Radar detectors - Yeah right

[Naki Rat]

Some VERY good information given here guys! (thanks ).......

EDIT: Oh dear god... $899? That's expensive man.

There's a few Bel RX65s to pick from on Trade Me for under $500 new. Just make sure you get one that is tuned to NZ radar frequencies

[Winston001]

The earlier thread on radar detectors had a few posts from frustrated Beltronics STi owners. Seems that they have a high failure rate recently. I'd google a bit before laying out your cash. Love one myself but a bit hesitant because of the reliability question.

[firefighter]

There's a few Bel RX65s to pick from on Trade Me for under $500 new. Just make sure you get one that is tuned to NZ radar frequencies

I brought one brand new and sold in after a month of it failing to impress, ie, EVERTIME I passed a cop on the m-way, it didn't go off until It was veryvery close to me, say- 30m, it can't be coincidence that this happened everytime, and yes it was tuned for N.Z. And yes I did think to start with that the cops were just flicking their radars on and off, but it happened too many times and at the same distance it would pick them up, totally dis-satisfied with my RX65, I owned a cheaper one that was more reliable.
Not to mention these go off every 5 seconds when passing shops, worst detector iv'e used, I never had this problem with my cheap detectors and they picked up oplice radar far earlier than the RX65, maybe it was a dud one I dunno, but I'd stick with a valentine or STI

[more_fasterer]

That's completely at odds with the RX65 I bought from Puddytat recently. Compared to my old Vector LR, it has better range (which was already good, i.e. 2+km in open rolling country) and FAR less falsing. Compared to my mate's 995 it's also better in terms of range & falsing.

Maybe you did have a dud one?

[firefighter]

That's completely at odds with the RX65 I bought from Puddytat recently. Compared to my old Vector LR, it has better range (which was already good, i.e. 2+km in open rolling country) and FAR less falsing. Compared to my mate's 995 it's also better in terms of range & falsing.

Maybe you did have a dud one?

Im starting to think that, it was an absolute piece, and I guess it would have to be ok otherwise none would have sold huh? It is hard to give something expensive like that a second chance though.

[Gizzit]

There's a few Bel RX65s to pick from on Trade Me for under $500 new. Just make sure you get one that is tuned to NZ radar frequencies

I may be wrong ... and I'm sure someone will tell me if I am, but the local retailers feed us bullshit about having to have a detector "tuned to NZ radar frequencies".
The detectors are all the same. All we have to do in NZ, is turn off the X band and the K band. Apparently we don't have either of those bands used in NZ now. I think it is quite easy to do that with most detectors sold here, .... and that is all there is too it! ....

[Jantar]

I may be wrong ... and I'm sure someone will tell me if I am, but the local retailers feed us bullshit about having to have a detector "tuned to NZ radar frequencies".
The detectors are all the same. All we have to do in NZ, is turn off the X band and the K band. Apparently we don't have either of those bands used in NZ now. I think it is quite easy to do that with most detectors sold here, .... and that is all there is too it! ....

That is correct. I imported my Bel from the states and simply turned off the K and X bands. No special tuning required.

[MarkH]

"tuned to NZ radar frequencies"

Could you imagine how much more it would cost the NZ police to have custom made radar units just for them? Obviously they just buy overseas units and have them fitted to their cars so radar detectors that work overseas also work here. Most likely local merchants are spouting BS to prevent you parallel importing from overseas and doing them out of a sale.

[Gizzit]

Could you imagine how much more it would cost the NZ police to have custom made radar units just for them? Obviously they just buy overseas units and have them fitted to their cars so radar detectors that work overseas also work here. Most likely local merchants are spouting BS to prevent you parallel importing from overseas and doing them out of a sale.

EXACTLY !!!!!

[Delerium]

Can somebody tell me how a detector can be detected. is not a passive device that alerts the user when incoming RF is detected, in which case it CANNOT be picked up. IF it can be detected that would suggest it is somehow active.

[Jantar]

Can somebody tell me how a detector can be detected. is not a passive device that alerts the user when incoming RF is detected, in which case it CANNOT be picked up. IF it can be detected that would suggest it is somehow active.

It has a local oscillator as part of the hetrodyne circuitry. All oscillators will emit a small signal, and a detector tuned to this frequency can detect it. The real way of preventing this small leaked signal is to have totall shielding like the Bel Sti.

[Reckless]

So does turning it on its side help??

Seems like a bit of bull to me but those who are in the know give us the heads up on this!!

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-191519168.htm


Bel & Escort - Verticle Mounting Bracket extends range against multanovas.

The Beltronics and Escort vertical mounting bracket extends the range of a variety of radar detector models manufactured by these two companies against the Multanova 6F camera used in New Zealand & Australia and in any other country where the 6F version of the Multanova is used. Why? If you don't match the polarization of the emitting RF signal of a speed trap, it can reduce range significantly. For most police radar it doesn't matter - most police radar antennas have "circular polarization" so you'll get the same range whether the detector is mounted vertically or horizontally. But the multanova is different: it is horizontally polarized, while the radar detectors are normally vertically polarized, hence you'll get the most range by turning the detector on it's side to match the multanova's polarization! Some tests have shown performance increases ranging from 20-40%.

It is suitable for use in radar detector models:

Bel STi XR
Escort X50
Bel RX65, RX55
Bel XR70
Bel Vector 965

*This is not suitable for use with the Escort 9500i.


BTW: my X50 works well, not to many false alerts and detects good. One on one, I still think your gone unless your really really quick but generally a damn good investment!
$300-00 on tard me near new still in its box with all the manuals etc!

[Winston001]

That is correct. I imported my Bel from the states and simply turned off the K and X bands. No special tuning required.

Even importing from the USA I'm assuming it cost NZ$600 with shipping at least. Electronics are tricky beasts so what are your options in terms of warranty? Repair?

I'm keen on a Bel STi but maybe I could just slow down.......

[Racey Rider]

Always surprises me that people don't hide their detectors a in less obvious place on their bike. Surly if cop does pull you over for whatever reason, they're going to ticket you for everything they can if they see a detector on your bike.
Also about the screamer option. Do screamers stay on 'screaming' until you hit an off button? Can you get one that does a 2 second scream then stops so its not screaming as you drive past the cop?

Anyone run into problems with insurance by having a detector on-board?
Undisclosed 'accessory' on your bike that may influence insurance company to decline your claim??? Do they ask come claim time?

[sinned]

Always surprises me that people don't hide their detectors a in less obvious place on their bike. Surly if cop does pull you over for whatever reason, they're going to ticket you for everything they can if they see a detector on your bike.

I had a cop stop me for 115kph. The radar detector was in full view and he couldn't help but noticed me quickly slow down. No ticket. The cop just advised me to watch my speed - 'on these big bikes'.