Spect2K3

Hey guys. After having my detector for like a month and a half now, i'm beginning to wonder a few things based on assumptions that I had made in the past.

X Band - Rarely cops, almost always false alerts (for this reason, I lowered the sensitivity on it by using whats called City 1 on my detector, so it first alerts at like 5-6 out of 9 strength).

K Band - Once in a while can be cops, but is usually false alerts.

Ka Band - I thought this was 100% of the time going to be a cop. My detector gives me Ka band alerts fairly frequently though even when there is definitely no cop in sight. This is where i'm looking for help...

Ku Band - Only in europe

Laser - 100% of the time a cop....I've never had the detector go off for this

VG-2 - I have disabled b/c i'm not in Virginia/Washington D.C. - is that correct to have it off?

POP - I honestly dont even know what it does and i've never experienced it, but its on. I think that is for the cops 'instant-on' radar? I dont know.



Is all of this information correct? I dont know why I get Ka band so frequently. Any help would be appreciated!

Btw - I contacted whistler (i have the whistler pro-5 and they said that whether its on highway, city (brief X band alert), city 1 (lowered x band sensitivity), or city 2 (no X band), the sensitivity remains the same for bands like K, Ka, Laser, POP, etc

allen03lv

Cool, I have the same Whistler, best radar detector for $100! I have to aggree with your assesments myself, but I'm no radar buff. X-band for the most part is out dated and I myself always get false alerts from it. I'm usually on City 2 and get a descent amount of K hits (mostly false hits) and Ka (all cops) and sometimes Laser hits too (all cops too). A POP warning is almost like getting hit with a laser

SLOtC

i have the escort solo s2, i get no false alerts on Ka ever...

heres what i have found:

Laser: to expensive most counties cannot afford this
Ka: hwy patrol, very little city cops
K: most city cops and those stupid speed traps on the hwy
x: mmm theres a McDonalds neer by (microwave) or automatic doors from a store

djct_watt

You can turn off bands on higher end detectors which is what got me to toss my older ones

niran916

automatic door openers will set off most Radar detectors because they emit radar. Usually these bands are X, and K band. Sometimes Ka, I have a Beltronics and I know what areas it falses on.

niran916

Pop is shot using Ka. It is when the rd gun is only broadcasting the signal when he shoots a car. If the leo is shooting in pop mode the signal is so fast that only certain rd that can pick up pop mode will pick up. There is no Cobra Rd that is capable of picking up pop mode. In fact Cobra is the worst Rd you can buy. Sometimes if you enable pop mode on your rd. it will get false alerts due to other rd leaking the freq. I leave mines off because it's not used here in Sacramento. check out www.radardetector.net

djct_watt

After switching to upscale detectors, you never switch back. It is a night and day difference of range, accuracy, and elimination of false alerts.

olaHalo

so what radar would you guys recommend?

Butane

passport x50 . it never has let me down

niran916

I recommend getting a Beltronics. Anything but a Cobra. I had a Whistler and thought that was good until I purchased a Bel.

djct_watt

3 recommendations. . . all for different reasons:

1. Valentine 1 (tied)
2. Passport 8500 x50 (tied)
3. Beltronics STI
4. Beltronics 995 (very close alternative to the STI/x50, as it shares the same circuitry)

niran916

Hey Djct what rd are you currently using?

LittleZeke77

I have an Escort 8500 X50...and I 100% agree with this formula.

BigMURR

I noticed that the valentine 1 has the direction arrows, how reliable are they? or are they kinda just for show?

niran916

They are very reliable, They even have a patent on it. That why no other Rd's have it.

Steve27

"Except for the earliest units, X-band (10.525 Gigahertz) was the only frequency used for police radar until the mid-1970s. K-band (24.150 GHz) arrived in 1976 and Ka band (33.4 - 36.0 GHz) appeared in 1989. At present about 3 percent of the 100,000-odd radar in service nationwide use X band, 57 percent use K band and 40 percent operate on Ka band. Those percentages are shifting rapidly; today well over 65% of all new radar entering service are Ka- band and X band has nearly disappeared except in a few holdout states like Ohio, New Jersey and North Carolina whose state patrols invested heavily in X band radar years ago and are slow to replace them. But even these are moving rapidly to K and Ka band.


Photo radar (referred to as the speed camera elsewhere in the world), is an automated system that combines K-or Ka-band radar with a camera and is also stationary-only. In the U.S. these are mounted inside passenger vans parked on the shoulder. "

I knew that Ka was used for photo-radar, but I didn't know it had spread to other uses. In my area laser is becoming the most common. I would opt for a Uniden BearTracker vice a radar detector due to the false detects.

Avenger

how reliable is the beartracker...

djct_watt

Beltronics 995. . . although looking back, I should have paid the extra $50 and had an x50. But I've personally tested both head to head. It's an indistinguishable difference in K/Ka detection so I don't feel too bad.

And I never encounter anything in CA except Ka. CHP uses Ka and laser ONLY. I avoid speeding on city streets, and even so. . . most major cities use Ka exclusively with a few cities/counties using laser.

With that said, I have every radar band except Ka turned off (I leave laser on). I'm looking to invest in blinders very soon to help remedy the laser vulnerability.

I've never run into a real K threat in the last two years. . . and I NEVER get a false on Ka. And if ANY cop has X band here in CA, his cruiser must be at least 40 years old. . . he'll never catch me.

djct_watt

The Valentine is a great unit. You can't go wrong with either of the top two. Number 3/4 are good bargains that have VERY close performance.

djct_watt

I've heard of them, but I can never find much information on them. They work by picking up the communication radio waves of police cars (and also emergency vehicles?). I wonder what the range is like.

Never under estimate visual scanning. Cops stick out like sore thumbs. They all go through the same training, and their lane change moves and driving characteristics stick out. And when in doubt, slow down.