Jonasan50

iTrader: (1)

Let me put a light in on the subject.... NO RADAR DETECTOR is good... They are all practically the same... I must admit it to you in order to convince you guys of something.. I am a policeman.. I use both radar and laser... Laser does not scatter, and in order for the detector to pick it up, the actual laser must specifically touch the detector in order to set it off.. I can place it on the vehicle's bumper, and you will hear nothing.. (tested and proven) Radar does indeed scatter, and any detector can pick it up. But, we know this as well, so we turn it off until you are seen to be going a little quicker than the rest of traffic than it gets activated. And yes it CAN pick up the fastest moving vehicle in traffic.. So I hope that clears up a lot for you all.. Also, just for the record, I use it as a tool, I preferably do not write speeding tickets, well be cause I speed and it wouldn't be right.. Unless you deserve it... But usually I write people for lesser infractions instead.. Be safe people...

EVOSURGE

Jonasan50....
Well put! I definitely respect that.
Unfortunately, many officers of the law find pleasure in writing speeding tickets; It's refreshing to see that not all of them have that fetish.
THX Surge

cupOZnj

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/radar-detector3.htm

The Uniden detector ad (Aug 95 Road&Track p31) claims that:
Uniden detector is good to about 8000 feet.
Lidar guns are effective to about 2000 feet.
Average operating range of police lidar is about 800 feet.

6. Fighting Tickets
This section contributed by
National Motorists Association
Join the NMA!
800-882-2785
Web Page For the NMA Email nma@genie.geis.com
For anyone who gets a laser ticket, we encourage you to fight it. That in itself isn't news, (we encourage everyone to fight all speeding tickets) but lasers are not on judicial notice in New Jersey. In fact, they're not on notice in 95% or more of the country's courts. The prosecution teams around the country are glad you don't know that.

What's "judicial notice" mean? When something has been given judicial notice, it means that the theory of operation has been proven to the court and expert testimony to prove that is no longer needed. Radar is one such example. Aircraft speed traps are another.

Laser, however, has not been proven to the courts, so the prosecution will have to fly in expert testimony to prop up their case and new toy) to prove that their latest gadgetry actually works as advertised.

As it so happens, we at NMA keep a list of experts for our members, and one of those categories just happens to be radar and speed measurement devices. ;-) (Sorry, access to the list is for members only)

Laser -cannot- be used while the cop car is rolling. The vibrations would scatter the beam everywhere. I've only been ambushed by a laser trap once, and the setup had one officer doing the laser, another next to him radioing the to the chase vehicles, and 4 or 5 chasers. So, this is hardly a valuable use of scarce police resources!

In cases of aircraft tickets, if someone contests one, both the arresting officer and airplane spotter (or pilot, if the same) have to be hauled into court to say that yes, that driver was the one we stopped. Theoretically the same should happen with laser traps, but don't count on it until someone says something. ("Shhh. It's our secret. Don't let the public know" kind of stuff) One of our members in Texas has been fighting a laser ticket for 2 years now. He's only asked for one or two continuances (extensions) the rest of the time has been the prosecutions fault. Still no outcome. This works to his advantage. Since laser isn't on judicial notice there, they had to fly in experts.

mboza79

iTrader: (2)

I have the passport 8500. Payed $300 for it. It has saved my life many times. Like all radar detectors, it does sometimes go off when it sees another detector or other bands not directly related to police but, it has never dissappointed me to this day. I've had it for around 3 months.

Jonasan50

iTrader: (1)

cupOZnj is pretty much correct on that info... When you get nailed for a speeding ticket with radar, you can fight it... The officer needs to bring into court all the (let's just call it paperwork) in regards to the maintenance and other misc things that need to be documented with the radar gun. Most guys are too lazy to do the extra paperwork so they don't.. If they cannot show the papers in court, your case will most likely be dismissed, depending on your driving history... Laser is a cool device, you can pinpoint any car in a heap of traffic to see exactly how fast it's going.. But I prefer moving radar cause I don't like to stand in the heat.. hahahaha... Just little hints, but don't go out speeding cause we told ya this...

cupOZnj

very often when you get a speeding ticket, you can go to court and get it dropped down to a 0 points traffic fine, they just want your money. if they aren't willing to drop it down, fight it, cause most likely some sort of procedure wasn't followed and you can get off.

riceburner221

i like the cobra until the cops took it and it work when i diid it pluged in cause you they don't allow them in va

lulu1082

valentine one- but if you don't have the dough the next best but still pricy is what i have- the escort passport 8500...

OZevoVII

V1 all the way. Friend tested, brother approved

neilschelly

iTrader: (2)

I'll say my piece in here from my bad experience in Massachusetts two years back. I have a Cobra which will work alright for radar and it will detect a direct laser hit at long distance. However, that direct laser hit will still register your speed.

I was being stupid for one hit and slammed my breaks when I got the signal, and was "lucky" to only get caught at 80mph. Really, I was going rougly 25mph faster before hitting the brakes. This was at roughly 1000 ft range.

A close-range laser hit never even registered on my detector (probably under 80ft range).

For radar the Cobras do work well enough, but no one uses radar up here in the northeast anymore - I effectively just use the detector for emergency vehicle/railroad/construction/etc warnings now.. and I've slowed down as well.

I've read reviews that say the Cobras are particularly bad when it comes to laser and I'm prone to agree. That particular review said that basically anything but a Valentine or Escort will be unreliable with laser.

It should also be noted that the devices that interfere with laser/radar detectors are highly illegal anywhere in the US. Intentionally tampering with the radio signals used by another device is a federal crime and a rather serious one. And I imagine cops can tell if you have one when they realize that it's much more difficult to get a lock on your car. Especially if you're speeding, you're just asking for it.
-N

ewoevo

iTrader: (13)

It should also be noted that the devices that interfere with laser/radar detectors are highly illegal anywhere in the US. Intentionally tampering with the radio signals used by another device is a federal crime and a rather serious one. And I imagine cops can tell if you have one when they realize that it's much more difficult to get a lock on your car. Especially if you're speeding, you're just asking for it.
-N

Neil, are you referring to radar/laser jammers? If so, the one I mentioned earlier (RMR) is a passive jammer and is leagl in all but 5 states; none of which are in the SE. The RMR jammer meets all FCC regulations. Let me know if you have different information.

neilschelly

iTrader: (2)

I'm referring to any radio device that interferes intentionally with other radio-electronic devices. The FCC is very strict about alll electronic devices in that they must accept a normal amount of interference without failing and must not interfere with other devices. Where have you seen information that they are legal anywhere? That sounds farfetched.
-N

ewoevo

iTrader: (13)

-N

Check out this website for the specifics.

EWOEVO

[URL=http://www.auto-radar-detectors.com/rocmounradrm.html]

neilschelly

iTrader: (2)

It would seem my words were based on something not true anymore.

Here's Rocky Mountain Radar's attempt to get their jamming technology approved by the FCC and the FCC denying it.
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Complianc...7/fcc97404.txt

Here's the court appeal filed by RMR the next year denied by the courts.
http://www.fcc.gov/ogc/documents/opi.../rockymtn.html

However, the current jammers they have are on the listed FCC approved radar detectors now.
http://ftp.fcc.gov/oet/info/radardetectors/

Can anyone explain what changed in the last few years to allow these? The FCC records don't show many dealings with RMR since this time to explain, so now I'm just plain curious.
-N

Jonasan50

iTrader: (1)

Well if I find that someone has a radar jammer that I've stopped.... You can garantee that I'll write as many tickets as possible to you... Because that makes you a professional speeder.. And you're tryin me... Do a damn vehicle saftey check on ya... Busta..