn't give much confident if you think about the instant-on cops (I don't brake that good) and laser (They'll get your speed right when they squeeze that trigger), hence I don't mainly use it for speeding. Only for awareness (hey hey I dont need to stare to my speedo) and perfect for confident overtaking maneuvres in open roads.

If I want to speed, I'll go to the backroads where there's no traffic and unplug the damn detector. If I get caught, I guess I deserve it.

[wkid_one]

Generally very good. As per Marmoot - I run the 8500. Generally gives you plenty of warning of the cops running the Ka radar. If they are on instant on or stationary using the laser you are fecked - jammer is the only thing that will give you any hope here.

IN saying that - the majority of cops are too fecken lazy to run in instant on mode - most just run with the radar on - seldom do I pass a cop and not have the detector go if when they are carrying a unit. They work to the law of averages - most people don't have detectors.

Cameras they will generally give you about 100-150m from a mobile (not Fixed - as these use the ripple strip NOT Ka) - depending on how cunning the cop has set the van up.....if they tuck it in - you will obviously get less distance warning.

8500 is pretty good - to the point whereby you can get a Ka hit and think it is a false - only to catch up with the cop who is 4-5 cars ahead of you. This is common in the hills and valleys in the central north island - where a cop will crest a hill and broadcast the Ka signal unimpeded for miles. Bel Valentine is the same.

I agree with Mar - given the focus of the cops using Laser in the 'hot spots' - the radar is useless. It is good on the open road if you intend to cruise at say 120-125kph as you have enuf time to brake, but not for out and out hooning.

I am running a jammer at the moment in the work car - and this tends to work better than the detector for confidence. Hard wired in under the front grill - with an on/off toggle switch under the steering wheel and a speaker in the dash - seems to do the trick. Much more preferrable than the detector imho.

The other option is to travel everywhere faster than the Ka units register?? But I think that would raise a cops suspicions.

[k14]

Yeah, i've had a Bel 985 for about 6 months now. Has saved me and my mates numerous amounts of times.

Just the same as wkid and marmoot. If the cop isn't lazy and does pulses the radar then you are screwed, same for laser. But it is good for the speed cameras and cops on the side of the road.

But it is costly, if you want to get one dont go cheap cause with radars you get what you pay for. If you arent going to get either the Valentine 1 the Escort Passport 8500 or a Bel 985/990 then you are wasting your time. All of those have a similar level of performance, they just have a few different features from each other.

[Jackrat]

Thanks for your replys fella,s.
They were just what I was looking for.Now another question.
Are jammers legal,and do they give a warning when they are at work,Does the cop know he has been jammed??
Thanks again.

[wkid_one]

They do give a warning similar to a detector.

Technically they are illegal if you read the Land Transport Act as running with equipment that interferes with the Police speed detection equipment is illegal.

Section 55. Tampering with vehicle surveillance equipment--- (1) A person
commits an offence if the person---
(a) Tampers with approved vehicle surveillance equipment; or
(b) Interferes with---
(i) Approved vehicle surveillance equipment; or
(ii) The operation of approved vehicle surveillance equipment.

They key phrase here is 55.1.b.ii - interferes with operation of approved vehicle surveillance equipment. By the letter of the law - this makes jammers illegal as it effective prevents the equipment from taking a reading of your speed - whereas detectors only alert you to the presence of something operating on the Ka band. However- I haven't heard of anyone being convicted for using one - yet!

And yes - if the cop is any good - he will know he is being jammed.

[spudchucka]

For the price you pay for these things I just don't recon they are worth it. I would rather spend the $900 + bucks on my bike.

Drive with common sense and your eyes open and you just won't get caught speeding. I haven't had a speeding ticket for roughly 20 years, (showing my age).

Besides this I can tell you that one of the favourite items for thieves to steal from cars is a Radar Detector. Why put yourself at risk by having one.

As I've said before if the cop is using the speed detection equipment correctly, your detector will not save you. Best defence is to drive with your eyes open.

[wkid_one]

I disagree Spud (funny that).

Your detector only has to save you a handful of times to pay itself back in fines - not to mention the demerit points.

Also - you are working on the assumption that the cops run their units 'properly'. With many one cop HWP vehicles - they are often too lazy to do this. Those driving with detectors/jammers make up the minority on the road - therefore the law of averages suggests the effort involved in doing this doesn't outweight the benefits.

Also - with everything else to concentrate on on the road (idiot drivers etc) - I'd rather have something with much greater and precise vision (detector) looking for the cops for me - one less thing to worry about.

As for having it stolen from your car? Surely people are smart enough not to leave it in plain sight?

As for not having speeding tickets - I went 14 years without one - and got 2 in 2 weeks - both of which would have been avoided if I had the detector on the bike. And both were for extremely slow speeds for the conditions (<130)

You take you chances with your eyes - I'll rely on running my jammer and detector.

[Jackrat]

Hey spud,maybe you didn,t read my original post,The first part of it was aimed at you.

[andy1]

Get a Valentine1! for sure the best. had one for awhile now and they rock.

i recommend no one listen to Mr grandma Spudchucka, either u drive like my grandma or you have eyes like superman.

[What?]

Get a Valentine1! for sure the best. had one for awhile now and they rock.

To be a nit-picking mongrel (one of my talents...), they are rated a very close second behind the Passport 8500 in every review I've found on this web thingy.

A detector can still save you from instant-on as well, provided that you are not the target. You might just get forewarning as the cop ahead checks on other vehicles.

My detector saved me lots of times. Unfortunately it is now obsolete, so I need a new one. I intend to buy from the USA as it is incredibly less expensive than here. And to anyone who thinks the American market is different to here, where do you think the cops radar gear is made? And do you really believe that they get special spec's for NZ?

[Coldkiwi]

they don't need to cost $900. you can get (read, I have) the 8500 off the net in this country for just over $600 all inclusive. thats about two decent speeding tickets by my reckoning.

well worth it... I've had about 1km+ warning on a mobile van down by matamata.. i could barely see the van when the detector went nuts!

[mangell6]

ColdKiwi

$600 is only ONE speeding ticket.

Blackbird has a radar detector and has 'assisted' him on numerous occasions, and JackRat I can provide the email where he told me, quite a good laugh really.

[Marmoot]

I'd put my money on Valentine1, sacrifice a (very) little bit of detection range to those flashy arrows. Those arrows indicate where the signal comes from, thus enable you more to judge if it is a false alarm or not.
Too bad Val1 is too pricey for me.

As for the "not getting ticket", things have changed so much lately. 4 years ago you can cruise 130-140 all the way from Auckland to Hamilton anytime of day of the week of the year without even the 1% chance of getting caught. Today, if you do that and not get caught, you are quite lucky. And, maybe next year if you cruise at the speed limit and not get caught you would be considered very very lucky. Roadside taxation got to its brutal times in less than the last 3 years.

I'm not worried about speeding. I'm very worried about inattentive speed creep, and for me staring down the speedo 90% of the time is just unsafe. (especially in a car, since your foot is much less sensitive than your wrist).

[XRNR]

I'm not worried about speeding. I'm very worried about inattentive speed creep, and for me staring down the speedo 90% of the time is just unsafe. (especially in a car, since your foot is much less sensitive than your wrist).

Aint that the truth!


(Doesn't fit Jackrats eligibility of a valid post but others may be interested.)

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