Radar detectors

[Garage10]

Can any of you recomend a great radar detector ?
Does anyone know where i can find a list of states and provinces that don't allow radar detectors ?
Any info appreciated.
Thanks

[BDR561]

Valentine One.

[Stentor]

Originally Posted by BDR561

Valentine One.

I agree...Valentine One is a very good radar detector (I've had one for ten years and it's saved my bacon a number of times).

[Jamo]

Passport...

[tc_sj]

I used to have Valentine One , and its excellent detector, you can call them and get a used (return from other buyer , after 30 days trial period) for less money, which has same warranty

[ffindling]

Originally Posted by Garage10

Can any of you recomend a great radar detector ?
Does anyone know where i can find a list of states and provinces that don't allow radar detectors ?
Any info appreciated.
Thanks

As far as I know, radar detectors are illegal in the province of Ontario and
the states of Connecticut and Virginia. Ontario and Virginia have deployed
"radar detector detectors" which work by detecting local oscillator leakage
present in most commercial radar detectors. The Ontario Provincial Police and
the Virginia State Police have detector detectors in many of their patrol units
and it has been said that it isn't unusual for patrol units to return from their
shifts with a trunkload of confiscated detectors.

....Fred

[strictlypersonl]

Radar detectors are legal in Connecticut, but illegal in VA and D.C.
Restrictions

[RedBarchetta]

Has the Valentine One been updated to handle Laser, LOCAR, POP/instant on and all the other latest gadgets the police have? You look at their advertisements and they are still quoting C&D articles from 10 years ago! I like the arrows, but the Passports seem to be a better overall more modern day unit.

-Dean

[jwd]

Regardless of their claims, no detector will give you sufficient warning against Laser or instant on radar.

[RedBarchetta]

jwd, true dat.

I'd like to know if anyone has BOTH (or has tried BOTH) and cares to share their preference, and why?

-Dean

[jwd]

Dean
I had a V-1. Returned it due to all the false alarms. The arrows do point out all the shopping centers though.
Now have the Passport 8500. Same performance with less false alarms. Like I stated before, both are useless against laser.

[RedBarchetta]

FWIW, I also use the Passport 8500. I've always felt that a Passport with arrows would be the best of both worlds. But if you become too dependent on the direction and not on YOUR REACTION TIME, then having a Valentine is useless anyways.

[Blas]

I've started to have problems with my passport detector since MSD changed their material for the distributor caps. The old style unvented black cap material never caused false laser alerts. The new red material is continuously warning for laser. I could reproduce the problem at will by changing back and forth between old and new caps. I tried to inform both companies of my findings, and got the "That's nice honey" attitude from both Escort and MSD tech support. Escort suggested I disable my laser detector and MSD said, "that's not our problem"....This isn't ment to be an infomercial for Valentine's product....Just what I have learned so far....

[RedBarchetta]

Gosh, Blas, I thought you were going to tell us to just drive the posted speed limits and not worry about it.

[JCoop]

I seem to recall the claim that the President of Valentine used to run Passport and designed their detector; then wnt on to do his own.

I have used both, BTW, and prefer the V1 set to the filtering mode to lessen the false alarms. I'm planning a remote stealth install.

My CL came with a a stealth K40 front and rear with a laser jammer that looks like an EZpass front plate transponder. The combination works quite well. It's set up with tiny LEDs inside the speedo housing and has a very muted audible warning.

[ROUSHAC]

Escort Passport 8500 X50 Radar and Laser Detector. The blue display is a few bucks more but less obvious than the usual red). Like others have said, laser detector are just good to tell you that you are going to get a ticket if you are hit when speeding.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...027797-4159061

But they have a newer one out now:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...d_i=B0002ZSCJY

Not sure if it's any better.

[Blas]

What's a speed limit?

[jdog]

So far, he best radar detector I have seen for my Cobra, was the yellow Corvette, I let challange me to a race as we both got onto the freeway. He was behind me as the light changed and we could enter the on ramp.

As this was a freeway on ramp light and there was no chance of any cross traffic, I hit it pretty hard and had a good reaction time. I think I supprised the Vette and really left him in the dust. By the time I hit 65mph and was merging on to the freeway, he had caught up and passed me doing about 80 going away.

He didn't get to far though, a black & white CHP car had him pulled over not 2 miles down the road.

Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good!

That bright yellow Vette, sure pointed out that CHP radar unit for me!

jdog

[Jamo]

Originally Posted by RedBarchetta

jwd, true dat.

I'd like to know if anyone has BOTH (or has tried BOTH) and cares to share their preference, and why?

-Dean

Borrowed a friend's V1 and took it with me on a business trip in the Vette with my Passport along for the ride. Hooking them both up at the same time won't work (they both leak enough to set the other one off sitting right next to it), but I traded off every gas stop.

The Passport surpassed the V1 for earliest detection and had the fewest false alarms when I had it on the highway setting. When left on automatic...they were on par for false alarms. the Passport was alot better for small hills and wide open bends.

While I can imagine folks getting used to looking at the direction arrows quickly, for the life of me it just seems to be a distraction. I just want to slow down first when I hear the K-band alarm go off...I don't want to be looking around. I also like the Passport's smart cord so I can leave the unit dark at nite. Not worried about cops seeing it...just too much of a distraction in the middle of the windshield with lights going off. Already have the Vette's headsup display for a lightshow anyway.

Besides, the V1 is just phuking ugly. The engineer may have left Escort to start his own company, but he should've hired away a designer with him. Way too bulky for my tastes.

I use the battery operated model for the Cobra or when I'm traveling...nowhere as sensitive (about on par with the Unidens), but convenient and it does work better when you plug in the smart corD.

Funny thing, my horn sets off the laser alarm.

[STCinc]

I'm running a V1 with all the current upgrades... I LOVE it !!

(PS> I drive in excess of 45k miles per year and would not be without it!)

Sean