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      07-08-2018, 10:18 AM   #1
Nuckle
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Radar Detectors, are they becoming worthless?

I have a couple of passport max 360's and they have served me well. I have had a radar detector in every vehicle I have owned for the past 20 years. Just when GPS technology and Bluetooth hit the market they were nearly perfect at avoiding speeding tickets. Recently mine seem to constantly alert. A lot of new cars are using a k band signal I assume for parking sensors. Chryslers seem to be the most common. It's becoming so annoying I am about ready to stop using them. I was wondering if there are any updates expected or if any of you have found a work around to avoid this nuisance? I have the ability to block any signal by location but that does no good since the vehicles are traveling the same direction as I am. They also seem to pulse which is even more annoying.

Thanks for any advice.
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      07-08-2018, 10:41 AM   #2
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I got a V1 last summer for a long road trip, and despite their new ads, mine still 'wouldn't shut up'. I was glad I had it, but more for the nostalgia value. On the interstate, there were far more false alarms (Some cars, lots of trucks, most truckstops, and also some kind of radar traffic-flow meters under many overpasses). More than half the LEO's I saw were not sending radar signals, even marked cars that were obviously monitoring traffic. Of course, this serves me right for all the years of ranting about how much of a boondoggle the radar guns were, and how they should just be watching for erratic driving, rather than sitting staring at a speed number on their gun. It probably has saved me from at least a time or two of hitting the beam too fast, so if I stretch it I can say it saved me some tickets. The new Escort is more high-tech for mapping out false alarms, but I'm a troglodyte and don't have a smartphone to make 'em work.
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      07-08-2018, 10:53 AM   #3
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Then you have laser, hard to warn against effectively.
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      07-08-2018, 11:38 AM   #4
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I've had a V1 in a drawer of my office for years. Is there a fair price for these guys?
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      07-08-2018, 11:39 AM   #5
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Then you have laser, hard to warn against effectively.
Try WD40

I read on a website titled "1 million uses for WD40" that it absorbs laser.

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      07-08-2018, 11:43 AM   #6
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Good BSM filtering, my Uniden R1 has had 2 firmware updates for filtering or segmentation in the past year with a 3rd due any day. I think Redenso Radar Detectors have done a good job with filtering - RDforum.org can be useful for researching quiet detectors.

Also a mute button on the power cable or a remote if you hardwire. And using your CITY and HIGHWAY / ADVANCED modes can quiet falsies.

With the V1 3rd party Apps offer many of these settings to help quiet their detectors.

Waze is also helpful but I depend on my radar detector more - and now with MRCD & MRCT in New York and coming to Maryland I’m more endebted to good radar detectors.

Last edited by overcoil; 07-08-2018 at 12:02 PM..
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      07-08-2018, 11:45 AM   #7
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I've had a V1 in a drawer of my office for years. Is there a fair price for these guys?
My 20 year old Valentine I’m told is worth $100
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      07-08-2018, 11:48 AM   #8
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      07-08-2018, 11:51 AM   #9
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Trajectory Speed Control and the new gen. infrared speed cams is the new evil on our roads !

#reallysucks !!!

The NK7 infrared speedcam...
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Last edited by ///M Power-Belgium; 07-08-2018 at 12:16 PM..
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      07-08-2018, 12:07 PM   #10
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Quote:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Bread View Post
I've had a V1 in a drawer of my office for years. Is there a fair price for these guys?
My 20 year old Valentine I’m told is worth $100
Does me more good than just taking up space with my ancient HP calculator and my glasses. Thanks.
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      07-08-2018, 12:29 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium View Post
Trajectory Speed Control and the new gen. infrared speed cams is the new evil on our roads !

#reallysucks !!!

The NK7 infrared speedcam...
Wow. I feel like those would not be legal in the USA... could be wrong though...
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      07-08-2018, 12:40 PM   #12
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Wow. I feel like those would not be legal in the USA... could be wrong though...
Don't know about them in the US . But here in Belgium we are really screwed !

The red dots are speedcam locations in Belgium (Brussels)

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      07-08-2018, 01:35 PM   #13
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Here in California... absolutely still worth it.

If you have a quality product that you can tune to the bands being used by the local cruisers. I have a V1 which I have set to Laser and KA band only. CHP still uses KA band and my V1 has saved me numerous times over the years. The radar detector has easily "paid" for itself time and time again. Laser is hard to protect against because it is an instant "on/off" ping. I've gotten good over the years of reading the way the detector reacts to it. Sometimes it will react to cars with laser blind spot detection. Which isn't too much of an issue.

So the answer to the question... Yes, a higher quality radar detector is still a good investment if you get the right one and set up up to react correctly.
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      07-08-2018, 01:43 PM   #14
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I think they will be useful again if there could be some kind of agreement between RD and car manufacturers to put those infernal active cruise controls onto a certain band range to be filtered out by the RD...

It seems like the Chryslers and Acuras all stay on K band so that helps a little bit, until I come across that last trooper who's been on patrol since the Cold War and still has a k band gun
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      07-08-2018, 01:53 PM   #15
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I think they are definitely worth it. I got a new Uniden R3 and it paid for itself on the ride back from Asheville. If false alerts are bothersome turn off K band. Seems to me that is better than no detector. I don't seem to get so many that it bothers me.

A radar detector won't do shit vs. laser, but Ka is still used a lot, so I find a good detector + Waze (which also provides useless, out of date or false alerts of its own) useful.
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      07-08-2018, 02:46 PM   #16
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The key with laser is to use a rabbit. If you are the only one on the road, its much more difficult to avoid.
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      07-08-2018, 04:14 PM   #17
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I don't give AF how many false K alerts I get from mostly Acura vehicles or any others... I have a heavy foot. And my BEL has saved my ass HUNDREDS of times! In my area, police ALWAYS ride around with radar running. Mostly Ka band but an occasional K band too. Me reaching up to press mute is a tiny task vs tickets.
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      07-08-2018, 07:45 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium View Post
Trajectory Speed Control and the new gen. infrared speed cams is the new evil on our roads !

#reallysucks !!!

The NK7 infrared speedcam...
Looks like a speed trap to me. What's to stop someone from steeling it?
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      07-08-2018, 07:45 PM   #19
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I have owned about every model Escort has produced and no doubt I have saved myself from hundreds of tickets over the years. I can filter out K, it is still widely used by local cops and I travel in a lot of rural areas. I drive in total about 50k miles per year in all types of areas. Going to check to see if an update my chill things out. I still run mind daily but am annoyed with all the false alarms that I can't cancel out because they are mobile. Thanks for the comments!
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      07-08-2018, 07:46 PM   #20
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I always thought these were worthless with mostly false alarms going off all the time and not detecting real cops with lasers or pacing you without radar.
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      07-08-2018, 07:51 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TXSTYLE View Post
I don't give AF how many false K alerts I get from mostly Acura vehicles or any others... I have a heavy foot. And my BEL has saved my ass HUNDREDS of times! In my area, police ALWAYS ride around with radar running. Mostly Ka band but an occasional K band too. Me reaching up to press mute is a tiny task vs tickets.
I agree. Western Slope Colorado they turn the Ka on when they leave for work. I'm a little surprised at the Max 360. It's supposed to have decent K filtering for false alarms. Mine rarely goes off on the highway but spots those always on Ka miles away. Laser? I guess you have to hope you pick up someone else getting tagged first. Not common here.
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      07-08-2018, 07:54 PM   #22
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Quote:
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I agree. Western Slope Colorado they turn the Ka on when they leave for work. I'm a little surprised at the Max 360. It's supposed to have decent K filtering for false alarms. Mine rarely goes off on the highway but spots those always on Ka miles away. Laser? I guess you have to hope you pick up someone else getting tagged first. Not common here.
Colorado Springs here; they only use Ka here, so I have K band turned off. I also have a remote mute button mounted right by the shifter (where I rest my hand) and I have the V1 display integrated into my mirror, so it all looks nice and works well. Has saved me more than once, that's for sure.
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