Radar detectors, again!

[Lou Girardin]

Just spent an informative hour testing our laser jammer with the help of a guy that imports all the top detectors, etc. He's has one of the latest Stalker laser guns that our cops are using, supposedly has anti-jamming capability. We found that our prototype still needs developement, coverage is poor, but at least it works.
Our old generation laser jammers still work OK on the Stalker, which surprised him. Wouldn't be too safe on large cars, but fine for bikes. He was a mine of info though, apparently BEL own Escort/Passport now. It's the same guts in a different box. BEL have a new range coming out, with ultra fast response time. Sensitivity is a smidgeon less than Valentine, 112 db as against 114db. BEL's and Escort units have greater range if mounted on their sides, that's the proper orientation of the wave guide.
The Valentine rear antenna is more sensitive than the front on Ka band, gives .5 km more range if mounted backwards. The reason is that US detectors are biased towards X and K band, but Mike Valentine used a Ka biased wave guide in the rear.
It also pays to take comparison tests with a grain of salt, radartest.com is owned by BEL and some of the other websites are a bit suspect too.
It seems that the 5km/h speed tolerance is going to apply to urban areas not open roads. It wouldn't be due to the fact that most fixed cameras are in urban areas, would it?

[wkid_one]

Must read radartest.com - never been there...I go to www.best-radar-detectors.com or something like that

Bel has owned Escort for a while - I heard that 6 or so months ago (or may have read it)

I had read in a US site that mounting the detector on their side is better also.

I just mucked around with mine the other day and hard wired it in to the car.  Got a plastic shorud (from Plastic Bin) and mounted it under the front bumper.  Put a rubber bug through a hole so the wires come out.  Fired the speaker cable through the firewall to a speaker (from JayCar) in the headrest.  The positive cable runs via a toggle on the dash so I can turn it on and off if I need to.  Works well.  Would have been shit loads easier had I had TWO arms that worked properly.

Not to fussed about rearward detector - as most of my driving is open road driving where the biggest risk is approaching coppers.

Main factor was freeing up the cigarette lighter for my MP3 player - but I decided to go the whole hog.

Advantages:

• Wicked forward coverage
• If pulled over - you don't need to hurry to hide it
• You can leave it in your car if you stop at dodgy places coz no one knows its there
• It is still easy to get to (for putting on the bike of course)
• No clutter of wires in the 'cockpit'

Disadvantages

• No rear detection
• Getting wiring right first time so you don't need to muck around too long

 

[Marmoot]

Mounting it on the side? Is it like || instead of =
or mounting it so it looks to right/left instead of rear/front?

[Lou Girardin]

On the side, but the antenna/s still face fr - rear.
One thing I forgot to mention, these Stalkers are not as quick to lock on as I thought. There is a noticeable delay, up to a second.
If your reactions are real quick and get on the brakes, the Stalker will have trouble getting a lock due to the rapidly changing speed.
But it is a long shot.
lou

[wkid_one]

As with anyone - I have heard 'stories' of people getting away with this and disbelieved it - until it did happen to me.

The ticket i got in National Park (and got off - phew) - when the cop got out of the car - he asked me what speed I was doing......to which I replied of course 'ummm, 120kph' knowing I had been going closer to 150kph when he rounded the corner.

He actually admitted I must have been hard on the picks - coz the system flashed 148kph before finally locking on to me at 129kph (thank god for braided lines)

 

[Marmoot]

I read a spec sheet once that said in normal circumstances Stalker need 3 seconds to lock on a speed.

[bungbung]

I was driving south just out of Otaki, and spotted a cop coming the other. I was doing just under 150km/h and jumped on the picks hard. He did a u-turn and pulled me over, told me he had seen 148, but it hadn't locked until 123km/h, which is probably about when I eased up. Still not as cheap as I would have liked.

[Yarg]

two questions about having a radar detector.

1.how to keep the water out

2.how to make it secure so it won't get nicked.

any thoughts??

[wkid_one]

Water?

Put it in a little plastic bag with a rubber band so the cords can come out.

Theft?

Put it in your pocket when you get off your bike.  You could get a manky big clamp (like used for car batteries) and padlock it down - however taking it with you is just as effective.

 

[Marmoot]

Superglue!
(and a wee bit of concrete poured on top of it)

[k14]

Yeah, i just have it velcroed (sp?) just above my speedo. Just put it in my pocket when i leave my bike.

Got a Bel 985. Already paid for itself twice

[wkid_one]

Hey Marmoot, the stems should be ready soon - Old Man in Law is mocking up prototype now...guess price is about $50 RRP, stands should be out also for about $50-60 (front and rear) also.

Also doing number plate fender eliminator in black powder coated alu......mounts for indicators and all.

[Coldkiwi]

Originally posted by k14
Yeah, i just have it velcroed (sp?) just above my speedo. Just put it in my pocket when i leave my bike.

Got a Bel 985. Already paid for itself twice

I'll second that! the escort gave me lots of warning of a piggy round a blind corner just north of kaukapakapa on saturday. I'd slowed down anyway to check for the guys behind me (cue one very confused cop passing a 600cc bike on a saturday doing about 50kph!) but 99 times out of 100 I would've otherwise been having a right old fang up that hill.

 

[SPman]

Indeed you would Richard....indeed you would..

Guess my internal radar is still working...breaking free of traffic up Waiwera hill heading north I had a sudden feeling to back right off....sure enough, round next corner at the top of the hill, cop , giving me the evil eye - he must have heard me coming - I think the muffler needs a bit of repacking, ...doing  85...whew. (they've dropped the limit to 80, Hatfields beach to bottom of hill before Puhoi)

 

[Marmoot]

Kwid: I want 1. Bike almost finish rebuild

SP: I guess people DO have that sense for radar, eh? In all my speeding tickets, I always just decided "nah, couldn't be cops here". And everytime I feel something's wrong and slowed down, 90% of the time there is a cop lurking behind the corner.
But then again, maybe I'm just paranoid (ask those who rode wit me )