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(113 votes) Published: Aug 24, 2007 10:09 p.m. In 3 Favorites Lists Viewed 582 times
I havent written an egg in a long long time so heres my newest one.
This egg is about the whole scoop on radar detectors, speed monitoring systems and how radar frequency bands differ from eachother.
MAIN INFO:
There are a few different Frequency bands that the FCC allows radar detectors to detect and alert motorists about. These common bands are X, K, and Ka bands. K and Ka bands are the most common frequencies that police officers use for in-car mounted speed guns. Radar speed guns are tricky to operate and many times, even if a police officer captures your speed while you are speeding, they wont do anything about it. For every 1,000 feet that the radar signal travels, the radar signal expands to about 30 feet like a shotgun’s spread. So IF the cop is aiming a radar gun at you while you are 1/4th mile down the street with 3 other cars around you, there is no possible way that the cop can prove it in court that it was your car that was speeding.
FREQUENCIES:
The X-band is a frequency of 10.5-10.55 GHz. It is less commonly used in police radar guns today and more commonly used for safety radar markers (speed trap displays) and many times for security systems in buildings. Turn on your radar detector that detects X-band Frequencies and drive past a CVS pharmacy, Walgreens, Wal-Mart, 7-11, Starucks or a DunkinDonuts during afterhours when they are closed. Your radar detector will most likely pick up X-band frequencies.
The K-band is very common as a permanantly mounted on-dash radar gun for cops. If youve ever pulled up next to a cop in traffic and seen those numbers scrolling on a little red indicator, thats the display for his K-Band radar gun. The K-Band operates between 24.05 and 24.250 GHz.
The Ka-Band operates from 33.40 to 36.00 GHz. Ka-Band frequencies are generally the hand-held radar guns. They are superwideband guns and can be found to be very inaccurate and get alot of interference. The fact that there is 2.6 GHz of range in the band enables the frequency to be interfered much easier.
POP function. Most radar detectors cant sense POP. POP is basically just when a radar gun can use a frequency out of the X,K or Ka bands to line up the sights on the gun. Then instantly the gun sends out a signal at the moving vehicle and receives it along with your vehicle speed within 1/15th of a second. the POP-detection mode on many whistler and valentine radar detectors can sense when the same radar frequency is being "spurted" or in otherwords, it is coming from the same location but being very choppy. This will generally bring up a POP alert.
Lazer speed guns. These are very tricky to operate and many lazer detectors will not even sense the lazer frequency unless it is located close to the ground. The lazer speed gun shoots a lazer that expands at 3 feet for every 1000 feet of travel. The lazer likes reflective surfaces. The fact that the threshhold for detection is so small gives the cops an advantage and a disadvantage at the same time. They generally shoot the lazer at the reflective license plate of your car or at the headlights. Keeping your radar/lazer detector lower to the ground will enable it to catch these lazer frequencies easier.
Many expensive radar detectors wont even sense VG-2 despite their advertisement. The "famous" valentine-1 doesnt even acknowledge VG2. Even affordable "economy" radar detectors such as many cobras and whistlers will detect VG2 at over 1100 feet in advance. VG-2 is a system that the police use to detect leaks, electrical interference or static from using a police radar detector. It is basically the weapon that the police use to detect your radar detector. If you speed around your same town all day long with a radar detector and you slow down everytime you see a cop, they will know something is up. Manytimes they will try out VG-2 and they will come up to you sometime and ask you why you have a radar detector. VG-2 detectors are completely useless unless it is a VG-2 Cloaker. VG-2 Cloakers will check for VG-2 signals within a given amount of time and will check every time an alert is put up. VG-2 cloakers will basically put the driver on the "high risk every man for himself" mode and let you take over. What this does is it will not accept any incoming radar/lazer signals and it will not put out any signals, it will just "vanish" the radar detector.
What I reccomend. I reccomend the WHISTLER 1788/1788R/XTR-280. It is generally $149.99 but is on sale at RadioShack for $79.99. Using it is simple and no programming is really required. It was just plug n play. I feel like i have GPS on every cop in my town. It outperforms my friends $300 system and it sensed a Ka band 1/4th mile before i saw the cop that was using that frequency. It senses frequencies bouncing off of walls,windows, cars, objects and has 3 City modes and a Highway mode. I placed 2 radar detectors in my car at once. The WHISTLER and the $200 latest Cobra. The WHISTLER picked up the VG-2 signal 3seconds before the Cobra did. The Whistler enabled VG-2 Cloak 5seconds before the Cobra Did. The WHISTLER has rechargeable batteries included and includes the windshield mount. The radar detector automatically shuts off the Bright LCD screen and goes into silence mode when you pass by a police officer or when a police officer is behind you in traffic. It has many traffic alert and roadwork/weather alert systems to help improve your driving.
Aug 24, 2007 10:18 pm - how is this a forum thing? Most people dont know how the hell a radar detector works and most people think that VG-2 is a hybrid between lazer and radar. Theres certain tricks to using them. I never slow down for X-band frequencies if they are on the low alert. X-band are really only used for motion detectors, digital speed displays, and a few wireless internet systems. I have never noticed a cop before my radar detector notices him/her. The radar detector usually senses the cop 5-10 seconds before i even come in visual contact with them.
Aug 25, 2007 12:37 am - wow nice, and well explained, and makes some scence, would have taken you a good 20+ min to wright, good work and good efort 5 from me
Aug 25, 2007 3:15 am - Lazer detectors do not work. If your lazar detector goes off, your caught. 3ft per 1000 does not allow the cop to miss and hit other targets.
Valentine Ones with a veil set up have been proven to work under some conditions. However most of the time youre SOL w/o a laser jammer.
A few things were left out but for the most part this was pretty comprehensive.
For pop band, police can not write tickets using pop band. They would need to hit you with it and then switch over to the regular gun mode. Also any detector with pop enabled is going to false. No one uses pop.
With VG-2 i dont see why a precinct in a state where RD’s are legal would have them. And the only detector to be completely undetectable is the STI Driver.
Quote:
I placed 2 radar detectors in my car at once
Don’t do that. The RD’s can interfere which other and your results can be mistrued.
Aug 25, 2007 10:49 pm - Awesome man, and, yeah like Alle said, no c/p, though it’s certainly put together well enough to be from something as professional as "Howstuffworks.com&q ot; or something. 5*
Aug 26, 2007 8:10 am - You pay GEICO your insurance premiums, and they buy radar guns for police organizations across the land. Google "GEICO gun." That, and those stupid TV commercials with the gecko and the cavemen.
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