Radar detectors!
 

Time for a new one. The old one is not detecting radar as far out as it needs to.

Most of the radar review sites are selling the radar detectors, which kinda introduces a bias. What do y'all think? So far it seems the Bel Pro RX65 has the edge in everything but laser detection (which doesn't matter anyway because once the detector senses laser, you're getting a ticket).

Anyone have this model? How about the newest Passport?

What are your opinions?

I couldn't really justify spending upwards of 200 dollars for a radar detector, so i just bought a radio shack one (w/ a compass...mmm....compass :D)

I just hope mine picks up the signals of cops sitting on the turnpike where they like to wait and pounce.

Rader Detectors are useless in some states. For example in New York, the State Troopers are trained to see the speed of a car with their eyes.. MY buddy is a state trooper and on his final exam he had to tell them the speed of 1,000 (or some insane number) cars he saw on a video. He could only get 3 wrong.

most people i talk to about this tend to feel that the valentine 1 is the best

Tester123, that is bogus. Witnessing a speed does not hold up in court, means that any cop could claim you were going any speed and the only evidence is the cops testimony. It just does not happen.

An expensive radar dectector is probaly worth the money but I have a $20 (refurbished, normaly $80) dollar detector and I am speeding ticket free for the last two years I have had it.

I have a friend with the newest passport, and he really likes it.
I have an older Bel, and it still works pretty well, except for a lot of false alarms. I agree with you about the laser. When the alarm gos off, its too late.

The best is the Valentine One.

I have a $95 dollar Cobra and it has worked fine since I got my license

From what I've read, they haven't upgraded the Val-one since the early 90's. How is it still the best?

Correct, testitimony from an officer alone will not hold up.

Meanwhile, if the cop sees you speeding, and *then* turns on his radar and proves you are speeding, you'll be paying a decent amount of money.

ehh, if you don't speed , you dont need one.

What you always in a hurry for????

I'm a journalist. News happens ;)

I don't go more'n 10mph over. But lately the cops have been getting me for less than 5 over. It's ridiculous. So I'm fighting back ;)

Valid point, I stand corrected :D

after more research i finally found a good comparo. The Bel has less range than the new Passport X50, which kicks everything else's ass around the block. It's on the way!

Only thing I don't get is - why is the red display $40 cheaper than the blue display option? Kinda sucks. I wanted the blue, but not for that much more money.

The two best that I've heard of are the Escort 8500, and the Valentine one, but both are of course 300+.

OT: Does anyone know if this radar/scanner is good?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW
It's supposed to pick up police frequencies and highway patrol as well.

That happens to be one of the 6 scanners in my news truck. It's passable as a scanner - it's preprogrammed for every state's highway patrol, local police, weather, and emergency frequencies. When an active cop frequency is scanned, a big light on the front lights up red and it emits a very annoying series of beeps. It's very reliable as far as alerting you to when it receives cop radio transmissions.

Here's where its shortcomings lay. First off, you don't know where the cop is. It could be receiving transmissions from a cop sitting in the donut shop using his extender. It could be detecting a radio call 30 miles away. You just don't know, so you'll start ignoring the warnings.

The other problem is that cops who are sitting on speed patrol usually don't use their radios until they're calling in to run your plates. That means your scanner will generally alert you to the speed trap when you're already pulled over.

But you will still be able to hear conversations correct?

yeah, to a point. If you really want to hear conversations, drop $100 more and get something more powerful. I'd look at the 760XLT or, if you can swing it, the 785D, which is a 3-system trunking scanner. A lot of cops are using a trunking system, which is frequency agile. Normal scanners can't follow the hops, so you lose the conversation. You need a trunk tracker to follow them. This gets more complicated by the fact that there are 3 different trunking systems out there, so even a trunking scanner may not be able to track the particular system in your area.

You should also be aware that the BCT12 can ONLY track the freqs it's been preprogrammed with. The better scanners allow you to set your own freqs to monitor, which you can program straight off of your computer. Several databases are available online (and radio shack may still maintain a local list) that will give you your local freqs.

Fun eh? ;)

At the very least, expect to upgrade the antenna on the BCT12 - that tiny little antenna doesn't pick up signals for crap.

I'd suggest trying any of the Passport series...my entire family goes at least 5 over and we've used them religiously for who knows how long.

That's what I did. The 8500 X50 arrived a couple'a days ago and so far it's working incredibly well. It picked up one cop over a hill about 1.5 miles before I got to him. Wow!

Where do I get my hands on one of these detector things?


Are they not illegal in North America?

http://www.k40.com/

Laser detectors are useless. Laser jammers are good.

They are illegal in all commercial vehicles.

Well that doesn't matter!

It does if the DOT catches you with a FuzzBuster mounted on the dash!

But my van isn't used for work so its my personal vehicle!

unless its Illegal there also!