Radar Dectector Users, What Bands are You Seeing?
 

This is for guys that regularly use their radar detectors, especially Valentine One.

What bands are you seeing being used by your local PD/SO/CHP etc?

I've been using a V1 for many years now, and it has saved me thousands of dollars. It seems though, that every day, there are more K band alerts than ever before. Not only do all shopping center door openers set it off, but now the list has grown to include: security systems, traffic cameras, traffic flow monitors, back up cameras, and now my most hated, the automatic braking for something my dumbass driver didn't see safety sensors installed on newer cars.

I've been thinking of completely disabling the X and X bands on my detector. It seems that in the places I frequent the cops solely use Ka and laser. So what I'd like to know is...

1) Where do you drive? State? Urban, suburban, country?

2) How frequently do you see cops using X and K band radar?

3) Have you used the custom settings on your V1? Did you keep them or revert back to default?

Thanks

Mass staties on the highway still use K and some Ka, but they're starting to use laser for speed traps. I saw x-band once in some middle of nowhere town coming from a cop car that looked like it belonged in the 70's. Everything else is Ka or laser. I use the "highway" setting on my unit, doesnt audio alert for X unless its almost maximum strength. But I dont have a V1, I use a much nicer $150 Bell unit that wasnt designed with 80's technology so it actually has modern digital signal processing. Only a few stores give false trips and one random place on the highway with a super powerful x-band transmitter that I cant figure out its purpose, never a garage door opener or car based braking/cruise radar. I still wish I had bought the gps enabled model that would let me program in the location of false trips so it auto-mutes them, not sure that level of convenience is worth an extra $300 though.

thingsIamtoostupidtolike.txt

Not sure if agreeing with me or making fun of me. The V1's get by on brute force and ignorance. They have nearly no signal processing or intelligence. The fact that they're the defacto standard is that they have absolutely MASSIVE antennas that are completely unnecessary with modern electronics. Saying the V1 is better than a decent modern detector is like saying stock for stock that a pre-smog 454 big block chevy is better than a LS7 because its bigger and carbs are so much better than that finicky fuel injection garbage. :giggle:

Had a V1 wired to my car I just sold. It is on my list of Thing To Buy for the Miata.

1. Minnesota- I live and work in the twin cities but also drive to the cabin most weekends in the summer. So I hit all 3 (Urban, burbs and country)

2. I see cops usually using KA and Lasers. However, I noticed a spike in K band in the last year or so. Mainly State Patrol.

3. I always ran full detection on the V1. It made me mute every alert so I was aware of what was going on. I loved my V1... I miss having it.

I've turned off everything except Ka and laser on my V1. Now- when it beeps, I slow down. No more looking at the device and deciding what to do.

Unless you've got a basically new one with ESP, sell yours for $300+ and buy a new one from Valentine (call and ask for a 'customer return' unit) for $349, get the V1C Bluetooth doohicky, and run YAV1 on your Android phone.

https://play.google.com/store/search?q=YAV1&c=apps
Official YaV1 Support Section - Radar Detector & Laser Jammer Forum

C

+1

1. Florida - suburban

2. I never see cops using X band, and K band is pretty rare probably less than 5% of all radar I pick up.

3. I've got a 9500i, so I can block out (stationary) false signals with the GPS feature. I am getting an increasing number of cars emitting false k signals, which is really annoying.

I feel like it not only depends on location, but also you personally. If you're getting to a point that you pick up so many k signals that you're starting to ignore them, then you might as well turn them off because it's not helping you anyway.

Buy a blinder laser jammer or you will still get a ticket.

Everytime I've been near laser it has been picked up. 80% of the time I catch a random scatter before they're aiming the gun at me. The other 20% its just a, start pulling over indicator.

I have caught scatter once or twice. Lazers always catch me by surprise when they blow up my V1.

This was the point of the whole thread. I was leaning heavily in this direction.


If I send mine in, they'll update it for $199. Thinking of this also.



What I love about the V1 is the arrows. I don't know if any other detectors have them these days, but they didn't when I bought mine. I had a bell 20 years ago and it was frustrating having it go off and not having a clue what direction it was coming from.

I've never had much luck with picking up laser. I've considered buying a jammer, but I'm always jumping between 3 cars so it'd be a huge investment.

I think the only time laser saved me was leaving from a traffic light. I got into it and just as I was hitting the speed limit my detector went nuts so I slammed the brakes. A little ways up I saw the cop. He pulled in behind me, got on my ass for a couple miles, then turned off. Apparently when he saw me haul ass from the light he got all excited and shot me before I was actually speeding.

You're better off selling yours, I bet you'll have no problem getting $300 for it. V1's hold their value like crazy.

C

Been using my Passport 8500 X50 for 10 years with no complaints.

When I got rid of my radar detector ~5 years ago, I stopped getting speeding tickets.

The rate at which I get pulled over hasn't changed, but my tickets/traffic stops ratio has dropped from 100% to 0%

Must be nice to live in a city where they don't do fundraising by writing traffic tickets. If you get pulled over in Tucson, you're getting a ticket. Period.

Subbing for interest, as I would like to get a stealthy radar detector.

A little off the radar subject, more on the fund raising. In SoCal a red light ticket is $490. Ask me how I know.

I removed x and k band alerts, big improvement. I should have done it years ago.