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Old 02-02-2004, 08:53 AM   #1 (permalink)
neoinoakleys
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Location: Michigan
Radar Detectors - BUSTED!!

Anyone use a radar detector in the car??

I do, I have a Valentine V1 (I should say, I used to). I just recently got it confiscated...:-(

Here is the set-up...I was driving through Canada, on my way back home from Toronto to Michigan. It was about 2 in the morning. I was cruisin' along the 401 and my detector starts screaming. I had TONS of warning, and plenty of time to slow down. I slowed down to about 5km under the speed limit. A few minutes later, just over a hill I saw 2 squad cars sitting in the median. I passed them, still 5 km under the speed limit. I stared in my rear view mirror to see if the coast was clear, then I noticed one of the squad cars start pulling out. The officer sped up to catch up to me and the lights went on. I pulled over, and the officer came to my window and asked me to hand over my radar detection-device. I complied. They confiscated it, and gave me ticket. Luckily the ticket was only for possession of the device and NOT speeding. Now, I did not know that radar-detectors were illegal in Ontario, but I know that ignorance of the law is no excuse, but how the HELL did he know I had a radar detector in my car???

I asked the officer (who btw WAS a nice guy, just doing his job) how he knew this. He chuckled and chit-chatted with me about a new radar-detector-detector called the "Spectre RDD". I knew that my V1 was supposed to be shielded and invisible to the conventional radar-detector-detectors, but apparently the Ontario police force had just gotten these new Spectre radar-detector-detectors, that were geared to catch the Valentines and the Escorts and other high-end detectors. He said they had only had these Spectres for about a week now, and he has caught many of the nice high-end detectors.

When I got home (1 awesome radar-detector short), jumped online and decided to do a little investigating...

Here is what I found...from the Valentine website:

Here is Mike Valentine's answer...



Quote:
Does Valentine One have "stealth?"
Is this the same as being VG2 proof?
- H.C., Idaho


The real question is, can V1 be found by an instrument called a "radar-detector detector?"
Good radar detectors, like good AM/FM radios, are super-heterodyne receivers, and they all share a common trait. They receive, but they also transmit a signal; it's called "local oscillator emissions." This transmitted signal can be found by another radio if it's tuned to the right frequency. A radar-detector detector is merely a radio tuned to the right frequency range for most detectors.

VG2 is the most famous of the radar-detector detectors.

A little history: Escort was the first X-K super-heterodyne detector. Jim Jaeger and I invented it, working out of his basement in the mid-seventies. Since then, other detector makers have taken the easy way and copied Escort's frequency scheme, which means they have the same L-O frequency. So VG2 knows right where to tune for them.

The one detector that's apart from the pack is V1. I didn't copy myself. So VG2 misses Valentine One. In our tests, Valentine One is better than all others for VG2-proofing. Our best competitors are pretty good, maybe good enough. Some others resort to a dubious strategy; they switch off their radar protection when they sense VG2 nearby.

Recently, we've been hearing of another radar-detector detector, the Spectre RDD. Used first in Canada, enforcers of detector bans in Virginia and Washington, DC, and the nationwide ban in heavy trucks, surely have this tool on their must-have list. It claims to have been designed specifically "to detect the latest state of the art stealth-type radar warning receivers." Does it find V1? Very likely, according to reports we've been hearing from a few V1 users. One participant in an internet chat room, who claimed to be a Canadian enforcer, said "I've snagged a Valentine 1 already." We've been unable to acquire a Spectre RDD for testing. Until we can do so, be advised that no super-heterodyne receiver is perfectly undetectable, and that includes V1.
Taken from: http://www.valentine1.com/lab/Previously2.asp

I also found this site interesting:
http://www.speedzones.com/

This site did some pretty comprehensive testing on many of the most common radar-detectors on the market.

What i found interesting is that the V1 was undectable by the most common RDDs (Radar-Detector-Dectectors) (VG2 and MD-3), but the Spectre picked up EVERY tested radar detector. The V1 was detected from about about 889ft away, but the detector will detect a radar signal from about 2 miles away....

So, in conclusion, I am down one radar detector and learned that as soon as the detector goes off I have enough time to shut it off...*Mental note for the future*

I just thought that you guys would benefit from my experiences...any similar experiences??
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Last edited by neoinoakleys; 02-02-2004 at 09:02 AM..
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